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GERMANY  AND  AUSTRIA  IN  THE  CRISI 


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THE  NOTi:  TllAi    Ki.M.>    ilii  i. 


WAR   ECHOES 

OR 

Germany  and  Austria  in  the  Crisis 

Excellent  Illustrations  and  Maps 

Dedicated  to  Peace  and  the  Fatherland 


PEACE 

'By  courtesy  of  the  Open  Court) 


A  systematic  presentation  and  interpretation 
of  the  German -Austrian  Cause  in  the 
World  War,  includinf;  many  of  the  best 
Editorials,  Articles,  I>ectures,  Addresses, 
Debates,  and  Comment  by  the  ablest  writers 
in  the  United  States  and  Europe,  especially 
dealing  with  official  proceedings  in  relation  to 


THE    WORLD    WAR 


BY 


GEORGE   WILLIAM    HAU,   A.  M. 


...■.Lt>-.'    :■-     ■  _ 

THE  UBRW"^  Oi"  CONGRtSS 


zyh 


Copyright,  1915, 

By  Morton  M.  Malone, 

Publisher 


SURPLUS 

m 


39  6  N 

,.IUL  1953 


General  Table  of  Contents 

PAGE 
Froxtispiece    I 

Title  Page I 

General  Table  of  Contents Ill 

List  of  Special  Articles  and  Authors IV 

Table  of  Contents V 

List  of  Illustrations VII 

List  of  Maps VII 

Preface    \'III 

First  Chapter — Causes — Introduction   1 

Second  Chapter — Belgian — Introduction 57 

Third  Chapter — Nation — Introduction  95 

Fourth  Chapter — War — Introduction   241 

Fifth  Chapter — Philosophv — Introduction  313 

Gr.-\teful  Recognition 346 

General   Index 348 


List  of  Representative  Articles  with  the  Names  of  the  Authors 

TRIBUNE  GIVES  NEW  LIGHT  ON  GERMAN  SPIRIT.  THE  GERMAN-AMERICAN   AND  THE   PRESIDENT'S 

BENNETT    DENIES    GERMANS    INFLICT    WANTON  NEUTRALITY  PROCLAMATION. 

DAMAGE.  BISMARCK  ON  THE  PURPOSE  AND  POLICY  OF  THE 

CHARGES    OF    GERMAN    CRUELTIES    DENIED    BY  GERMAN  EMPIRE. 

U.  S.  CORRESPONDENTS.  Dr.  Julius  Goebel,  Head  of  the  Department  of 

,,      ,             rsyT\                -D    ,,.  ,^    ^1  ■       „     711  Germanic  Languages  and   Literature,   Uni- 

Mr.  James  O  Donxell  Bennett,  Chicago,  III.  .,       ,  ,,,. -^  .  ■' 

■'                                                   •             J   >  rersity  of  Illinois. 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  CONFLICT. 
A  GREAT  MAN  DEFENDS  GERMANY. 
WHY  I  CHAMPION  GERMANY. 


WHAT  WOULD  BISMARCK  SAY? 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  GERMAN  EMPIRE. 


^      ^  ,,,    T^  T^  r    ,      T^        ,        ,  Dr.  George  L.   Scherger,  Professor  of  History, 

Dr.  John  W    Burgess,  Dean  of  the  Department  j-j^^  Armour  Institute  of  Technology,  Chi- 

of  Political  Science,  Columbia   University.  ^.^  ^   j^ 

THE  RUSSIAN  OR.ANGE  PAPER.  GERMANY  AND  THE  GREAT  WAR. 

THE  WAR  AND  AMERICA.  ^  t    u    -sr        d  n  r     .     •  i 

Count  J.  H.  Von  Bernstorff,  German  Imperial 

Herman    Ridder,    Editor,   New    Yorker    Staats-  Ambassador  to   the   United  States. 

Zeitung,  AVic  York  City. 

LESSONS  ON  THE  WAR. 

GERMANY'S  DECLARATION.  PAN-SLAVISM. 

OUR  COUNTRY'S  POSITION.  r,      r.         r  cj;        i  ti     n.       r       ,       a 

Dr.  Paul  Carus,  Editor  of  The  Open  Court  and 

Horace  L.  Brand.  Editor,  Illinois  Staats-Zeitung,  The  Monist,  Chicago,  III. 

Chicago,  III. 

GERMANY  AND  ENGLAND  REAL  ISSUE. 
EMPEROR  WILLIAM  THE  MAN.  DR.  ELIOT'S  ANTI-GERMAN  TERRORS. 

MORALS  OF  THE  WAR.  ^     „  _,  j,  ^  r  ,     ■  , 

Dr.  Bernard  Dernberg,  Former  German  Colonial 

Dr.    Hugo    Muensterberg,    Professor    of    Psy-  Minister. 

chology,  Harvard   Uniz-ersity. 

GERMAN      "ATROCITIES"     AND     INTERNATIONAL 
AN  APPEAL  FOR  A  FAIR  JUDGMENT.  LAW. 

Hon.   Peter   S.   Grosscup.  Judge  of  the   United  PROf.    James    G.    McDonald,    Professor   in 

States  Circuit  Court,  Chicago,  III.  Indiana   University. 

GERMANY'S  FATEFUL  HOUR  COREY  DECLARES   BRITISH  CENSORS  FORGE  DIS- 

PATCHES. 
Dr.  Kuno  Francke,  Head  of  the  Department  of 

the   Germanic  Languages  and  Literatures,  Mr.  Herbert  Corey. 

Harvard   University. 

RUSSIAN  DIPLOMACY  AND  THE  WAR. 

Dr.   James   Westfall  Thompson,   Professor  of 
Dr.    George    Stuart    Fullerton,    Professor    of  History,  University  of  Chicago. 

GERMANY  AND  THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE. 

Dr.  Ferdinand  Schevill,  Professor  of  History, 
Dr.   Benjamin   Ide  Wheeler,   President   of  the  University  of  Chicago. 

GERMANY  OF  TODAY. 

Charles  Tower,  Professor  in  the  University  of 
Dr.  Herbert  Sanborn,  Professor  of  Philosophy,  Chicago. 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  GERMAN  MILITARISM. 

George    Stuart    Fullerton,    Pro 
Philosophy,  Columbia  University. 

GERMANY'S   PLACE  IN  THE  SUN. 

Benjamin   Ide  Wheel; 
University  of  California. 

WHAT  THE  TEUTON  DEFENDS 

Ierbert  Sanborn,  Pr 
Vanderbilt  University. 


THE  DUTY  OF  PREPAREDNESS. 


GERMANY'S  ENEMIES 


Dr.  C.  R.  Henderson,  Late  Professor  of  Political 
Dr.  Alfred  E.  Meyer,  Chicago,  III.  ""d  Social  Sciences,  University  of  Chicago. 

THINKS  GERMANY  WAS  FORCED  INTO  THE  WAR.      GERMAN  RACE  WARS  FOR  LIFE. 

Raymond  E.  Swing.  Mr.  Joseph  Medill  Patterson. 


Table  of  Contents 


Page 

FIRST  CHAPTER— Causes  of  the  World  War 1 

INTRODUCTIOX— The  Ro"t  of  the  World  War- 
Doctor  Paul  Rohrbach — An  Address  to  the  Protestant 
Union  of  Hamburg,  Germany 3 

LOOKING  DEEPER  AND  BEYOND  CASUAL  AP- 
PEARANCES FOR  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE 
WAR 3 

More  Remote  Causes  of  the  War — German  Ideals  and 

Their  Realization — Bismarck 3 

Early  Distinction  and  the  Rise  of  Prussia — Recent 
History  of  the  German  People — The  Confedera- 
tion of  the  German  States 3 

What  This  Conflict  Means  to  Germany,  Just  Coming 

Into  Its  Highest  National  Maturity 8 

The  Problems  of  the  Balkans — The  Balkan  Policy — 
On    This    Principle    Rests   the   Justice   of    Their 

Cause 13 

The  Serbian-Russian  Balkan  Policy,  Backed  Up  by 

Russia — Pan-Slavism IS 

The  Balkan  Policy  of  Many  of  the  Slavonic 
Peoples  in  South  Central  Europe  —  Their 
Policy    Directly   or   Indirectly    Supported   by 

Great  Britain,  France,  Japan 16 

The  Central  Empires — Austria  and  Germany — Their 

Balkan  Policy 19 

The  Austrian-German  Policy  Supported  by  Tur- 
ke\ — Sympathy  for  Their  Cause  also  by  the 

Teutonic  States  and  Bulgaria 20 

The  Great  European  Problem  of  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury   for    the    Whole    of    Europe — Pan-Slavism ; 

Can  It  be  Justified  ? 20 

Playing  the   Greatest  Game   of  World    Politics   Ever 

Played — Great  Britain  and  the  Entente 23 

Fairness  and  Impartiality,  the  Plain  Duty  of  All 
Intelligent  Neutrals 30 

Immediate  Causes  of  the  War — From  the  Time  of 
THE  Assassination  of  the  Archduke  and  Duchess 

OF  Austria 2il 

The  Real  Immediate  Cause  of  the  War — The  Russian 

Mobilization ! 37 

Modern  Diplomacy,  Especially  "Secret"  Diplomacy — 
Discussions  on  General  and  Special  Diplomatic 

Questions 43 

The  Special  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  from  the  24th 

of  July  Until  the  Sth  of  August,  1914 45 

The  Philosopher  of  History  on  Modern  Ultra-Prag- 
matism in  this  World  Politics — Vital  Cause  of  the 
War  —  The  Mystery  of  Diplomacy  and  Inter- 
national Politics   47 

FfRTHER  Causes  of  the  Great  War — The  Nations  Are 
All  to  Blame  and  All  .Are  Right  from  a  Certain 

Point  of  View 49 

Additional  Evidence  of  the  Work  of  the  War-Makers     S3 
Great   Britain   and   Germany  —  Their    Principles   and 
Attitude   in  the   Manly  and   Peaceful   Pursuit  of 

Industry   and    Progress 54 

Causes  and  the  Occasions  of  the  War 54 

SECOND  CHAPTER— "The  Case  of  Belgium" 57 

INTRODUCTION— Belgian  Neutrality— Doctor  John  W. 
Burgess,  Dean  of  Political  Science  and  Philosophy, 
Columbia  University  59 

A  "SCRAP  OF  PAPER"— What  the  German  Chancellor 
Meant  by  Thus  Describing  the  Belgian  Neutrality 
Guarantee    59 

The    English-French-Belgian    Position    and   Their 

Consequent  Attitude  59 

The  Popular  Notion  that  There  Was  Still  a  Belgian 
Neutrality  to  Violate — That  the  English-French 
Were  Duty- Bound  to  Protect  Belgium 59 


Page 

Making  a  Fuss  Over  a  Virtue  Long  Since  Surren- 
dered— Belgian  Neutrality  a  Myth 60 

The  Heroic  Deed  of  Protecting  a  Neutrality  That 
Was   Not— Good   Will  and   Ability  to   Protect 

Belgium  I  67 

The  Extension  of  the  Entente — The  Case  of  Belgium    70 
Colossal  Machinations  and  Intrigue  Against  the  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian  Empire  —  Consequently  Against 
Germany — Why  This  Is  So 72 

The  German  Position  and  Her  Consequent  Attitude    74 
Germany's    Honorable    Proposal    to    Belgium  —  Even 

After    Belgium    Had    Broken     Faith    with     Her 

Neighbor  74 

The  Case  of  Belgium  and  Other  Nations — Neutrality 

Guarantees — Treaties  Made  and  Broken 75 

A   Sketch  of  Belgian   History  —  Belgian   Vicissitudes 

for  a  Century — Neutrality  and  International  Law     78 
Belgium's  New  Life  Since  That  Nation's  Recognized 

Independence  from  Holland  in  1839 85 

The  Teutonic  Nations  and  Belgium 91 

The    Non-Teutonic    Nations  —  Except    Bulgaria    and 

Spain 91 

"The  Case  of  Belgium"  and  the  United  States 91 

The  Deeper  Meaning  of  the  Alignment  of  Nations 
in  the  War 91 

THIRD  CHAPTER— All  the  Civilized  Nations  Vitally 
Concerned  95 

INTRODUCTION  — The  Big  Human  Family,  Grouped 
Into  Many  Large,  Vital,  National  Families  —  Vital 
Self-interest — Vital   Inter-Relations 95 

The  Belligerent  Nations — Inter-Relation  of  Bellig- 
erent Nations  —  Their  Ambitions,  Ideas,  Ideals. 
Mutual  Interests  and  Welfare — Life:  Competi- 
tion— Grow  or  Die  ! 97 

Great  Britain,  the  "Triple"  Entente,  and  Other  Allies    'il 
Introduction — Why  We  Are  at  War — J.  Ramsay  Mc- 
Donald,  Prominent  English  Statesman-Scholar..     97 
The  LInderlying  X'ital  Causes  of  England's  Participa- 
tion in  This  Conflict 97 

Great  Britain  in  the  World  War 97 

England's  Domestic  Troubles  and  Outlook  — 
British  Policy  and  Its  Character  in  the  Mak- 
ing —  England,     France,     Russia  —  Belgium, 

Japan,   Portugal   104 

British  Principles  and  Character  in  Action 110 

The  English  Nursing  Hatred  Toward  the  Kaiser.  115 
English  Suspicion  and  Hatred  of  the  Germans..  115 
British  War  News — The  Press  Must  Assist  Us  in 

Fighting  Our  Battles 118 

Great  Britain  and  International  Law 119 

Great  Britain's  Position — Some  Remarkable  Con- 
fessions       121 

Bits  of  News  on  France  in  the  Great  War 122 

Russia  and  the  "Triple"  Entente 126 

The  Liberation  of  the  Jewish  People  by  Russia..  127 
Great  Britain's  and  Russia's  Part  in  the  World 

War  131 

Anglo-Japanese  Machinations  and  American  Safety  133 
Serbia's  Cause,  Her  Position,  and  Her  Part  in  the 

World  War   135 

Germany,  the  "Triple"  Alliance,  and  Other  Allies — 
Germany,  Austria,  Italy — Turkey  in  the  War  on 
Her  Own  Account — .A  Bone  of  Contention:  The 
Dardanelles — The  Central  Empires  and  the  Neu- 
trals     137 

Introduction — Defending  the  Fatherland — The  L'nder- 
lying  Causes  of  the  Great  War — The  Part  Ger- 
manv  Had  in  Its  .Advent  —  Bv  Rev.  .Alfred  E. 
Mever  .' 137 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Page 

Germany  in  the  World  War 137 

The  German  Government  and  the  German  People  139 
Attacking  and  Defending  Germany  in  the  Crisis.  143 
German  Character  and  the  German  Cause  in  the 

War 150 

German  Ideals  and  German  Character  in  Action. .  156 
German    Militarism    and    the    Evolution    of    the 

Empire  165 

The   German   Menace  as   Seen   Through   British 

Eyes   173 

The  Kaiser — What  Great  Men  Know  of  His  Char- 
acter, Motives  and  Ability 182 

Germany's  Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity — 

Patriotism  and  Duty 186 

Germany's  Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity — 

Her  Defense   194 

Germany's  Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity — 

Spiritual  Values   199 

A    Word    from    Emperor    Francis   Joseph    to    His 

People 201 

Italy  and  the  War — An  Ally,  a  Neutral,  a  Belligerent  201 

The  Neutral  Nations — Their  Interests  and  Rights 203 

European     Teutonic     Nations     Loyally     Neutral  — 

England  E.xcepted   203 

Teutonic    Nations    Generally    Not    Firm    in    Their 
Neutrality — Some  Laudable  Exceptions :  Spain, 

Greece,  Bulgaria ■  • 203 

The  Official  and  Popular  NeutraHty  of  the  LTnited 

States — Uncle  Sam  and  His  Children 207 

The  Popular  Neutralitv  of  the  United  States  in  the 

World  War   207 

The  Official  Neutralitv  of  the  L'nited  States  in  the 

World   War   ....'. 217 

Neutrality  of  the  United  States  of  a  Semi-Popular 

and  Semi-Official  Nature 228 

On  the  Fence — Nations  with  Very  Vital  Interests,  in 
Relation  to  the  German-Austrian-Italian  Alliance 

—Turkey,  Bulgaria,  Italy 234 

In  Regard  to  the  English-French-Russian  Alliance — 

Japan,   Portugal,   Roumania 234 

The  Horizon  Darkens — The  European  Situation  Has 

Come  to  a  Crisis 237 

Hostile  Acts  Before  a  Declaration  of  War 237 

Germany  in  the  Crisis — The  Kaiser's  Speeches 237 

FOURTH  CHAPTER— By  the  Laws  of  War 241 

INTRODUCTION— Germany  in  the  Great  War— Count 
Von  Bernstorfif,  Imperial  German  Ambassador  to  the 
United  State's  243 

WHAT  IT  MEANS  TO  WAGE  WAR  ON  SO  LARGE 
A  SCALE  AGAINST  SO  MANY  ENEMIES— Con- 
cerning the  Use  of  Weapons  in  Modern  Warfare. 
Especially  the  Submarine  and  Airship — Some  Cate- 
gorical Questions  Answered  by  the  Imperial  German 
Ambassador  to  the  United  States 243 

EvoLUTio.v  By  the  Law  of  War — Progress  and  the 
First  Law  of  Nature — Life:  An  Eternal  Compe- 
tition     243 

The  Western  Campaign  —  Belgium  and  France  the 
Battleground  —  Germany's  Geographic  Position 
Among  Her  Neighbors  —  Consequent  Strategic 
Movements  of  Vast  Importance  of   the   German 

Armies  243 

The  First  Month  of  the  War— The  Dash  Into  Bel- 
gium and  France 243 

With  the  German  Army  and  the  German  People 

in  France  and  Belgium 245 

German  Atrocity  Reports  Libelous ;  They  Are  a 
Most    Infamous    Crime    of    Political    World 

Machinations  and  Intrigue ! 258 

France  and  Her  Lost  Provinces — .Alsace-Lorraine..  265 

How  France  Has  Behaved  for  a  Century 265 

The   "Entente"   Becomes  an   ".-Mliance" — .Stand   or 

Fall  Together !    265 


Page 

Laws   of    War,    Progress,   and   the   First    Law   of 

Nature 268 

The  Sweep  Along  the  Coast — .\ntwerp 268 

Contrary  to  the  Laws  of  War 268 

The  Eastern  Campaign — Russia — The  Second  Colossal 
Military  iklove.  According  to  the  German  Strategic 
Plans — What  Will  the  Coming  Century  Bring 
Germany  from  Russia  ! 274 

The  Central  Empires — Germany  and  Austria — The 
Seriously    Threatening    Enemy   in   the    East  — 

Galicia  and  East  Prussia 278 

The  Co-Operation  of  Austria — Turkey  in  the  War 

on  Her  Own  Account 278 

Italy  in  the  Great  War— The  Street  Pulls  Italy  Of? 
the  Fence — Italy's  Harvests  from  Her  Sowing  as 

an  Ally,  a  Neutral,  a  Belligerent 281 

Italy  Behold  the  Text:    As  Ye  Sow,  So  Shall  Ye 

'Also  Reap !  281 

The  Bone  of  Contention — Adriatic  Provinces 281 

Modern  Naval  Warfare — Cutting  the  German  Cable 
and  Capturing  the  Enemy's  Merchant  Marine — 
"The  German  Submarine  Will  Win  the  War,"  An 

American  General 286 

Precedent  and  Modern  Naval  Warfare — The  Block- 
ade and  the  Submarine 286 

Naval  Warfare — Cruisers  and  the  Enemy's  Ship- 
ping— Neutral  Shipping — Naval  Battles — Sub- 
marines— Blockades  286 

Colonial  Campaigns — Eastern  Considerations — Japan, 
India,  Persia  —  Great  Britain  in  Africa  —  The 
Boers,  Morocco,  the  Sudan 293 

Aerial  Warfare — Zeppelins,  Aeroplanes,  Hydro-Aero- 
planes— Progress  and  International  Law 295 

The  Use  and  Effectiveness  of  Air-Craft  in  the  War 
— International    Law    on    the    Use    of    Aerial 

Weapons  and  Present  Necessities 295 

Press  Room  Campaigns  at  Home  and  Abroad— With 
Magnificent    First    Line    Forces    and    Plenty    of 

Dum-Dums !   299 

The  Pen  is  Now  Indeed  Mightier  Than  the  Sword 
— Especiallv    in    England    and    France !     How 

Strange  !  ..' 299 

Press  Room  Campaigns  in  England  and  France — 

Plenty  of  Dum-Dums ! 299 

The  Press  Room  Campaign  in  the  United  States^ 
With  Now  and  Then  a  Dum-Dum ! 305 

FIFTH  CHAPTER— On  the  Philosophy  of  the  War 313 

INTRODUCTION— Lessons   of   the   War,    Doctor   Paul 

Cams,  Editor;  The  Open  Court,  Chicago,  Illinois....  315 

WE  MAY  BE  OBLIGED  TO  EMPLOY  FORCE  TO 
PROTECT  VIRTUE  AND  PROGRESS,  BUT 
WOE  TO  THE  NATION  THAT  WOULD  STAY 
THESE  VIRTUES  BY  FORCE! 315 

Peace  and  War — Interesting  and  Helpful  Thoughts 
AND  Suggestions  on  the  Philosophy  of  War — 
Moral  or  Immoral,  Depends  on  the  Righteous- 
ness of  the  Cause 315 

National    Ideals — Morality    and    the   Justification    of 

Force — Diplomacy  and  Politics  in  the  War 325 

Sincerity  of  Purpose  of  the  Nations  in  the  War — 

The  War  Spirit 325 

It  Is  Immoral  for  a  Nation  to  .\llow  Criminal  Neigh- 
bors to   Prostitute   Its  Sacred  Trust — Reasoning 

on  the  War 328 

No  Nation  Without  Laws ;  No  Law  Without  Conflict 
and  Force — Ergo:    The  Tail-End  of  Every  Law 

is  a  Whip  ! 336 

Strategy  and  Sacrifices  of  the  W'^r 336 

Interesting    Comment    and     Speculation     Concerning 

Results  of  the  War 342 

Victory  in  the  War 342 

Results  of  the  War 342 


List  of  Illustrations  and  Maps 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Admiral  von  Tirpitz 286 

Albert,  King  of  Belgium 74 

Also    a    \'oIunteer  —  Picture    by    Courtesy    of    "Chicago 

Abendpost"  .- 140 

Amazone,    An  —  Picture    by    Courtesy    of    the    "Chicago 

Abendpost"   .' 279 

A  Squadron  of  the  German  Staff  Under  Cover  Near 
Grudusk.  Russian  Poland— Photograph  by  the  Inter- 
national Xcvvs  Service 176 

Austrian  Motor-Battery  on  the  Way— Picture  by  Courtesy 

of  "Illinois  Staats-Zeitung" 280 

Before  the  Days  of  Militarism— Picture  by  Courtesy  of 
"Open  Court" • .  •   125 

Bismarck — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  "Chicago  Abendpost"..       5 

Breathing  Spell,  A — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  the  "Illinois 

Staats-Zeitung"    153 

Busy  Bertha  86 

Captured  Russian  Cannon  in  Vienna — Picture  by  Courtesy 
of  "Chicago  Abendpost" 201 

Count  Ferdinand  Zeppelin — Picture  bv  Courtesy  of  "Open 
Court"    ■ ..295 

Cousin  to  "Busy  Bertha" — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  "Chi- 
cago Abendpost"  202 

Dangerous  Lookout,   A   Rather — Picture  by   Courtesy  of 

the  "Chicago  Abendpost" 249 

Dress   Parade,  On 187 

Duchess  of  Brunswick,  The  Kaiser's  Only  Daughter,  The 
— By  Courtesy  of  the  "Open  Court" 138 

Emperor  William  II — From  "The  Chicago  Tribune,"  Oct. 
23,  1914 161 

First  Aid  245 

Field    Dentist,    The — Picture    by    Courtesy    of    "Chicago 

Abendpost"   

Fort  Loucin  of  Liege — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  the  "Koel- 

nische  Zeitung"  88 

Franz  Joseph — Austria-Hungary  278 

I'Vench  Prisoners  of  War 199 

Front,  To  the 142 

Furthering    German    "Kultur" — Picture    by    Courtesy    of 

"Chicago  Abendpost"   61 

Game  at  "Skat"  in  the  Catacombs  at  Bandcsincourt,  A 
Quiet — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  the  "Illinois  Staats- 
Zeitung"  

General  Von  Hindenburg — Photograph  by  the  Inter- 
national News  Service 274 

George  V.,  King  of  Great  Britain 105 

German  Army  in  Belgium,  The — Photograph  by  the  inter- 
national News  Service : 141 

German  Crown  Prince  Inspecting  His  Victorious  Regi- 
ment of  Massiges,  The — Picture  by  Courtesy  of.  the 

"Illinois   Staats-Zeitung"    158 

German  Crown  Prince,  The  Sons  of  the 195 

German   Crown   Princess,  The,  to  the  Right — Picture  by 

Courtesy  of  the  "Open  Court" 

Germans   Distributing  Food  to   the   Belgians — Picture  by 

Courtesy  of  the  "Open  Court" 92 

German  Emperor,  The 141 

German  Emperor  and  His  Six  Sons,  The 196 

German  Ordnance  Officers  in  Poland — Photograph  by  the 

International  News  Service 270 

German  People,  Leaders  of  the 244 


Page 
German  Regiment  Crossing  Pontoon  Bridge,  The — Photo- 
graph by  the  International  News  Service 155 

German  Trenches  Against  Russia,  In  the 268 

God  for  Our  Fatherland,  With 150 

Hermann  von  Eichhorn — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  "Illinois 

Staats-Zeitung"    259 

Home,  At   156 

I  lome  Circle  Strategy 330 

India  Pacata  by  Verestchagin — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  tlie 

"Open  Court" HI 

In  the  Prisoners'  Camp  at  Ohrdruf— Picture  by  Courtesy 
of  the  "Chicago  Abendpost" 179 

I ron  Cross,  The 184 

Kaiser  Wilhelm  Canal,  The — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  the 
"World's  Work"  190 

King  Albert  in  German  Uniform — Picture  by  Courtesy 
of  the  "Open  Court" 77 

Lincoln — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  "Chicago  Abendpost"...  230 

Lord    Roberts     Inspecting    Recruits    in    Langley     Park, 

England — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  the  "Open  Court"..   100 

Loyal  Comrades  in  Arms — Picture  by  Courtesy  of  "Chi- 
cago AI)endpost"  278 

Lunch  Time  of  the  German  Army— Photograph  by  the 
International  News  Service 247 

Machine-Gun  Division  in  Russian  Poland  Ready  for  Ac- 
tion— Picture  by  Courtesy  of  the  "Illinois  Staats- 
Zeitung"    2/ J 

Monument  of  the  Battle  of  Leipsic— Picture  by  Courtesy 
of  the  "Open  Court"   17 

M.  Poincare,  President  of  France— Photo  by  the  Inter- 
national News   Service    123 

New  Belgian  Bank  Commission,  The— Picture  by  Courtesy 
of  "Chicago  Abendpost" ^8 

Nicholas  II,  Czar  of  Russia 127 

Nothing  Neglected— Photograph  by  the  International 
News   Service    253 

Ouspinski  Church  as  a  Stable,  The— Picture  by  Court- 
esy of   the   "Open   Court" 126 

Peace— Picture  by  Courtesy  of  the  "Open  Court" ■_ 

Peter   I — King  of   Servia 13o 

People  Waiting  in  the  Streets  of  Lodz  for  Food  from  the 

German     Armj — Photograph     by     the     International 

News   Service    27/ 

Riding     Infantry— Picture     by     Courtesy     of     "Chicago      _ 

Abendpost"     1^' 

Ruins  of  Heidelberg  Castle— Picture  by  Courtesy  of  the 

"Open    Court"    124 

Taking   Departure  after   Recovery— By   Courtesy   of   the 

"Chicago  Abendpost"   343 

The  German  Emperor 23/ 

The  Note  that  Rings  True •  •  • 

To   the   Front -38 

Uncle  Sam's   Officers  in   Germany— Picture  by   Courtesy 

of    "Chicago    Abendpost" 219 

\'ictor  Emanuel,   King  of   Italy    (Picture) 282 

Von  Hindenburg  and  His  Staff— Picture  by  Courtesy  of 
"Chicago  Abendpost"    14^ 

William  II — Emperor  of  Germany 182 


MAPS 


CENTRAL  EUROPE— From  "The  Navy,"  Washington, 

September,   1914   16 

EUROPE— From  the  Geographic  Publishing  Company,.  283 
EUROPE  AND  THE  MEDITERRANEAN- From  "The 

Navy,"  Washington,  September,  1914 20 

ITALY   AND   THE   ADRIATIC— From   the    "National 

Geographic  Magazine"   284 

KAISER     WILHELM     CANAL— From     "The     Navy." 

Washington,   September,   1914 194 

vii 


NORTHERN  EUROPE— From  "The  Navy."  Washing- 
ton, September,  1914 18 

THE  DARDANELLES  AND  THE  AEGEAN— From 
the  "National  Geographic  Magazine" 287 

THE    EASTER.V    WAR    ZONE— From    the    "National 

Geographic   Magazine"   276 

THE  WESTERN  WAR  ZONE— From  the  "National 
Geographic    Magazine"    251 

THE  WORLD  AT  WAR— From  "The  Literary  Digest," 
New  York,  October  17,  1914 293 


PREFACE 


WHAT  THIS  BOOK  IS. 

"Behold  the  true  warriors:  they  arc  not  quick  to  shrink,  are 
not  defiant,  nor  eager  for  fight,  but  when  they  are  forced  to 
fight,  then  have  a  care,  they  are  in  earnest." — Luther,  (From 
the   Fatherland,    New  York,  April  28,   1915.) 

liar  Echoes  gives  you  a  systematic  presentation  and 
interpretation  of  Official  Documents,  Newspaper  and 
Magacinc  Articles,  Addresses,  Lectures,  Debates,  Dis- 
cussions, Editorials,  a  thoroughgoing  Preface  with  con- 
tributions from  the  Editor,  with  articles,  discussions, 
comment,  etc.:  with  comment  on  subject-matter  in- 
cluded— and  all,  of  course,  in  connection  with  the  pres- 
ent European  conflict,  from  the  time  of  the  assassina- 
tion of  the  Archduke  and  the  Duchess  of  Austria;  the 
book  is  well  illustrated,  includes  many  good  Maps,  an 
analytical  Table  of  Contents,  an  alphabetical  List  of 
Contributors,  showing  their  choicest  articles,  and  a 
complete  Index.  This  book  is  the  one,  and  only 
complete  answer  to  tlie  many  questions  asked  and  dis- 
cussed throughout  the  civilized  world  on  this  subject. 


HOW  THE  TASK  WAS  CONCEIVED. 

The  tremendous  power  of  the  American  press,  cre- 
ating, and  feeding  upon  popular  notions  and  senti- 
ments concerning  the  aims  and  conduct  of  certain  Euro- 
pean nations,  and,  I  very  much  fear,  only  too  often 
stooping  to  policies  working  to  the  great  injury  of  cer- 
tain persons  and  institutions  for  private  gain  through 
the  misfortunes  of  others,  which  was  especially  so  dur- 
ing the  first  months  of  the  present  conflict — impelled 
me  to  throw  all  my  energies  and  spirit  into  the  work 
of  defending  a  people  wliose  reputation  and  character 
we  well  know,  in  whom  we  have  always  had  and  still 
cherish  a  splendid  Faith  and  in  which  Faith  we  shall 
abide  until  sufficient  evidence  compels  us  to  give  this 
Faith  up  as  not  well  founded.  I  say  zi'e  advisedly,  be- 
cause I  regard  my  task  in  this  connection  as  merely 
that  of  a  collaborator  with  the  many  staunch  defenders 
of  the  same  cause  and  Faith  which  I  cherish  and  cham- 
pion. For  instance,  note  what  the  Chicago  -Abendpost 
says  of  this : 

"WAR  ECHOES  or  GERMANY  AND  AUSTRIA 
IN  THE  CRISIS  should  be  in  the  home  of  every 
American  citizen  who  still  holds  to  the  idea  of  fair 
plav  in  politics." — The  -Abendpost,  Chicago,  January  23, 
1915. 

It  is  very  simple  and  clear  to  me  how  this  task  was 
plainly  forced  upon  us  through  the  overwhelming  mass 
of  untruthful,  insulting  and  calumnious  reports  of  a 
people  whom  we  know  too  well  to  accept  the  hasty, 
nervous  accusations,  in  the  light  of  the  spirit  and  cir- 
cumstances of  the  evidence ! 


THE  MISSION  AND  PROMISE  OF  THE  BOOK. 

Its  Mission. 

This  suggests  the  Mission  of  the  book,  which  is 
clear,  and  frankly  to  defend  Germany  and  Austria  in 
the  present  crisis,  a  high  privilege  and  plain  duty,  as 
I  see  my  relation  to  the  situation,  which  has  very  plainly 
been  forced  upon  all  of  us  who  believe  in  fair  play, 
honor  at  home  and  justice  abroad!  We  cannot  escape 
this  duty  until  every  American  citizen  will  be  ready  to 
grant  to  all  belligerents  the  same  open  and  generous 
hearing  alike,  and  until  we  will  be  persuaded  to  strike 
a  plane  of  a  high  moral  and  spiritual  attitude  in  deal- 
ing with  belligerents  now  and  hereafter.  I  appreciate 
the  technical  position  that  we  cannot  very  well  pass  a 
law  now  since  the  trouble  is  on,  that  would  not  work 
to  the  inevitable  detriment  of  one  of  the  contestants  in 
the  war,  which  would  be  equivalent  to  an  ex  post  facto 


in  common  law ;  I  am  now  appealing  for  a  standing 
policy  for  my  country  in  the  future.  Yet,  why  could 
we  not  do  what  Jefferson  did  with  England  and  France, 
and  what  President  Wilson  did  with  Mexico  a  year 
ago?  I  am  not  criticizing,  I  am  honestly  asking  for 
information.  At  any  rate,  we  should  at  least  not  con- 
demn a  people  or  a  nation  until  we  have  given  all  the 
witnesses  in  the  case  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  if  we 
must  judge  and  condemn !  It  is  with  an  open  mind, 
a  good  conscience,  and  a  glad  heart  that  we  are  looking 
forward  to  the  fulfillment  of  this  important  Mission  of 
the  undertaking! 

Can  you  give  a  clear  account  of  the  German-Austrian 
and  Serbian-Russian  Balkan  Policies,  the  Principles 
upon  which  the  present  heart-rending  calamity  was 
precipitated?  Can  you  discuss  the  Historical  Back- 
ground of  these  Policies,  the  recent  European  History, 
especially  that  of  the  nations  at  war,  the  interests  of 
the  several  nations  that  led  to  the  present  political 
alignment  in  Europe  and  elsewhere,  the  attitude  of  the 
neutral  nations  and  the  so-called  neutrals?  This  book 
meets  this  demand  absolutely. 


th^ 


My  Fatherland  First 

neaning  of  Deutsch- 

rhis    idea    is    further    well    expressed    by    the    beautiful    and 
ikingly   patriotic    Spirit    of   the    Poem   and   Song,    and   also   in 
:   evident  meaning  of — ""     *     *     from   the  Maas  clear  to  the 
Memel,    from    the    Etsch    on    to    the    Uelt     *     '      *" 

This  truth,  as  the  verv  essence  of  poetry  and  song,  must  be 
experienced  psychologically,  not  logically.  My  Fatherland  First, 
is  the  real  meaning  of  the  poem,  and  I  feel  certain  the  author 
would  confirm  this  conviction.  Is  there  a  man  so  dull  as  to 
find  fault  with  his  neighbor  because  of  his  neighbor's  sentiment 
attached  to  his  family,  when  he  eulogizes  the  many  virtues  of 
the  mother  of  his  happv  children  :  "She  is  the  best  and  most 
beautiful  creature  God  ever  created!"  Certainly  nobody  in  his 
right  mind  would  call  him  either  a  fool  or  a  conceited,  am- 
bitious neighbor !  We  must  know  how  to  make  allowances  for 
expressions  from  so  deep  a  source  I  .-\nd  this  is  precisely  a 
parallel  case,  as  against  the  stupid,  ugly  rendering  of  this  song, 
which  we  have  seen  so  often  recently,  "Germany  Above  .-Ml  : 
both  of  these  expressions  have  their  life  in  spirit  and  love,  the 
one  in  the  love  of   Home,  the  other  in  the  love  of  Country! 


PREFACE 


The  Promise. 

The  book  was  to  be  ready  to  be  sent  on  its  important 
Mission  soon  after  May  first,  but  practical  problems 
over  which  the  Editor  and  Publisher  had  little  con- 
trol, have  prevented  this  until  the  latter  part  of  July ; 
and  now  we  cherish  the  hope  that  it  will  meet  with  a 
hearty  welcome!  For  our  good  German  and  Austro- 
Hungarian  sympathizers  we  need  no  argument  to  point 
out  the  importance  of  the  undertaking:  for  these  of 
our  good  citizens,  suffice  it  to  say  that  in  this  book 
we  meet  with  the  first  and  only  serious  attempt  to 
assist  the  "F'atherland"  more  by  disparaging  her  enemies 
less,  but  also  by  bringing  her  side  of  the  story  to  the 
good  people,  the  rank  and  file  of  Americans  in  the 
America)!  Lanyuaiic!  Moreover,  by  going  into  the 
various  factors  of  the  subject  extensively,  systemat- 
ically, and  scientifically !  Civilized  people  cannot  sys- 
tematically believe  in  vilification,  but  it's  just  the  best  of 
physicians  who  use  strong  medicine  at  times,  when  in- 
temperance and  abuse  have  sent  their  poison  coursing 
through  a  body ;  the  enemy  must  be  met  in  his  own  lair 
by  the  employment  of  his  own  methods  and  weapons. 
We  do  not  delight  in  giving  a  rascal  of  his  own  medi- 
cine, but  sometimes  this  seems  to  be  the  only  recourse. 
Germans,  Austro-Hungarians  and  their  sympathizers  do 
not  require  an  argument ;  all  they  have  been  expecting 
is  facts,  truths,  fair  play,  justice! 

Now  to  those  good  .Americans  who  sympathize  with 
the  European  alignment  of  the  opposition,  permit  me 
to  say  this  solemn  and  serious  word :  the  cause  of  your 
hearts — and  the  people  in  Europe  that  represent  this 
cause  in  a  last  human  effort  to  force  their  will,  have 
had  easily  ninety  per  cent  of  the  attention  of  American 
periodicals,  England  having  been  in  a  position  to  reap 
the  benefit  of  this,  whether  it  was  justly  earned  or  not. 
Capital  and  diplomacy  go  far  in  such  crises,  especially 
so  when  they  can  be  employed  in  the  language  of  the 
country,  in  a  country  having  similar  institutions,  having 
the  same  political  ancestry,  etc.  Then  consider  the 
first  offices  of  the  nation  that  have  easily  a  thousand 
social-political  and  family  bonds  in  the  United  Kingdom 
to  one  in  Germany  or  .Austria !  How  many  of  German 
and  Austrian  birth  or  near  lineage  are  in  our  Congress, 
in  the  Cabinet?  You  have  the  further  tremendous 
advantage  in  the  fact  of  your  faith  in  democratic  ideas 
and  institutions,  viewing  all  types  of  Socialists  with  a 
sense  of  sympathy,  fear,  or  pity ! 

Money,  power,  prestige,  the  popularity  of  the  cause 
of  the  democratic  alignment,  with  which  you  most  nat- 
urally sympathize,  the  Talleyrand  type  of  diplomacy, 
the  more  or  less  popular  or  catchy  character  of  demo- 
cratic literature,  and  finally,  but  by  no  means  of  less 
importance,  the  many  things  you  know  (?')  and  feel  of 
what  has  happened  and  still  is  going  on  in  Europe  on 
the  subject  in  question,  which  have  neither  foundation 
in  fact  nor  truth  !  Therefore,  let  us  be  considerate  and 
generous,  and  let  us  reason  with  you  and  appeal  to 
you  !  Read  at  least  such  portions  of  the  book  as  deal 
with  the  character  and  honor  of  the  enemy!  Let  us 
show  with  a  genuine  pride  that  we  have  real  chivalry! 
At  least  let  us  read  the  most  excellent  articles  from 
Dr.  Burgess.  Dr.  Schevill,  Dr.  Henderson.  Dr.  Fullerton, 
Dr.  Sanborn.  Judge  Grosscup.  and  many  others  from 
equally  prominent  and  worthy  .Xmerican  scholars,  and 
then  let  us  talk  the  question  over  again,  quietly !  Read 
especially  Chaffer  I  on  the  Cattses  of  the  JVar,  and 
look  carefully  into  Germany's  recent  History.  Let  us 
show  these  nations  at  war  that  we  -Americans  can  at 
least  show  a  spirit  of  Fair  Play  in  an  hour  so  trying 
to  them!  Not  one  of  us  would  even  have  his  personal 
enemy  maligned  or  condemned  without  a  fair  trial! 
I  venture  to  say  that  German  sympathizers  in  America 
have  learned  much  by  having  been  obliged  to  content 
themselves  with  but  a  very  meager  sympathetic  atten- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  .American  press,  public  utter- 
ances and  the  public  spirit,  and  that  they  have  had 
these  things  constantly  before  their  eyes:  it  is  not  un- 
likely that  you  would  reap  a  similar  benefit  by  showing 
your  good  will  and  your  spirit  of  fairness  toward  this 
question  ! 


This  book  promises  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
•American  public  for  honor  at  home  and  justice  abroad, 
as  suggested  by  Herman  Ridder : 

"The  feeling  against  Germany  in  this  war  in  the 
United  States  is  largely  sentimental.  It  had  its  begin- 
ning in  the  violent  utterance  of  British  writers  against 
the  personality  of  the  Emperor  and  in  the  greater  pity 
for  Belgium — harped  so  largely  upon  by  England."— 
Herman  Ridder,  in  the  New-Yorker  Staats-Zeitung. 
Jan.  4,  1915. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR. 
Our  Neutrality — Official  and  Popular. 

We  have  been  most  solemnly  enjoined  by  the  Pres- 
ident to  remain  neutral  during  the  European  contlict, 
especially  in  that  nobler,  finer,  subtle,  spiritual  neutral- 
ity. Accordingly  we  should  refrain  from  speaking,  yea, 
even  from  feeling  and  thinking  partially  on  the  subject, 
while  many  may  be  permitted  to  send  munitions  of 
war,  when  it  is  evident  that  only  one  side  of  the  con- 
testants can  take  advantage  of  such  shipments !  -And 
this  may  be  done  while  our  foodstuff,  clothing  and 
shelter  materials  receive  but  shabby  protection  on  their 
way  to  the  civilian  population  of  some  of  the  belliger- 
ents !  First,  an  element  of  the  .American  press,  pseudo- 
democratic  and  pro-British,  did  untold  damage  toward 
poisoning  the  innocent  heart  and  mind  of  the  .American 
masses,  and  then,  to  cap  the  climax,  we  cannot  prevent 
war  munitions  from  going  to  the  very  maligners  of  a 
people  w'hose  case  is  still  in  court,  and  thus  use  us  to 
add  injury  to  insult  to  a  people  who  have  not  yet  had 
a  full  opportunity  to  be  heard,  and  that  is  all  they-  expect 
from  a  "Neutral"  country!  I  often  wonder  if  our 
American  newspaper  writers  have  ever  read  this  procla- 
mation!  H  they  have,  they  certainly  have  not  taken 
the  President  seriously.  Of  course,  to  send  munitions 
of  war,  in  the  face  of  this  proclamation,  is,  technically 
not  unneutral,  but  hardly  chivalrous,  noble,  American ! 
But,  to  cap  the  real  climax,  that  is  reserved  for  an 
Englishman,  a  great  rhetorician  of  fantastic  figures  of 
speech  and  a  mental  gymnast.  Hall  Caine :  this  man 
has  the  audacity  to  take  it  upon  himself  to  reprove  the 
President  for  his  plea  for  strict  neutrality  and  attempts 
to  show  Mr.  Wilson,  according  to  the  reports  of  the 
local  papers,  how  to  work  for  justice,  righteousness  and 
humanity,  by  joining  the  British  fighting  forces! 

//  is  furthermore  my  plain  duty  to  state  here,  now, 
and  in  unmistakable  terms,  that  I  have  not  been  able 
to  approve  of  all  that  individual  and  collective  German- 
.lustrian  sympathizers  in  this  country  haz'e  said  or  done 
in  connection  u-ith  the  'var.  I  shall  speak  of  the  various 
debatable  (jnestions  in  their  proper,  respective  places  in 
the  Preface  and  also  in  the  notes  and  in  my  articles  in 
the  book. 

The  People  and  their  Governments. 

Let  us  regard  it  our  Moral  Duty  to  try  to  understand 
that  the  People,  especially  in  a  non-democratic  country, 
are  much  less  or  often  very  little  to  blame  for  govern- 
mental conduct :  this  applies  especially  to  the  People 
of  Belgium,  since  I  have  it  on  good  authority,  from 
several  sources,  and  from  my  own  observations  in  Bel- 
gium, that  the  People  were  not  to  blame,  for  not  even 
the  general  officials  of  all  the  three  countries  were  "let 
in  on  the  deal"  of  the  secret  "conversations."  In  one, 
a  most  flagrant  case,  not  even  a  member  of  the  British 
Parliament  knew  of  the  obligation  to  France,  much  less 
to  Belgium !  .Are  we  surprised,  therefore,  when  we 
hear  of  the  resignations  of  high  officials!  I  feel  mor- 
ally certain  that,  had  it  been  left  to  the  Belgian  People 
to  decide  for  themselves  whether  or  not  they  should 
place  their  fate  into  the  hands  of  Great  Britain,  they 
would  have  preferred  to  continue  as  they  were,  or  at 
least  consult  Germany  and  Holland  in  regard  to  her 
course.  Perhaps  the  German  People  would  have  done 
likewise,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  but  once  they 
understood  the  meaning  of  the  alignment  against  them, 
without  quibbling  or  exhortation,  the  German  People 
would  have  voted  war  to  a  man  !  That  is  the  differ- 
ence; there  is  a  reason! 


PREFACE 


We  Don't  Want  Germany  to  Win. 

One  of  the  strongest  reasons  why  people  favor  the 
sending  of  war  materials  to  Germany's  enemies,  while 
dissatisfaction  is  heard  everywhere  because  of  the  poor 
protection  American  shipments  of  food  supplies  for  the 
German  civilian  population  receive,  is,  as  they  say,  "We 
don't  want  Germany  to  win" !  Of  course,  they  call 
that  neutrality!  The  poll  of  the  American  press  can- 
vassed and  reported  by  the  Literary  Digest  showed  the 
same  spirit  and  results ;  it  is  the  spirit  of  the  country 
and  the  people,  reflected  by  the  press. 

Here  neutrality  ends ;  I  do  not  want  to  be  found 
guilty  of  this  spirit  and  deed.  I  am  merely  trying  to 
do  justice;  this  is  our  plain  duty,  not  to  take  sides, 
beyond  championing  fair  play  and  justice!  Whatever 
our  efforts,  then,  they  must  make  for  honor  at  home 
and  justice  abroad!  We  would,  furthermore,  be  loyal 
and  responsible  citizens,  and,  therefore,  we  always  wish 
to  be  found  in  a  position  in  which  we  can  support  any 
and  every  vital  government  policy  without  stint,  with 
courage,  patriotism,  and  spirit,  without  fear  or  favor. 
But  as  there  is  filial,  so  is  there  also  parental  responsi- 
bility. A  democratic  government  must  certainly  expect 
its  people  to  take  part  in  shaping  its  policy  in  such 
a  way  that  the  people  may  support  it  loyally,  at  all 
times,  without  question;  as  a  faithful  citizen,  I  want 
to  be  in  a  position  to  say  at  any  time  that  nothing  will 
stop  me  from  supporting  my  country;  that  is  why  I  am 
making  sacrifices  with  this  study  for  our  common  good  I 
Is  this  clear  to  you?  It  is  American  First,  and  if  no 
declaration  is  made  to  the  contrary,  this  policy  should 
always  be  supported  without  question ! 

This  partisaiishifi  and  the  f'rivate  interests  at  zi'ork 
in  this  country,  making  money  by  feeding  the  war-fire 
for  more  victims  to  tlie  ghastly  holocaust,  have  pro- 
longed the  frightful  slaughter,  and  will  continue  to  do 
so;  many  sensible  people  are  now  beginning  to  see 
that  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  urgingly  our  duty 
to  discontinue  this  sort  of  war-fare  as  neutrals,  indi- 
vidually as  well  as  collectively,  since  the  inevitable  re- 
sult is  becoming  clearer  from  day  to  day! 

Why  Our  Position  is  Difficult. 

Let  me  mention  some  plain,  practical  reasons  why 
the  people  of  the  United  States  have  generally  sym- 
pathized with  the  Democratic  Alignment ;  certainly  not 
because  of,  but  assuredly  in  spite  of  our  repeated  dis- 
appointing experiences  with  Great  Britain ;  compare, 
for  instance,  our  relation  with  Germany,  in  history, 
with  that  of  Great  Britain !  Consider  the  advantage 
of  our  common  language,  and  consequently  the  power 
of  the  American  press,  though  this  is,  in  my  humble 
judgment,  not  the  only  reason  for  the  conduct  of  the 
press!  Compare  the  similarity  of  our  institutions  and 
our  governmental  ancestry ;  in  other  words,  democ- 
racy, and  hence  our  sympathy,  especially  for  France. 
But  out  of  this  grows  also  the  peculiar  democratic 
faith  in  numbers,  majorities!  The  statement  is  general: 
"Why  would  so  many  be  against  Germany,  if  she  were 
not  wrong?"  This  is  a  question  often  asked  in  good 
faith.  You  know  this  is  no  uncommon  argument,  either 
in  war  between  nations  or  political  wars  within  the 
very  borders  of  democratic  countries.  Of  course,  these 
people  never  heard  of  the  great  American  Statesman 
who  preferred  to  be  right  to  being  President!  Then 
comes  the  natural,  practical  problem  of  getting  some- 
thing good  for  the  papers!  The  American  likes  to  be 
with  the  winning  side",  being  an  opportunist,  hence  here 
he  can  make  it  count,  there  being  much  at  stake !  Don't 
shudder  because  of  purely  business  interests  involved, 
for  the  press:  our  domestic  political  relations,  right 
here  at  home,  are  not  cz'en  free  from  these  consider- 
ations, how  do  you  expect  love  to  extend  beyond  na- 
tional boundaries  when  we  don't  even  find  it  at  home ; 
love  as  charity  begins  there ! 

The  Difficult  Position  of  the  Third  Party. 

The  careful  manipulation  of  the  series  of  events  on 
the  part  of  Germany's  enemies,  to  bring  her  to  a  place 
where  it  was  certain  she  would  protest,  and  that  by 
force,  if  need  be,  and  to  try  to  make  out  that  she 
sought  war,  when  she  was  seeking  self-protection  and 


the  protection  of  her  ally,  only,  ought  to  convince  even 
the  most  prejudiced!  The  situation  is  always  pre- 
sented by  Germany's  enemies  that  Germany  could  have 
conciliated  the  question  of  Austria's  rights  and  duties, 
as  if  to  say,  we  are  always  ready  to  compromise  or 
arbitrate  any  question  in  dispute  with  our  neighbors. 
If  this  were  sincere,  why  did  not  England  call  a  halt 
on  Russian  mobilization !  That  would  have  settled  it 
all,  in  one  stroke,  and  England  could  have  done  this 
as  easily  as  Germany,  dealing  with  Austria  in  connec- 
tion with  Serbia,  accomplishing  the  same  end.  And 
what  offense  had  Germany  committed  in  comparison 
to  the  Russian  trick  in  mobilization !  Or,  why  did 
France  or  Russia  not  arbitrate?  There  is  one  alterna- 
tive: England's  cause  for  war  was  just,  Germany's 
not!  Don't  say  Belgium!  It  is  now  common  knowl- 
edge that  England  would  not  remain  neutral,  by  her 
own  admission  in  the  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  even 
if  Belgian  territory  were  not  invaded;  and  again,  as 
for  the  respect  for  Belgian  neutrality,  which  was  by 
this  time  registered  on  a  mere  "scrap  of  paper,"  Great 
Britain  made  it  clear  in  the  famous  "Conversations" 
that  her  160.000  troops  would  land  on  the  continent, 
Belgium  willing  or  not,  as  anyone  may  see  for  him- 
self in  Chapter  II  of  this  book.  What  noble  or  right- 
eous impulse  has  urged  France  into  the  war,  anyway? 
Revenge;  what  more!  And  if  Germany  and  Austria 
do  not  look  after  their  own  interests,  which  no  one 
can  understand  better  than  they  do  themselves,  who 
would?  In  short,  if  there  was  a  lack  of  willingness 
to  arbitrate  the  question,  then  the  Allies  certainly  have 
enough  sweeping  to  do  at  their  doors ! 

Why  I  Defend  Germany. 

From  Germany's  reply  to  Grey,  as  to  Germany's  motives: 
"Germany  is  not  fighting  to  subdue  the  continent,  but  for  her 
own  independence  and  the  freedom  of  the  seas,  and  for  all 
nationals  who  are  bulldozed  by  the  English  navy." — From  the 
Milwaukee  Free  Press,  who  quoted  from  the  Nord  Deutsche 
ftllgemeine  Zeitung,  March  27,  1915. 

My  defense  of  the  German  cause,  which  is  bound  up 
with  that  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  empire,  is  very  sim- 
ple, natural  and  reasonable ;  I  atn  first  of  all  a  good 
American  and  have  an  honest  and  deep  desire  for 
genuine  neutrality,  according  to  the  Spirit  as  well 
as  the  Letter  of  the  Lazv.  At  least  one  American 
manufacturer  has  made  a  practical  demonstration  of 
his  genuine  neutrality,  when  he  sets  the  example  by 
refusing  millions  to  contribute  munitions  of  war.  See 
Stevenson  (John  J.) — in  the  Index.  This  is  what  !\Ir. 
Stevenson  says  of  this  change  in  his  life: 

"The  last  time  we  made  war  munitions  was  for  the  United 
States  government  about  eight  years  ago.  We  manufactured 
about  119,000  shells."  Then  came  the  conversion.  I  take  it!  "I 
then  joined  Andrew  Carnegie's  Peace  Society — and  have  been  an 
active  member  ever  since.  It  is  so  much  better  to  make  things 
that  are  useful  to  mankind  than  to  make  things  that  destroy 
mankind." — Thus  speaks  one  of  the  American  manufacturers, 
John  J.  Stevenson,  President  of  the  Driggs-Seabury  Ordnance 
Corporation. 

See  also :  "Our  Neutrality"  in  this  circular.  He  is 
the  noble  President  of  the  Driggs-Seabury  Ordnance 
Corporation.  Three  cheers  for  Stevenson !  It's  a  desire 
for  Fair  Play,  for  Justice!  As  usual  for  me.  I  am 
with  the  unpopular  cause ;  and  in  this  particular  I  am 
quite  un-.American  for  I  glory  in  championing  the 
maligned,  the  insulted,  the  hated  person,  institution  or 
people,  and  especially  so,  when  fear,  revenge,  power, 
ambition,  are  the  Virtues  arrayed  against  them,  when 
such  is  the  answer  to  an  invitation  to  natural  normal 
competition  between  the  nations!  What  is  tlie  use  to 
talk  about  neutrality  when  the  spirit  of  the  press  and 
people  is  arrayed  against  them,  even  if  we  try  to  "toe 
the  mark,"  according  to  the  letter  of  the  law,  at  Wash- 
ington. Germans  and  Germany  are  human,  however, 
and  I  am  not  defending  them  in  their  errors,  wrongs 
or  sins :  I  leave  that  to  the  teachers,  the  government, 
and  the  priest :  to  the  world-Tribunal,  and  their  God : 
and  as  for  pointing  them  out.  I  think  I  could  hardly 
improve  upon  what  has  been  done  during  the  past  eight 
months !  It  is  the  palpably  one-sided  situation  in  Spirit 
that  is  un-.'Kmerican,  unfair,  un-neutral !  It  is  this 
that  I  deplore  and  denounce,  and  this  I  do  as  a  faith- 
ful .\merican  ! 


PREFACE 


This  is  a  move  in  the  right  direction;  Zi-hy  do  not 
our  millions  of  good  Christian  people  who  pompously 
talk  "Humanity"  set  for  themselves  the  personal,  pri- 
vate, indizidual  task  and  plain  duty  to  convert  more 
of  these  individuals  to  a  full  sense  of  the  realization 
of  what  their  business  in  the  ammunition  traffic  means! 
The  government  cannot  now  well  pass  a  specific  en- 
actment dealing  with  this  question  for  reasons  above 
stated,  but  we  can  make  it  a  private  question  which 
will  U'ork  as  far,  at  least,  as  it  works.  A  law  by  the 
Federal  government,  indicating  the  future  policy  on 
this  point,  will  certainly  be  duty  considered  when  the 
war  is  over.  It  is  a  little  inopportune  to  discuss  what 
we  might  have  done  or  could  do  in  the  future.  But 
very  clearly  and  plainly  we  must  see  our  present  duty 
and  responsibility. 

A  great  Mass-Meeting  of  Sympathizers  for  Ger- 
many and  Austria  in  tlieir  present  critical  situation  was 
held  in  Chicago,  at  the  Auditorium,  on  the  evening 
of  August  5,  1914,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  upon  the 
press  and  public  to  suspend  judgment  with  respect  to 
the  responsibility  for  the  present  war  until  all  the  facts 
were  learned.  It  was  apparent  that  many  Americans, 
through  an  anti-German  press,  had  become  prejudiced 
and,  therefore,  believed  it  was  Germany,  and  especially 
the  German  emperor,  that  stirred  up  this  great  con- 
flict. One  of  the  speakers  at  this  meeting  said  that  the 
German  sympathizers  in  the  United  States  could  best 
help  Germany  by  spreading  the  truth  concerning  the 
war  and  its  underlying  causes  among  the  American 
people. 

How  was  this  to  be  done  most  effectively? 

Our  book  is  so  far  the  only  satisfactory  reply  to  this 
question.  The  meeting  voiced  the  conviction  that  a 
book  should  be  prepared  in  which  would  be  presented 
articles  selected  from  a  mass  of  literature,  choosing 
only  that  which  would  most  adequately  set  forth  the 
facts  before  our  American  audience. 

Unfortunately  the  German  side  of  the  great  issue 
has  not  been  generally  understood  owing  to  the  fact 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  Anglo-.\mericau  press 
has  given  the  causes  and  news  of  the  war  almost 
wholly  from  the  English  standpoint.  This  has  been 
simply  the  continuation  of  a  campaign  of  misrepre- 
sentation extending  over  many  years. 

As  Herman  Ridder  says,  in  the  New-Yorker  Staats- 
Zeitung :  "We  should  be  a  great  deal  better  off  and  a 
great  deal  wiser  if  the  press,  instead  of  feeding  us  with 
the  events  and  arguments  of  the  moment,  liad  gone 
back  some  thirty  or  forty  years  and  reprinted  the  hap- 
penings which  have  intervened  between  then  and  now. 
The  gradual  development  of  Germany  as  a  world 
power — the  coincident  and  resultant  growth  of  British 
jealousy — the  last  phase  of  Russia's  aspirations — the 
play  of  French  pride  and  chagrin — are  all  written 
therein." 

The  Necessity  of  Our  Efforts  With  This  Book. 

Our  efforts,  then,  with  this  undertaking  are  intended 
to  throw  weight  into  the  balance,  to  even  up  our  rela- 
tions with  the  belligerents  while  at  war.  It  is  high 
time  that  the  average  reader  have  an  opportunity  to 
study  an  unprejudiced,  systematic  account  of  the  series 
of  events  preceding  the  war  as  well  as  of  the  progress 
of  it.  Where  would  they  go  to  obtain  such  an  analysis 
if  we  did  not  assist  them  in  this  plain  duty! 

The  Task  of  Championing  an  Unpopular  Cause. 

I  am  by  no  means  unmindful  of  tlie  seriousness  of 
championing  an  unpopular  cause!  It  is  all  the  worse 
that  the  very  people  and  nations  that  have  made  this 
cause  unpopular  are  those  same  people  that  have  been 
unwilling  to  see  Germany  prosper  I  But  I  have  also 
great  faith  in  the  fundamental  well-meaning  of  the 
American  people  at  heart;  therefore,  I  can  approach 
them  with  perfect  confidence  in  my  appeal.  What 
revelations  when  fact  and  truth  of  the  case  are  known! 

/  champion  (,ermany's  cause,  moreover,  because  I 
nozi.'  feel  convinced  more  than  ever  that  most  of  the 
cardinal  sins  of  the  calendar  are  at  the  bottom  of  her 
trials — jealousy,  fear,  revenge,  ambition,  conceit;  ignor- 


ance, ignoble  spirit,  sentimentality,  short  sightedness, 
and  many  others,  but  first  and  last  jealousy!  The  ugly 
politics  in  the  British-French  Press  Room  Campaigns 
that  represent  a  nation  thus  forced  to  fight  for  hearth 
and  home  as  the  aggressor,  aiming  at  nothing  short  of 
world  control,  and  to  present  her  thus,  zvhen  isolated 
and  her  very  existence  threatened,  to  ignorant  and 
credulous  mobs  proclaiming  a  pseudo-democracy,  when 
she  is  not  in  a  position  to  defend  herself — will  ever  be 
branded  in  History  as  among  the  meanest  and  dishon- 
orable acts  in  International  politics! 

Our  Faith. 


But  where  is  our  well-tried  faith  in  Germany?  Have 
the  millions  of  Germans  in  this  country  and  the  thou- 
sands of  American  Students  and  scholars  of  German 
life,  of  German  ideas  and  ideals,  of  German  science 
and  art,  deceived  us  for  all  these  years?  Are  the  Ger- 
man civic  pride,  order,  cleanliness,  righteousness,  ef- 
ficiency only  a  sham,  a  make-belief?  Are  their  domestic 
virility,  their  love  for  home  and  song,  their  science  and 
philosophy,  their  unity  and  courage  in  trying  hours, 
for  the  nation,  their  skill  and  patience  in  research,  all 
a  mere  hallucination,  a  trick  of  civilization! 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  our  faitli  in  the  German  people 
is  abiding  because  of  the  eternal  values  in  their  ideas, 
thoughts  and  ideals,  as  we  now  know  them  for  many 
generations,  can  we  imagine  that  their  kin  in  the  father- 
land are  so  different!  To  be  sure,  I  must  recognize 
one  vital  cause  for  a  difference :  owing  to  the  neces- 
sity of  unusual  compromises  in  democratic  countries, 
his  more  socialistic  cousin  in  Germany  has  a  decided 
advantage  over  him,  as  long  as  he  has  the  good  fortune 
of  competent  and  honest  public  servants.  Count  this 
against  them,  if  you  like,  but  don't  abuse  them;  wait 
until  you  knoiv  them  to  be  worthy  only  of  hate  and 
scorn,  by  personal  experience  with  them.  Where  then, 
is  our  faith  in  the  honest,  the  sincere,  the  industrious, 
the  idealistic,  the  music-loving,  the  patient,  plodding 
German?  Which  do  you  think  will  be  more  abiding, 
the  half-century  of  vital,  real,  first-hand  experience  with 
Germans  and  German  life,  or  the  reputation  Germany's 
enemies  have  given  her  through  unspeakably  abusive, 
insulting  and  even  heinous  accusations,  during  the  heat 
of  passion,  many  of  which  have  been  found  to  have 
been  malicious  lies,  still  more  inflamed  by  many  hys- 
terical and  fanatical  war-news-garblers?  Take  your 
answer  to  )-our  God ! 

Therefore,  above  and  beyond  alt  clamor  of  the  press- 
ing hour,  I  pray  God  that  1  may  retain  my  Faith  in 
(iermany,  at  least  until  the  Historian,  all  the  Zintnesscs, 
the  judge  and  a  God-fearing  jury  and  God,  with  them 
all,  have  passed  on  her  case,  instead  of  her  bitterest, 
most  self-interested  enemies,  and  their  American  con- 
freres alone! 

Yet,  in  the  meantime,  is  it  not  our  plain  duty  to  see 
to  it  that  they  do  not  get  entirely  away  with  the 
scheme,  resorted  to  at  the  expense  of  millions  of  inno- 
cent sufferers,  of  men,  zvomen  and  children! 

Note  what  Dr.  Burgess  has  to  say  of  the  situation  : 
"This  is  no  time  and  no  subject,  when  or  upon  which, 
one  should  speak  lightly,  ignorantly,  or  with  prejudice. 
It  is  one  of  the  world's  most  serious  moments  and  the 
views  and  sympathies  now  formed  will  determine  the 
course  of  the  world's  development  for  many  years  to 
come.  Heavy  indeed,  is  the  responsibility  which  he 
incurs  who  would  assume  the  role  of  teacher  at  this 
juncture,  and  it  is  his  first  duty  to  present  the  creden- 
tials which  warrant  his  temeritv." — From  the  article, 
"WHY  I  CHAMPION  GERMANY,"  bv  John  W.  Bur- 
gess. Ph.D..  LL.  D.,  J.  U.  D.  Dean  of  the  Faculties  of 
Political  Science,  and  of  Philosophy,  Pure  Science  and 
Fine  .Arts  at  Columbia  University. 

How  the  Problem  of  the  Working  Out  of  the  Idea 
Was  Conceived — What  the  Object  Was. 

I  finally  conceived  my  problem  to  be  the  editing — 
chronologically,  systematically,  and  from  point  of  view 


PREFACE 


of  the  evolution  and  meaning  of  important  world-events 
in  connection  with  the  present  European  crisis  and  the 
political  life  related  to  it,  since  July  24th,  1914 — that  is, 
from  the  time  of  the  assassination  of  the  Archduke  and 
the  Duchess  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  empire  —  the 
choicest  articles.  Editorials,  Comment,  Reflections  of 
the  press,  from  Social  and  Political  Life,  etc.;  also  from 
the  Lecture  Hall,  Debates,  including  my  own  articles 
on  various  topics,  Preface,  Notes,  Comtnent,  etc.,  and 
from  every  available  source — with  the  one  hope  of  pre- 
senting the  German-Austrian  cause,  to  the  end,  as  out- 
lined in  the  preceding  paragraph. 

Our  readers  will  find  the  European  problems  pre- 
sented in  War  Echoes  quite  up-to-date,  up  to  the  first 
week  in  July — therefore,  including  the  Lusitaiiia  Litera- 
ture, Italy  coming  into  the  war,  and  the  other  important 
current  events  up  to  that  time. 

The  plan  of  the  book  is  simple  and  unique.  The  first 
part  deals  with  the  Causes,  the  second  with  Belgium. 
the  third  with  the  Nations,  the  fourth  with  the  War 
and  the  last  chapter  with  Reflections  or  Philosophy. 
Expanded  we  have :  The  Causes  of  the  War,  the  Case 
of  Belgium,  The  Nations  Concerned,  By  the  Laws  of 
War,  and  On  the  Philosophy  of  the  War. 


THE  MAIN  FEATURES  AND 
METHOD  OF  THE  BOOK. 

The  book  has  a  beautiful  and  most  appropriate  cover- 
picture  of  the  Kaiser  and  Francis  Joseph  together;  it 
has  also  a  beautiful  Frontispiece,  a  "Barbarian"  feed- 
ing Belgian  children ;  an  extensive  analytical  Table  of 
Contents;  a  special  List  of  Contributors;  Subjects  indi- 
cated at  top  of  Pages;  a  General  Table  of  Contents  of 
parts  of  War  Echoes;  a  complete  Indc.x.hy  title,  author, 
and  subject  or  subjects;  it  is  beautifully  and  exten- 
sively Illustrated ;  has  plenty  of  good  Maps.  There 
is  also  a  list  of  sympathetic  periodicals  listed  at  the  end 
of  the  book. 

The  special  Features  are  highly  commendable  to  our 
patrons  for  convenience  and  assistance  in  the  use  of 
the  book,  and  I  am  certain  they  will  be  appreciated. 
The  analytical  Table  of  Contents,  for  instance,  shows 
at  a  glance  the  field  covered,  the  nature  of  treatment, 
method  and  the  relative  value  given  to  various  subjects, 
etc.  The  extensive  Index  may  be  consulted  for  reading 
special  topics,  or  it  may  be  employed  for  reference  pur- 
poses only.  On  the  other  hand,  the  book  contains  some 
of  the  choicest  creative  literature  by  some  of  the  ablest 
men  in  the  country;  these  articles  are  arranged  to  assist 
in  carrying  out  the  idea  of  the  book,  as  made  clear  in 
other  paragraphs  of  this  circular  and  leads  naturally 
other  paragraphs  of  this  Preface  and  leads  naturally 
at  the  top  of  the  pages.  In  short.  War  Echoes  is  a 
kind  of  Year-Book  on  all  of  the  big  questions  relative 
to  the  war  since  July.  1914.  The  entire  selection  and 
arrangement  of  Illustrations  and  Mops  have  been  made 
from  the  point  of  view  of  reinforcing  appeals  and 
arguments,  and  adds  to  the  value  of  the  book  as  a 
study  and  as  literature. 

Many  attacks  on  Germany  have  appeared  in  Amer- 
ican publications  of  general  circulation.  A  number  of 
the  articles  dealing  with  these  attacks  have  been  in- 
cluded  in    War  Echoes,  and   the  reader,   referring   to 


footnotes,  will  be  directed  to  passages  in  the  book 
which  successfully  refute  these  charges.  By  following 
these  cross  references  the  reader  will  be  assisted  in  his 
efforts  to  clarify  many  European  questions. 

In  regard  to  responsibility  for  Facts,  Sentiments, 
Truth.  Data.  Places,  Authorship,  Omissions.  Additions, 
etc..  the  Editor  can  only  speak  for  his  own  articles, 
discussions,  notes  and  comment  in  War  Echoes; 
outside  of  this,  the  responsibility  ends  with  the  faith- 
ful reproduction  of  articles  from  others,  by  giving  full 
credit;  and  wherever  exact  reproduction  was  impracti- 
cable, he  has  duly  explained  any  deviations  from  this 
principle. 


HOW  TO  USE  THE  INDEX. 

A  word  in  regard  to  The  Use  of  The  Index  may  not 
be  amiss  here :  You  may  turn  to  The  Index  in  perfect 
confidence  when  in  quest  of  any  of  the  vital  topics  or 
questions  that  have  occupied  our  attention  in  regard 
to  the  war  most  of  the  year;  follow  the  alphabetic 
order  strictly. 


ON  THE  USE  OF   WAR  ECHOES. 

Besides  serving  the  evident  purposes  of  a  book  of 
this  kind,  and  those  already  indicated.  War  Echoes 
will  also  serve  well  as  a  Reference  Book,  because  of 
an  exceptionally  well-worked-out  Index  and  other  tabu- 
lated and  analyzed  synopses  of  parts  or  phrases  of  the 
book.  There  is  also  much  creative  and  recreative 
literature  in  our  ll'ar  Echoes  that  is  simply  invaluable, 
because  it  could  not  be  produced  under  any  other  cir- 
cumstances, for  fame  or  money,  than  those  under  which 
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rent events  of  the  year,  or  a  year  book  on  the  war, 
as  one  may  say. 


INDEBTEDNESS. 

Besides  our  acknowledged  indebtedness  in  other  sec- 
tions of  the  book  to  all  special  sympathizers  with  our 
eiTorts,  such  as  all  the  German  publishers  in  the 
L'nited  States  or  in  Europe,  whether  the  publications 
appear  in  their  native  tongue  or  in  the  American  lan- 
guage, the  Editor  of  JVar  Echoes  is  more  than  pleased 
with  the  way  his  approaches  to  other  publishers  for 
sympathy  and  co-operation  were  received.  Here  are 
also  included  all  the  Irish  publications  he  knows  of  and 
the  Milwaukee  Free  Press.  Among  the  magazine  pub- 
lishers, we  might  especially  mention  The  Neiv  Repub- 
lic, The  Literary  Digest,  Collier's  Weekly,  The  Open 
Court;  among  the  newspapers.  The  Chicago  Tribune 
and  The  Chicago  Evening  Neu'S.  The  Editor  is  sorry  to 
state  that  in  many  cases  publishers  failed  to  respond 
to   his   repeated   inquiries  on   this  point. 

Our  patrons  will  render  us  an  especial  service  by 
reporting  anything  in  connection  with  the  book  that 
ought  to  come  to  our  attention  for  explanation  or  cor- 
rection. 

THE  EDITOR, 

George  William  Hau. 

Chicago,  Illinois. 


FIRST  CHAPTER 

CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 
POPULAR   NOTIONS   AS    TO    THE    CAUSE 

CAUSES   MORE   REMOTE   AND    RECENT— SUBTLE   AND   APPARENT   CAUSES 

OCCASIONS  AND  CAUSES 


MORE  REMOTE  CAUSES 
THE  EARLY  DISTINCTION  OF  PRUSSIA 

SKETCHING  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  GERMAN  EMPIRE— BISMARK 

The  Balkan  Situation — Pan-Slavism 
Here  we  find  the  Crux  of  the  Frightful  Cataclysm  of  the  War 
The  Austrian-German  Position — The  Serbian-Russian  Attitude 


IMMEDIATE  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 

'^-oni  the  Time  of  the  Assassination  of  the  Archduke  and  Duchess  of  Austria 
The  Real  Ininiechate  Causes  of  the  W'ar — The  Russian  MohiHzation 


MODERN   DIPLOMACY 
ESPECIALLY  "SECRET"  DIPLOMACY 

Discussion  of  General  and  Special  Di|)lomatic  Correspondence 
Further  Causes — Less  Directly  Related  to  the  War — Popularly  not  suspected  of  being  Causes  at  al 

Wars  are  Inevitable  on  Earth 


MORE  REMOTE  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 

Early  Distinction  of  Prussia — Recent  History  of  the  German  People 
The  Rise  of  Prussia — The  Confederation  of  the  German  States 


THE  CENTRAL  EMPIRES— AUSTRIA  AND  GERMANY 

THEIR  BALKAN  POLICY 

The  Balkan  Policy  of  many  of  the  Slavonic  Peoples  in  South  Central  Europe 

Backed  up  by  Russia — Pan-Slavism 

Their  Policy  directly  or  indirectly  supported  by  Great  Britain,  France,  Japan,  Portugal,  Italy 

Also  by  most  of  the  so-called  Democratic  World 


THE  ROOT  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Looking  Deeper  and  beyond  Casual  Appearances  for  Real  Causes  of  the  War 


INTRODUCTION 

DOCTOR  PAUL  ROH REACH 


THE  R(K)T  OP  THE  WORLD  WAR. 


Address  by  Dr.  Paul  Rohrbach  to 
the  Protestant  Union  of  Hamburg. 

The  inesent  war  has  tbree  roots.  The 
one  we  can  despatch  quickly,  that  Is 
the  French.  For  more  than  forty 
years  France  lias  expressed  the  desire 
to  renew  the  coniliat  with  us.  The 
national  Chauvinism  has  driven  her  to 
war.  That  is  truly  very  foolish,  but 
not  dishonoralile.  We  can  not  prop- 
erly harbor  hostile  feelings  against 
France  for  this. 

With  regard  to  Russia  and  England, 
we  must  i)roceed  from  two  dates,  1800 
and  ]!I02.  In  the  year  1800  the  trans- 
fer of  Helgoland  from  ICnglaud  to 
Germany  took  place.  At  that  time 
England  entertained  no  mistrust  re- 
garding (Jcriiiany's  development.  The 
Germaii-i;nglish  conflict  still  lay  be- 
yond the  horizon.  In  the  year  1902 
England  formed  a  treaty  witli  Japan, 
In  order  to  force  Russia  out  of  the 
Far  East  and  to  direct  its  policy  again 
toward  the  Orient.  .\s  Germany  in  the 
meantime  became  iiolitically  engaged 
in  the  Orient  and  in  Turkey,  her  in- 
terests began  to  conflict  with  those  of 
Russia.  Germany's  interior  conditions 
had  during  this  period  undergone  radi- 
cal changes  and  the  development  of  its 
foreign  trade,  which  amounted  in  ISSO 
to  Ave  and  one-lialf  Ipillioiis— in  1013 
to  a  round  rwenty-two  and  a  half  l>il- 
lions,  and  as  a  residt  of  the  quality 
of  our  industrial  productions,  which 
lirouglit  in  a  seven-fold,  yes,  even  an 
eight-fold  profit,  grew  at  such  a  rate, 
that    KnglaiKl    liegan    to   anticip;ite   the 


time  when  we  would  equal  or  even 
suriiass  her.  This  was  unbearable  to 
the  English.  In  the  year  189S,  when 
the  German  emperor  was  in  Jerusalem 
and  gave  utterance  to  the  dramatic 
words  regarding  his  friendship  with 
entire  Islam,  when  German  diplomacy 
supported  the  plan  of  the  Bagdad  rail- 
way, the  chief  interest  of  Germany 
and  England  was  that  the  railway  cut 
through  Asia  Minor,  passed  over  the 
Taurus,  reached  Aleppo,  made  connec- 
tion with  the  Syrian  and  the  Mecca 
railways  and  extended  to  a  iKjint 
within  300-4110  kilometers  of  the  Suez 
Canal  and  of  the  crossing  of  the  Red 
Sea.  The  English  believed  that  the 
(ierman  emperor  desired  to  establish 
a  basis  of  attack  against  England  in 
anterior  Asia,  which  was  inevitable  as 
a  restdt  of  the  economic  development 
of  Germany.  Tliis  was  a  nnsappre- 
hension — Germany  planned  no  attack 
ujion  England.  Hut  in  the  two  particu- 
lars, the  exchange  of  Helgoland  and 
the  promotion  of  advances  to  Turkey, 
our  emperor  proved  himself  an  excel- 
lent diplomat.  This  has  been  verified 
l>y   existing  conditions. 

Now  began  the  policy  of  encircle- 
ment of  Edward  VII.  France  was  an 
apt  impil.  A  treaty  was  formed  with 
Russia  regarding  (he  division  of  Per- 
sia, liut  the  chief  feature  of  which  was 
the  !i(|uidation  of  the  Turkish  inheri- 
tance and  thereby  the  completion  of 
England's  dominion  in  llie  Indian 
Ocean.  The  outbreak  of  the  Young 
Turkish  revolution  in  1008  prevented 
the  execution  of  this  plan.  The  pros- 
pect presented  itself  to  English  diplo- 
mats of  leading  the  Young  Turks  and 


new  Turkey  into  the  channels  of  the 
English  policies.  But  these  expecta- 
tions met  with  disappointment  as  the 
German-Turkish  understanding  soon 
assumed  a  firmer  character  than  for- 
merly. In  1000  came  Russia's  attempt 
to  open  the  Oriental  question,  through 
the  Servian-Bosnijin  trouble.  But  this 
was  a  Russian  bluff.  As  Germany 
placed  hereelf  openly  by  the  side  of 
Austria,  the  Russians  i)ulled  in  their 
horns.  In  1010  King  Edward  died  and 
the  leadership  of  the  political  concert 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Russia.  Since 
then  two  factions  have  sprung  up  in 
England — one  advocated  the  continua- 
tion of  the  policy  of  surrounding  Ger- 
many and  aimed  at  her  destruction. 
The  other  faction  wished  for  an  under- 
standing with  Germany.  The  one 
I)arty  looke<l  upon  the  attempt  at  an 
understanding  with  Germany  as  a 
trick,  as  a  bait — a  sleeinng  potion  for 
the  Germans.  The  others  meant  It 
honestly,  honoral)ly. 

During  the  Moroccan  crisis,  the  ac- 
tual acidity  of  England  was  induced 
by  a  carefully  planned  French  in- 
trigue. It  was  reported  that  Germany 
intended  to  establish  a  naval  station 
on  the  coast  of  Morocco,  in  order  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  using  her  fast 
cruisers  for  the  purpose  of  interfering 
with  the  course  of  grain  shii)s,  on  their 
w.iy  from  the  -Vrgentine.  etc.,  to  Eng- 
land, tbereb.v  cutting  off  England  from 
this  source  of  food  supplies,  .\fter  the 
settlement  of  the  Moroccan  crisis,  I'^ng- 
land  again  made  decided  advances  to 
Germany  on  her  colonial  policy.  This 
tone  was  employed  until  the  summer 
of  1014. 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


lu  1912,  Russia  succeeded  in  bring- 
ing about  the  Balkan  Union.  But  in- 
stead of  turning  against  Austria,  tliey 
turned  against  Turkey  and  the  result 
was  an  incurable  enmity  between  Ser- 
via  and  Bulgaria.  The  object  of  Rus- 
sia's policy  against  Austria  was  the 
occupation  of  Constantinople  and  the 
realization  of  the  Pan-Slavic  idea — 
the  union  of  all  Slavs  under  the  scep- 
ter of  Russia.  An  insane  idea,  but 
one  which  is  from  a  political-psycho- 
logical point  of  view  comprehensible, 
but  which  gave  evidence  of  an  exag- 
gerated craze  for  extension  which,  by 
means  of  public  opinion  and  the  crim- 
inal unscrupulousness  of  the  Russian 
Government,  let  loose  passions  which 
must  lead  either  to  revolution  or  war. 

Russia  and  France  had  agreed  to 
attack  Germany  in  the  spring  of  1916. 
The  question  as  to  why  the  war  ar- 
rived as  early  as  the  summer  of  1914 
is  easily  answered.  In  the  beginning 
of  August,  mobilized  Siberian  regi- 
ments were  stationed  on  the  German 
border.  When  one  considers  that  the 
transportation  of  these  troops  from 
Siberia  must  require  weeks  and  that 
weeks  and  months  were  necessary  for 
their  mobilization  in  Siberia,  it  is 
quite  clear  that  the  order  for  mobili- 
zation   must   have   been   quite   secretly 


issued  as  early  as  May — or  in  other 
words,  previous  to  the  assassination  of 
the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand, 
which  took  place  in  the  middle  of 
June.  Shortly  after  this  deed,  the 
Russian  Ambassador  Hartwig  and  the 
Austrian  Ambassador  in  Belgrade  met. 
Soon  after,  a  stroke  of  apoplexy  ended 
the  life  of  the  Russian  Ambassador. 
The  suspicion  will  soon  become  gen- 
eral that  his  death  was  probably  hast- 
ened by  the  excitement  caused  by  dis- 
closures made  to  him  by  the  Austrian 
Ambassador,  to  the  effect  that  not 
only  official  Servians,  but  also  officers 
in  Russian  circles,  were  implicated  in 
the  murder.  What  was  Russia  to 
gain  by  this  assassination?  She  had 
enjoyed  a  series  of  good  harvests  and 
had  in  this  way  fortitied  her  financial 
condition,  but  in  1913  a  great  drop  in 
her  paying  assets  occurred,  which  in- 
creased in  1914  and  caused  fears  that 
the  Russian  credit  would  be  injured 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  carrying 
on  of  war  would  be  an  impossibility. 
By  means  of  the  assassination  of  the 
Archduke,  Russia  hoped  to  cause  a 
revolution  in  Servia — a  dissolution  of 
the  Austro-Hungarian  governmental 
relations,  and  thereliy  render  mobiliza- 
tion impossible  in  that  country.  Had 
this  taken  place.  Germany  would  have 
cringed  and   Russia   could  have  fallen 


upon  Austria.  But  it  all  turned  out 
differently.  Austria  did  not  collapse, 
her  mobilization  was  a  success  and  her 
confederate  remained  faithful  to  her. 
But  the  war  had  become  unavoidable 
for  Russia,  for  the  punishment  of  Ser- 
via by  Austria  would  have  cost  the 
Czar   everything. 

And  now  comes  England's  guilt. 
She  could  not  participate  in  the  war 
on  account  of  the  Servian  assassins. 
But  she  believed  her  last  opportunity 
had  arrived  to  settle  her  account  with 
Germany.  The  contemplation  of  this 
idea  was  too  much  for  the  makers  of 
English  politics.  Not  that  they  ever 
really  hesitated  to  make  war  upon 
Germany,  but  because  at  first,  the 
proper  time  did  not  seem  to  them  to 
have  arrived.  Therefore  they  made 
every  effort  to  prevent  the  war.  Eng- 
land never  prepared  for  a  war  as  de- 
cently as  she  has  for  this  one.  She 
told  us  repeatedly  we  could  not  count 
\7pon  her  neutrality.  That  was  a  very 
plain  hint  to  us.  We  can  only  explain 
England's  attitude  during  the  last 
weeks  before  the  war  in  this  way : 
that  she  desired  to  deter  us  from 
entering  into  war.  not  on  account  of 
political  scruples,  but  because  it  was 
to  her  interest  to  postpone  the  day  of 
decision.  —  From  the  "Hamburger 
Fremdenblatt,"  Hamburg,  Germany. 


German  Ideals  and  Their  Realization — Bismark 


THE  IRON  CHANCELLOR. 


Born  April   1,    181.5. 


By  George  Sylvester  Viereck. 

Above     the     grave     where     Bismarcl* 
sleeps 
The   ravens   screeched    with    strange 
alarms. 
The  Saxon  Forest  in  its  deeps 

Shook    with    the    distant    clash    of 
arms. 

The  Iron  Chancellor  stirred.  "  'Tls 
war ! 

Give  me  my  sword  to  lay  them  low 
Who  touch  my  work.     Unbar  the  door 

I    passed   an   hundred  years  ago." 

The  angel  guardian  of  the  tomb 
Spake  of  the  law  that  binds  all  clay. 

That  neither  rose  nor  oak  may  bloom 
Betwixt  the  night  and  judgment  day. 

"For    no    man    twice    may    pass    this 
gate," 
He  said.     But  Bismarck  flashed  his 
eyes: 
"Nay,  at  the  trumpet  call  of  fate. 
Like  Barbarossa,   I    shall   rise. 

"In  sight  of  all  God's   Seraphim 
I'll   place  this   helmet  on   my   brow. 

For  lo !  We  Germans  fear  but  Him, 
And   He,   I   know,   is  with   us  now." 

The  dead  man  stood  up  in  his  might. 
The  startled   angel   said   no  word. 

Thru  endless  spheres  of  day  and  night 
God  in   his   Seventh   Heaven  heard. 


And  answered  thus :  "Shall  man  forget 
My  laws?  They  were  not  lightly 
made, 

Nor  writ  for  thee  to  break.  And  yet 
I  love  thee.     Thou  art  not  afraid. 

"Bismarck,    from    now    till    morrow's 
sun 
Walk  as  a  wraith  amid  the  strife, 
And  if  thou   find  thy  work  undone 
Come  back,  and  I  shall  give  thee — 
life." 

With  stern  salute  the  .specter  strode 
Out  of  the  dark  into  the  dawn. 

From  Hamburg  to  the  Caspian  road 
He  saw  a  wall  of  iron  drawn. 

He  saw  young  men  go  forth  to  die 
Singing  the  martial  songs  of  yore. 

Boldly  athwart  the  Flemish  sky 
He  saw  the  German  airmen  soar. 

A  thousand  spears  in  battle  line 
Had   pierced  the  wayward  heart  of 
France, 
But  still  above  the  German  Rhine 
The     Walkyrs     held     their     august 
dance. 

He  saw  the  sliding  submarine 

Wrest    the    green    trident    from    the 
hold 

Of  her  whose  craven  tradesmen  lean 
On  yellow  men  and  yellow  gold. 

In   labyrinths  of  blood  and  sand 
He     watched     ten     Russian     legions 
drown. 

Unseen  he  shook  the  doughty  hand 
Of  Hindenburg  near  Warsaw   town. 


The   living   felt   his   presence   when 
Paternal,  blessing,  he  drew  nigh. 

And  all  the  dead  and  dying  men 
Saluted  him  in  passing  by. 

But  he  rode  back  in  silent  thought. 
And   from    his   great   heart   burst   a 
sigh 
Of    thanks.      "The   Master    Craftsman 
wrought 
This  mighty  edifice,  not  I. 

"No  hostile  hoof  shall  ever  fall 
Upon  my  country's  sacred   sod ; 

Tho  seven  whirlwinds  lash  its  wall, 
It  stands  erect,  a  rock  of  God. 

"I  shall  return  unto  my  bed, 
Nor  ask  of  life  a  second  lease. 

My  spirit  lives,  tho  I  be  dead, 

My  aching  bones  may  rest  in  peace." 

Up  to  his  chin  he  drew  the  shroud, 
To   wait   God's  judgment   patientl.y, 

While  high  above  a  blood-red  cloud 
Two    eagles    screamed   of    victory. 


"Trust  in  God  and  keep  your  pow- 
der dry,"  is  go»d,  militant  advice, 
but  according  to  Hudson  Maxim  this 
country's  supply  of  powder  on  hand 
is  less  than  one-tenth  that  of  any  of 
the  great  powers  now  at  war,  and  in 
case  of  need  we  could  not  get  an 
additional  supply  for  six  months, 
since  it  takes  as  long  as  that  for  the 
cannon  powder  for  our  big  guns  to 
dry. — From  "The  Boston  Globe," 
September   9,   1914. 


UNDERI.VINC.  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 


'^^^V^c 


I'.IS.MAIICK 

i>l     the    •■Chicasd    Aliernipost 


FRFACH  PRISOXKRS  IN  '71. 

Bismarck  may  havp  objected  to  the 
taking  of  prisoners,  but  his  prejudice 
obviously  had  no  effect  in  the 
Franco-German  war.  AcoordinK  to 
Moltke,  who  wrote  the  official  history 


of  the  campaign,  the  French  prison- 
ers reached  the  extraordinary  total 
of  21.50.'}  officers  and  702,048  men. 
But  of  these  nearly  250,000  were  the 
Paris  garrison,  who  were  only  nom- 
inally prisoners,  and  over  90,000  rep- 
resented the  French   troops  disarmed 


and  interned  in  neutral  Switzerland. 
Still,  with  these  deductions,  more 
than  :',80,000  officers  and  men  were 
actually  imprisoned  in  Germany,  and 
were  released  only  when  peace  was 
declared. — From  the  London  Chron- 
icle. 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


WHAT    WOIM)    BISMARCK 
SAY? 


The   Chicago   Tribune. 

George   L.    Scherger,   Ph.    D. 

Professor  of  History,   Armour  In- 
stitute of   Technology. 

Many  have  wondered  what  would 
be  the  view  of  the  great  Iron  Chan- 
cellor regarding  the  present  war  if  he 
were  still  alive.  Would  this  war  have 
occurred  if  Bismarck  had  been  in 
charge  of  the  administration  of  the 
German  Empire?  Would  he  support 
the  Kaiser  or  would  he  regard  the 
war  as  threatening  to  undo  his  own 
mighty  achievements?  Though  Bis- 
marck died  sixteen  years  ago,  many 
of  his  utterances  throw  a  flood  of 
light  on  the  present  imbroglio  and 
show  his  wonderful  understanding  of 
European  conditions  as  well  as  his 
almost  prophetic  insight  into  the 
future. 

The  following  remarks,  made  as 
early  as  1875,  have  been  fulfilled 
literally: 

"Mighty  Germany  has  great  tasks; 
above  all,  to  keep  peace  in  Europe. 
This  is  my  chief  consideration,  also 
in  the  Oriental  crisis.  I  do  not  in- 
tend to  interfere  if  there  is  any  way 
to  avoid  it,  for  such  an  interference 
might  cause  a  European  conflagra- 
tion, especially  if  the  interests  of 
Austria  and  Russia  should  clash  in 
the  Balkans.  If  I  should  take  the 
side  of  one  of  these  powers  France 
would  immediately  join  with  the 
other,  and  a  European  war  would 
break  out.  I  am  trying  to  hold  two 
mighty  beasts  by  the  collar,  in  order 
that  they  may  not  tear  each  other  to 
pieces,  and  In  order  that  they  may 
not  combine  against  Germany." 

The  fear  of  Bismarck  regarding 
the  Balkans  is  likewise  expressed  In 
this  passage: 

"What  may  happen  in  the  Balkans 
does  not  concern  Germany  but  only 
Russia,  Italy,  Austria  and  England. 
It  has  always  been  my  aim  to  keep 
out  of  this.  For  this  reason  we  put  a 
stipulation  into  our  treaty  with  Aus- 
tria that  we  are  not  obligated  in  any 
way  in   Balkan  affairs." 

As  regards  Russia,  Bismarck  says 
again  and  again  that  Germany  would 
not  have  the  least  interest  in  waging 
a  war  with  her  nor  would  Russia  with 
Germany,  because  neither  has  any 
antagnostic   interests. 

Russia's  Asiatic  interests  are  not 
in  any  way  dangerous  to  Germany, 
although  they  are  to  England.  If 
Russia  should  defeat  Germany  she 
could  only  take  from  her  a  strip  of 
territory  along  the  Baltic  which 
would  really  be  a  nuisance  to  her 
because  its  inhabitants  are  very 
democratic.  Germany,  on  the  other 
hand,  could  only  hope  to  increase  her 
undesirable  Polish  territory.  He  did 
not  consider  the  real  Russians  to  be 
the  champions  of  the  Panslavistic 
movement,  but  the  Poles  living  in 
Russia,  who  wished  to  bring  about  a 
clash  between  Teuton  and  Slav  in 
hopes  of  taking  advantage  of  the  fray 
to  reconstitute  an  independent  Polish 
kingdom. 

He  believed  that  the  Russian  could 
not  get  along  without  the  German  in 


Russian  affairs,  for  while  the  Russian 
might  have  intelligence,  imagination, 
manners,  and  social  talents,  no  Rus- 
sian would  learn  in  all  eternity  to 
work  eight  hours  per  day  for  six  days 
in  the  week. 

Bismarck  even  stated  that  he 
would  have  no  objection  to  Russia's 
taking  Constantinople,  and  thought 
that  with  the  possession  of  this  gate 
to  the  Black  Sea  she  would  be  even 
less  dangerous  to  Germany  than  at 
present.  Of  course,  he  knows  that 
this  would  endanger  England's  pos- 
session of  Egypt  and  the  Suez  canal, 
both  of  which  she  needs  "as  much  as 
her  daily  bread." 

Not  less  striking  are  his  observa- 
tions concerning  France. 

"If  the  French  are  willing  to  keep 
peace  with  us  until  we  attack  them," 
he  says,  'then  peace  is  assured  for- 
ever. What  should  we  hope  to  get 
from  France?'  Shall  we  annex  more 
French  territory?  I  was  not  even 
strongly  inclined  in  1871  to  take 
Metz  because  of  its  French  popula- 
tion. I  consulted  our  military  au- 
thorities before  I  reached  a  final  de- 
cision. It  was  Thiers  who  said  to 
me:  'We  will  give  you  your  choice 
between  Belfort  and  Metz;  if  you  in- 
sist upon  both  we  cannot  make 
peace.'  I  then  asked  our  war  depart- 
ment whether  we  could  give  up  our 
demand  for  either  of  these  and  re- 
ceived the  reply:  'Yes,  as  regards 
Belfort,  but  Metz  is  worth  100,000 
troops;'  the  question  is,  whether  we 
wish  to  be  weaker  by  that  many  men 
in  case  we  should  ever  have  another 
war.  Thereupon  I  said:  "We  will 
take  Metz.'  " 

Bismarck  said  that  since  1870  the 
French  realized  that  another  war 
with  Germany  would  not  be  like  a 
sort  of  excursion  to  Berlin.  He 
thought  that  the  stronger  Germany 
is  the  more  unlikely  would  be  an  at- 
tack by  France.  France  would  strike 
only  in  case  she  felt  certain  of  win- 
ning. She  would  always  keep  "the 
sacred  fire  of  revenge  burning,"  ac- 
cording to   the   advice   of   Gambetta: 

"Do  not  speak  of  war,  but  think  of 
it  constantly." 

If  Germany  became  involved  in 
war  with  France,  it  would  not  be 
necessary  to  expect  Russia  to  strike 
Germany,  but  if  Russia  should  strike 
first,  France  would  be  sure  to  join 
her  in  attacking  Germany — a  most 
remarkable  forecast  of  what  has  now 
actually  taken  place. 

As  early  as  1887  he  said:  "Russia 
and  France  will  sooner  or  later  at- 
tack Germany." 

Concerning  England,  Bismarck 
says : 

"As  regards  foreign  countries,  I 
have  had  sympathy  only  for  England, 
and  even  now  am  not  without  this 
feeling;  but  those  folks  do  not  want 
to  be  loved  by  us."  At  another  time 
he  remarked: 

"The  English  are  full  of  anger  and 
jealousy  because  we  fought  great 
battles — and  won  them.  They  do 
not  like  to  see  us  prosper.  We  only 
exist  in  order  to  fight  their  battles 
for  pay.  That  is  the  opinion  of  the 
entire  English  gentry.  They  have 
never  wished  us  well,  but  have  done 


all  they  could  to  injure  us.  This  is 
also  the  position  of  the  crown  prin- 
cess (the  Empress  Frederick,  mother 
of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.).  She  always 
thought  that  she  had  humiliated  her- 
self by  marrying  into  this  country. 
I  remember  how  she  remarked  at 
one  time  that  two  or  three  Liver- 
pool merchants  possessed  as  much 
silver  as  the  entire  Prussian  nobility. 
'That  may  be  true,  your  royal  high- 
ness,' I  answered,  'but  we  value 
other  things  much  higher  than  we  do 
silver.'  " 

Bismarck  commented  upon  the  tra- 
ditional English  policy  of  stirring  up 
trouble  on  the  continent,  according 
the  principle  that  when  two  quarrel 
the  third  may  be  glad.  Especially 
desirous  had  she  been  to  get  Ger- 
many and  Russia  embroiled,  so  that 
she  herself  would  not  need  to  fight 
Russia.  This  is  the  very  game  Eng- 
land has  succeeded  in  playing  in  the 
present  war.  Bismarck  acknowl- 
edges that  he  would  do  the  same 
thing  if  he  could  find  some  strong 
and  foolish  fellow  who  would  fight 
for  him. 

Bismarck  thought  that  England, 
having  only  a  few  thousand  troops 
of  the  line,  was,  when  standing  alone, 
really  a  negligible  power,  which,  by 
playing  the  part  of  a  guardian  aunt, 
had  gained  a  certain  artificial  influ- 
ence, but  ought  some  day  to  be  lim- 
ited to  its  proper  foundation.  If 
England  and  France  should  combine 
against  Germany,  the  English  might 
destroy  the  German  navy,  which  at 
the  time  was  still  in  its  infancy,  but 
Germany  would  in  that  case  make 
France  pay  the  bill. 

No  statesman  ever  realized  the 
seriousness  and  the  horrors  of  war 
more  than  Bismarck.  A  war  should 
be  waged,  he  said,  only  for  the  honor 
and  most  vital  interest  of  a  nation 
and  not  merely  for  prestige.  Any 
statesman  who  has  looked  into  the 
breaking  eye  of  a  soldier  on  the  bat- 
tlefield will  hesitate  before  beginning 
war. 

"German  rulers,"  he  said,  "are  in 
the  habit  of  leading  their  armies  in 
war  so  that  they  may  realize  its  hor- 
rors, which  would  haunt  them  if  they 
should  be  able  to  say  to  themselves, 
this  war  I  could  have  avoided  with 
honor.  Germany  would  never  begin 
aggressive  wars  or  wars  of  conquest, 
as  France  so  often  had  done,  nor 
would  she  bleed  a  conquered  nation 
as  Napoleon  had  bled  Prussia  in 
1807. 

"The  Germans  are  like  bears  in 
this  respect;  they  do  not  attack  of 
their  own  accord,  but  they  fight  like 
mad  when  they  are  attacked  in  their 
own  lairs.  An  appeal  to  fear  will 
never  find  an  echo  in  the  German's 
heart.  The  German  is  easily  be- 
trayed by  love  and  sympathy,  but 
never  by  fear.  The  Germans  will  not 
start  the  fire.  Some  other  nation 
may,  but  let  any  nation  that  provokes 
Germany  beware  of  'the  furor  teu- 
tonicus.' 

"We  Germans  fear  God,  but  noth- 
ing else  in  the  world;  and  the  fear 
of  God  induces  us  to  love  and  seek 
peace.  Whoever  breaks  the  peace 
will  soon  realize  that  the  same  pat- 
riotism which  called  weak  and  down- 


IDEALS  AND  THEIR  REALIZATION 


trodden  little  Prussia  to  the  stand- 
ards in  1813  has  today  become  the 
common  property  ot  united  Germany, 
and  that  whoever  attacks  the  Ger- 
man nation  will  find  her  presenting  a 
united  front,  every  soldier  having 
in  his  heart  the  firm  faith:  God  will 
be  with  us." 

The  Germany  ot  today  is  Bis- 
marck's Germany,  and  no  one  un- 
derstands her  so  well  as  he.  The 
Europe  of  today  is  likewise  un- 
changed. 


BISMARCK'S  VIEW  AXD   THE 
WAR. 

'I'liix  is  the  ciohtli  article  of  a 
.ve//p.s-  on-  TUB  EUROI'EAy  WAR, 
irliirh  appeared  in  the  October  Num- 
hcr  of  THE  OPES  COURT,  under 
the  title  "His)nareh'i  \'irir."  written  bi/ 
the  Editor,  Dr.  Paul  ('ami. 

Consult  the  ISDEX  for  the  com- 
plete series,  and,  in  order  to  see  where, 
in  the  various  Chapters  of  the  book, 
the  different  articles  of  this  treatise 
mail  be  found,  look  for  EUROPEAX 
WAR  (THE).  In  this  way  the  reader 
mail  read  the  entire  scries  of  articles 
in  their  orif/inal  order,  if  he  chooses 
to  do  so.  while  the  present  arrange- 
ment still  (/ires  him  the  advantage  of 
bringing  the  various  articles  Under 
their  proper,  respective  Chapter-head- 
ings of  the  book. 

Tills  is  a  -series  of  exceptiorwlly 
fine  articles  on  the  subject  in  ques- 
tion, and  thill  bear  a  unique  and  inv- 
portiiiit  ritiition  to  each  other.  Be 
sure  to  reitil  them  also  in  their  original 
order. — Editor,  "War  Echoes." 

Bismarck  foresaw  the  origin  ot  the 
Triple  Entente  and  feared  the  re- 
sults of  it.  Would  he  have  been  able 
to  prevent  its  evil  results? 

Here  is  a  discussion  of  this  topic 
by  Dr.  George  L.  Scherger,  professor 
of  History  at  the  Armour  Institute  of 
Technology.  He  quotes  some  pro- 
phetic utterances  of  Bismarck;* 

"The  following  remark,  made  as 
early  as  1875,  has  been  fulfilled  liter- 
ally: 

"  'Mighty  Germany  has  great  tasks; 
above  all,  to  keep  peace  in  Europe. 
This  is  my  chief  consideration  also 
in  the  oriental  crisis.  I  do  not  in- 
tend to  interfere  if  there  is  any  way 
to  avoid  it,  for  such  an  interference 
might  cause  a  European  conflagra- 
tion, especially  if  the  interests  of 
Austria  and  Russia  should  clash  in 
the  Balkans.  If  I  should  take  the 
side  of  one  ot  these  powers  France 
would  immediately  join  with  the 
other,  and  a  European  war  would 
break  out.  I  am  trying  to  hold  two 
mighty  beasts  by  the  collar,  in  order 
that  they  may  not  tear  each  other  to 
pieces,  and  in  order  that  they  may 
not  combine  against  Germany.' 

"As  regards  Russia,  Bismarck 
says  again  and  again  that  Germany 
would  not  have  the  least  interest  in 
waging  a  war  with  her,  nor  would 
Russia  with  Germany,  because  neither 
has  any   antagonistic   interests. 


•  What  Would  Bismarck  Say.  Sco  Dr. 
SchercPr's  entire  article  In  this  book,  as 
well   as  one   on   recent   German    Hlstorv. — 

Kilitor 


"  'Russia's  Asiatic  interests  are  not 
in  any  way  dangerous  to  Germany, 
although  they  are  to  England.  If 
Russia  should  defeat  Germany  she 
could  only  take  from  her  a  strip  of 
territory  along  the  Baltic  which 
would  really  be  a  nuisance  to  her  be- 
cause its  inhabitants  are  very  demo- 
cratic. Germany,  on  the  other  hand, 
could  only  hope  to  increase  her  un- 
desirable Polish  territory.' 

"Bismarck  even  stated  that  he 
would  have  no  objection  to  Russia's 
taking  Constantinople,  and  thought 
that  with  the  possession  of  this  gate 
to  the  Black  Sea  she  would  be  even 
less  dangerous  to  Germany  than  at 
present.  Of  course  he  knows  that 
this  would  endanger  England's  pos- 
session of  Egypt  and  the  Suez  canal, 
both  of  which  she  needs  as  much  as 
her  daily  bread. 

"Not  less  striking  are  Bismarck's 
observations    concerning   France: 

"  'If  the  French  are  willing  to  keep 
peace  with  us  until  we  attack  them,' 
he  says,  'then  peace  is  assured  for- 
ever. What  should  we  hope  to  get 
from  France?  Shall  we  annex  more 
French  territory?  I  was  not  even 
strongly  inclined  in  1871  to  take  Metz 
because  of  its  French  population.  I 
consulted  our  military  authorities  be- 
fore I  reached  a  final  decision.  It  was 
Thiers  who  said  to  me;  "We  will 
give  you  your  choice  between  Belfort 
and  Metz;  if  you  insist  upon  both 
we  cannot  make  peace."  I  then 
asked  our  war  department  whether 
we  could  give  up  our  demand  tor 
either  of  these  and  received  the  reply; 
"Yes,  as  regards  Belfort,  but  Metz  is 
worth  100,000  troops;  the  question  is 
whether  we  wish  to  be  weaker  by 
that  many  men  in  case  we  should 
ever  have  another  war."  Thereupon 
I  said:      "We  will  take  Metz.'  " 

"  'If  Germany  became  involved  in 
war  with  France,  it  would  not  be 
necessary  to  expect  Russia  to  strike 
Germany,  but  if  Russia  should  strike 
first,  France  would  be  sure  to  join 
her  in  attacking  Germany' — a  most 
remarkable  forecast  of  what  has  now 
actually  taken  place. 

"As  early  as  1887  he  said:  'Russia 
and  France  will  sooner  or  later  at- 
tack Germany.'  He  added  that  in 
this  case  the  Germans  could  put 
3,000,000  men  into  the  field  within 
ten  days,  1,000,000  on  the  French 
border,  another  1,000,000  on  the  Rus- 
sian, and  1,000,000  reserves.  There 
would  be  arms  and  clothes  for 
4,500.000.  The  next  war  would 
signify  that  either  France  or  Germany 
would  be  wiped  out  of  existence. 

"Concerning  England,  Bismarck 
says;  'As  regards  foreign  countries, 
I  have  had  sympathy  only  for  Eng- 
land, and  even  now  am  not  without 
this  feeling;  but  those  folks  do  not 
want  to  be  loved  b>'  us.'  At  another 
time  he  remarked:  'The  English  are 
full  of  anger  and  jealousy  because  we 
fought  great  battles — and  won  them. 
They  do  not  like  to  see  us  prosper. 
We  only  exist  in  order  to  fight  their 
battles  for  pay.  That  is  the  opinion 
of  the  entire  English  gentry.  They 
have  never  wished  us  well,  but  have 
done  all  they  could  to  injure  us.' 

"Bismarck  commented  upon  the 
traditional  English  policy  of  stirring 


up  trouble  on  the  continent,  accord- 
ing to  the  principle  that  when  two 
quarrel  the  third  may  be  glad.  Espe- 
cially desirous  had  she  been  to  get 
Germany  and  Russia  embroiled,  so 
that  she  herself  would  not  need  to 
fight  Russia.  This  is  the  very  game 
England  has  succeeded  in  playing  in 
the  present  war.  Bismarck  acknowl- 
edges that  he  would  do  the  same 
thing  if  he  could  find  some  strong 
and  foolish  fellow  who  would  fight 
for  him. 

"Bismarck  thought  that  England, 
having  only  a  few-  thousand  troops  of 
the  line,  was,  when  standing  alone, 
really  a  negligible  power,  which,  by 
playing  the  part  of  a  guardian  aunt, 
had  gained  a  certain  artificial  influ- 
ence, but  ought  some  day  to  be  lim- 
ited to  its  proper  domain.  If  Eng- 
land and  France  should  combine 
against  Germany,  the  English  might 
destroy  the  German  navy,  which  at 
the  time  was  still  in  its  infancy,  but 
Germany  would  in  that  case  make 
France  pay  the  bill. 

"Bismarck  said:  'The  Germans  are 
like  bears  in  this  respect;  they  do 
not  attack  of  their  own  accord,  but 
they  fight  like  mad  when  they  are 
attacked  in  their  own  lairs.  An  ap- 
peal to  fear  will  never  find  an  echo 
in  the  German's  heart.  The  German 
is  easily  betrayed  by  love  and  sym- 
pathy, but  never  by  fear.  The  Ger- 
mans will  not  start  the  fire.  Some 
other  nation  may,  but  let  any  nation 
that  provokes  Germany  beware  of  the 
fiinir  Iriitijiiiiiis.  We  Germans  fear 
God,  but  nothing  else  in  the  world; 
and  the  fear  of  God  induces  us  to 
love  and  seek  peace.  Whoever  breaks 
the  peace  will  soon  realize  that  the 
same  patriotism  which  called  weak 
and  dow^ntrodden  little  Prussia  to  the 
standards  in  1813  has  to-day  become 
the  common  property  of  united  Ger- 
many, and  that  whoever  attacks  the 
German  nation  will  find  her  present- 
ing a  united  front,  every  soldier  hav- 
ing in  his  heart  the  firm  faith:  God 
will  be  with  us. 

"  'Our  soldiers  are  worth  kissing; 
every  one  so  fearless  of  death,  so 
quiet,  so  obedient,  so  kindly  with 
empty  stomachs,  wet  clothes,  little 
sleep,  torn  shoes;  friendly  to  all;  no 
plundering  and  wanton  destruction, 
they  pay  for  all  they  can  and  eat 
moldy  bread.  Our  people  must  have 
a  deep  fund  of  religion,  otherwise  all 
this  could  not  be  as  it  is.'  " 

It  almost  seems  that  the  war  was 
unavoidable  because  the  three  great 
powers,  Russia,  France  and  England, 
were  determined  not  to  allow  Ger- 
many to  grow  too  big.  Perhaps  Bis- 
marck would  have  been  able  to  pre- 
vent the  Triple  Entente. 


"The  Germans,  thrice  beaten  back, 
have  taken  refuge  in  Antwerp.  The 
entire  German  army,  utterly  routed, 
ts  rapidly  retreating  to  Paris."  This 
ts  how  the  Chambermaid's  Own  on 
Herald  Square,  will  no  doubt  chron- 
icle the  victory  of  the  German  army. 
— Prom  "The  Fatherland,"  New 
York.  Aug.  20,  1914. 


According  to  Paris,  the  German 
war  party  has  corrupted  Europe's 
morals.  Should  be  pronounced 
Krupp-ted. 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


What  this  ConfHct  Means  to  Germany 
Coming  into  its  Highest  National  Life  and  International  Importance 


WHV  I  CHAMPION  GEHMAXY. 


The  Boston  Evening  Transcript. 
John  W.  Burgess,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D.,  J. 
U.    D.,    Dean    of    the    Faculties    of 
Political  Science  and  Philosophy, 
Pure    Science    and    Fine    Arts 
At   Columbia   University. 
This  is  no  time  and  no  subject  when, 
or  upon  which,  one  should  speak  lightly, 
ignorautly,  or  with  prejudice.    It  is  one 
of   the   world's  most  serious   moments 
and   the   views    and    sympathies    now 
formed  will  determine  the  course  of  the 
world's  development  for  many  years  to 
come.     Heavy  indeed  is  the  responsi- 
bility  which  he  incurs  who  would  as- 
sume the  role  ot  teacher  at  this  junc- 
ture, and  it  is  his  first  duty  to  present 
the  credentials   which  warrant  his  te- 
merity. 

First  of  all,  I  am  an  Anglo-American 
of  the  earliest  stock  and  the  most  pro- 
nounced type.  I  have  existed  here,  po- 
tentially or  actually,  since  the  year  1638 
and  my  European  cousins  of  today  are 
squires  and  cumtes  in  Dorsetshire. 
Moreover,  I  admire  and  revere  Eng- 
land, not  only  because  of  what  she  has 
done  for  liberty  and  self-government  at 
home,  but  because  she  has  borne  the 
white  man's  burden  throughout  the 
world  and  borne  it  true  and  well. 

On  the  other  hand,  what  I  possess  of 
higher  learning  has  been  won  in  Ger- 
many. I  have  studied  in  her  famous 
universities  and  bear  their  degrees  and 
in  three  of  them  have  occupied  the 
teacher's  chair.  1  have  lived  ten  years 
of  my  life  among  her  people  and  enjoy 
a  circle  of  valued  friendships  which  ex- 
tends from  Koenigsberg  to  Strassburg, 
from  Hamburg  to  Munich  and  from 
Osnabruck  to  Berehtesgarteu,  and 
which  reaches  through  all  classes  of  so- 
ciety from  the  occupant  of  the  throne 
to  the  dweller  in  the  humble  cottage. 
I  have  known  four  generations  of 
Hohenzollerns,  and  of  the  three  gener- 
ations now  extant  have  been  brought 
Into  rather  close  contact  with  the 
members  of  two  of  them.  While  as  to 
the  men  of  science,  and  letters,  and 
politics  who  have  made  the  Germany 
of  the  last  half  century,  I  have  known 
them  nearly  all  and  have  sat,  as  stu- 
dent, at  the  feet  of  many  of  them.  I 
must  concede  that,  of  English  descent 
though  I  am.  still  I  feel  somewhat  less 
at  home  in  the  motherland  than  in  the 
fatherland.  Nevertheless,  I  am  con- 
scious of  the  impulse  to  treat  each  with 
fairness  in  any  account  I  may  attempt 
to  give  of  their  motives  and  purposes. 


The  Real  Purpose  of  Germany. 

It  was  in  the  year  1871,  in  the  midst 
of  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  that  I 
first  trod  the  soil  of  Gerraania,  and 
It  was  from  and  with  those  who  fought 
that  war  on  the  German  side  that  I 
first  learned  the  politics  and  diplo- 
macy of  Europe.  Almost  from  the  first 
day  "that  I  took  my  seat  in  the  lecture 
room  of  the  university  I  imbibed  the 
doctrine  that  the  great  national,  inter- 
national and  world  purpose  of  the 
newlv  created  German  Empire  was  to 
protect  and  defend  the  Teutonic  civil- 


ization of   Continental   Europe  against 
the    Oriental    Slavic    quasi-civilization 
on   one   side,    and   the   decaying  Latin 
(.ivilization    on     the    other.     After    a 
little    I    began    to   hear   of    the    "Pan- 
Slavic  policy"  of  Russia  and  the  "Ke- 
vanche  policy"  of  France.     For  a  while 
the  latter,  the  policy  of  France  for  re- 
taking   Alsace-Lorraine,    occupied    the 
chief  attention.     But  in  1876,  with  the 
Itussian    attack    upon    the   Turks,    the 
Pan-Slavic  policy  of  Russia— the  ijolicy 
of    uniting   the   Slavs    in   the   German 
Empire,  the  Austro-IIungariau  Empire 
and  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  with  and 
under  the  sway  of  Russia— was  moved 
into     the     foreground.     All     Western 
lOurope  recognized  the  peril  to  modern 
civilizatidu  and  the  powers  of  Europe 
assemliled   at    Berlin   in   1878   to    meet 
and     master     it.     The     astute     British 
premier,  Lord  Beaconsfield,  supported 
l>y  the  blunt  and  masterful  Bismarck, 
directed  the  work  of  the  congress,  and 
the    Pan-Slavic   policy    of   Russia    was 
given    a    severe   setback.      Russia    was 
Tillowed  to  take  a  little  almost  worth- 
less territory  in  Europe,  and  territory 
of  greater  value  in  Asia;  Roumania, 
Servia  and  Montenegro  were  made  in- 
dependent States;  Bulgaria  was  given 
an   autonomous  administration  with   a 
European  Christian   prince,   but  under 
the  nominal  suzerainty  of  the  Turkish 
Sultan;  and  the  Turkish  provinces  of 
Bosnia   and   Herzegovina,   then   almost 
free   zones    infested    by    bandits,    were 
|)laced  under  Austro-Hungarian  admin- 
istration,  also   subject   to   the  nominal 
suzerainty  of  the  Sultan. 

The  Slav  Peril  of  the  70' s. 
With  this  the  much-respected  and 
dreaded  activities  of  Russia  were  di- 
rected towards  Asia,  and  Russia  was 
now  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
and  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire 
from  1880  to  1902,  occupied  chiefly 
with  the  extension  of  her  emiiire  in 
the  Orient.  The  German  Empire 
was  delivered  for  the  moment  from 
this  great  peril  and  enabled  to  pur- 
sue the  line  of  peaceable  development 
and  progress.  The  greater  security  to 
the  eastern  borders  of  these  great 
States  thus  established  also  helped  to 
reduce  the  force  of  the  French  spirit  of 
revenge,  as  the  prospect  of  its  satisfac- 
tion became  more  distant. 

It  was  during  this  period,  however, 
that  Germany  developed  from  an  agri- 
c\iltural  to  a  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial community— that  is,  became  a 
competitor  of  Great  Britain  and  France, 
esiiecially  of  Great  Britain,  in  world  in- 
dustry. Her  marvelous  growth  in  this 
direction  excited  soon  the  jealousy,  the 
envy,  and  then  the  hostility  of  Great 
Britain.  'We  in  the  United  States,  how- 
ever, reaped  greaf  advantage  from  the 
industrial  and  commercial  competition 
between  the  two  great  powers,  and  we 
were  amused  at  the  pettishness  of 
CJreat  Britain  in  representing  it  as 
something  unfair  and  illegitimate. 
King  Edward  as  a  "Peacemaker." 
■^'hen  Edward  VII.  came  to  the 
throne  in  the  year  1001,  he  saw  Great 
Britain's  interests  in  the  Orient 
threatened  by  Russia's  policy  of  exten- 


sion in  Asia  and  her  commercial  Inter- 
ests  throughout   the   world   threatened 
by   the  active  and  intelligent  competi- 
tion of  the  Germans.    He,  as  all  rulers 
at  the  moment  of  accession,  felt  the  am- 
bition to   do  something  to   relieve  the 
disadvantages,  to  say  the  least,  under 
which  in  these  respects  his  country  was 
laboring.     He  began  that  course  of  di- 
plomacy for  which  he  won  the  title  of 
peace-lover.    The  first  element  of  it  was 
the  approach  to  Japan  and  the  encour- 
agement to  Japan  to  resist  the  advance 
of  Russia.    This  movement  culminated 
in  the  war  between  Russia  and  Japan 
of  the  years  1904-1905,  in  which  Russia 
was  worsted  and  checked  in  the  realiza- 
tion of  her  Asiatic  policy  and  thrown 
back  upon  Europe.     The  next  element 
in  the  diplomacy    of    the    peace-loving 
king  was  the  fanning  into  flame  again 
of  the  "revanche"  spirit  of  France  by 
the  arrangement  of  the  quasi-alliance, 
called  the  Entente,  between  Great  Brit- 
ain.  France    and    Russia,    aimed    dis- 
tinctly and  avowedly  against  what  was 
known  as  the  Triple  Alliance  of  Ger- 
many, Austria  and  Italy,  which  had  for 
thirty  years  kept  the  peace  of  Europe. 
The  third  and  last  element  of  this  pa- 
cific programme  was  the  seduction  of 
Italy  from  the  Triple  Alliance,  by  rous- 
ing "the  Irredentist  hopes  for  winning 
from     Austria     the    Ti-ent    district    in 
South  Tyrol,   which  Italy  covets. 

It   is   hardly   necessary   for   me    to 
call    attention    to    the    extreme    peril 
involved  in  this  so-called  peaceful  di- 
plomacy to  the  German  and  Austro- 
Hungarian  empires.  1  myself  became 
first   fullv  aware  of  it  on  the  day  of 
.Tune  27,  1905.     On  that  day  I  had  an 
extended     interview    with    a     distin- 
guished    British    statesman     in     the 
House    ot    Commons    in    London.       1 
was    on    mv    way    to    Wilhelmshoehe 
to  meet  his  majesty,  the  German  em- 
peror,  to   arrange  with   his   majesty, 
the      cartel     ot   exchange     ot      edu- 
cators  between    universities     in     the 
two  countries.    When  I  revealed  this 
fact  to  mv  host  the  conversation  im- 
mediatelv  took  a  turn  which  made  me 
distinctly  feel  that  a  grave  crisis  was 
impending  in  the  relations  of  Great 
Britain  to  Germany.     I  was  so  firmly 
impressed  by  it,  that  I  felt  compelled 
to  call  mv  host's  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  "great  number  of  American 
citizens    of    German    extraction,     the 
friendliness  ot  the  German  States  to 
the   cause   ot   the   Union   during   our 
Civil  War,  and  the  virtual  control  of 
American    universities    by    men    edu- 
cated at  German  universities,   would 
all    make    for    close    and    continuing 
friendship  between  Germany  and  the 
United    States.      When    I    arrived    in 
Germany,   I   asked   in   high   quarters 
for  the  explanation  ot  my  London  ex- 
perience and  was  told  that  it  was  the 
moment    of    greatest    tension    in    the 
Morocco  affair,  when  all  feared  that 
at  Britain's  instigation.  France  would 
grasp   the  sword. 


The  Slav  Peril  Now. 

The   larger   part  ot   the   next   two 
years  I  spent  in  Germany  as  exchange 


IDEALS  AND  THEIR  F^EAI.IZATIOX 


professor  in  the  three  universities  of 
Berlin,  Bonn  and  Leipzig;  also,  as 
lecturer  before  the  Bar  Association 
at  Vienna.  Naturally  I  formed  a 
really  vast  circle  of  acquaintances 
among  the  leading  men  of  both  em- 
pires, and  the  constant  topic  of  con- 
versation everywhere,  at  all  times 
and  among  all  classes,  was  the  grow- 
ing peril  to  Germany  and  Austro- 
Hungary  of  the  revived  Pan-Slavic 
policy  and  programme  of  Russia,  the 
re-inflamed  "Revanche"  of  France 
and  Great  Britain's  intense  commer- 
cial jealousy. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1907,  I 
was  again  at  Wilhelmshoehe.  The 
imperial  family  were  at  the  Castle 
and  somewhere  about  the  tenth  of 
the  month  it  became  known  that 
King  Edward  would  make  the  em- 
peror a  visit  or  rather  a  call,  for  it 
was  nothing  more  cordial  than  that, 
on  the  fourteenth. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  13th,  the 
day  before  the  arrival  of  the  king, 
I  received  a  summons  to  go  to  the 
Castle  and  remain  for  dinner  with 
the  emperor.  When  I  presented  my- 
self, I  found  the  emperor  surrounded 
by  his  highest  officials.  Prince  Bue- 
low,  the  chancellor  of  the  empire. 
Prince  Hohenlohe,  the  imperial  gov- 
ernor of  Alsace-Lorraine ;  Prince  Ra- 
dolin,  the  German  ambassador  to 
Prance,  Excellency  von  Lucanus,  the 
chief  of  the  emperor's  civil  cabinet; 
General  Count  von  Huelsen  Haesel- 
ler,  the  chief  of  the  emperor's  mili- 
tary cabinet;  Fieldmarshal  von  Pies- 
sen,  chief  court  marshal.  Count  zu 
Eulenburg;  lord  high  chamberlain. 
Baron  von  dem  Knesebeck;  and  the 
Oberstallmeister,  Baron  von  Rei- 
schach.  The  dinner  was  on  the  open 
terrace  of  the  Castle  looking  toward 
the  Hercules  Heights.  At  its  close 
the  empress  and  the  ladies  withdrew 
into  the  Castle  and  the  emperor  with 
the  gentlemen  remained  outside.  His 
majesty  rose  from  his  seat  in  the 
middle  of  the  table,  and  went  to  one 
end  of  it  followed  by  Prince  Buelow, 
Prince  Hohenlohe,  Prince  Radolin 
and   Excellency   von   Lucanus. 

Roosevelt  as  Mediator. 

His  majesty  directed  me  to  join 
the  group  and,  so  soon  as  we  were 
seated,  the  chief  of  the  civil  cabinet 
turned  to  me  and  said  that  he  was 
afraid  that  our  good  friend.  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt,  unwittingly  did  Eu- 
rope an  injury  in  mediating  between 
Russia  and  Japan,  since  this  had 
turned  the  whole  force  of  the  Pan- 
Slavic  programme  of  Russia  back 
upon  Europe.  All  present  spoke  of 
the  great  peril  to  Middle  Europe  of 
this  change.  Then  both  the  Ger- 
man ambassador  to  France  and  the 
governor  of  Alsace-Lorraine  spoke 
discouragingly  of  the  great  increase 
of  hostile  feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
French  towards  Germany,  and,  fin- 
ally, the  part  that  Great  Britain  had 
played  and  was  playing  in  bringing 
about  both  of  these  movements  was 
dwelt  upon  with  great  seriousness 
mingled  with  evidences  of  much  un- 
easiness. 

King  Edward  came  the  next  morn- 
ing at  about  ten  o'clock  and  took  his 
departure  at  about  three  in  the  af- 
ternoon.      Whether       any       remon- 


strances were  made  to  his  majesty 
in  regard  to  the  great  peril  which 
he  wittingly  or  unwittingly  was  hop- 
ing to  bring  upon  Middle  Europe,  I 
have  never  known.  It  seemed  to  me, 
however,  that  after  that  date  he  mod- 
ified considerably  his  diplomatic  ac- 
tivity. But  he  had  sown  the  seed  in 
well  prepared  ground  and  the  harv- 
est was  bound  to  come.  The  three 
great  forces  making  for  universal 
war  in  Europe,  viz.:  the  Pan-Slavic 
programme  of  Russia,  "the  Re- 
vanche" of  France  and  Great  Brit- 
ain's commercial  jealousy  of  Ger- 
many had  been  by  his  efforts  brought 
together.  It  could  not  fail  to  pro- 
duce the  catastrophe.  It  was  only  a 
question  of  time. 

Turkey  Brings  a  Torch  to  the  Burn- 
ing. 

The  following  year,  the  year  1908 
saw  the  revolt  of  the  young  Turkish 
party  in  Constantinople,  which  forced 
from  the  sultan  the  constitution  of 
•luly,  1908.  According  to  this  consti- 
tution all  the  peoples  under  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  sultan  were  called 
upon  to  send  representatives  to  the 
Turkish  Parliament.  Both  Bulgaria 
and  Bosnia-Herzegovina  were  nomin- 
ally subject  to  that  sovereignity,  ac- 
cording to  the  provisions  of  the  Ber- 
lin congress  of  the  Powers  of  1878 
For  thirty  years  Bulgaria  had  been 
practically  an  independent  State,  and 
during  thirty  years  Austro-Hungary 
had  poured  millions  upon  millions 
into  Bosnia-Herzegovina,  building 
roads,  railroads,  hotels,  hospitals  and 
schools,  establishing  the  reign  of  law 
and  order,  and  changing  the  popula- 
tion from  a  swarm  of  loafers,  beg- 
gars and  bandits  to  a  body  of  hard- 
working, frugal  and  prosperous  citi- 
zens. What  now  were  Bulgaria  and 
Austria-Hungary  to  do?  Were  they 
to  sit  quiet  and  allow  the  restoration 
of  the  actual  sovereignty  and  govern- 
ment of  Turkey  in  and  over  Bulgaria 
and  Bosnia-Herzegovina?  Could  any 
rational  human  being  in  the  world 
have   expected   or   desired   that? 

They  simply,  on  the  self-same  day, 
viz.:  Oct.  r.,  1908,  renounced  the 
nominal  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan, 
Bulgaria  becoming  thereby  an  in- 
dependent State,  and  Bosnia-Herze- 
govina remaining  what  it  had  ac- 
tually been  since  1878,  only  with  no 
further  nominal  relation  to  the 
Turkish  Government.  Some  Ameri- 
can newspapers  have  called  this  the 
robbery  of  Bosnia-Herzegovina  by 
Austro-Hungary,  and  have  made  out 
Austro-Hungary  to  be  an  aggressor. 
I  have  not  seen,  however,  the  slight- 
est indication  that  any  of  these  have 
had  the  faintest  conception  of  what 
actually  took  place.  Europe  ac- 
quiesced in  it  without  much  ado.  It 
was  said  that  Russia  expressed  dis- 
satisfaction, but  that  Germany  paci- 
fied her. 

Four  more  years  of  peace  rolled  by, 
during  which,  in  spite  of  the  facts 
that  Austro-Hungary  gave  a  local 
constitution  with  representative  in- 
stitutions to  Bosnia-Herzegovina  and 
Alsace-Lorraine  was  admitted  to  rep- 
resentation in  the  Federal  Council, 
as  well  as  the  Reichstag,  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire,  that  is,  was  made  sub- 
stantially a  Stale  of  the  Empire,  the 


Pan-Slavic  schemes  of  Russia,  the 
French  spirit  of  revenge  and  the 
British  commercial  jealousy  grew 
and  developed  and  became  welded 
together,  until  the  Triple  Entente  be- 
came virtually  a  Triple  Alliance  di- 
rected against  the  two  great  States  of 
Middle  Europe. 

Winding  the  Alarm-Clock. 

Russia  had  now  recovered  from 
the  losses  of  the  Japanese  War  and 
the  internal  anarchy  which  followed 
it;  France  had  perfected  her  military 
organization;  Turkey  was  now  driv- 
en by  the  allied  Balkan  States  out  of 
the  calculation  as  an  anti-Russian 
Power;  Bulgaria,  Austro-Hungary'a 
ally,  was  now  completelv  exhausted 
by  the  war  with  Turkey,  and  that 
with  her  Balkan  allies,  now  become 
enemies;  and  Great  Britain  was  in 
dire  need  of  an  opportunity  to  divert 
the  mind  of  her  people  away  from  the 
internal  questions  which  were  threat- 
ening to  disrupt  her  constitution.  The 
practical  ear  could  discern  the  buzz 
of  the  machinery  lifting  the  hammer 
to  strike  the  hour  of  Armageddon. 
And  it  struck.  The  foul  murder  of 
the  heir  of  the  Hapsburgers  set  the 
civilized  world  in  horror  and  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire  in  mourn- 
ing. In  tracing  the  ramifications  of 
the  treacherous  plot,  the  lines  were 
found  to  run  to  Belgrade.  And  when 
Austro-Hungary  demanded  inquiry 
and  action  by  a  tribunal  in  which 
representatives  from  Austro-Hun- 
gary should  sit,  Servia  repelled  the 
demand  as  inconsistent  with  her  dig- 
nity. Believing  that  inquiry  and  ac- 
tion by  Servia  alone  would  be  no  in- 
quiry and  no  action,  Austro-Hungary 
felt  obliged  to  take  the  chastisement 
of  the  criminals  and  their  abettors 
into  its  own  hands.  Then  Russia  in- 
tervened to  stay  the  hand  of  Aus- 
tro-Hungary and  asked  the  German 
Emperor  to  mediate  between  Austro- 
Hungary   and   Servia. 

The  Emperor  undertook  the  task, 
but  while  in  the  midst  of  it  he 
learned  that  Russia  was  mobilizing 
troops  upon  his  own  border.  He  im- 
mediately demanded  of  Russia  that 
this  should  cease,  but  without  avail 
or  even  reply.  He  protested  again 
with  like  results.  Finallv,  at  mid- 
night on  the  31st  of  July,  his  am- 
bassador at  St.  Petersburg  laid  the 
demand  before  the  Russian  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  that  the  Russian 
mobilization  must  cease  within 
twelve  hours,  otherwise  Germany 
would  be  obliged  to  mobilize.  At  the 
same  time  the  emperor  directed  his 
ambassador  in  Paris  to  inquire  of  the 
French  Government  whether,  in  case 
of  war  between  Germany  and  Russia, 
France  would  remain  neutral? 

The  Case  of  Belgium. 

As  France  could  move  faster  than 
Russia,  the  Germans  turned  the  force 
of  their  arms  upon  her.  They  under- 
took to  reach  her  by  way  of  what 
they  supposed  to  be  the  lines  of  least 
resistance.  These  lay  through  the 
neutral  States  of  Belgium  and  Lux- 
emburg. They  claimed  that  France 
had  already  violated  the  neutrality  of 
both  by  invasion  and  by  the  flying  of 
their  war  air-ships  over  them,  and 
they  marched  their  columns  into 
both. 


10 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


Belgium  resisted.  The  Germans 
offered  to  guarantee  the  indepen- 
dence and  integrity  of  Belgium  and 
indemnify  her  for  all  loss  or  injury  If 
she  would  not  further  resist  the  pas- 
sage of  German  troops  over  her  soil. 
She  still  refused  and  turned  to  Great 
Britain.  Great  Britain  now  inter- 
vened and  in  the  negotiations  with 
Germany,  demanded  as  the  price  of 
her  neutrality  that  Germany  should 
not  use  her  navy  against  either 
Prance  or  Russia,  and  should  desist 
from  her  military  movements 
through  Belgium,  and  when  the  Ger- 
mans asked  to  be  assured  that  Great 
Britain  herself  would  respect  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium  throughout  the 
entire  war  on  the  basis  of  the  ful- 
filment of  her  requirements  by  Ger- 
many, the  British  Government  made 
no  reply,  but  declared  war  on  Ger- 
many. 

And  so  we  have  the  alignment, 
Germany,  Austria  and  probably  Bul- 
garia on  one  side;  Russia,  Servia, 
Montenegro,  Belgium,  France  and 
England  on  the  other,  and  rivers  of 
blood  have  already  flowed.  And  we 
stand  gaping  at  each  other,  and  each 
is  asking  the  others  who  did  it. 
Whose  is  the  responsibility,  and  what 
will  be  the  outcome?  Now  if  I  have 
not  already  answered  the  former 
question,  I  shall  not  try  to  answer  it. 
I  shall  leave  each  one  in  view  of  the 
account  1  have  given,  to  settle  that 
question  with  his  own  judgment  and 
conscience.  I  will  only  say  that,  as 
Burns,  the  Man  of  Letters  and  the 
Man  of  Labor,  that  they  have  rent 
the  veil  of  diplomatic  hypocrisy  and 
have  washed  their  hands  clean  from 
the  stain  of  this  blunder-crime. 

What  Will  Come  of  It? 

Finally,  as  to  the  outcome,  not 
much  can  yet  be  said.  There  is  noth- 
ing so  idle  as  prophecy  and  I  do  not 
like  to  indulge  in  it.  Whether  the 
giant  of  middle  Europe  will  be  able 
to  break  the  bonds  which  in  the  last 
ten  years  have  been  wound  about  him 
and  under  whose  smarting  cut  he  is 
now  writhing,  or  the  fetters  will  be 
riveted  tighter,  cannot  easily  be  fore- 
told. But  assuming  the  one  or  the 
other,  we  may  speculate  with  some- 
thing more  of  probable  accuracy  re- 
garding the  political  situation  which 
will  result.  The  triumph  of  Ger- 
many-Austro-Hungary-Bulgaria  can 
never  be  so  complete  as  to  make  any 
changes  in  the  present  map  of  Eu- 
rope. All  that  that  could  effect 
would  be  the  momentary  abandon- 
ment of  the  Russian  Pan-Slavic  pro- 
gramme, the  relegation  to  dormancy 
of  the  French  "Revanche,"  and  the 
stay  of  Great  Britain's  hand  from 
the  destruction  of  German  commerce. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  triumph  of 
Great  Britain-Russia-France  cannot 
fail  to  give  Russia  the  mastery  of 
the  Continent  of  Europe  and  restore 
Great  Britain  to  her  sovereignty  over 
the  seas.  These  two  great  Powers, 
who  now  already  between  them  pos- 
sess almost  the  halt  of  the  whole 
world,  would  then,  indeed,  control 
the  destinies  of  the  earth. 

Is   More   Militarism    Coining? 

Well  may  we  draw  back  in  dismay 
before  such  a  consummation.  The 
"rattle  of  the  sabre"  would  then  be 


music  to  our  ears  in  comparison  with 
the  crack  of  the  Cossack's  knout  and 
the  clanking  of  Siberian  chains,  while 
the  burden  of  taxation  which  we 
would  be  obliged  to  suffer  in  order  to 
create  and  maintain  the  vast  navy 
and  army  necessary  for  the  defense 
of  our  territory  and  commerce 
throughout  the  world  against  these 
gigantic  powers,  with  their  Oriental 
ally,  Japan,  would  sap  our  wealth, 
endanger  our  prosperity  and  threaten 
the  very  existence  of  republican  in- 
stitutions. 

This  is  not  time  for  shallow 
thought  or  flippant  speech,  in  a  pub- 
lic sense  it  is  the  most  serious  mo- 
ment of  our  lives.  Let  us  not  be 
swayed  in  our  judgment  by  prejudice 
or  minor  considerations.  Men  and 
women  like  ourselves  are  suffering 
and  dying  for  what  they  believe  to 
be  the  right  and  the  world  is  in  tears. 
Let  us  wait  and  watch  patiently  and 
hope  sincerely  that  all  this  agony  is 
a  great  labor-pain  of  history  and  that 
there  shall  be  born  through  it  a  new 
era  of  prosperity,  happiness,  and 
righteousness  for  all  mankind."* 

*"The  Fatherland,"  New  York, 
irliirh  in  its  issues  of  September  7  and 
l-'i.  also  reprinted  this  article,  makes 
the  follou-iiif!  eomment  in  the  number 
corresponding  September  l.'i,  wherein  it 
irns  concluded: 

"TTe  publish  hereirith  the  conclud- 
iitfi  part  of  Prof.  John  Burgess's  states- 
manlike analiisis  of  the  great  tear 
again.^t  eivili:alion  waged  Inj  England 
and  her  allies.  Like  Er-President 
Eliot,  Prof.  Burgess  is  an  Anglo-Amer- 
ican. Unlike  Eliot,  he  has  a  clear 
grasp  of  the  undrrliiiiig  factors  of  Ger- 
inanii's  gigantic  struggle  iigiiin.it  Pan 
Slarism." — Editor,   War   Echoes. 


GERMANY'S    STRUGGLE    FOR 
EXISTENCE. 


H.  C  G.  Von  Jageniann,  Professor  of 

German  Philology  at  Harvard 

Universitv- 


"BUT  THIS  W^4S  TO  BE  A  WHITE 
MAN'S   WAR." 

On  page  42,  of  chapter  4,  of  Sir 
Arthur  Conan  Doyle's  famous  book 
"The  Great  Boer  W^ar"  (Revised  and' 
enlarged  edition  printed  in  December, 
19  02) ,  we  read  this: 

"  •  *  *  From  all  the  men  of 
many  hues,  who  make  up  the  British 
Empire,  from  Hindoo  Rajahs,  from 
West  African  Houssas,  from  Malay 
police,  from  W^estern  Indians,  there 
came  offers  of  service.  But  this  was 
to  be  a  white  man's  war,  and  if  the 
British  could  not  work  their  own  sal- 
vation then  it  were  well  that  the  em- 
pire should  pass  from  such  a  race." 

"The  magnificent  Indian  army  of 
150,000  soldiers,  many  of  them  sea- 
soned veterans,  was  for  the  same 
reason  left  untouched.  England  has 
claimed  no  credit  or  consideration 
for  such  abstention,  but  an  irrespon- 
sible writer  may  well  ask  how  many 
of  those  foreign  critics  whose  respect 
for  our  public  morality  appears  to 
be  as  limited  as  their  knowledge  of 
our  principles  and  history  would 
have  advocated  with  self-denial,  had 
their  own  countries  been  placed  in 
the  same   position." 


It  is  estimated  that  5,750,000  men 
are  fighting  in  Europe,  of  whom  to 
date  only  7,456,678  have  been 
killed,  wounded  or  captured. — From 
the  "Boston  Evening  Transcript," 
September  15,  1914. 


The  Outlook. 

Popular  imagination  demands  for 
every  great  historical  event  a  hero 
or  a  villain.  So  it  has  tried  to  fix  the 
responsibility  for  the  present  cruel 
war  upon  one  man;  and,  in  view  of  a 
particular  sequence  of  events,  the 
German  Emperor  has  been  singled 
out  as  the  scapegoat.  No  student  of 
history  or  of  politics,  however,  be- 
lieves that  any  one  man  nowadays 
could  cause  such  a  clashing  of  forces 
as  is  going  on  at  present  in  Europe, 
or  that  such  a  war  could  be  due  to 
anything  but  deep  underlying  causes, 
altogether  beyond  the  control  of  or- 
dinary statesmanship.  The  real 
causes  of  the  war  are  three:  France's 
desire  to  win  back  her  military  pres- 
tige and  the  provinces  lost  to  Ger- 
many in  187  0;  Russia's  desire  to 
eliminate  Germany  as  the  ally  of  Aus- 
tria, her  opponent  on  the  way  to 
Constantinople;  England's  jealousy 
of  Germany's  growth  as  a  commercial 
and  naval  power.  Let  us  consider 
these  three  causes  in  the  order  indi- 
cated. 

France  and   Germany. 

In  1870  France,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent further  unification  and  internal 
strengthening  of  Germany,  used  a 
slight  pretext  to  declare  war  against 
the  North  German  Federation,  hop- 
ing thereby  to  extend  her  own  terri- 
tory by  the  conquest  of  the  left  bank 
of  the  Rhine.  France  was  defeated, 
the  new  German  Empire  established, 
and  Alsace  and  a  part  of  Lorraine  an- 
nexed. France  has  never  forgiven 
Germany  for  this  defeat.  American 
sympathy  has  generally  been  with 
Germany  in  this  matter;  only  Ger- 
many's annexation  of  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine is  often  criticised  in  this  coun- 
try, and,  in  view  of  certain  wrong  im- 
pressions concerning  it,  requires  ex- 
planation. These  provinces  belonged 
to  Germany  from  the  time  of  di- 
vision of  Charlemagne's  Empire  in 
843  to  1648,  when  Germany,  ex- 
hausted by  the  Thirty  Years'  War 
and  torn  by  internal  dissensions,  was 
forced  to  cede  the  greater  part  of 
them  to  France;  Strassburg  and  the 
surrounding  territory  was  seized  by 
Louis  XIV  in  time  of  peace  in  1681. 
The  people  of  Alsace  are  almost  en- 
tirely of  German  stock,  belonging  to 
the  Alemannian  tribe,  from  the  name 
of  which  the  French  name  for  Ger- 
many, Allemagne,  is  derived.  That 
their  native  speech  is  German  will 
appear  even  to  the  uninitiated  from 
such  names  as  Mulhausen,  Breisach, 
Strassburg,  Weissenburg,  Saarburg, 
etc.  Similarly  the  population  of  Lor- 
raine is  for  the  most  part  closely  re- 
lated to  that  of  the  adjoining  part 
of  Prussia.  For  a  hundred  years  after 
their  forcible  annexation  to  France, 
the  population,  especially  of  Alsace, 
remained  essentially  German  in  char- 
acter, speech,  customs,  and  intellec- 
tual sympathies.  No  proof  of  this  is 
needed  for  any  one  who  is  familiar 
with   the   story    of    Goethe's   student 


IDEALS  AND  PRACTICAL  ISSUES 


time  in  Strassburg  in  1770  to  1771, 
and  of  his  love  for  Friederike,  the 
parson's  daughter,  of  Sesenheim  near 
Strassburg,  with  whom  he  sang  the 
old  German  folk-songs  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. Politically  the  provinces 
then  were  under  the  rule  of  France; 
in  every  other  respect  they  were  a 
part  of  Germany.  Political  sense  and 
national  feeling,  however,  were  in- 
significant among  the  population,  as 
they  then  were  all  over  Germany.  Not 
until  the  French  Uevolution,  more  than 
a  hundred  years  after  their  annexation 
to  France,  did  Alsace  and  Lorraine  be- 
come French  in  feeling  to  any  con- 
siderable extent ;  then  the  great  wave 
of  national  enthusiasm  proceeding 
from  Paris  swept  over  the  two  prov- 
vinces  and  separated  them  from  Ger- 
many, where  the  national  spirit  was 
not  aroused  till  much  later. 

Germany  had  not  forgotten  her  just 
claims  to  these  provinces ;  but  even 
after  the  terrible  effort  to  shaking  off 
the  Napoleonic  dominion  In  1813-15  she 
was  still  too  disunited  and  weak  to 
win  them  back.  So  they  remained  w-ith 
France  until  1870,  and  during  this  long 
period  their  political  attachment  to 
France  became  very  strong,  while 
nevertheless  the  great  mass  of  the  pop- 
ulation retained  its  old  German  speech. 
France  during  this  period  looked  ui)on 
the  provinces  with  the  superiority  of 
the  conqueror ;  the  Alsatian  speaking 
his  German  patois  was  regarded  as 
far  inferior  to  the  genuine  French- 
man. 

After  her  victory  in  1870  Germany 
exacte<J  the  return  of  the  lost  prov- 
inces. She  did  this  partly  for  mili- 
tary reasons,  in  order  to  erect  a  bul- 
wark between  herself  and  France, 
which  had  for  centuries  taken  every 
opportunity  to  interfere  in  German's 
affairs  and  to  disrupt  Germany's  unity ; 
partly  for  the  sentimental  reason  that 
these  provinces  belonged  originally  to 
Germany,  that  their  population  was  of 
German  stock,  and  that,  even  though 
the  sympathies  of  the  peojjle  at  the 
time  were  largely  with  the  French,  It 
was  hoped  to  win  them  back  to  Ger- 
many, to  which  they  naturally  belonged. 
In  this  last,  endeavor,  it  is  admitted. 
Germany  has  only  partially  succeeded; 
but,  if  it  be  remembered  that  it  took 
over  a  hundred  years  and  the  French 
Revolution  to  Gallicize  the  provinces, 
Germany  has  no  reason  to  be  ashamed 
of  what  she  accomplished  in  forty- 
three  years.  The  jingo  press  of  Paris 
and  Ijondon  inveighs  against  the  so- 
lalled  (Jerman  tyranny  in  Alsace-Lor- 
raine; but  what  are  the  facts?  The 
regrettable  Zabern  incident,  greatly 
exaggerated  as  It  w-as  by  a  sensation- 
loving  press,  has  been  absolutely  unique 
during  an  occupation  of  more  than  four 
decades;  compared  with  what  has  oc- 
curred in  Ireland  in  the  way  of  mur- 
ders, land  riots,  evictions,  etc.,  during 
tills  iHTiod,  all  the  clashes  between  the 
authorities  and  the  people  in  Alsace- 
Lorraine  fade  into  insignificance.  Un- 
der a  really  tyrannical  government  the 
people  generally  emigrate  as  fast  as 
they  can.  as  they  did  from  Ireland  for 
many  years;  In  Alsace  Ixirraine  the  an- 
nexation was  linme<liate]y  followed  by 
an  increase  In  emigration,  but  this  in- 
crease ceased  in  a  few  years,  when  the 
rate  of  emigration  fell  below  that  of 
the  neighboring  states.  It  is  true  that 
a  good  many  Alsatians  might  be  found 


in  Paris,  but  so  there  might  be  in  Ber- 
lin, as  everywhere  in  the  world  the 
population  from  agricultural  and 
mountain  districts  has  flocked  to  the 
large  cities.  Between  1875  and  1905 
the  poitulation  of  the  provinces  in- 
creased from  1,531,000  to  Jl,814,000,  or 
18.4  per  cent,  while  during  the  same 
period  that  of  France  increased  by 
only  0.4  per  cent ;  from  1885  to  1905 
the  population  of  the  industrial  city  of 
Mulhausen  increased  from  09,759  to 
94,488 — that  is  35  per  cent.  The 
growth  in  material  wealth  has  been  sim- 
ilar ;  and  what  the  German  Government 
has  done  in  the  provinces  for  education 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  after 
the  dehuite  annexation  of  the  provinces 
almost  the  first  thing  was  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  the  famous  old  Uni- 
versity of  Strassburg,  which  has  since 
taken  its  place  among  the  prominent 
centers  of  learning  in  the  world,  and 
to  which  numerous  American  students 
have  resorted.  Furthermore,  Germany 
has  allowed  the  provinces  an  amount 
of  autonomy  which  Ireland  even  now 
does  not  enjoy ;  for  several  years  their 
affairs  have  been  administered  by  a 
(Jovernor-General  appointed  by  the 
Emperor,  and  a  Diet  elected  by  uni- 
versal suffrage;  for  years  many  of  the 
civil  ollices,  including  some  of  the  high- 
est, have  been  filled  by  aatives  of  the 
provinces,  who  thus  showed  their  wil- 
lingness to  co-operate  with  the  new 
government.  A  large  part  of  the  popu- 
lation was  content  to  abide  by  the  re- 
sults of  1S70.  and  the  sentiment  was 
overwhelmingly  against  another  w'ar 
over  the  possession  of  the  provinces, 
from  which  these  would  naturally  be 
the  worst  sufferers.  If  it  had  not  been 
for  the  continuous  agitation  by  the 
Paris  jingo  press  we  should  probably 
have  heard  little  about  German  ty- 
raimy  in  Alsace,  for  there  was  no  sub- 
stantial basis  for  the  assertion. 

But  France  was  not  content  to  abide 
by  the  decision  of  1S70,  and  not  only 
the  jingo  press,  but  the  most  influential 
public  men.  with  few  exceptions,  have 
more  or  less  frankly  encouraged  the 
popular  demand  for  another  trial  of 
strength  with  Germany.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  armaments  were  carried  to  an 
extent  in  ]iroiiortion  far  beyond  those 
of  Germany,  and  in  1912  the  time  of 
active  compulsory  service  was  raised 
from  two  to  three  years,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  recruits  of  the  follow- 
ing year  were  called  to  the  colors,  thus 
practically  doubling  the  army  at  one 
stroke.  For  this  same  purpose  the 
alliance  with  Hussia  was  more  and 
more  firmly  cemented,  France  lending 
Kussia  billions  of  money  to  reorganize 
.-ind  vastly  increase  her  army  after  her 
defeat  by  .lapan.  It  was  only  a  ques- 
tion of  time  when  France  and  Russia 
would  find  an  op[)ortunity  to  strike  at 
Germany,  and  it  was  an  open  secret  in 
military  and  diplomatic  circles  that 
such  an  opportunity  would  occur  in 
inn  or  1015.  when  both  French  and 
Russian  armaments  would  be  complete. 

Russia  and  Germany. 

Germany  has  long  recognized  Russia 
as  a  most  iwwerful  neighbor  with  whom 
she  had  to  be  on  good  terms  for  her 
own  sake.  The  two  nations  have  not 
seriotisly  clashed  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  for  Prussia's  particiiuition 
in  NaiKileon's  cnniiinlgii  In  1812  was 
compulsciry.    -mm]    tin-    very    next     year 


I'russia  and  Russia  fought  side  by  side 
against  Napoleon  at  i^eipzig.  Since 
then  Germany  has  made  every  effort, 
especially  in  recent  years,  by  com- 
mercial sacrifices  to  retain  Russia's 
good  will,  and  the  two  nations  might 
lie  at  peace  now  if  it  were  not  for  Rus- 
sia's hostility  to  Germany's  friend  and 
ally,  Austria.  Russia's  ambition  for 
more  than  a  century  has  been  to  extend 
her  dominion  over  the  Balkans  and  to 
win  Constantinople.  She  might  prob- 
ably have  done  so  long  ago  had  this 
been  in  accordance  with  the  designs  of 
Fngland  and  France.  In  order  to  win 
Constantinople,  Russia  must  first  dom- 
inate the  southern  Slavic  states,  Servia 
and  Bulgaria,  and  she  has  for  a  long 
time  arrogated  to  herself  the  part  of 
their  patron  and  protector.  That  Rus- 
sia has  a  prior  right  to  this  position 
Austria  does  not  admit,  for  she  too  is 
a  great  Slavic  power,  and  her  com- 
mercial interests  demand  an  open  route 
to  the  sea  and  to  the  Orient  as  much  as 
Russia's.  Indirectly  Germany's  com- 
mercial interests  are  at  stake,  for 
through  Austria  lies  Germany's  land 
route  to  the  Orient,  and  it  is  an  im- 
perative necessity  for  her  to  keep  this 
route  open ;  neither  Austria  nor  Ger- 
many can  afford  to  have  it  blocked  by 
an  unfriendly  Power.  This  is  so  clear 
that  prominent  Russian  writers  have 
stated  in  recent  years  that  Russia's 
way  to  Constantinople  lies  through 
Germany.  As  it  cannot  be  to  England's 
or  France's  interest  to  have  Russia  in 
possession  of  Constantinople,  except 
under  conditions  to  which  Russia  would 
never  submit,  it  seems  as  if  the  present 
alliance  between  these  Pow-ers  could 
only  serve  the  immediate  purpose  of 
eliminating  Germany  from  European 
affairs. 

Kngland  and  Germany. 

Until  the  Franco-German  War  the  re- 
lations between  Germany  and  England 
were  generally  friendly.  The  two  na- 
tions had  never  seriously  clashed,  and 
on  the  field  of  Waterloo  the  English 
and  Prussian  armies  fought  side  by 
side.  The  English  view  of  the  German 
people,  as  it  crops  out  in  the  literature 
before  1870,  is  that  of  a  people,  given 
largely  to  sentimentalism,  philosophy, 
music,  and  beer-drinking;  beyond  that, 
the  Germans  might  be  useful  in  keep- 
ing France  in  check,  which  England 
then  still  regarded  as  her  chief  enemy, 
hut  otherwise  they  were  a  negligible 
quantity.  Germany's  inferiority  to 
England  in  engineering,  manufacturing, 
and  commercial  enterprise  was  so  great 
that  as  late  as  1880  water  works,  gas 
works  and  street  railways  in  many 
German  cities  were  constructed  and  run 
by  English  engineering  skill  and  Eng- 
lish capital,  while  the  steamships  of 
the  two  feeble  German  transatlantic 
lines  were  built  in  England  and  Scot- 
land. But  now  a  rapid  change  took 
place.  In  1870  the  German  Commis- 
sioner to  the  Centennial  Exhibition  at 
Philadelphia  reported  to  his  Govern- 
ment as  his  verdict  concerning  the  pro- 
ducts of  German  Industries  there  ex- 
hibited. "Cheap  and  Inferior;"  twelve 
years  later,  "Made  in  Germany"  had 
become  a  badge  of  excellence  for  a 
great  variety  of  industrial  products;  a 
few  years  later  again,  Germany  built 
ships  which  for  size,  swiftness,  and 
comfort  surpassed  those  of  the  great 
English  transatlantic  lines,  and  which 
carried  German  products  to  all  parts  of 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


the  globe.  Then  England  suddenly 
recognized  Germany  as  a  dangerous 
competitor  for  the  world's  trade,  and 
her  feeling  toward  her  changed  from 
friendly  condescension  to  jealousy  and 
hate. 

The  matter  was  aggravated  when 
Germany  began  to  strengthen  her  navy 
in  order  to  protect  her  coasts,  trade 
routes  and  outlying  possessions.  Other 
nations  likewise  greatly  strengthened 
their  navies — the  United  States, 
France,  Russia,  Italy,  Japan— but  only 
German's  efforts  in  this  direction  were 
frowned  down  by  England,  although 
Germany  never  attempted  to  build  a 
fleet  anywhere  near  the  size  of  the 
English  fleet,  while  even  if  she  had 
done  so  England's  superior  geograph- 
ical position  and  her  dominions  and 
naval  bases  all  over  the  globe  would 
always  have  assured  her  an  incompar- 
able advantage  over  Germany.  The 
reason  for  this  was  that  England  had 
begun  to  look  upon  Germany,  of  all 
countries,  as  her  chief  rival  in  trade; 
and  her  policy  from  the  time  of  her 
own  rise  as  a  commercial  and  mari- 
time power  had  always  been  to  con- 
centrate all  her  efforts  on  the  elimi- 
nation of  her  foremost  commercial  rival 
— ^a  policy  which  had  resulted  suc- 
cessively in  the  destruction  of  the 
maritime  power  of  Spain,  Holland 
and  France. 

Germany  had  before  her  the  example 
of  these  countries;  she  remembered  the 
bombardment  of  Copenhagen,  in  which 
the  British  destroyed  the  Danish  fleet ; 
and  she  also'  remembered  that  when, 
in  1849,  a  single  warship  was  built  in 
Germany  by  popular  subscription.  Lord 
Palmerston,  then  Prime  Minister  of 
England,  declared  that  if  such  a  ship 
dared  to  show  on  the  high  seas  the 
German  flag  he  would  order  it  to  be 
treated  as  a  pirate  ship.  Under  these 
circumstances  modern  Germany  had 
to  choose  between  leaving  its  growing 
maritime  trade  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  England  till  the  latter  should  take 
an  opportunity  to  wipe  it  off  the  globe, 
and  arming  lierself  to  protect  it ;  and 
Germany  chose  the  latter  course. 
Since  then  England  has  taken  every 
opportunity  to  thwart  the  efforts  of 
Germany  at  legitimate  growth  and  ex- 
tension of  her  influence,  and  she  has 
done  this  with  an  air  as  if  she  were 
fighting    for   a    moral    principle.      She 


herself  might  conquer  the  Transvaal 
and  sacrifice  in  the  effort  the  lives  of 
myriads  of  brave  Boer  farmers  and 
(if  her  own  soldiers;  she  might  enter 
into  an  arrangement  with  France  ac- 
cording to  which  England  retained 
Egypt  and  France  took  Morocco ;  she 
might  enter  into  an  arrangement  with 
Kussia.  dividing  Persia  into  spheres 
of  English  and  Russian  influence,  to 
the  utter  disregard  of  the  rights  of 
Persia ;  Italy  might  grab  Tripoli ; 
Japan  and  Russia  might  quarrel  about 
Manchuria,  and  settle  the  matter  be- 
tween thorn;  all  this  was  legitimate 
and  in  the  interests  of  civilization. 
But  let  Germany  say  as  much  as  that 
she  too  had  commercial  interests  in 
Morocco,  or  that  she  would  like  to 
purchase  a  coaling  station  within  a 
certain  sphere  where  England  and  her 
allies  had  a  dozen,  then  a  howl  went 
up  about  "intolerable  German  ag- 
gression" and  "unwarrantable  en- 
croachment on  English  interests." 
Even  such  a  strictly  non-political 
commercial  enterprise  as  the  build- 
ing by  German  capital  of  the  Bagdad 
Railway  was  not  permitted  except 
after  years  of  negotiations,  and  after 
English  capital  had  been  allowed  to 
participate  and  the  terminals  ar- 
ranged to  suit  English  interests. 
Germany  has  submitted  to  this  in- 
justice for  a  number  of  years,  but  it 
is  clear  that  a  nation  of  65,000,000 
people  needing  employment  and 
means  of  support  could  not  forever 
endure  such  a  thwarting  of  its  legiti- 
mate aspirations. 

Could  the  War  Have  Been  Avoided? 

So  it  appears  that  each  one  of 
these  three  great  Powers  now  mak- 
ing war  on  Germany  had  her  own 
reasons  for  wishing  to  crush  her; 
Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  had  no 
corresponding  designs  against  them. 
She  wanted  no  French  territory, 
knowing  well  that  it  could  not  be 
Germanized  for  a  long  period,  and 
would  only  weaken  her.  Nor  was 
she  so  foolish  as  to  think  that  she 
could  wrest  anything  from  the  Rus- 
sian colossus.  Her  geographical  posi- 
tion, the  relative  weakness  of  her 
navy,  and  her  lack  of  naval  bases 
and  coaling  stations  made  it  incon- 
ceivable that  she  could  inflict  very 
serious  damage  upon  England's  fleet 


or  her  world-wide  dominion.  Noth- 
ing more  absurd  than  the  assertion 
that  Germany  aimed  to  rule  Europe 
as  France  did  in  the  time  of  Napo- 
leon. The  only  thing  Germany  de- 
sired was  to  be  treated  by  the  other 
nations  on  an  equal  footing,  and  not 
to  be  constantly  shut  out  by  their 
combinations  from  newly  arising  op- 
portunities for  expansion  and  for  the 
extension  of  her  commercial  influence 
— opportunities  such  as  the  other  na- 
tions have  seized  in  recent  years  time 
and  again.  This  was  not  only  her 
right,  but  a  physical  necessity  in  view 
of  her  rapidly  growing  population. 
She  has  submitted  to  many  a  slight 
and  has  suffered  one  setback  after 
another.  It  she  has  struck  now,  it 
is  because  she  felt  sure  that  she  coujd 
not  later  defend  herself  against  the 
mighty  combination  of  her  oppo- 
nents with  the  slightest  chance  of 
success.  When  the  Kaiser,  in  order  to 
preserve  the  peace  of  Europe,  offered 
to  mediate  between  Austria  and  Ser- 
via,  and  Russia  nevertheless  ordered 
the  mobilization  of  her  giant  army, 
the  whole  German  people  realized 
what  was  in  store  for  them.  Ger- 
many was  in  the  position  of  a  man 
who  sees  a  deadly  enemy  reach  for 
his  pistol,  and  whose  only  possible 
salvation  lies  in  shooting  first. 

The  war  could  have  been  avoided 
if  France  had  foregone  her  desire  for 
revenge  and  for  the  reconquest  of 
Alsace-Lorraine,  which  she  did  not 
need  in  view  of  her  almost  stationary 
population  and  her  own  wealth  and 
that  of  her  extensive  colonies.  The 
war  could  have  been  avoided  if  Rus- 
sia had  been  content  with  her  vast 
and  undeveloped  empire,  and  had 
curbed  her  desire  to  strike  down  Aus- 
tria as  an  obstacle  on  her  route  to 
Constantinople.  The  war  could  have 
been  avoided  if  England  had  been 
more  generous  to  Germany  and  had 
allowed  her  the  same  share  as  the 
other  nations  in  new  opportunities 
for  colonization  and  for  extension 
and  protection  of  commerce.  Finally, 
the  war  could  have  been  avoided  if 
Germany  had  been  willing  to  sit  back 
and  let  these  three  great  Powers  di- 
vide up  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  be- 
tween them,  and  content  herself  with 
the  crumbs  from   their  table. 


GERMANY  IX  SOCIAL-POLITICAL  EVOLUTION 

A  More  Extensive  Account  of  the  Evolution  of  Germany  since  Luther 
Present  Situation  of  the  Empire 


THK    EVOLUTION   OF   THE   GER- 
MAN E>U*mE. 


Copyrighted   by  George  L.   Scherger. 
1915. 


By.  Dr.  CJeorge  li.  Scherger. 

Professor  of  History  and  Politics, 
Armour  Institute  of   Technology. 

The  German  people  are  not  of 
yesterday.  Their  authentic  history 
covers  a  period  of  almost  two  thou- 
sand years.  During  this  long  inter- 
val of  time  they  accomplished  won- 
derful things.  They  overthrew  the 
Roman  Empire  of  the  West,  A.  D. 
476  and  established  Teutonic  king- 
doms throughout  Western  and  Cen- 
tral Europe  from  the  Desert  of  Sa- 
hara to  Scotland,  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Vistula  River.  They  worked 
their  way  out  of  barbarism  to  the 
highest  type  of  civilization.  They 
evolved  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  and 
the  Reformation.  They  gave  to  the 
w^orld  Charlemagne  and  Otto  the 
Great;  Luther  and  Bismarck;  Goethe 
and  Schiller;  Bach  and  Beethoven; 
Kant  and  Fichte;  Leibnitz  and  Helm- 
holtz.  Why  was  such  a  people  so 
slow  in  achieving  unification?  Why 
Is  the  German  Empire  the  youngest 
of  the  great  nations  of  Europe?  It 
shall  be  my  purpose  to  show  briefly 
what  agencies  hindered  the  Germans 
from  forming  a  united  empire,  as 
well  as  to  explain  why  this  unifica- 
tion resulted  in  the  end,  after  so 
long  a  delay. 

The  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

Though  the  early  Teutons  were 
separated  into  many  different  tribes 
which  could  only  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  be  induced  to  combine  in  a 
common  undertaking,  they  were 
nevertheless  held  together  loosely  by 
the  bond  of  a  common  language,  re- 
ligion, race,  and  customs.  Charle- 
magne was  the  first  to  form  a  great 
Teutonic  empire,  having  received 
the  crown  as  Roman  Emperor  of  the 
West  from  the  Pope  in  800  A.  D. 
While  this  was  supposed  at  the  time 
to  be  merely  a  restoration  of  the  old 
Roman  Empire  that  had  gone  to 
pieces  in  476  A.  D.,  it  was  really  a 
new  creation  which,  after  another 
century,  came  to  be  called  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  and  which  lasted  un- 
til 1S06,  covering  a  period  of  over 
a  thousand   years. 

Louis  the  Pious,  the  son  of 
Charlemagne,  tried  to  keep  the  vast 
Empire  together,  but  his  sons,  after 
a  long  quarrel,  divided  this  territory 
among  themselves  in  the  famous 
Treaty  of  Verdun  of  843.  Charles 
the  Bald  received  the  western  por- 
tion, soon  after  called  France;  Louis 
the  German  took  the  countries  on 
the  east  of  the  Rhine  which  came  to 
be  known  as  Germany;  while  Lo- 
thair  received  the  crown  as  Emperor 
together  with  Italy  and  the  "Middle 
Kingdom."  the  latter  consisting  of 
the  narrow  strip  between  the  king- 
doms   of    his    two    brothers    and    ex- 


tending from  Italy  to  the  North  Sea. 
This  treaty  thus  marks  the  beginning 
of  the  three  nations:  France,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy. 

After  the  death  of  Lothair  strife 
arose  concerning  his  lands  which  be- 
came the  bone  of  contention  between 
the  French  and  the  Germans  from 
that  day  to  this.  Lothair's  name  sur- 
vives in  the  name  Lorraine  (Ger- 
man: Lothringen).  Charles  the 
Bald  held  Lorraine  for  a  few  years 
after  Lothair's  death,  but  Louis  the 
German  obtained  Alsace,  Treves, 
Metz,  Friesland,  and  Lorraine  in  the 
Treaty  of  Mersen,  870,  and  still 
more  of  Lothair's  lands  nine  years 
later  in  the  Treaty  of  Verdun-Ribe- 
mont.  Alsace-Lorraine  remained 
under  German  rule  for  seven  hun- 
dred years,  until  France,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  Germany's  weakness 
after  the  Thirty  Years'  war,  between 
1648  and  1681  appropriated  this  sec- 
tion. In  1871  the  Germans  recov- 
ered Alsace-Lorraine,  maintaining 
that  they  simply  took  back  what  was 
rightfully   theirs. 

Not  only  the  lands  of  Lorraine 
eventually  passed  under  German 
control  but  also  the  Imperial  crown. 
King  Otto  I.  of  Germany  conquered 
Italy  and  was  crowned  Emperor  by 
the  Pope  at  Rome,  in  the  year  962, 
thus  instituting  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire  of  the  German  Nation.  For 
the  next  tew  centuries  Otto's  suc- 
cessors regularly,  after  having  been 
elected  king  of  Germany  by  the 
nobles,  made  the  trip  across  the 
Alps,  to  add  to  their  German  crown 
the  crown  of  king  of  Italy  and  the 
imperial  crown  which  latter  could  be 
conferred  only  by  the  Pope  at  Rome. 
This  union  of  Germany  and  Italy 
proved  detrimental  to  the  Interests  of 
each  country.  It  meant  to  the  Ger- 
man King  only  an  increase  of  glory 
rather  than  of  power.  It  encour- 
aged disorder  in  both  countries  and 
contributed  much  to  their  eventual 
disintegration.  When  the  Emperor 
was  in  Italy  his  nobles  in  Germany 
would  seize  the  occasion  to  rebel; 
when  he  was  in  Germany  the  Italian 
cities  would  start  a  revolt.  Had  the 
German  rulers  remained  at  home  they 
might  have  kept  their  nobles  under 
control  and  instituted  a  strong  cen- 
tral government  as  did  the  kings  of 
England  and  France.  By  attempt- 
ing to  hold  together  a  vast  realm 
with  many  diverse  nationalities  that 
could  not  be  assimilated,  the  emper- 
ors eventually  became  rulers  in 
name  only.  Many  of  them  such  as 
the  three  Ottos.  Frederick  Barba- 
rossa,  and  Frederick  II.  were  men  of 
extraordinary  ability,  but  the  forces 
that  made  for  disunion  were  too 
strong  to  be  overcome  even  by  them. 

The  strongest  of  the  disintegrat- 
ing forces  with  which  the  German 
rulers  had  to  contend  was  the  tribal 
division  of  the  German  people.  The 
Bavarian  felt  that  he  was  first  a  Ba- 
varian and  only  secondarily  a  Ger- 
man.     The    same    was    true    of    the 


other  tribes.  Local  patriotism  mili- 
tated against  national  patriotism  in 
the  same  manner  as  among  the 
Greek  cities,  among  the  various  In- 
dian tribes  in  America,  and  among 
the  American  colonies.  This  partic- 
ularism has  not  been  entirely  over- 
come to  this  day  and  tended  to  pre- 
vent the  unification  of  Germany 
more  than  any  other  influence.  It 
was  intensified  by  the  spirit  of  Indi- 
vidualism which  has  always  charac- 
terized the  Germans,  as  well  as  by 
the  separate  political  organization  of 
each  tribe.  The  kings  of  France  and 
England  found  the  task  of  consoli- 
dation so  much  easier,  because  their 
subjects   were   more   homogeneous. 

Disunion  was  likewise  fostered  in 
Germany  by  the  feudal  system,  es- 
pecially since  the  great  fiefs  came  to 
coincide  with  the  old  tribal  divisions. 
The  German  nobles  had  a  golden  op- 
portunity of  wresting  privilege  after 
privilege  from  the  king,  all  the  more 
so  because  they  had  the  power  to 
elect  a  new  king  and  might  condi- 
tion their  support  of  his  candidacy 
upon  his  making  concessions  to  them. 
The  kings  of  France  and  England 
ruled  by  hereditary  right  and  were 
therefore  far  less  dependent  upon 
the  nobles.  For  all  these  reasons 
Germany  became  more  and  more 
hopelessly  disintegrated,  while  in 
England  and  France  strong  central- 
ized governments  developed  as  early 
as  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 
turies. 

The  Rule  of  the  Hapsburgs. 

During  the  Interregnum  (1250- 
1273)  foreign  princes  without  influ- 
ence contested  the  imperial  title 
which  now  seemed  almost  worthless. 
The  Interregnum  was  brought  to  an 
end  by  the  election  of  Rudolph  of 
Hapsburg  who  wisely  refrained  from 
mixing  in  Italian  affairs  and  curbed 
the  German  nobles  with  an  iron 
hand.  Rudolph  had  been  chosen 
king  because  he  seemed  the  least 
formidable  of  all  candidates,  for  his 
family  at  that  time  had  only  small 
possessions  in  Alsace  and  Switzer- 
land. Rudolph's  great  energy  and 
ability  proved  a  surprise  to  the 
nobles  who  became  uneasy  at  the 
growing  power  of  the  Hapsburgs 
and  therefore  preferred,  after  his 
death,  to  elect  their  rulers  from  the 
Luxemburg  family.  After  the  year 
14  37,  however,  the  Hapsburgs  once 
more  came  into  power  and  remained 
in  control  from  that  time  until  the 
overthrow  of  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire in   1806. 

Realizing  that  the  imperial  crown 
conferred  hut  little  actual  power, 
since  the  German  princes  had  now 
become  almost  independent  of  the 
emperor  and  regarded  him  merely  as 
a  sort  of  over-lord  who  was  ruler 
in  name  only,  the  Hapsburg  rulers 
now  began  to  make  conquests  out- 
side of  the  Empire  in  Hungary,  Aus- 
tria, Styria,  and  elsewhere,  thus 
building  up  what  they  called  their 
house-lands.     Here  they  could  do  as 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


they  pleased  for  these  possessions 
were  under  their  immediate  rule. 
They  conquered  more  and  more  terri- 
tory from  Slavs,  Magyars,  Chechs 
and  other  nationalities,  until  their 
authority  and  power  in  the  house- 
lands  far  exceeded  that  within  the 
Empire.  Thus  they  became  untrue 
to  their  trust  as  German  rulers  and 
Germany  suffered  from  their  neglect 
and  became  more  and  more  hope- 
lessly split  up  into  petty  principali- 
ties, secular  and  ecclestiastical,  the 
heads  of  which  did  practically  what 
they   pleased. 

The  tragic  effects  of  this  condition 
manifested  themselves  especially 
during  the  period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, in  the  early  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  This  movement  was 
the  greatest  of  all  the  products  of 
the  German  spirit.  It  shook  the  Ger- 
man nation  as  that  nation  had  never 
been  shaken  before.  The  eyes  of  the 
world  were  now  centered  upon  Ger- 
many. The  monk  of  Wittenberg  be- 
came the  greatest  German  of  all 
times.  Under  proper  leadership  the 
Germans  might  then  have  become  a 
united  nation  and  might  have  ac- 
complished what  did  not  take  place 
until  1871.  But,  unluckily,  Ger- 
many was  ruled  at  that  time  by  a 
man  who  did  not  understand  the 
German  people,  because  he  was  more 
of  a  Spaniard  than  a  German,  and 
because  Germany  was  only  one  of 
the  many  lands  under  his  scepter. 
The  Emperor  Charles  V.  built  up  a 
great  empire  and  became  the  most 
famous  of  all  the  Hapsburg  rulers, 
but  Germany  lost  an  opportunity 
that  was  not  to  present  itself  again 
until  over  three  hundred  years  later, 
simply  because  Charles  failed  to  see 
this  opportunity.  He  ruled  over 
Spain,  the  Netherlands,  most  of  Italy, 
as  well  as  over  Austria  and  Germany. 
Had  he  been  a  German  ruler  exclu- 
sively, he  would  have  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  nation,  over- 
thrown the  princes  and  nobles,  and 
successfully  completed  the  union  of 
the  German  principalities  into  one 
great  state. 

Unfortunately,  the  policy  which 
Charles  V.  adopted.  Instead  of  uni- 
fying Germany,  split  her  up  still  fur- 
ther by  adding  to  the  other  forces  of 
disunion  that  of  religious  division. 
Some  of  the  states  became  Lutheran 
or  Calvinist,  while  the  rest  remained 
Catholic.  During  the  terrible  Thirty 
Years'  War  Germany  became  the 
battling  ground  of  all  Europe.  The 
disastrous  effects  of  this  long  war 
were  not  overcome  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years.  After  the  Treaty  of 
Westphalia  in  1648,  the  map  of  Ger- 
many looked  like  a  crazy  quilt  made 
of  hundreds  of  different  patches. 
Some  of  these  German  principalities 
were  almost  microscopic  in  size.  Yet 
in  each  one  the  power  of  the  prince 
was  practically  absolute.  The  Em- 
pire had  become  a  farce,  although 
the  name  was  kept  up   until   1806. 

Napoleon  rendered  one  undeniable 
service  to  Germany:  he  simplified 
her  map.  He  rewarded  his  faithful 
vassals  among  the  German  princes  by 
giving  them  every  now  and  then  ad- 
ditional   patches    of    territory.      The 


House  of  Hapsburg  was  either  too 
powerless  or  too  indifferent  to  pre- 
vent these  changes.  Whenever  de- 
feated by  Napoleon,  the  Hapsburgs 
preferred  to  sacrifice  German  terri- 
tory rather  than  their  house-lands. 
The  changes  made  in  Germany  by 
Napoleon  were  so  numerous  that  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire  was  dissolved. 
In  1806  the  Roman  Emperor  Francis 
II.  dropped  his  old  title  and  called 
himself  Francis  I.,  Emperor  of  Aus- 
tria. Germany  was  now  a  conglom- 
eration of  many  principalities,  with- 
out a  real  head.  Austria  still  main- 
tained a  certain  leadership  over  the 
German  states,  but  her  own  em- 
pire represented  such  a  chaotic  mix- 
ture of  nationalities  that  her  influ- 
ence became  more  and  more  in- 
jurious and  hindered  any  tendency 
toward  unification  in  Germany.  In 
the  very  nature  of  the  case  the  di- 
verse interests  of  Austria  made  her 
unfit  to  be  the  champion  of  German 
interests.  If  the  German  states  were 
ever  to  be  united  some  other  leader 
must  appear.  Clearly  this  had  to  be 
a  state  whose  interests  were  purely 
German.  There  was  no  other  so  fit 
to  play  this  part  as  Prussia. 

The  Rise  of  Prussia. 

The  nucleus  from  which  the  King- 
dom of  Prussia  developed  was  the 
Duchy  of  Brandenburg  which,  under 
House  of  Hohenzollern,  had  since 
the  able  rule  of  the  princes  of  the 
the  tenth  century,  through  steady 
additions  of  territory  and  the  hus- 
banding of  its  limited  resources,  be- 
come more  and  more  prominent. 
The  duke  of  Brandenburg  was  one 
of  the  seven  electors  to  whom  since 
the  twelfth  century  belonged  the 
right  of  choosing  the  Emperor.  Prus- 
sia was  originally  a  small  territory 
along  the  Baltic,  conquered  by  the 
Teutonic  Knights  in  the  thirteenth 
century  and  by  them  won  for  Chris- 
tianity and  Germanic  culture.  The 
introduction  of  the  Reformation  Into 
Prussia  had  led  to  the  dissolution  of 
the  order  of  Teutonic  Knights.  In 
1618  Prussia  came  under  the  rule  of 
the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  It  was 
at  that  time  separated  from  Branden- 
burg by  a  broad  expanse  of  territory. 
The  Great  Elector  Frederick  Wil- 
liam, by  securing  Pomerania  in  the 
Treaty  of  Westphalia  in  1648,  and 
by  winning  additional  territory  from 
the  Swedes  in  1675,  rounded  out  his 
lands  and  made  his  territory  con- 
tinuous. Through  great  internal  re- 
forms and  the  perfection  of  his  army, 
the  Elector  Frederick  William  laid 
the  foundations  of  a  great  state  and 
mapped  out  a  policy  which  his  suc- 
cessors followed  with  singular  ten- 
acity and  success.  In  1702  his  son, 
Frederick  I,  took  the  title  King  of 
Prussia.  When  Frederick  the  Second, 
afterwards  called  "the  Great,"  as- 
cended the  throne  in  1740,  he  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  compact  and 
prosperous  state  with  a  well-filled 
treasury  and  an  army  second  to  none 
in  Europe. 

Under  the  rule  of  Frederick  the 
Great,  Prussia  became  one  of  the 
five  great  powers  of  Europe  and  dur- 
ing the  Seven  Years'  War,  from 
1756-63,   was  able   to  hold  her  own 


against  the  combined  powers  of  Rus- 
sia, France,  Austria,  and  Saxony 
which  had  formed  a  conspiracy  to 
dismember  her.  It  was  by  her  mili- 
tary strength  alone  that  Prussia  es- 
caped the  fate  of  Poland.  Open  on 
all  sides  to  invasion  and  surrounded 
by  jealous  foes,  she  could  save  her- 
self from  destruction  and  work  out 
her  destiny  only  by  the  maintenance 
of  a  strong  army. 

Not  only  as  a  general  but  also  as 
a  statesman  Frederick  the  Great 
ranks  with  the  greatest  men  in  his- 
tory. The  reforms  he  instituted 
were  widely  praised  and  imitated. 
He  became  the  type  of  a  benevolent 
despot.  His  statement,  "The  King  is 
the  first  servant  of  tiie  State,"  shows 
his  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  Prus. 
sia.*  But  while  he  did  everything 
with  an  eye  to  the  good  of  the  people, 
his  system  was  paternal.  He  did  not 
give  the  people  a  share  in  the  govern- 
ment. Though  he  believed  in  liberty 
of  thought  and  in  religious  freedom, 
he  did  not  believe  in  democracy. 
There  was  no  other  state,  however, 
in  which  the  people  were  so  well 
cared  for  as  in  Prussia. 

It  was  Napoleon  who  brought 
upon  Prussia  the  greatest  reverse 
she  ever  experienced.  When  his  at- 
tempts to  make  her  his  ally  were  un- 
successful, he  determined  to  cripple 
her  so  that  he  would  not  need  to  fear 
her.  He  goaded  her  into  war,  and 
after  his  great  victories  at  Jena, 
Eylau,  and  Friedland  imposed  upon 
her  in  1809  the  crushing  terms  of 
the  peace  of  Tilsit.  He  took  from 
her  half  her  territory,  forced  her  to 
pay  an  enormous  war  contribution 
of  150,000,000  francs,  but  really 
pressed  out  of  the  people  two  bil- 
lions, and  would  not  permit  her  to 
have  an  army  of  more  than  40,000 
men.  Indeed,  Napoleon  would  have 
annexed  Prussia  entirely,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  intervention  of  Czar 
Alexander  who  had  been  the  ally  of 
Frederick  William  III  and  whom 
Napoleon  was  at  that  time  anxious 
to  please  in  order  that  he  might 
form  an  alliance  with  him. 

Prussia  never  forgot  the  bleeding 
which  Napoleon  administered  to  her. 
Certainly  no  conquered  nation  had 
ever  suffered  greater  injury  from  the 
iron  fist  of  the  conqueror  than  she 
did  from  that  of  Napoleon. 

Yet  Prussia  was  never  so  great  as 
in  the  days  of  her  deepest  humilia- 
tion. Phoenixlike,  a  regenerated 
Prussia  emerged  from  the  ashes  of 
the  Napoleonic  conflagration. 

The  very  greatness  of  Frederick 
the  Great's  system  was  the  cause  of 
Prussia's  debacle  after  his  death. 
Prussia  was  like  a  complicated  ma- 
chine that  only  the  great  engineer 
Frederick  could  operate.  Benevo- 
lent despotism  broke  down  under  a 
mediocre  king.  It  was  necessary  to 
call  on  the  people  to  help  regenerate 
Prussia.  Momentous  reforms  were 
now  instituted  by  Frederick  William 
III  in  the  interval  between  1809  and 
1813,  the  king  being  advised  and  as- 
sisted by  such  men  as  Baron  vom 
Stein,    Hardenberg,    Boyen,    Scharn- 


*Enii)h;\sized  by  the  Editor  of   War 


GERMANY  IX  SOCIAL-POLITICAL  EVOLUTION 


horst,  Gneisenau  and  others.  Serfdom 
was  abolished.  In  the  municipalities 
government  was  put  in  the  hands  of 
the  people.  Above  all,  the  army  was 
now  reformed  and  made  a  thoroughly 
democratic  institution  by  Boyen  and 
Scharnhorst  who  became  the  fathers 
of  the  German  military  system  of 
today.  Compulsory  military  service 
made  the  army  the  nation  in  arms. 
The  peasant's  son  now  served  along- 
side of  the  son  of  the  prince.  No 
one  able  to  serve  was  exempt. 
Ability,  knowledge,  and  bravery  were 
made    the    only    titles    to    advance- 


ment. All  the  able-bodied  men  were 
trained.  While  there  could  not  be 
more  than  40,000  men  in  the  army 
at  any  one  time,  because  Napoleon 
so  ordered,  each  installment  was 
drilled  night  and  day  and  then  dis- 
missed to  make  room  for  new  re- 
cruits. As  in  the  days  of  the  Great 
Elector,  of  Frederick  William  I,  and 
of  Frederick  the  Great,  there  was  a 
deep  conviction  that  Prussia's  wel- 
fare depended  upon  her  army.  When 
the  moment  came  to  strike  she  was 
ready.  A  storm  of  patriotic  enthusi- 
asm swept  through  Prussia  after  Na- 


poleon's defeat  in  Russia.  The  Prus- 
sia of  1813  seemed  a  radically  dif- 
erent  state  from  the  Prussia  of  1807. 
This  transformation  was  due  to  the 
popularization  of  her  institutions,  es- 
pecially of  her  army.  This  was  the 
birth  of  Prussian  militarism.  It  was 
the  people  of  Prussia  that  backed 
the  movement.  It  was  Prussian 
militarism  which  in  large  measure 
brought  about  the  overthrow  of  Na- 
poleon and  won  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo. In  that  great  battle  England 
furnished  the  general,  but  Prussia 
furnished  the  men. 


Anti-Macchiavelliism  and  the  New  Civilization 
How  will  the  Historian  Settle  Accounts  with  the  Nations  at  War 

BY  THE  EDITOR  OF  WAR  ECHOES 


The  leinaluder  of  Dr.  Scherser's 
excellent  sket^'h  of  the  vital  incidents 
in  I'lu.stiii  anil  Gcrmanij  in  tin  Mdl.iiuj, 
foUow.s  immediately  after  this  discus- 
sion on  Diplomacy  as  adopted  and 
practiced  by  the  risinfj;  Prussia  under 
Frederick  the  Great,  bringing  out 
more  in  detail  some  of  tlie  important 
events  sketched  by  Dr.  Scherger. 

I  am  especially  interested  in  a  bet- 
ter understanding  of  this  changed  or- 
der of  things  in  European  politics  as 
later  exemplified  by  the  notoriously 
infamous  Macchiavelli  and  Talley- 
rand statecraft,  dating  very  definitely 
all  the  way  hack  to  the  ardent  ad- 
mirer of  the  refomiers,  esi)ecially 
Luther — the  Election  of  Saxony, 
Frederick  "The  Wise" — who  j)roni- 
ised  protection  to  Luther  when  he 
was  tlu-eat^ned  to  be  given  to  the 
flames,  to  meet  the  fate  of  his  col- 
leagues in  France,  England,  Spain, 
Italy  and  elsewhere!  That  the  great- 
est German  and  the  one  wiio  has  had 
more  to  do  with  a  modern  interpreta- 
tion of  Christianity  than  perhaps  any 
other  reformer,  was  not  given  to  the 
tiames  as  were  his  associates,  we  owe 
to  tlie  early  Prussian  principle  of 
common  sense  and  directness  in  di- 
plomacy and  universal,  practical  edu- 
cation! That  these  jirinciples  were 
cherished  by  the  .voung  Elector  was 
not   an   a<cident,   but    was    to   l)e  ex- 


pected from  the  leaders  of  the  Ger- 
man people,  in  view  of  their  leader- 
ship and  in  new  thought  and  prog- 
ress long  before  the  time  of  Luther. 
This  also  accounts  for  the  niagnifl- 
cent  record  of  the  Teutonic  peoples 
in  regard  to  Anarchy,  Rebellion,  Re- 
ligious and  other  Persecution,  and 
Revolution.  No  European  nation  has 
such  a  record  on  this  score  as  Ger- 
many and  the  other  Germanic  peo- 
ples. Take  for  illustration  the  Dutch 
at  the  hands  of  Spain!  The  "Heret- 
ics" that  went  uj)  in  flames  in  Eng- 
land, France  and  Italy! 

I  promise  my  good  rea<lers  that  I 
shall  analyse  in  a  future  eft'ort  this 
most  glaring  parallel  between  the 
present  European  struggle,  following 
the  breaking  down  of  autocracy  and 
a  pseudo-democracy  in  ignorance,  of 
some  of  the  nations  at  war,  the 
masses  sympathising  with  the  wrong 
alignment,  as  usual,  and  as  history 
proves  to  us  from  the  time  of  the 
Reformation;  well-meaning,  but  ig- 
norant, and  slavishl.v  directed,  tlie.v 
opposed  the  marvelous  thought  and 
work  of  the  Reformers,  at  that  time 
— and  later,  the  results  of  their  la- 
l)ors,  by  force;  at  that  time  it  was  a 
(|iiestion  of  an  understanding  of 
Christianity  in  the  light  of  a  mod- 
ern, a  .V(7r  Ciiili-dlion.  approximately 
from  the  years  of  1-150  to  1550, 
when  the  work  of  the  Reformers  be- 


gan to  bear  fruit  in  some  of  the  Eu- 
ropean countries,  but  it  is  very  note- 
worth.v  that  precious  meagre  was  this 
harvest  among  non-Teutonic  peojiles, 
where  the  most  courageous  of  the 
Reformers  were  generally  given  to 
tlie  flames  without  mercy. 

Xow  it  is  a  question  of  flgliting 
for  stupid,  inetticient,  self-seeking 
p.seudo-democracy  and  commerce,  as 
against  an  intelligent,  efficient,  dis- 
interested, centralized,  socialistic 
_ government,  of  which  tJermany  is  un- 
questionably the  leading  exponent, 
an  understanding  and  appreciation  of 
which  in  behalf  of  Progress,  the  mil- 
lions upon  millions  of  her  enemies 
are  as  innocent  as  tlie  average  Rus- 
sian or  Turco  now  fighting  (jiermany 
is  of  Civilization! 

Should  it  come  to  the  worst  for 
Germany,  after  all,  which  does  not 
seem  likely  at  present,  1  assure  you 
that  we  shall  see  another  (liixtarus 
AdoliiliiiK  coming  to  the  rescue  of  the 
Xrir  /'iiiicii)!c  to  be  defended  by  force 
in  the  20th  Century,  if  need  be, 
as  was  the  New  Primiplr  of  a  ilod- 
rni  ltit(  rpntatinn  nf  tlir  Great  Clirin- 
linn  Idcdlism  in  the  10th  Century 
finally  defended  l)y  force  by  the  same 
Teutonic  Europe,  leading  to  Victory 
on  the  field  as  well  as  at  home,  mak- 
ing for  greater  ju.stice,  equity,  and 
speedier  progress! — The  Editor  of 
War  Echoes. 


ANTI-MACCHIAVELLIISM    AND 
THE  WAR. 

This  is  the  neventh  article  of  a 
HcricH  on  THE  EUROPEAN  WAR, 
irliich  appeared  in  the  Octohcr  num- 
her  of  THE  OPEN  COURT,  under 
the  title  "Anti-MaeehiavcUi."  written 
!>!/  the  Editor,  Dr.  Paul  CarUs. 

Con.iult  the  INDEX  for  the  com- 
plrtc  Kcries,  and,  in  order  to  see  where, 
in  the  rarioun  Chapters  of  the  hook, 
the  different  articlrn  of  thus  treatise 
maji  he  found,  look  for  EUROPEAN 
WAR  {THE).  In  thi.i  way  the  reader 
may  read  the  entire  series  of  articles 
in  their  oriijinM  order,  if  he  chooses 
In  do  so.  while  the  present  arrange- 
ment still  jjircs  him  the  advantage  of 
lirinijinij  the  various  articles  under 
their  proper,  respective  Chapt(r-h cod- 
ings of  the  hook. 


This  is  a  series  of  erccptionally  fine 
articles  on  the  subject  in  question,  and 
then  hear  a  unique  and  important  re- 
lation to  each  other.  Be  sure  to  read 
them  also  in  their  original  order. — 
Editor,  -'War  Echoes." 

Some  centuries  ago  statecraft  was 
deemed  an  intricate  and  profound 
science  and  was  assumed  to  have  an 
ethics  of  its  own.  The  men  in  power 
were  either  voluptuaries  by  God's 
grace  or  crafty  intriguers,  and  the 
principles  which  guided  the  latter, 
the  successful  princes,  were  pre- 
sented by  Macchiavelli  (1469-1527) 
In  a  book  entitled  "II  Principe," 
which  has  been,  and  in  certain  circles 
1b  still  regarded  as  the  primer  of 
statecraft,  and  every  statesman  was 
expected  to  follow  its  precepts. 


According  to  Macchiavelli  a  prince 
should  keep  up  quarrels  between  the 
factions  of  his  own  state  in  order  to 
preserve  his  dominion,  and  he  should 
also  stir  up  war  between  other  states 
in  order  to  profit  by  the  difficulties 
and  perplexities  thus  caused;  or  as 
the  Latin  formula  runs:  Divide  et 
impera,  that  Is  to  say,  Cause  dis- 
sensions and  keep  the  balance  of 
power. 

A  piece  of  practical  statecraft  In 
perfect  agreement  with  Macchiavelll's 
unscrupulous  maxims,  is  preserved 
in  the  testament  of  Peter  the  Great* 
from  which  we  will  here  reproduce 
a  few  specimens  to  show  our  readers 
what  it  means  to  support  Russia  and 
how  little  any  one  can  rely  on   Rus- 


•  1725. t 

tSee    Jourrtaln    In    the    Index    for    the 
complete  Reference. — Editor. 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


Bian    faith.      The    clauses    9-11    read 
thus: 

"Clause  9. — Russia  must  inces- 
santly extend  herself  toward  the 
north  along  the  Baltic  Sea,  and  to- 
ward the  south  along  the  Black  Sea. 
Our  kingdom  must  advance  as  far 
as  possible  toward  Constantinople 
and  the  East  Indies.  Whoever  shall 
reign  here  will  be  the  true  master  of 
the  world.  Therefore  we  must  ex- 
cite continual  wars,  sometimes  with 
Turkey;  sometimes  with  Persia;  cre- 
ate dockyards  on  the  Black  Sea;  take 
possession,  little  by  little,  of  that 
sea,  as  well  as  of  the  Baltic,  which  is 
a  point  doubly  necessary  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  project;  we  must  hasten 
the  downfall  of  Persia;  penetrate  as 
far  as  the  Persian  Gulf;  re-establish, 
it  possible,  the  ancient  commerce  of 
the  Levant  through  Syria;  and  ad- 
vance as  far  as  the  Indies,  which  is 
the  emporium  of  the  world.  When 
once  there  we  can  do  without  the 
gold  of  England. 

"Clause  10. — Russia  must  carefully 
seek  and  keep  up  the  alliance  with 
Austria;  apparently  second  her  de- 
sign for  future  domination  over  Ger- 
many; and  we  must  excite  underhand 
against  her  a  jealousy  of  the  princes. 
We  must  incite  each  and  all  of  these 
to  seek  succor  from  Russia,  and  exer- 
cise a  sort  of  protection  over  the 
country,  which  may  prepare  our 
future   domination. 

"Clause  11. — We  must  interest  the 
House  of  Austra  in  the  expulsion  of 
the  Turk  from  Europe,  and  neutral- 
ize her  jealousy  after  the  conquest 
of  the  conquest,  to  retake  it  from 
a  war  between  her  and  the  old  states 
of  Europe,  or  by  giving  up  her  part 
of  the  conquest,  to  retake  it  from 
her  afterward." 

The  last  will  and  testament  of 
Peter  the  Great,  proposing  the  plan 
to  expand  Russian  influence,  to  Rus- 
sify the  whole  world,  and  make  the 
Czar  supreme  on  earth,  is  Russia's 
sacred  heirloom,  but  Russia  accepted 
also  the  Triple  Entente,  not  with  an 
idea  of  benefiting  England  or  Prance, 
but  because  she  discovered  a  plan  of 
thus  using  France  and  England  for 
the  enhancement  of  the  grand  Rus- 
sian ideal.  How  shortsighted  was 
Edward  VII  not  to  understand  the 
situation,  nor  to  suspect  that  he  gave 
Russia  a  chance  to  further  the  Czar's 
ambitions! 

Russian  policy  has  been  and  will 
continue  to  be  directed  mainly 
against  England,  and  the  English 
know  it;  but  the  recent  fear  of  grow- 
ing Germany  caused  Edward  VII  to 
form  the  Triple  Entente,  a  coalition 


based  on  Macchiavelli's  principles  of 
statecraft.  English  people  are  hon- 
est, but  they  do  not  seem  to  realize 
that  the  English  government  is 
guided  by  the  policy  of  Macchiavelli, 
that  they  are  befriending  a  dangerous 
enemy  with  which  they  will  later 
have  to  reckon. 

In  the  thirties  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  a  new  view  of  statecraft,  first 
proclaimed  anonymously  under  the 
title  "Anti-Macchiavelli,"  proposed 
the  principle  that  a  prince  would  hold 
his  own  best  if  he  performed  his 
duty,  if  he  made  himself  indispensa- 
ble to  his  subjects  by  giving  them  the 
best  possible  service,  and  soon  the 
secret  leaked  out  that  the  author  of 
the  tract  was  Frederick,  the  brilliant 
young  crown  prince  of  Prussia.  The 
news  created  a  sensation  in  the  Euro- 
pean courts,  for  Prussia,  a  small  up- 
start state  of  Germany,  had  just 
aroused  wide-spread  suspicion  on  ac- 
count of  its  vigorous  militarism.  But 
now  all  fear  was  allayed;  the  world 
became  convinced  that  the  Prussian 
crown  prince  was  a  visionary;  he 
loved  art  and  science  and  manifested 
literary — especially  French  literary — 
interests;  he  believed  in  honesty  in 
politics;  he  wished  to  be  honest  to 
other  states  and  also  to  his  own  sub- 
jects, and  indeed,  in  his  later  life  as 
a  king,  he  regarded  himself  as  the 
first  servant  of  the  state.  "!e  premier 
(loiiiestique  de  Vctat.  How  silly  that 
principle  must  have  appeared  to  the 
admirers  of  the  grand  and  pompous 
Louis  XIV,  who  is  reported  to  have 
said  "L'etat  c'cst  moi!" 

It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that 
Frederick's  principle  of  honesty  in 
statecraft  included  militarism  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  term,  i.  e.,  the 
obligation  to  keep  a  country  in  a 
state  of  strong  defense  and  to  be 
prepared  to  fight  enemies  who  might 
grudge  its  growth  and  attack  it.  The 
first  act  of  his  government  consisted 
in  maintaining  his  claim  to  Silesia 
in  two  wars  against  Austria. 

In  1756  Austria,  Russia,  France 
and  the  German  empire  united  to 
crush  him  and  wipe  Prussia  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  The  situation 
seemed  absolutely  hopeless  for  the 
young  king.  How  could  he  defend 
himself  against  the  whole  world? 

At  that  time  Saxony  was  implicated 
in  the  alliance,  and  so  Frederick 
broke  the  neutrality  of  Saxony  be- 
cause he  saw  the  necessity  of  an- 
ticipating the  crushing  onslaught  of 
his  enemies.  The  result  is  known. 
He  remained  victor,  and  history 
honors  him  by  calling  him  Frederick 
the  Great.     "There  is  no  need  to  tell 


the  story  of  his  life,  his  difficulties, 
his  occasional  defeats  and  his  final 
triumph. 

The  spirit  of  Frederick  the  Great 
has  not  yet  died  out;  on  the  con- 
trary it  has  grown;  it  spread  all  over 
Germany;  it  founded  the  German 
empire  and  it  animates  the  German 
people  of  to-day.  It  is  Frederick's 
spirit  which  is  now  branded  by  the 
enemies  of  Germany  as  "militarism." 

The  Kaiser's  idea  that  he  is  king 
of  Prussia  and  emperor  of  Germany 
by  God's  grace  may  be  based  on  an 
antiquated  and  superstitious  notion 
of  his  divine  dignity,  but  we  must 
grant  he  interprets  it  in  the  sense 
that  as  king  and  emperor  he  is  re- 
sponsible to  God  for  his  government 
and  even  the  Social  Democrats  do 
not  doubt  that  he  acts  according  to 
his  conscience. 


Anti-Macchiavelli. 

And    here    is    Mr.    Jourdain's    reply    to 
subject. — 

The  Editor  quotes  a  few  clauses  from 
the  testament  of  Peter  the  Great,  who 
ruled  from  16S9  to  1725,  "to  show  our 
readere  what  it  means  to  support  Rus- 
sia and  how  little  any  one  can  rely  on 
Russian  falth."^  The  dates  alone  make 
this  contention  precarious ;  one  could 
as  soon  attribute  to  M.  Poincare  the 
ruling  ideas  of  Louis  XIV,  or  to  King 
George  V  the  methods  and  aims  of 
James  II.  To  counterbalance  Peter 
the  Great's  "testament"  the  Editor 
draws  attention  to  Frederick  the 
Great's  "Anti-Macchiavelli,"'  issued  by 
Voltaire  at  the  Hague  in  1740,  and  con- 
taining not  Frederick's  own  ideas  but 
a  reflection  of  the  generous  French 
philosophy  of  the  eighteenth  century 
respecting  the  duty  of  sovereigns,  which 
may  be  summed  up  in  the  sentence : 
"The  prince  is  not  the  absolute  master 
but  only  the  first  servant  of  the  peo- 
ple." It  is  however  worthy  of  note 
that  the  great  Frederick  who  joined  in 
the  partition  of  Poland  was  no  believer 
in  honesty  in  politics.  Of  statecraft 
popularly  called  Macchiavellian  I  have 
found  the  most  remarkable  expressions 
in  German  authors  such  as  Bernhardi, 
who  in  speaking  of  Germany's  future' 
war  with  France,  says  "As  soon  as  we 
are  ready  to  fight,  our  statesmen  must 
so  shuffle  the  cards  that  France  shall 
appear  to  be  the  aggressor,"* — ^a  sen- 
tence that  might  have  been  written  by 
the  ingenious  author  of  "II  Principe." 

'"Ibid,"    p.    620.* 

'  "Ibiil.."   p.   621. 

=  "Germany  and  the  Next  War,"  pub- 
ii.-ihed  in   1911. 

""Ibid.."  p.  280. 

•  See  Jourdain  in  Index  for  complete 
Reference. — Editor. 


The  Evolution  of  the  German  Empire, 
Continued. 

Germany  and  the  Holy  Alliance. 

The  government  of  Prussia  did  not 
keep  faith  with  the  people  after  the 
overthrow  of  Napoleon  by  granting 
constitutional  government,  but  it 
joined  Austria  and  Russia  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  infamous  Holy  Alliance 
and  thereby  entered  upon  a  policy  of 
reaction.  Metternich,  the  Austrian 
minister  of  foreign   affairs,   was   the 


moving  spirit  of  the  Holy  Alliance 
and  as  such  became  the  evil  genius 
of  Europe  for  the  next  thirty  years. 
Especially  baneful  was  his  infiuence 
over  the  princes  of  the  German  states 
who  readily  adopted  his  system.  The 
darkness  of  the  Middle  Ages  seemed 
to  have  settled  down  upon  Germany 
after  1815.  The  press  was  placed 
under  the  strictest  censorship.  Even 
the  universities  which  had  always 
prized  their  Lehrfreiheit  and  Lo-n- 
freiheit   were   supervised,   because  the 


liberal  ideas  had  taken  hold  especial- 
ly of  the  sudent  organizations  or  Bur- 
schenschaften.  Every  manifestation 
of  liberalism  in  Germany  was  at 
once  crushed.  Thus  the  people  were 
cheated  out  of  the  promise  which 
had  been  made  by  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  of  1S15,  that  consti- 
tutions should  be  granted  as  soon  as 
practicable  to  the  various  German 
states  which  had  in  that  year  formed 
a  loose  union.  Karl  August  of  Wei- 
mar, the  friend  and  patron  of  Goethe 


Vonkopin^ 


s 


e 


A 


°Viina 


Danzi^Cotibi"?  .'' 


L.,^hOv 


f^unich. 


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/"    Buderpest,:' 


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1 


^        SELGRAOr  X  B 


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CENTRAL  EUROPE 

(From  "The  Navy."  Washington.  September.  1910 


GERMANY  IN"  SOCIAL-POLITICAL  EVOLUTION 


MONUMENT  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  LEIPSIC 

(By  Courtesy  of  the   "Open   Court") 


and  Schiller,  had  granted  constitu- 
tional government  to  his  people  in 
1816;  Baden  and  Bavaria  in  1818; 
Wiirtemberg  in  1819;  but  Prussia 
would  not  imitate  their  example  and 
thus  failed  to  seize  the  opportunity 
of  placing  herself  at  the  head  of  the 
reform  movement.  Only  very  slowly, 
as  a  result  of  the  revolutionary 
movements  of  1830  and  1848,  did 
Prussia  and  the  other  German  states 
gradually  yield  to  the  liberal  move- 
ment. In  18.')1  the  new  Prussian 
constitution  went  into  effect.  That 
state  was  now  prepared  to  take  up 
Its  mission  of  bringing  about  a  unifi- 
cation of  the  German  states  under 
her  leadership. 

Austria,  however,  blocked  the  way. 
Even  after  the  dissolution  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  in  1806,  the 
German  princes  looked  to  Austria  as 
their   leader. 

The  national  uprising  which  had  re- 
sulted in  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon 
had  everywhere  in  Europe  kindled  a 
new  patriotism  and  a  new  interest  in 
the  hislorv  of  each  nation.     Nowhere 


was  this  growth  of  the  historical 
spirit  or  the  interest  in  the  past 
stronger  than  in  Germany.  It  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  the  people 
took  up  the  unification  idea  with  as 
much  enthusiasm  as  they  made  the 
demand  for  liberal  government.  The 
leader  in  this  movement  for  the  for- 
mation of  a  strong  and  united  Ger- 
many was  the  famous  Baron  vom 
Stein.  However,  nothing  came  of 
this  save  the  formation  of  a  loose 
Confederation  of  the  German  states, 
UiiDwti  as  the  Deutsche  Bund,  with 
an  organization  somewhat  like  that 
of  the  American  Confederation  before 
1787.  Each  state  retained  its  sov- 
ereignty. The  Parliament  meeting 
at  Frankfort  had  little  authority  to 
enforce  its  decrees.  There  were  38 
members  of  the  union.  Austria  was 
the  chairman.  They  were  separated 
by  tariff  walls.  The  entire  creation 
had  feet  of  clay. 

The  revolutionary  movement  of 
1848  took  hold  of  the  German  states 
and  led  to  the  calling  of  a  National 
Assembly  the  members  of  which  were 


elected  by  the  people  and  met  in  the 
Paulskirche  at  Frankfort,  May  18, 
1848.  Archduke  John  of  Austria 
was  chosen  imperial  regent  and  ap- 
pointed a  ministry  to  carry  on  the 
administration.  A  declaration  of 
rights  and  a  constitution  were  dis- 
cussed which  gave  the  theorists  a 
fine  opportunity  to  waste  much  time 
discussing  abstract  principles.  The 
new  political  structure  was  to  have 
as  its  cornerstone  the  principle  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people.  Provi- 
sion was  made  for  the  vesting  of  the 
executive  in  an  hereditary  emperor, 
and  this  office  was  tendered  to  King 
Frederick  William  IV.  Though  a 
great  scholar,  the  Prussian  king  was 
weak  and  conservative.  He  dis- 
trusted popular  movements  and 
doubted  whether  the  National  As- 
sembly really  possessed  the  authority 
to  confer  power  upon  him.  More- 
over, he  was  averse  to  offending 
Austria,  so  he  refused  the  offer  and 
declared  against  the  new  constitu- 
tion. The  whole  unification  move- 
ment thus  came  to  naught  for  the 
time  being.  Once  more  Austria  had 
her  way.  The  old  diet  was  again 
Instituted  and  the  system  of  Metter- 
nich  was  re-established,  though  only 
for  a  moment.  This  much  progress 
had,  however,  been  made:  Prussia 
had  obtained  a  constitution  in  1851 
and  she  was  from  this  time  on  re- 
garded as  the  nucleus  of  all  future 
hopes  in  the  unification  movement. 

The  Customs  Union. 

In  the  meantime  Prussia  had 
taken  important  steps  in  bringing 
about  an  economic  union  which  did 
much  to  prepare  the  way  for  an  ulti- 
mate political  unification.  In  1828 
a  customs  union  was  entered  into 
with  Hessen-Darmstadt,  also  in  1829 
with  Bavaria  and  Wiirtemberg.  Jan- 
uary 1,  1834,  the  German  ZoUverein 
went  into  effect  which  secured  free 
trade  to  all  its  members,  so  that 
there  were  no  duties  levied  on  goods 
passing  from  one  state  of  the  Union 
to  another.  The  advantages  of  this 
arrangement  were  so  apparent  that 
state  after  state  entered  it.  This 
gave  a  great  impetus  to  the  move- 
ment for  political  unification.  Inas- 
much as  Prussia  had  taken  the  lead, 
the  smaller  states  began  more  and 
more  to  look  to  her  as  their  head. 

Accession  of  William  I. 

A  new  era  in  Prussia  began  with, 
the  regency  of  Prince  William  who 
took  charge  of  affairs  when  his  bro- 
ther, Frederick  William  IV,  became 
insane  in  1858,  and  who  became  king 
in  1861  at  the  death  of  his  brother. 
The  new  king  was  not  as  brilliant  a 
scholar  as  his  predecessor  but  he  was 
a  practical  statesman.  He  had  spent 
many  years  in  the  army.  He  was 
not  a  doctrinaire  but  combined  pli- 
ability and  steadfastness  of  char- 
acter. Never  attempting  the  Impos- 
sible, never  chasing  after  phantoms, 
he  knew  how  to  adapt  himself  to  a 
change  of  conditions.  Besides,  he 
possessed  a  deep  insight  into  human 
nature  and  was  very  quick  to  detect 
ability  in  others  and  thus  select  the 
right  men  to  help  him  carry  out  his 
plans. 


18 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


Especially   important  was,  in  Sep- 
tember,   1862,    his    selection    of    Bis- 
marck as  minister-president  o£  Prus- 
sia      His  choice  was  violently   criti- 
cized at  the  time,  for  Bismarck  was 
almost  universally  misjudged.     Most 
people  considered  him  a  reactionary 
of  the  most  pronounced  type.     Even 
the    great    historian     Max     Duncker 
called  him  a  gambler  who  was  stak- 
ing   the    very    existence    of    Prussia. 
Never  did  a  man  suffer  greater  criti- 
cism   and   opposition   than   Bismarck 
did     throughout     his     career.       The 
greatest     statesman     Germany     ever 
produced  could  not  have  maintained 
himself   for   a   moment  had   he  been 
dependent   upon   the   support   of   the 
people.     It  was  only  the  unfaltering 
support  of  King  William  I  that  held 
him    in    power    and    enabled    him    to 
carry    to    completion    his    wonderful 
work.      The    friendship    between   the 
king  and  Bismarck  was  as  beautiful 
as  that  of  Damon  and  Pythias  or  of 
Epaminondas  and  Pelopidas. 
Bismarck's  Program. 
Bismarck's   political   program   was 
laid   out   from    the   beginning   of   his 
career  as  a  statesman,  and  he  never 
faltered      in      his      undertaking      or 
swerved  from  his  course.     He  aimed 
at  bringing  about   the   unification  ot 
the    German    states    under    Prussian 
leadership.      Austria   had   shown   for 
centuries  that  she  was  unable  to  uni- 
fy Germany;   in  fact,  it  was  only  too 
evident   that   she   had   tried   to   keep 
Germany    weak    and    to    subordinate 
her  to  her   other   dynastic   interests 
Austria  must  therefore  be  forced  out 
of  German  affairs  in  order  that  Prus- 
sia's way  might  be  clear.     Bismarck 
knew  that  this  question  could  not  be 
settled  by  treaties  or  persuasion  but 
only     by     "blood     and     iron."       He 
deemed  the  blessings  to  be  attained 
to   be   worth   the   cost.      Just   as  the 
American  republic  could  not  come  in- 
to existence  without  the  War  of  the 
Revolution;   and  just  as  it  could  not 
be  saved  from  disruption  without  the 
Civil  War,  Bismarck  realized  that  the 
opposition   against   the   formation   of 
a    German    Empire    under    Prussian 
leadership  necessitated  war.     And  tor 
this  war  Prussia  must  be  ready. 

Never  did  a  statesman  have  a 
more  complicated  problem  to  solve 
than  did  Bismarck.  With  wonderful 
clearness  of  vision  he  was  able  to 
comprehend  this  problem  in  all  its 
phases.  He  knew  not  only  what 
should  be  done  but  also  understood 
how  to  do  it.  His  strength  of  will 
was  as  great  as  his  insight.  Only  a 
man  of  titanic  might  could  become 
the  smith  who  was  able  to  weld  the 
many  states  into  one  great  empire. 
Prussian  Militarism. 
For  the  fourth  time  in  Prussian 
history  the  necessity  of  military  pre- 
paredness became  evident,  if  the  vi- 
tal interests  of  the  state  were  to  he 
furthered.  As  the  Great  Elector 
knew  that  the  disjecta  memhra  of  his 
dominions,  scattered  between  the 
Rhine  and  the  Vistula,  could  become 
a  real  state  and  thus  be  delivered 
from  the  misery  ot  constant  friction 
only  by  building  up  a  strong  army; 
as  Frederick  William  I  and  Frederick 
the  Great  realized  that  Prussia,  sur- 


rounded on  all  sides  by  jealous  and 
rapacious  neighbors  waiting,  like 
hungry  wolves,  for  an  opportunity  to 
fall  upon  their  prey,  could  save  her- 
self only  by  means  of  her  army;  as 
Frederick  William  III  realized  that 
Prussia  could  throw  off  the  iron  yoke 
of  Napoleon  only  by  regenerating  her 
army;  so  now  again,  William  I  in- 
stinctively felt  that  the  interests  of 
Prussia  were  bound  up  with  those  of 
all  Germany  and  that  these  interests 
could  be  furthered  only  by  a  reorgan- 
ization of  the  army.  Not  only  Aus- 
tria but  all  Europe  would  sooner  or 
later  oppose  the  formation  of  a 
strong  German  Empire,  for  they  had 
for  centuries  profited  from  her  weak- 
ness and  made  her  the  battle  ground 
of  Europe.  It  may  be  said  in  this 
connection  in  the  light  of  present 
occurrences  that  for  a  fifth  time,  if 
the  Germans  are  to  be  saved,  it  will 
be  because  of  their  army.  The  fore- 
sight of  William  I  and  Bismarck  not 
only  pertained  to  the  period  from 
1861  to  1871,  but  it  has  been  justi- 
fied by  the  occurrences  of  1914.  As 
the  neighbors  of  Germany  tried  to 
keep  her  divided  for  ages,  so  today, 
realizing  what  an  irresistible  power 
has  come  to  her  through  her  unifica- 
tion, they  have  combined  to  crush 
her.  Without  her  army  she  would 
have  to  beg  for  mercy.  Today  she 
is  able  to  accept  the  challenge  of  the 
most  formidable  combination  that 
has  ever  been  entered  into  against 
any  state.  If  ever  military  prepared- 
ness has  been  justified  by  its  fruits 
it  is  in  Germany.  Anywhere  else  so- 
called  "militarism"  would  have  had 
no  other  purpose  save  that  of  aggres- 
sion. For  Germany  it  has  consti- 
tuted to  this  day  the  only  possibility 
of  existence. 

Today  every  German  realizes  what 
his  country  owes  to  the  army  and  is 
prepared  to  bring  any  sacrifice  to 
maintain  its  efficiency.  It  is  not 
a  thing  set  against  himself  but 
something  of  which  he  is  a  part. 
When  Bismarck  in  1862  undertook  to 
reorganize  the  Prussian  army  nobody 
but  he  and  the  king  realized  what  a 
blessing  this  army  was  destined  to 
be.  Bismarck  could  strengthen  the 
army  only  by  opposing  the  Prussian 
Parliament  and  by  making  himself 
guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  constitution 
by  raising  a  loan  on  his  own  initia- 
tive. The  fury  of  the  attack  launched 
against  him  by  his  antagonists  was 
unbounded.  He  was  the  most  un- 
popular man  in  Prussia. 

The  Sehleswig-Holstein  Affair. 

Bismarck  had  to  wait  only  two 
years  to  see  his  policy  bear  fruit  and 
to  receive  at  least  a  small  measure 
of  praise  for  his  foresight.  In  1864 
war  was  declared  by  the  Confeder- 
ation of  German  states  against  Den- 
mark for  trying  to  absorb  the  two 
German  provinces  of  Schleswig  and 
Holstein  to  which  she  had  no  right, 
having  been  bound  to  them  only  in 
a  personal  union  as  Hannover  had 
been  bound  to  England  since  the 
days  of  George  I.  Prussia  joined 
hands  with  Austria  in  attacking 
Denmark.  The  war  was  short.  The 
Prussian  army  distinguished  itself  at 
Diippel  and  Alsen.  Denmark  sued 
for  peace  by  relinquishing  Sehleswig- 
Holstein. 


The  Seven  Weeks'  War  With 
Austria. 

Bismarck's  plan  ot  getting  Austria 
and  Prussia  to  co-operate  in  the 
Sehleswig-Holstein  affair  was  a  mas- 
ter-stroke ot  diplomacy.  His  hope 
that  it  would  lead  to  difficulties  and 
thereby  necessitate  a  final  under- 
standing with  Austria  regarding 
Prussia's  German  policy  was  fully 
realized.  In  the  Treaty  of  Gastein 
it  was  agreed  that  the  newly  liber- 
ated provinces  should  be  jointly  ad- 
ministered by  both  powers,  Prussia 
taking  charge  ot  the  affairs  of  Schles- 
wig, while  Austria  took  in  hand  the 
administration  ot  Holstein.  Discord 
was  bound  to  come  out  ot  this  ar- 
rangement. The  two  systems  were 
so  different  that  misunderstandings 
were  inevitable.  Austria  began  to 
work  against  Prussia.  While  Aus- 
tria had  no  desire  to  annex  any  of 
this  territory,  she  did  not  want  Prus- 
sia to  have  it  either  and  therefore 
began  to  think  ot  turning  over  the 
provinces  to  the  Prince  ot  Augusten- 
burg  to  whom  Prussia  was  much  op- 
posed. Prussia  insisted  that,  inas- 
much as  Sehleswig-Holstein  was  con- 
tiguous to  her  own  territory,  she 
must  safeguard  her  own  interests 
since  the  Prince  of  Augustenburg  was 
anti-Prussian  in  sentiment.  Both 
sides  now  prepared  for  war. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  III  prom- 
ised to  permit  Austria  and  Prussia  to 
fight  the  matter  out  without  the  in- 
terference of  France,  intimating  that 
France  would  expect  Prussia  to  allow 
her  to  appropriate  Belgium  or  some 
other  territory  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine  as  a  reward  tor  his  neutrality. 
No  definite  agreement,  however,  was 
made  on  this  point  and  subsequently 
Bismarck  was  able  to  say  truthfully 
that  he  had  made  no  promise.  Cer- 
tainly Bismarck  here  outwitted  Na- 
poleon, who  regarded  himself  as  the 
greatest  diplomat  in  Europe,  and  not 
only  secured  an  open  hand  in  the 
reckoning  with  Austria  but  also 
saved  Belgium  from  being  swallowed 
up  by  France. 

At  the  same  time  Bismarck  nego- 
tiated a  treaty  with  Italy  who  was 
carrying  out  the  unification  of  her 
territory.  According  to  this  treaty 
Italy  was  to  win  Venetia  from  Aus- 
tria whilst  Prussia  was  to  attack 
Austria  from  the  north.  Italy  was 
beaten  but  Bismarck  was  true  to  his 
ally  and  insisted  that  Austria  cede 
Venetia  to  her. 

The  smaller  German  states  all 
helped  Austria.  Prussia  was  there- 
tore  fighting  against  great  odds, 
since  the  population  ot  the  states 
arrayed  against  her  was  three  times 
as  great  as  her  own.  So  excellent, 
however,  was  the  reorganized  Prus- 
sian army  that  a  brilliant  campaign 
of  only  seven  weeks  brought  the 
smaller  German  states  and  Austria  to 
terms.  The  genius  ot  von  Moltke, 
who  was  chief  of  the  Prussian  gen- 
eral staff,  proved  itself  in  this  war. 
The  great  battle  ot  Sadowa  or 
Kciniggriitz,  fought  on  the  third  of 
Julv,  1866,  opened  the  way  to  Vienna 
and  was  soon  followed  by  the  Treaty 
ot  Prague. 

The  terms  imposed  upon  Austria 
were  very  moderate.  Bismarck  only 
wished   to   have   Austria   step   out  of 


NORTHERN   EUROPE 

(From  "The  Navy."  WsHhington.  September.  11I14I 


GERMAXy  IN  SOCIAL-POLITICAL  EVOLUTION 


Germany  and  allow  Prussia  to  have 
her  way  in  carrying  out  her  German 
program.  He  took  none  of  her  lands 
from  her  but  simply  made  her  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  war.  She  was 
also  required  to  cede  Venetia  to  Italy. 
Austria  had  every  reason  to  be 
thankful  for  the  self-restraint  and 
generosity  which  Prussia  had  shown 
and  after  a  few  years  had  so  far  for- 
gotten her  animosity  that  she  was 
ready  to  form  an  alliance  with  Ger- 
many. 
The   Xorth-German   Confederation. 

Again  Bismarck's  policy  had  tri- 
umphed. A  great  stride  was  now 
taken  in  the  direction  of  German  uni- 
fication. Prussia  in  18G7  gathered 
around  her  all  the  German  states 
north  of  the  Main  River.  This  union, 
already  bound  together  by  the  eco- 
nomic freedom  of  the  Zollverein,  in- 
cluded 21  states.  It  was  called  the 
North  German  Confederation  and 
added  a  population  of  over  five  mil- 
lions to  that  of  Prussia.  While  each 
state  was  to  retain  control  over  its 
state  affairs,  there  was  instituted  a 
Bundesrat  or  upper  house,  presided 
over  by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Con- 
federation, and  a  second  legislative 
chamber,  the  Reichstag,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  were  elected  by  the 
people  by  universal  and  direct  suff- 
rage. The  army  of  the  Bund  was 
under  the  supreme  command  of  the 
King  of  Prussia.  This  union  was 
compact  and  well  organized.  All 
that  w-as  needed  to  have  it  cover  all 
Germany  was  the  inclusion  of  the 
South  German  states,  which  still  held 
aloof.  It  was  only  a  question  of 
time  when  they  might  also  be  ex- 
pected to  join  in  the  unification 
movement.  The  advantages  they 
would  have,  especially  along  eco- 
nomic lines,  were  too  evident  to  es- 
cape them.  The  consolidation  of  all 
the  German  states  was  hastened  by 
the  Franco-Prussian  war. 

The    Franco-I'i'Hssian    War. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  of 
France  had  viewed  with  alarm  the 
rise  of  a  great  power  on  the  east  of 
France.  He  had  been  outwitted  at 
every  turn  by  the  brilliant  states- 
manship of  Bismarck.  As  a  last  re- 
sort he  hoped  that  the  south  German 
states  would  form  a  confederation 
under  his  protectorate.  He  now  be- 
gan to  seek  a  pretext  for  war  with 
Prussia  and  counted  otv  the  support 
of  the  south  German  states  as  well  as 
upon  that  of  Austria  and  Italy.  He 
expected  to  strike  Prussia  before  she 
was  ready  and  believed  that  the  new- 
ly invented  Chassepot  gun  and  the 
mitrailleuse  would  prove  superior  to 
the  Prussian  needle  gun.  Never  did 
a  ruler  rush  so  blindly  to  his  own 
doom  or  force  a  war  upon  a  more 
trivial  excuse. 

The  issue  Napoleon  III.  was  seek- 
ing was  found  when  the  Spanish 
people,  having  driven  out  the  vicious 
CJueen  Isabella,  tendered  the  crown 
of  Spain  to  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern, 
a  distant  relative  of  King  William  I. 
of  Prussia,  whose  brother  Karl  had 
a  few  years  before  been  chosen  King 
of  Roumania.  Being  a  Catholic  and 
related  on  his  mother's  side  to  the 
Bonapartists,  one  would  have 
(  thought  that  Leopold  would  prove 
acceptable     to     Napoleon     III.       The 


latter,  however,  believed  that  this 
was  a  plan  to  increase  the  prestige 
of  Prussia  by  enabling  her  to  play  a 
part  in  European  affairs  similar  to 
that  of  the  Hapsburgs  and  the  Bour- 
bons in  a  former  age.  He  therefore 
instructed  his  ambassador  Benedetti 
to  call  on  King  William  I.  at  Ems 
and  insist  that  he  command  Leopold 
to  withdraw.  The  King  replied  that 
he  had  no  authority  to  do  this  since 
Leopold  was  only  his  relative,  not 
one  of  his  subjects,  and  might  act  as 
he  chose.  When  Leopold  heard  of 
the  trouble  his  candidacy  was  caus- 
ing, he  withdrew  of  his  own  accord. 
Everybody  thought  this  would  end 
the  matter.  Even  Napoleon  had  pre- 
viously declared  that  nothing  save 
the  withdrawal  of  Leopold  would 
prevent  war.  Now,  however,  he  de- 
termined to  push  the  matter  still 
further  and  thereby  either  humiliate 
Prussia  so  that  she  would  be  dis- 
graced before  the  world,  especially 
before  the  south  German  states,  or 
else  to  goad  her  into  war.  Gramont, 
his  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  de- 
manded of  von  Werther,  the  Prus- 
sian ambassador  at  Paris,  that  King 
William  write  a  letter  begging  the 
pardon  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  in 
which  he  would  state  that  it  had  not 
been  his  intention  to  insult  the  em- 
peror and  France.  Benedetti  was 
also  instructed  to  demand  a  second 
audience  with  King  William  and  se- 
cure his  promise  that  he  fully  agreed 
with  the  withdrawal  of  Prince  Leo- 
pold and  would  not  sanction  a  re- 
newal of  the  candidacy  of  a  Hohen- 
zollern prince. 

Benedetti  presented  this  demand 
on  the  morning  of  July  13th  when 
he  met  the  King  at  the  public  pro- 
menade before  the  springs  at  Ems 
and  received  the  firm  but  courteous 
reply,  that  the  King  had  fully  ex- 
pressed himself  in  this  matter  anci 
that  any  further  information  might 
be  obtained  from  his  ministry.  Then 
came  the  demand  for  a  written  letter 
which  had  been  sent  from  Paris 
through  the  Prussian  ambassador. 
"Who  ever  heard  of  such  insolence?" 
wrote  King  William  to  his  wife.  He 
refused  Benedetti's  request  for  a 
third  audience.  France  thereupon 
considered  this  an  insult  and  de- 
clared war  on  the  19th  of  July,  1870. 

Napoleon  urged  on  by  the  war 
party  at  Paris,  had  committed  a 
latal  blunder.  Retribution  for  this 
unwarranted  attack  on  the  honor  of 
another  state  came  with  the  greatest 
rapidity. 

Bismarck  had  followed  closely  the 
machinations  at  Paris.  Von  Moltke 
and  von  Roon,  who  were  in  charge 
of  the  Prussian  army,  assured  him 
that  if  Ifrauce  desired  war  at  any 
price  she  would  find  Prussia  ready. 
Bismarck  and  von  Moltke  were  dis- 
cussing matters  in  Berlin  when  a  dis- 
patch had  been  written  by  Abeken, 
one  of  Bismarck's  subordinates,  at 
the  suggestion  of  King  William  and 
empowered  Bismarck  to  give  the 
news  to  the  press  in  case  he  saw  fit 
to  do  so.  The  Chancellor  had  full 
authority  in  this  matter.  The  origi- 
nal dispatch  was  lengthly  and  poorly 
expressed.     It  reads  as  follows: 

"His  Majesty  writes  me:  'Count 
Benedetti  stopped   me  at  the  prome- 


nade, and  demanded  in  a  very  pre- 
sumptuous manner,  that  I  authorize 
him  to  telegraph  immediately,  that  I 
obligate  myself  for  all  time,  never 
again  to  give  my  consent  if  the 
Hohenzollern  resumed  their  candi- 
dacy. I  finally  rather  earnestly  re- 
fused since  one  must  not  or  can  not 
ever  enter  into  such  obligations.  Of 
course  I  told  him  that  I  had  not  yet 
received  anything  and  that  since  he 
had  been  notified  by  way  of  Paris 
and  Madrid  sooner  than  I,  my  gov- 
ernment was  again  not  involved." 
His  majesty  has  since  then  obtained 
a  letter  from  the  prince.  Inasmuch 
as  His  Majesty  told  Count  Benedetti 
that  he  is  expecting  news  from  the 
prince,  the  King  decided,  in  reference 
to  the  above  demand  and  the  report 
of  Count  Eulenburg  and  myself,  not 
to  receive  Count  Benedetti  again,  but 
to  inform  him  through  an  adjutant, 
that  His  Majesty  has  now  received 
from  the  Prince  the  confirmation  of 
the  news  which  Benedetti  had  al- 
ready received  from  Paris  and  has 
nothing  further  to  say  to  the  ambas- 
sador. His  Majesty  leaves  it  to  your 
excellency  to  decide  whether  or  not 
you  will  inform  the  press  of  this  new 
demand  of  Benedetti's  and  its  re- 
fusal." 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  Bis- 
marck alone  had  the  power  and 
right  to  put  this  information  into  the 
newspapers  in  any  manner  he  chose. 
He  decided  to  shorten  the  dispatch 
without  changing  its  meaning,  so 
that  it  was  given  to  the  papers  in  the 
following  form: 

"After  the  news  concerning  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Prince  of  Hohen- 
zollern was  sent  to  the  imperial 
French  government  by  the  royal 
Spanish  government,  the  French  am- 
bassador demanded  of  His  Majesty 
the  King  at  Ems  that  he  be  author- 
ized to  telegraph  to  Paris  that  His 
Majesty  the  King  obligate  himself  for 
the  future  never  to  consent  to  a  re- 
newal of  the  Hohenzollern  candidacy. 
His  Majesty  the  King  thereupon  re- 
fused to  receive  the  French  ambassa- 
dor again  and  informed  him  through 
an  adjutant  of  the  service,  that  His 
Majesty  had  nothing  further  to  say  to 
the  ambassador." 

A  storm  of  indignation  at  the  in- 
solence of  France  swept  not  only 
through  Prussia  but  through  all  the 
German  states,  even  those  of  south 
Germany,  and  all  of  them  placed 
their  armies  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Prussian  king.  France  had  put  her- 
self in  the  wrong  and  had  thereby 
hastened  the  unification  of  all  the 
German  states — the  very  thing  Na- 
poleon had  been  most  anxious  to 
prevent. 

All  of  Napoleon's  plans  miscar- 
ried. France  was  wholly  unpreparet} 
for  war.  Austria  and  Italy  waited  to 
see  which  side  would  win  the  first 
victories.  When  news  came  of  the 
great  German  victories  at  Worth, 
Gravelotte,  Metz,  and  Sedan  they  de- 
termined to  remain  neutral.  When 
the  bombardment  of  Paris  began  the 
outcome  of  the  war  could  no  longer 
be  doubtful. 

Proclamation  of  the  \ew   Gerniun 
Knipire. 

January  18,  1871,  while  the  bom-, 
bardment  of   Paris  was  still  in   pro- 


20 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


gress,  an  event  of  world  importance 
took  place  at  Versailles,  when  the 
princes  of  the  various  German  states, 
headed  by  the  King  of  Bavaria,  of- 
fered to  King  William  of  Prussia  the 
crown  as  German  Emperor.  The 
proclamation  of  the  new  German  em- 
pire marks  the  consummation  of  the 
struggle  for  unification  which  had 
been  the  dream  of  centuries  and 
which  had  now  been  realized  by  the 
combination  of  many  favorable  cir- 
cumstances among  which  the  most 
important  were  the  brilliant  states- 
manship of  Bismarck,  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  German  people,  and  the  won- 
derful efficiency  of  the  German  army. 


carlyijE's  estimate  of  bis- 

>L\RCK. 


(From  the  "Questions  and  Answers" 

Column    in    the    "New    Yorker 

Staats-Zeitung"   of  October 

21,  1914.) 

D.  0.  M.  Can  you  give  me  Car- 
lyle's   estimate   of   Bismarck? 

In  a  letter  to  The  Times,  Carlyle 
wrote,  under  date  of  November  11th, 
1870,  the  following  words:  "Consid- 
erable misconception  as  to  Herr  von 
Bismarck  is  still  prevalent  in  Eng- 
land. The  English  newspapers,  nearly 
all  of  them,  seem  to  me  to  be  getting 
towards  a  true  knowledge  of  Bis- 
marck, but  not  yet  to  it  *  *  *  Bis- 
marck, as  I  read  him,  is  not  a  person 


of  'Napoleonic'  ideas,  but  of  ideas 
quite  superior  to  Napoleonic;  shows 
no  invincible  'lust  of  territory,'  nor 
is  tormented  with  'vulgar  ambitions,' 
etc.;  but  has  aims  very  far  beyond 
that  sphere ;  and  in  fact  seems  to  me 
to  be  striving  with  strong  faculty,  by 
patient,  grand  and  successful  steps, 
towards  an  object  beneficial  to  Ger- 
mans and  to  all  other  men.  That 
noble,  patient,  deep,  pious  and  solid 
Germany  should  be  at  length  welded 
into  a  nation,  and  become  Queen  of 
the  Continent,  Instead  of  vapouring, 
vainglorious,  gesticulating,  quarrel- 
some, restless  and  over-sensitive 
France,  seems  to  me  the  hopefulest 
public  fact  that  has  occurred  in  my 
time." 


The  Great  European  Problem  of  the  Twentieth  Century — Pan-Slavism 
All  Europe  Concerned 


THE   EUROPEAN  WAR. 


PAN-SIiAVISM   AND    THE    WAR. 

7*711.5  t.s  the  first  article  of  a  series 
on  THE  EUROPEAN  WAR,  which 
appeared  in  the  October  XumVer  of 
THE  OPEN  COURT,  under  the  title 
"Pan-Slavism,"  written  iy  the  Editor, 
Dr.  Paul  Varus. 

Consult  the  INDEX  for  the  com- 
plete series,  and,  in  order  to  see  where, 
in  the  various  Chapters  of  the  book, 
the  different,  articles  of  this  treatise 
nwy  he  found,  look  for  EUROPEAN 
WAR  (THE).  In  this  way  the  reader 
may  read  the  entire  series  of  articles 
in  their  original  order,  if  he  chooses 
to  do  so,  while  the  present  arrange- 
ment still  gives  him  the  advantage  of 
bringing  the  various  articles  under 
their  proper,  respective  Chapter-head- 
ings of  the  book. 

This  is  a  series  of  exceptionally 
fine  articles  on  the  subject  in  ques- 
tion, and  they  bear  a  unique  and  im- 
portant relatioji  to  each  other.  Be 
sure  to  read  them  also  in  the  original 
order. — Editor,  "War  Echoes." 

War,  a  most  terrible  war,  is  now 
raging  in  Europe,  and  the  most 
powerful  nations  have  combined  to 
break  Germany's  ascendency.  Ger- 
many is  threatened  by  Russia  from 
the  east,  by  France  from  the  west, 
and  her  extended  commerce  on  the 
seas  in  all  parts  of  the  world  has  be- 
come a  prey  to  Great  Britain  and 
Japan. 

And  why?  What  is  the  cause  of 
the  war?  Because  a  short  time  ago 
the  heir  apparent  to  the  throne  of 
Austria  and  his  wife  were  assassin- 
ated by  a  Servian  with  arms  from 
the  Servian  arsenal. 

Germany  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  incident  that  occasioned  the  war, 
but  we  must  know  that  this  particu- 
lar occurrence  is  a  symptom  only  of 
the  real  reason.  The  assassination 
of  a  prince  and  his  wife  might  have 
passed  by  and  be  forgotten  if  there 
did  not  exist  a  condition  which 
made  the  war  an  unavoidable  neces- 
sity. Though  the  occasion  is  an  in- 
cident   of    secondary    importance,    it 


throws    light    on    the    political    situa- 
tion of  Europe. 

Austria-Hungary  is  a  dual  state 
represented  by  a  double  headed  eagle 
as  its  coat  of  arms,  and  the  Austrian 
emperor,  formerly  a  Roman  emperor 
of  German  nationality,  is  the  mon- 
arch. In  addition  to  the  German 
Austrians  and  the  Hungarians,  the 
Magyars,  there  are  a  number  of 
other  nationalities  most  of  which  are 
Slavic:  the  Czechs  in  Bohemia,  the 
Slavonians  south  of  Hungary,  then 
the  Bosnians,  the  inhabitants  of  Her- 
zegovina, the  Poles  in  Galicia,  and 
also  some  Servians.  The  Saxons  of 
Transylvania  again  are  Teutons  sur- 
rounded by  Hungarians,  Slavs  and 
Rumanians.  It  would  be  easy  enough 
to  solve  the  problem  of  the  races  if 
they  lived  in  separate  communities, 
but  the  trouble  is  that  they  live  in  the 
same  countries  and  cities,  and  there 
are  for  instance  about  as  many  Ger- 
man Bohemians  as  Czechs  living  in 
Bohemia,  and  the  Saxon  Transylvan- 
ian  farmers  employ  as  farm  hands 
Slavs  and  other  races,  among  them 
also  Gypsies. 

Austria  is  about  as  large  as  Ger- 
many and  France,  but  It  is  weak  on 
account  of  its  lack  of  internal  unity 
and  the  hatred  among  the  different 
races.  The  Austrian  army  can  not 
develop  the  efficiency  which  other 
armies  possess  where  the  same  lan- 
guage is  spoken  by  all  the  troops. 

The  race  problem  in  Austria  is  a 
calamity  but  it  becomes  worse  by 
the  propaganda  of  Panslavism,  which 
means  that  all  the  Slavs  should  be 
united  under  the  most  powerful  Slavic 
state,  Russia.  Panslavism  would  ul- 
timately lead  to  the  ruin  of  Austria 
and  to  the  suppression  of  the  Ger- 
man elements  now  sprinkled  over  all 
the  Austrian  dominions.  Panslavism 
has  been  advocated  mainly  by  Rus- 
sia, whose  agents  have  been  at  work 
all  over  the  world,  also  in  non-Slavic 
countries,  in  Persia,  Afghanistan, 
Tibet,  India,  China,  and  even  in  the 
United  States.  The  rise  of  Slavism 
is  proclaimed  by  them  as  the  power 
to  come;  such  Is  at  least  the  inten- 
tion of  Russia,  and  Peter  the  Great, 


the  founder  of  modern  Russia,  has 
sketched  in  his  last  will  and  testa- 
ment a  plan  to  expand  Russia  and 
make  her  the  mistress  of  the  world — 
a  bequest  holy  to  the  patriotic  Rus- 
sian and  a  danger  to  European  civil- 
ization. 

The  Slavs  are  upon  the  whole  a 
hot-blooded  and  excitable  race.  They 
are  good-natured  but  often  thought- 
less; they  live  in  the  present  and 
trouble  little  about  the  future.  Their 
money  affairs  are  usually  in  great 
disorder;  they  do  not  save  and  are 
quite  irresponsible.  The  most  nu- 
merous of  them  are  the  Russians,  and 
we  may  fairly  well  say  that  among 
the  Slavs,  the  Poles  are  the  most  in- 
telligent, while  the  Balkan  Slavs  are 
least  civilized.  The  Russians  are 
easy  going  and  lack  judgment.  They 
are  mostly  extremists,  either  slavishly 
submissive  to  authority  or  nihilists 
and  anarchists,  unamenable  to  law 
and  order.  Tlie  leaders  of  Russia, 
that  clique  which  runs  the  govern- 
ment of  which  the  Czar  is  a  helpless 
tool,  are  unscrupulous.  They  are 
descendants  of  Germanic  invaders, 
but  Russified,  and  their  helpers 
mostly  recruit  themselves  from  Ger- 
man immigrants. 

The  Poles  are  not  friends  of  the 
Russians.  They  know  the  government 
too  well.  The  Poles  live  in  those  por- 
tions of  Europe  which  were  formerly 
inhabited  by  the  Goths  and  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  the  common  peo- 
ple are  the  remnant  of  the  old  Gothic 
population.  We  begin  to  understand 
the  migratory  movement  of  Europe 
better  now  than  before  and  it  seems 
that  these  expeditions  of  conquest 
were  never  what  historians  formerly 
thought  them  to  be — emigrations  of 
whole  peoples.  It  appears  that  the 
emigrants  sold  the  acres  which  they 
owned,  and  the  others  who  remained 
were  too  weak  in  number  to  resist 
invaders.  The  aristocracy  of  Poland 
is  a  well-built  brunette  race,  Slavic 
in  temper  and  rather  small  in  stature, 
like  the  French  in  character,  also 
jolly,  amiable  and  especially  shift- 
less, while  the  common  people  are 
blue-eyed,     blond,     tall     and     often 


Zv'''/////'/////^y^///M\  vij 


^iT 


O 


EUROPE  AND  THE  MEDITERRANEAN 

(From  "The  Navy."  WashinKton.  Septe      or.  1SI14I 


PAN-SLAVISM— THE  MENACE  OF  EUROPE 


21 


thrifty.  Are  we  justified  in  drawing 
conclusions  from  these  facts?  Are 
the  two  classes  of  different  descent? 

When  Poland  became  Russian,  the 
Poles  became  acquainted  with  Rus- 
sian rule;  their  treatment  has  been 
approximately  the  same  as  the  Irish 
have  received  from  the  English. 
Though  Slavs  themseh-es,  they  could 
never  become  enthusiastic  over  the 
Panslavic  ideal. 

The  Finlanders  and  Germans  of  the 
Baltic  provinces,  perhaps  also  the 
intellectual  classes  of  the  Russians 
proper,  have  plenty  of  experience 
with  broken  promises  of  the  Russian 
government,  and  Russian  intrigues 
have  done  much  harm  even  in  the 
countries  of  Russia's  friends.  Think, 
for  instance,  of  the  Dreyfus-Esterhazy 
imbroglio  in  France,  which  impli- 
cates Russia,  not  Germany,  in  the 
spy  system,  and  also  of  the  Russian 
attempts  to  alienate  Asiatics  from 
England. 

If  Austria  breaks  down,  Germany 
will  be  surrounded  by  enemies  on  all 
sides.  If  the  German  portion  of 
Austria  together  with  Hungary  should 
become  a  part  of  the  Panslavic  em- 
pire, the  German  race  would  have 
little  chance  of  survival,  especially  as 
France  has  not  forgotten  her  defeat 
of  1870-71,  and  is  constantly  clamor- 
ing for  revenge.  Under  these  condi- 
tions it  is  but  a  policy  of  self-preser- 
vation that  the  Germans  are  deter- 
mined to  support  Austria  against  the 
Panslavisra  of  Russia.  The  triumph 
of  Panslavism  implies  the  downfall  of 
Germany. 

The  horrible  death  of  the  archduke 
and  his  wife  was  not  due  to  the  deed 
of  a  fanatic  individual,  it  expresses 
the  sentiment  of  the  Servian  nation 
which  seems  to  have  been  supported 
by  the  Servian  authorities.  Yea, 
there  are  indications  that  these  meth- 
ods of  procedure  have  been  instigated 
by  Russian  agents  and  Austria  in- 
sisted that  investigations  should 
bring  out  the  truth.  The  conspiracy 
was  well  supplied  with  money  and 
can  not  have  been  limited  to  a  few 
private  individuals.  The  report 
reads: 

"So  well  laid  was  the  plot  that 
there  was  little  chance  of  escape.  Had 
the  pistol  shots  failed  to  take  effect, 
another  bomb  was  ready  to  be  thrown 
in  the  next  block,  while  under  the 
table  at  which  the  archduke  was  to 
lunch  two  others  were  discovered.  In 
the  chimney  of  the  Duchess  of  Hohen- 
berg's  apartments  still  another  bomb 
was  found,  while  the  railway  over 
which  it  w-as  expected  the  imperial 
party  would  leave  Sarayevo  was  lit- 
erally mined  with  dynamite." 

The  roots  of  the  conspiracy  spread 
into  Servia,  and  Austria  insisted  that 
an  investigation  should  bring  out  the 
truth. 

Servia  promised  an  investigation, 
but  since  Austria  did  not  trust  the 
Servians  to  be  impartial,  Austria 
issued  an  ultimatum  demanding  Aus- 
trian representatives  in  court.  This, 
however,  was  indignantly  refused, 
and  the  refusal  strengthened  the  sus- 
picion that  both  the  Servian  and 
Russian  governments  were  co-guilty 
of  the  criminal  conspiracy.  While 
Germany  recognized  the  justice  of  the 


Austrian  demand,  Russia  supported 
the  Servian  cause  and  the  result  was 
war — a  war  of  the  Slav  against  the 
Teuton,  the  object  being  the  Pan- 
slavic ideal  of  Russia,  and  in  this 
war  Russia  was  supported  by  France 
and  England,  according  to  the  Triple 
Entente. 

According  to  the  British  White 
Book,  Sir  Edward  Grey  sided  with 
Servia  in  its  refusal  of  Number  Five 
of  the  Austrian  ultimatum  saying 
that  it  "would  be  hardly  consistent 
with  the  maintenance  of  Servia's 
Independent  sovereignty  if  it  (Aus- 
tria's demand)  were  to  mean  that 
Austria-Hungary  was  to  be  invested 
with  the  right  to  appoint  officials  who 
would  have  authority  within  the  fron- 
tiers of  Servia." 

That  sounds  very  fair,  but  would 
Sir  Edward  use  the  same  argument 
if  the  Prince  of  Wales  had  been  as- 
sassinated and  some  little  nationality 
on  the  moral  level  of  Servia  were  for 
good  reasons  suspected  of  having 
helped  in  the  deed  and  plotting  re- 
newals of  the  crime  so  as  to  en- 
danger the  British  government  and 
its  royal  family?  That  would  have 
been    different. 

How  can  anyone  defend  Russia's 
protection  of  assassins,  or  who  can 
glance  over  the  history  of  these 
events  without  suspecting  the  leaders 
of  Panslavism  of  having  instigated 
the  deed?  But  that  England  rushed 
at  once  to  the  support  of  the  methods 
of  Panslavism  is  incomprehensible 
except  on  the  assumption  that  Eng- 
land favored  the  plan  of  a  most  stu- 
pendous war  in  which  Germany's 
prosperity,  her  manhood,  her  civil- 
ization, would  be  buried  under  the 
armies  of  the  invading  Russ. 

Panslavism  and  the  Russian  Czar 
are  to  be  helped  by  the  French,  and 
both  are  to  be  supported  by  the  Brit- 
ish fleet.  The  ruinous  march  of  the 
Gallic  foe  in  the  time  of  Napoleon  the 
First,  about  one  hundred  and  nine 
years  ago,  is  to  be  repeated  but  is 
being  made  more  effective  by  the 
Slavic  ally.  What  reason  have  the 
English  for  joining  such  a  war? 
They  will  rid  themselves  of  an  incon- 
venient competitor;  and  they  feel 
safe  in  undertaking  the  war,  for  they 
believe  success  can  be  gained  without 
much  risk  to  Albion. 

The  Kaiser  is  a  peaceful  man.  If 
any  one  deserves  the  Nobel  peace 
prize,  it  is  he.  Since  his  ascent  to 
the  throne  he  has  preserved  the  peace 
of  Europe,  often  under  the  most  dif- 
ficult conditions.  The  bellicose  party 
of  Germany  has  often  been  disgusted 
with  the  Kaiser's  policy  and  called 
him  William  the  Pacific.  If  he  de- 
clares war.  war  must  be  inevitable — 
and  what  a  war!  He  has  to  face  the 
most  powerful  nation,  Russia,  with 
its  army  of  uncounted  and  almost  un- 
countable numbers,  of  enormous  re- 
sources, unexhausted  and  inexhaust- 
ible. In  Russia  human  lives  are  not 
only  plentiful  but  cheap,  and  Russia 
is  supported  as  a  matter  of  course  by 
France  with  her  well-drilled  impetu- 
ous men.  both  in  turn  being  encour- 
aged by  England,  the  undisputed  mis- 
tress of  the  seas! 

Germany  is  supported  by  Austria- 
Hungary    whose    weakness    Is    well 


known.  Who  can  believe  that  Ger- 
many wanted  a  war  of  such  dimen- 
sions, that  she  has  provoked  it.  or 
ventured  into  it  for  lust  of  fame 
or  with  an  expectation  of  conquest? 
What  can  she  gain  and  how  can  she 
be  benefited  even  if  she  keeps  her 
enemies  out  of  the  fatherland?  And 
yet  her  enemies  blame  the  emperor 
for  being  responsible  for  the  war! 

Germany  has  been  cut  off  from  the 
rest  of  the  world.  America  has  not 
received  any  news  of  the  w-ar  ex- 
cept from  London,  Paris.  Petrograd 
(the  new  name  of  St.  Petersburg) 
and  Rome.  We  are  informed  that 
the  Germans  are  beaten,  and  yet  they 
advance.  There  is  some  news  from 
Berlin,  via  Copenhagen  or  Rotter- 
dam, of  recent  date,  which  shows 
the  progress  of  the  war  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent light. 

The  murder  of  the  archduke  is  not 
the  real  or  only  reason  of  the  war;  it 
is  the  symptom  of  Panslavism,  and 
Panslavism  is  the  reason  why  Russia 
has  gone  to  war.  But  there  are  two 
other  reasons:  one  is  the  French  lust 
for  revenge,  the  other  England's  de- 
termination not  to  allow  Germany  to 
appear  in  the  field  of  commerce  as 
her  rival,  which  from  the  English 
standpoint  means  that  Germany  is 
England's  "first  and  immediate  en- 
emy." 

Great  Britain  has  declared  war  on 
the  ground  that  Germany  would  not 
respect  the  neutrality  of  Belgium, 
but  the  real  reason  lies  deeper  and 
appears  in  the  anti-German  policy  of 
the  British  government  which  has  es- 
tablished the  principle  that  for  every 
keel  the  emperor  lays  down,  England 
will  lay  down  two,  and  Sir  Arthur 
Conan  Doyle  says:  "The  first  fruit 
of  the  new  German  fleet  was  the  En- 
tente Cordiale." 


AN  ANSWER  TO  THE  "EUROPEAN 
WAR.'" 


By  M.  Jourdain. 

And  here  Is  Mr.  Joiirdain's  reply  to 
the  Editor's  di.«cussion  ot  this  sub.1ect. — 
Editor,  War  Echoes. 

One  of  the  leading  characteristics  of 
The  Open  Court  is  that  It  Is  really  open 
to  discussion,  and  It  is  in  keeping  with 
the  very  liberal  views  of  Dr.  I'aul  Car- 
us.  a  German  by  birth  and  .syui|Kitliies. 
that  1  am  allowed  to  discuss  and  dis- 
sent from  his  views  upon  the  European 
war  published  in  the  October  number 
(if  The  Open  Court  and  with  other 
articles  in  the  same  number.  Dr. 
Carus's  article  (pp.  .'■)9G-64G)  deals  by 
sections  -with  questions  that  have  arisen 
in  connection  with  the  war ;  and  fol- 
lowing his  arrangement.  I  jiropose  to 
summarize  his  arguments  and.  so  far 
as  they  seem  to  me  misleading,  to 
question    them.     The    first   section   is: 

PANSLAVISM. 

References  referrinK  to  points  In  this 
article  mav  be  found  by  consulting  the 
Index  for  jourdain.  Carus.  "Open  Court." 
War.  European  War.  This  Is  Mr.  Jour- 
dain's  reply  to  the  Editor's  discussion  ot 
the  subject,  Panslavism. — Editor  of  War 
Kchoea. 


'  We  publish  this  article  from  England 
as  the  most  comprehensive  reply  to  the 
editorlnl  position  that  wc  have  received. — 
Editor,  The  Open  Court. 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


After  a  summary  of  the  character- 
istics of  the  Slav  races  and  the  well- 
l<nown  disuuion  of  the  Austro-Huugar- 
i^u  empire,  the  Editor  turns  to  the  in- 
cident of  the  assassination  of  the  heir- 
apparent  to  the  throne  of  Austria  and 
his  wife  at  Sarajevo,  on  Juue  23,  1914. 
There  was,  he  says,  no  public  sympathy 
throughout  Europe  for  the  crime ;  and 
yet  we  read :  "No  crime  has  ever 
aroused  deeper  or  more  general  horror 
throughout  Europe ;  none  has  ever  been 
less  justified.  Sympathy  for  Austria 
was  universal.  Both  the  governments 
and  the  public  opinion  of  Europe  were 
ready  to  support  her  in  many  measures, 
however  severe,  which  she  might  think 
it  necessary  to  take  for  the  punish- 
ment of  the  murderer  and  his  accom- 
plices."' 

The  opinion  of  the  Russian,  French 
and  German  governments  was. that  the 
Servian  government  was  not  to  blame 
for  the  crime,  but  that  Servia  must  in- 
vestigate and  put  an  end  to  the  propa- 
ganda which  had  apparently  led  to  it. 
Sir  I'Mward  Grey  advised  Servia  to 
show  herself  moderate  and  concilia- 
tory.' Unless  it  were  proved  that  the 
Servian  government  had  connived  at  or 
incited  to  the  crime ;  or  unless  the  Ser- 
vian government  were  to  conduct  an 
investigation  in  such  a  way  as  to  screen 
the  conspiracy,  tliere  was  no  reason  for 
declaration  of  war,  or  a  punitive  ex- 
pedition against  Servia.  A  declaration 
of  war  on  Austria's  part  on  the  ground 
that  she  "did  not  trust  the  Servians 
to  lie  impartial"''  is  absurd. 

The  first  open  step  on  Austria's  part 
was  an  ultimatum  delivered  at  Bel- 
grade, requiring  an  answer  in  forty- 
eight  hours.  Tlie  ten  demands  involved 
the  suppression  of  anti-Austrian  news- 
papers, literature  and  propaganda,  the 
suppression  of  nationalist  societies 
such  as  the  Narodna  Odbrana ;  tlie  dis- 
missal of  oflicers  and  functionaries 
"guilty  of  propaganda  against  the 
Austro-Hungarian  monarchy  whose 
names  and  deeds  the  Austro-Hungarian 
government  reserve  to  themselves  the 
right  of  communicating  to  the  royal 
government"  (of  Servia),  participation 
of  Austrian  otflcials  in  judicial  proceed- 
ings in  Servia,  the  arrest  of  two  indi- 
viduals compromised  by  the  results  of 
the  magisterial  inquiry  at  Sarajevo ; 
the  prevention  of  illicit  traffic  in  arms 
across  the  frontier,  an  explanation  of 
anti-Austrian  utterances  by  high  Ser- 
vian officials,  and  finally  the  immediate 
notification  of  the  enforcement  of  these 
measures.  In  addition,  a  prescribed 
statement  was  to  be  publislied  by  the 
Servian  government  in  the  official  jour- 
nal, condemning  anti-Austrian  propa- 
ganda and  regretting  the  participation 
of  Servian  officers  and  functionaries 
therein.'  A  summary  of  the  secret 
trial  at  Sarajevo  was  annexed  to  the 
ultimatum,  giving  the  bare  findings, 
with  no  corroborative  evidence. 

'  Throughout  this  article  I  have  used  for 
convenu'nce  sake  the  cheap  reprint  ot  the 
English  White  Paper  (which  also  includes 
Sir  Edward  Grey's  speech  of  August  3, 
and  other  matter)  entitled  "Great  Britain 
and  the  European  Crisis,"  London,  1914. 
1  shall  refer  to  this  as  "G.  B.  .and  the 
E.  C."  Here  the  reference  is  to  the  intro- 
ductory  narrative  ot  events,   p.   iii.* 

"  "Ibid,"  p.  iv. 

'"Open  Court"  tor  October.  1914.  p.  599. 
In  future  the  letters  "O.  C."  will  denote 
that  Issue  of  "The  Open  Court." 

•  "G.   B.  and  the  E.  C."  pp.   3-9. 

•  See  Jourdain  in  Index  for  complete 
Reference. — Editor. 


As  Sir  Edward  Grey  wrote  to  Sir 
Maurice  de  Bunseu,'  he  had  "never 
before  seen  one  state  address  to  an- 
other independent  state  a  document  of 
so  formidable  a  character."  The  de- 
mand for  the  participation  of  Austrian 
otticials  in  judicial  proceedings  in  Ser- 
via was  "hardly  consistent  with  the 
maintenance  of  Servia's  independent 
sovereignty  if  it  were  to  mean,  as  it 
seemed  that  it  might,  that  Austria- 
Hungary  was  to  be  invested  with  the 
right  to  appoint  officials  who  would 
have  authority  within  the  frontiers  of 
Servia." 

The  Editor  admits  that  this  "sounds 
very  fair."'  It  is,  in  fact,  unanswer- 
able ;  and  no  other  line  of  action  would 
be  possible  even  in  the  imaginary  case 
he  adduces,  "if  the  Prince  of  Wales 
had  been  assassinated  and  some  little 
nationality  on  the  moral  level  of  Ser- 
via were  for  good  reasons  suspected 
of  having  helped  in  the  deed,  plotting 
renewals  of  the  crime  so  as  to  endanger 
the  British  government  and  its  royal 
fannly."  I  do  not  think  that  an  Eng- 
lishman would  have  his  sense  of  jus- 
tice wariied  by  national  considera- 
tions. 

Before  the  expiration  of  the  time- 
limit  of  the  ultimatum.  Servia  returned 
to  Austria  a  reply  amounting  to  an  ac- 
ceptance of  all  the  demands,'  subject 
on  certain  points  to  the  delays  neces- 
sary for  passing  new  laws  and  amend- 
ing her  constitution,  and  subject  to 
Austria-Hungary's  explanation  as  to 
her  wishes  with  regard  to  the  participa- 
tion of  Austro-Hungarian  officials  in 
Servian  judicial  proceedings.  "The 
Royal  Government  must  confess  that 
they  do  not  clearly  grasp  the  mean- 
ing or  the  scope  of  the  demand  made 
by  the  Imperial  and  Royal  Government 
that  Servia  shall  undertake  to  accept 
the  collaboration  of  the  organs  of  the 
Imperial  and  Royal  Government  upon 
their  territory,  but  they  declare  they 
will  admit  such  collaboration  as  agrees 
with  the  principles  of  international  law, 
with  criminal  procedure,  and  with  good 
neighborly  relations."" 

This  reply  went  beyond  anything 
which  any  power — Germany  not  ex- 
cepted— thought  probable.'"  This  was 
the  more  remarkable  as  the  time-limit 
of  the  ultimatum  was  as  unnecessary 
as  insolent.  The  impression  left  upon 
the  mind  of  Sir  Maurice  de  Bunsen  was 
that  the  note  was  "so  drawn  up  as  to 
make  war  inevitable."  "This  country," 
he  writes,  "has  gone  wild  with  joy  at 
the  prospect  of  war  with  Servia  and 
its  postponement  or  prevention  would 
undoubtedly  be  a  great  disappoint- 
ment." ' 

In  this  temporary  blindness  of  a  peo- 
ple, the  Austrian  ministers  were  borne 


along  on  a  wave  of  violent  enthusiasm, 
in  which  they  said  tliemselves  that  they 
would  be  dislodged  from  power  if  they 
did  not  accede  to  the  popular  demand 
for  the  punishment  of  Servia.^ 

As  Servia  consented  to  dismiss  and 
prosecute  those  officers  wlio  could  be 
clearly  proved  to  he  guilty  and  had 
already  arrested  the  officer  referred  to 
in  the  Austro-Hungarian  note,  it  is  not 
correct  to  speak  of  "Russia's  protection 
of  assassins.'" 

Equally  incorrect  is  the  statement  by 
the  Editor:  "That  England  rushed  at 
once  to  the  support  of  the  methods  of 
Panslavism  is  incomprehensible  except 
on  the  assumption  that  England  favor- 
ed the  plan  of  a  most  stupendous  war 
in  which  Germany's  prosperity,  her 
manhood,  her  civilization,  would  be 
buried  under  the  armies  of  the  invad- 
ing Russ."* 

The  British  government's  attitude 
was  that  she  had  no  interest  in  the  Bal- 
kans except  the  consolidation  and 
progressive  government  of  the  Balkan 
states.  Sir  Edward  Grey's  concern  In 
the  Anstro-Hungari.in  note  and  the  re- 
ply of  Servia  was  "simply  and  solely 
from  the  point  of  \'iew  of  the  peace  of 
Europe.  The  merits  of  the  dispute  be- 
tween Austria  and  Servia  were  not  the 
coiMern  of  His  Majesty's  government."" 
Sir  (ieorge  Buchanan,  British  ambas- 
sador at  St.  Petersburg,  telegraphed 
(on  July  24)  that  "direct  British  in- 
terests in  Servia  were  nil,  and  a  war 
on  behalf  of  that  country  would  never 
be  sanctioned  by  British  public  opin- 
ion."" British  intervention  in  the 
European  crisis  only  followed  Ger- 
many's violation  of  Belgian  neutrality 
on  August  3.  As  the  Austro-Hungarian 
note  was  presented  to  Servia  on  July 
23,  and  war  was  declared  by  England 
on  Germany  on  August  4,  England's  in- 
tervention cannot  be  described  as  hur- 
ried or  determined  by  the  action  of 
Russia. 

The  Editor  proceeds  to  praise  the 
German  emperor  as  the  prince  of  peace. 
"The  Kaiser."  he  writes,  "is  a  peaceful 
man.  If  any  one  deserves  the  Xobel 
peace  prize  it  is  he.  Since  his  ascent 
to  the  throne  he  has  preserved  the 
jieace  of  Europe,  often  under  the  most 
difficult  conditions.  The  bellicose  party 
of  Germany  has  often  been  disgusted 
with  the  Kaiser's  policy  and  called  him 
William  the  Pacific.'"  It  is  perhaps 
premature  to  assume  that  the  German 
emperor  is  the  sole  cause  of  Germany's 
attitude;'  but  turning  to  his  acts  and 
utterances,  is  it  peace  that  he  proclaim- 
ed so  loudly  in  the  days  before  the 
war?  Was  the  author  of  those  won- 
derful Wardour  Street  phrases  of  "the 
mailed  fist"  and  "shining  armour"  so 
pacific?     In   a  speech  of  his  delivered 


«  British  ambassador  at   Vienna. 

'"O.   C,"  p.  599. 

•"G.   B.  and  the  E.   C,"   pp.   22-27. 

» "G.  B.  and  the  E.  C,"  p.  25.  Servia 
concluded  by  proposing,  in  case  the  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian government  were  not  satis- 
fied with  the  reply,  "to  accept  a  pacific 
understanding,  either  by  referring  this 
<|uestion  to  the  decision  of  the  interna- 
tional tribunal  of  The  Hague,  or  to  the 
great  powers  which  took  part  in  the  draw- 
ing up  of  the  declaration  made  by  the 
Servian  government  on  March  31,  1909." 

'•  "German  secretary  of  state  has  him- 
self said  that  there  were  .some  things  in 
the  Austrian  note  that  Servia  could  hardly 
be  expected  to  accept."  "G.  B.  and  the 
E.   C."  p.   29. 

>  "G.   B.  and  the  E.  C,"  p.   27. 


=  "Ibid.,"   p.  vii. 

»  "O.  C."  p.   599. 

'  "Ibid." 

»  "G.   B.  and  tlie  E.  C,"   p.   9. 

'"Ibid.,"   p.    10. 

'"O.   C,"  p.   600. 

» In  December,  1910,  he  sent  his  portrait 
to  the  minister  of  education  with  the  sig- 
nificant motto,  Si  volo,  sic  jubeo.  The 
words  of  the  minister  completed  the  quo- 
tation. On  May  4.  1891,  at  a  Rhenish 
banquet,  he  said  :  "There  is  but  one  mas- 
ter in  the  country  ;  it  is  I.  and  I  will  bear 
no  other."  In  a  speech  at  Konigsberg. 
May  25,  1910,  he  wrote:  "Considering 
myself  as  the  Instrument  of  the  Lord, 
without  heeding  the  views  and  opinions  of 
the  day  I  go  my  way" — an  attitude  which 
might  lead  to  breaches  of  the  peace. 


PAX-SLAVISM— THE  MENACE  OF  EUROPE 


on  March  1,  1900,  on  the  completion  of 
a  fort,  he  said :  "I  christen  thee  Fort 
Haeseler.  Thou  wilt  be  called  upon 
to  defend  the  conquests  of  Germany 
over  the  western  foes."  Seven  months 
later,  in  celebrating  Moltke's  birthday, 
he  expressed  a  desire  that  "thy  staff 
may  lead  Germany  to  further  victories." 
The  man  who  could  proclaim  that 
"nothing  must  be  settled  in  this  world 
without  the  intervention  of  Germany 
and  the  German  emperor."  cannot  be 
the  most  pacific  of  European  sovereigns. 
That  the  English  people  had  some  just 
cause  for  uneasiness  in  the  past  may 
be  seen  from  a  very  courageous  and 
temperate  article  in  the  "Franlifurter 
Zeitung,"  December  29,  1911 :  "We 
shall  be  obliged  to  admit  that  the  dis- 
trust on  the  other  side  of  the  English 
Channel  is  not  altogether  unfounded. 
If  we  had  to  listen  to  such  utterances 
from  the  mouth  of  a  foreign  sovereign, 
we  too  would  l)pcome  restive  and  take 
thought  for  the  strengthening  of  our 
line  of  defense.  At  present  we  can 
only  ask  England  not  to  take  so  seri- 
ously the  utterances  in  question,  since 
we  have  long  ago  had  the  experience 
that  great  words  are  not  followed  by 
great  deeds.  We  know  that  the  Kruger 
telegram,  the  challenge  to  the  yellow 
races,  the  speech  at  Damascus,  the  trip 
to  Tangier,  the  sending  of  the 
"Panther,"  and  so  on,  were  only  out- 
ward gestures  which  remained  without 
any  corresponding  consequences.  This 
is  one  of  the  weakest  points  of  our 
foreign  jiolicy.  We  say  to  England 
again  and  again:  'The  German  nation 
is  absolutely  peaceably-minded,  and 
wishes  to  live  on  terms  of  peace  and 
friendship  with  England  just  as  much 
as  with  all  other  nations.'  This  makes 
no  impression  on  them,  since  they 
answer  us  :  'We  are  glad  to  believe  that 
the  German  nation  is  peaceably-mind- 
ed, but  the  German  nation  does  not 
make  German  policy.  Her  policy  is 
made  in  a  quarter  which  is  absolute, 
irresponsible,  and  incalculable;  and  for 
that  reason  we  attach  merely  a 
Platonic,  and  never  a  practical,  value 
to  the  national  professions  of  peace.' 
Wliat  answer  are  wo  to  make  to  that?" 
"Who  can  believe,"  writes  the  Edi- 
tor.* "that  (Jerniany  wanted  a  war  of 
such  dimensions,  that  she  provoked  it 
or  ventured  into  it  for  lust  of  fame  or 


»    O.  C."  p.   600.' 

•  See  Jourdain   in   Index  for   complete 
Reference. — Editor. 


with  an  expectation  of  conquest?  What 
can  she  gain?"  The  answer  to  this  is 
twofold :  Firstly,  there  has  existed  an 
aggressive  war  literature  in  Germany 
which  has  no  parallel  in  any  other 
country.  Von  Treitschke  condemns  per- 
petual peace  as  the  "dream  of  weary, 
spiritless,  and  exhausted  ages,"  while 
Bernhardi,  echoing  Treitschke,  speaks 
of  war  as  "an  indisiieusable  factor  of 
culture,  in  which  a  truly  civilized  na- 
tion finds  the  highest  experience."  In 
the  latter  author's  works  war  with 
France  and  Russia  simultaneously  is 
hopefully  anticipated,  for  "in  one  way 
or  another  we  must  square  our  account 
with  France.  .  .  .This  is  the  first  and 
foremost  condition  of  a  sound  German 
policy.  .  .  .  France  must  be  so  com- 
pletely crushed  that  she  can  never 
again  come  across  our  path.  A  pacific 
agreement  with  England  is.  after  all,  a 
will-o'-the-wisp  which  no  serious  Ger- 
man statesman  would  trouble  to  fol- 
low. We  nuist  always  keei»  the  possi- 
bility of  war  with  England  before  our 
eyes  and  arrange  our  political  and  mili- 
tary plans  accordingly."  As  Bernhardi 
(who  died  in  1918)  was  a  prominent 
German  general,  high  up  in  the  gen- 
eral staff,  his  aspirations  have  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  authority.  And  apart 
from  militarist  writers,  every  traveler 
in  Germany  has  come  face  to  face  with 
what  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  aptly  calls 
"the  cheerfvil  brutality  of  their  polit- 
ical talk."""  "I  remember  meeting," 
he  adds,  "with  a  Prussian  nobleman, 
a  well-bred  and  pleasant  man,  who  was 
fond  of  expounding  the  Prussian  creed. 
He  was  said  to  be  a  political  agent,  but 
he  ■certainly  learned  nothing  in  conver- 
sation. .  .  .The  error  of  the  Germans, 
we  were  told,  was  always  that  they  are 
too  humane;  their  dislike  of  eruelt.v 
amounts  to  a  weakness  in  them.  They 
let  France  escape  with  a  paltry  fine; 
next  time  France  must  be  beaten  to 
the  dust.  Always  with  a  pleasant  out- 
ward courtesy,  he  passed  on  to  Eng- 
land. England  was  decadent  and  pow- 
erless, her  rule  must  pass  to  the  Ger- 
mans. 'But  we  shall  treat  England 
rather  less  severely  than  France,'  said 
this  bland  apostle  of  Prussian  culture. 
.  .  .The  grossuess  of  the  whole  thing 
was  in  curious  contrast  with  the  polite 
and  quiet  voice  with  which  he  uttered 
his  Insolences."  It  is  possible  Ttot  to 
draw    the    conclusion    that    war    with 

"■"Might   Is  Right."      Oxford   pamphlets, 


Russia  and  France  was  expected,  one 
might  say  desired,  by  an  Influential 
party  In  Germany.  That  she  did  not  de- 
sire a  "war  of  such  dimensions"  is 
quite  evident  from  the  bids  for  English 
neutrality.'  Yet  she  inevitably  drew 
England  into  the  war  by  her  violation 
of  the  neutrality  of  Belgium ;  and  both 
Austria  and  Germany  were  quite  aware 
<if  the  fact  that  the  note  to  Servia 
might  lead  to  a  European  war.  The 
German  White  Book  Informs  us  that 
the  Austrian  government  informed  the 
(Icrnian  government  of  their  "concep- 
tion" of  the  situation  and  asked  their 
opinion.  The  White  Book  comments 
as  follows : 

"With  all  our  heart  we  were  able  to 
agree  with  our  ally's  estimate  of  the 
situation,  and  assure  him  that  any  ac- 
tion considered  necessary  to  end  the 
movement  in  Servia  directed  against 
the  conservation  of  monarchy  would 
meet  with  our  approval. 

"We  were  jjerfectly  aware  that  a 
possible  warlike  attitude  of  Austria- 
Hungary  against  Servia  might  bring 
Russia  upon  the  field,  and  that  it 
nnght,  therefore,  involve  us  In  a  war, 
in  accordance  with  our  duty  as  al- 
lies."- 

In  the  second  place,  Germany  showed 
no  wish  to  work  for  peace  when  the 
key  of  the  situation  lay  with  Berlin. 
While  Russia,  France  and  England  In- 
itialed and  sui)iK)rted  peaceful  meas- 
ures, the  (Jerinan  chancellor  claimed 
that  none  should  Intervejie  between 
.\ustria  and  Servia.^ 

The  remaining  arguments  of  the  Ed- 
itor that  the  causes  of  the  war  are 
"the  French  lust  for  revenge"*  and 
"England's  determination  not  to  allow 
Germany  to  appear  on  the  field  of  com- 
merce as  her  rival,"'  and  "the  anti- 
German  policy  of  the  British  govern- 
ment"" are  more  conveniently  treated 
of  under  the  sections  on  the"Foes  of 
Germany"  and  the  "English  Point  of 
View."  The  statement  that  "Germany 
has  been  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
world"  is  hardly  correct,  as  the  Ger- 
man official  wireless  is  sent  out  and  Is 
published  daily  In  the  English  news- 
papers, while  German  newspapers  can 
be  easily  obtained. 


'  "G.  B.  and  the  E.  C," 
'  German   White  Book, 
'  "G.   B.  and  the  E.  C.,' 
'  "O.    C,"    p.    600. 
>"Iblrt." 
•  "Ibid." 


p.   45. 


Playing  the  Greatest  Game  of  World  Politics  Ever  Played 
Great  Britain  and  the  Entente 


ox  WHOSE  SIDE  IS  (JOD? 


From  "The   Katliorland,"   Xew  York, 
Xoveinlxjr   11,    1914. 

With  bovine  humor,  the  Anti-Ger- 
man editor  of  the  Times*  objects  to 
the  telegram  sent  by  Emperor  Fran- 
cis Joseph  to  Emperor  William: 
"God   is  with  you."     The  Times,'  as 


•New     York. 
"War  Echoes." 


-The     Publisher     of 


authoritative  spokesman  for  God, 
says  He  could  really  not  be  on  the 
side  of  Zeppelin  airships,  Krupp  guns 
or  Taube  aeroplanes. 

The  Times*  argues  that  God  is  on 
the  side  of: 

The  pagan  Japanese,  who  massa- 
cred the  Chinese  at  Port  Arthur. 

The  British,  whose  General  Kitch- 
ener massacred  Boer  women  and 
children  with  English  artillery  at  the 
battle  of  the  Modder  River. 


The  Indian  Sikhs,  whom  the  British 
shot  from  the  mouths  of  cannon,  be- 
cause they  massacred  English  women 
and  children  during  the  Indian 
mutiny. 


In  permitting  70.000  of  its  troops 
to  be  captured  perhaps  it  was  the 
shrewd  plan  of  the  Russian  General 
Staff  to  exhaust  the  Gerpian  com- 
missariat.— From  the  "Washington 
Post. 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


THE  ENGLISH  POINT  OF  VIEW 
AND   THE   WAR. 

Thix  is  the  third  article  of  a  series 
on  THE  EVROPEAHi  ^VAR.  n-hich  ap- 
peared in  the  October  yvinher  of  THE 
OPES  COURT,  under  the  title  "The 
English  Point  of  View"  written  hy  the 
Editor,  Dr.  Paul  Cams. 

Consult  the  INDEX  for  the  com- 
plete .series,  and  in  order  to  see  where, 
in  the  various  Chapters  of  the  booli, 
the  different  articles  of  this  treatise 
man  he  found,  look  for  EUROPEAX 
irift  (THE).  In  thvi  icay  the  reader 
may  read  the  entire  series  of  articles 
in  their  original  order,  if  he  chooses 
to  do  so.  while  the  present  arrange- 
ment still  gives  him  the  adruntnge  of 
bringing  the  various  articirs  undir  their 
proper,  respective  Chapter-headings  of 
the  book. 

Tfiis  is  a  series  of  exceptionally  fine 
articles  on  the  subject  in  question,  and 
they  bear  a  unique  and  important  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  Be  sure  to  read 
them  also  in  their  original  order. —  Edi- 
tor.  "War  Ecliocs." 

The  English  people  remained 
strictly  neutral  during  the  war  be- 
tween the  French  and  the  Germans 
in  1870-71,  and  if  there  was  any 
sympathy  in  Albion  it  was  rather  on 
the  side  of  the  Germans,  not  only  be- 
cause the  English  and  the  Germans 
are  closely  akin  in  blood,  in  civiliza- 
tion and  in  religion,  but  also  because 
the  two  ruling  houses  are  intimately 
related.  The  present  Kaiser  is  the 
grandson  of  Queen  Victoria.  In  the 
nineteenth  century  a  war  between 
the  two  nations  would  have  seemed 
impossible,  but  the  sentiment  has 
changed  in  the  twentieth  century,  not 
because  either  the  English  or  the  Ger- 
man people  are  much  different  from 
what  they  formerly  were,  but  be- 
cause a  propaganda  has  been  started 
to  sow  the  seeds  of  hatred,  of  jeal- 
ousy, of  envy  and  discord  in  Eng- 
land and  to  denounce  Germany's 
growing  power  as  a  menace  to 
England.  This  propaganda  had  its 
origin  and  impetus  in  influen- 
tial circles,  and  may  have  started 
In  the  government  itself.  One  thing 
is  certain:  it  took  a  firm  hold  on 
King  Edward  VII  who  favored  the 
anti-German  policy  and  prepared  the 
way  for  a  war  of  extermination  to 
be  carried  out  by  Russia,  France  and 
England.  The  English  propaganda 
found  an  echo  in  Germany,  and  old 
Bismarck  after  his  discharge  sounded 
the  alarm. 

The  anti-German  policy  in  England 
was  first  proposed  in  articles  that  ap- 
peared in  the  English  "Saturday  Re- 
view" in  1897,  and  it  has  made  head- 
way ever  since.  In  order  to  repre- 
sent the  English  tendency  that  has 
led  to  the  war  through  the  policy  of 
the  anti-German  party  of  England  we 
have  republished  the  article  "Eng- 
land and  Germany"  from  the  "Satur- 
day Review"  (London)  of  September 
11,  1897.  It  is  apparently  inspired 
by  the  British  government  and  its 
tendency  has  gradually  become  the 
guiding  principle  of  English  policy. 
Official  representatives  of  the  Brit- 
ish government  enunciated  this  plan 
again  and  again  until  the  public  be- 
came accustomed  to  it,  and  now  it 
has  brought  on  the  war. 


We  need  not  mention  that  "the 
wise  man  of  Europe,"  referred  to  in 
the  mooted  article  is  Bismarck  in  his 
advanced  age.  Bismarck  foresaw  the 
British  danger  and  warned  the  Ger- 
mans. On  the  other  hand,  we  learn  from 
the  "Saturday  Review"  article  that 
while  in  February,  1896,  the  idea  of 
regarding  Germany  as  "the  first  and 
immediate  enemy  of  England"  was 
considered  "an  eccentricity,"  the 
propaganda  against  the  Germans 
spread  quickly,  so  that  a  month  later 
the  German  flag  was  hissed  at  in  Lon- 
don. Afterwards  the  anti-German 
movement  led  to  the  Triple  Entente, 
formulating  the  program  for  the 
present  war. 

True,  Germany  has  become  a  com- 
petitor of  England.  German  indus- 
try has  gradually  developed  into  a 
rival  of  English  industry,  yea,  has 
even  outdone  it  in  many  branches, 
and  the  Germans  have  built  up  a  navy 
which  is  intended  to  protect  their 
trade.  The  German  navy  is  nearly 
half  as  strong  as  the  English  navy 
and  if  it  continues  to  grow  it  may 
by  and  by  be  equal  to  it.  The  Brit- 
ish government,  backed  by  public 
opinion,  decided  that  that  must  be 
prevented,  for  the  British  have  so 
far  lived  up  to  their  popular  hymn, 
"Britannia,  Rule  the  Waves,"  which 
is  the  indispensable  condition  of  a 
dominion  over  the  world.  Now  Ger- 
many comes  in  as  a  rival  trying  to 
gain  her  share  of  the  world  market. 
That  is  a  sin  and  should  not  be  tol- 
erated. Therefore  German  progress 
must  be  checked  in  time  in  order  to 
preserve  Britannia's  monopoly  in 
commerce.  England  still  rules  the 
waves  and  England  can  flght  Ger- 
many, as  our  English  author  trusts, 
"without  tremendous  risk,  and  with- 
out doubt  of  the  issue." 

This  means  in  plain  language  that 
the  English  own  the  world  of  com- 
merce and  will  not  share  its  domin- 
ion with  anybody.  Our  author  de- 
clares that  "If  Germany  were  extin- 
guished tomorrow,  the  day  after  to- 
morrow there  is  not  an  Englishman 
in  the  world  who  would  not  be  the 
richer." 

This  policy  is  not  only  egotistical 
and  barbarous,  not  only  unfair  and 
narrow,  but  it  is  also  stupid.  It  is 
the  logic  of  a  villain  and  the  error 
that  so  often  props  up  the  arguments 
of  a  criminal. 

Public  opinion  in  England  today 
finds  no  fault  with  Germany  as  a 
center  of  art  and  science.  The  Ger- 
many of  Goethe  and  Schiller  in  the 
days  of  her  political  weakness  was 
harmless,  but  modern  Germany  in  its 
political  strength,  Prussianism,  mili- 
tarism, imperialism,  is  most  objec- 
tionable. Nor  should  Germany  build 
up  industries  and  increase  her  com- 
merce, Germany  would  be  quite  de- 
lightful if  it  had  no  army,  if  it  were 
without  a  navy,  in  short,  if  it  were 
defenseless.  But  do  not  let  us  for- 
get that  Germany  has  learned  by  long 
and  bitter  experience  that  she  needs 
Prussian  leadership,  she  needs  an 
army.  Undoubtedly  she  would  abol- 
ish her  militarism  if  her  neighbors, 
the  French  and  the  Russians,  would 
disarm,  and  if  the  English  would  sell 
their  navy  as  old  iron.  The  English 
want  their  navy   to  be  bigger  than 


any   two   other   navies   together,   but 
Germany  should  remain   defenseless. 

We  grant  that  Germany's  progress 
is  a  danger  to  England.  So  far  Eng- 
land has  enjoyed  an  undisputed  dom- 
inance in  the  world  of  commerce,  and 
she  has  gained  her  advantages  by  her 
progressive  methods  and  by  unrivaled 
energy;  but  in  her  safe  control  of  the 
seas  she  has  become  self-sufficient 
and  stagnant.  England  is  at  present 
conspicuously  unprogressive.  The 
proper  method  of  combating  rivals  in 
the  field  of  industry  and  commerce 
does  not  consist  in  the  extermination 
of  new  competitors  but  by  beating 
them  with  their  own  weapons.  Eng- 
land should  have  raised  herself  from 
her  lethargy,  should  have  followed 
the  example  of  Germany,  should  have 
built  schools  or  reformed  her  anti- 
quated system  of  education  in  order 
to  flt  her  citizens  to  compete  with  Ger- 
man industry.  That,  however,  would 
be  too  much  to  expect  from  the  Eng- 
lish. They  want  leisure  and  prefer 
their  traditional  stagnancy,  still  be- 
lieving that  the  best  policy  is  not 
to  aspire  to  surpass  a  rival,  not  to 
excel  him,  but  to  call  him  an  "enemy" 
and  to  conquer  him  by  exterminating 
him. 

Our  English  author  knows  that  the 
issue  between  England  and  Germany 
is  a  commercial  question.  He  says: 
"Nations  have  fought  for  years  over 
a  city  or  a  right  of  succession;  must 
they  not  flght  for  two  hundred  mil- 
lion pounds  of  commerce?" 

According  to  Dr.  Richet,  statisti- 
cian of  the  University  of  Paris,  Ger- 
many has  an  annual  export  of  $331,- 
684,212,  and  an  import  of  $188,963,- 
071;  Austria  an  export  of  $23,320,- 
696,  and  an  import  of  $19,192,414. 
All  this  is  stopped  and  will  remain 
stopped  through  the  war  so  long  as 
Great  Britain  has  command  of  the 
seas.  But  British  trade  does  not  suf- 
fer any  direct  interference.  That  is  a 
great  advantage  for  England;  but  Is 
it  really  so  great  as  to  involve  the 
world  in  a  most  tremendous  war  and 
risk  serious  reverses? 

The  Italian  senator.  Count  San 
Martino,  was  present  at  a  dinner  on 
July  2  2  where  he  met  Sir  Edward 
Grey  and  Sir  William  Edward 
Goschen  and  heard  the  remark  made 
that  a  civil  war  could  not  be  avoided 
except  through  a  war  with  Germany. 
The  statement  was  published  recently 
in  the  "Giornale  d'ltalia"  and  similar 
contentions  have  been  made  in  other 
papers.  Did  the  Count  let  the  cat 
out  of  the  bag?  Let  us  hope  that 
even  if  there  be  an  element  of  truth 
in  the  statement,  the  ministers  merely 
noted  a  convenient  coincidence,  and 
did  not  follow  a  preconceived  plan. 


THE  ENGLISH  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

Here  follows  Mr.  Jourdain's  reply  to 
Dr.   Carus. — Editor. 

There  has  been  a  commercial  conflict 
Vietween  England  and  Germany,'  two 
gre.-it  manufacturing  countries;  just  as 
there  has  been  a  struggle  for  markets 
liPtween  England  and  America.  But  the 
latter  struggle  has  not  led  to  war,  and 
the  relations  between  the  two  countries 
have  never  been  better.  Commercial 
rivalry  is  not,  therefore,  the  only  cause 


'  "O.   C,"   p.    607. • 

•  See  Jourdain   in   Index  for   compl«t« 
Reference. — Editor. 


BRITISH  WAR  POLITICS  TO  DATE 


of  our  receut  alienation  fronj  Germany; 
but.  as  tlie  Kilitor  rightly  points  out, 
"Iiropaganda."  But  while  he  draws  at- 
tention to  the  anti-German- propaganda 
in  England  (relatively  small)  he  omits 
to  refer  to  the  enormous  and  influen- 
tial anti-English  propaganda  in  Ger- 
many. The  Editor  iwints  to  an  article 
in  tiie  "Saturday  Keview."  September 
11,  1S97,'  as  the  tirst  expression  of  anti- 
German  policy  in  England,  but  the  vio- 
lently anti-English  utterances  of  Treit- 
schke  date  as  early  as  1S74.  Later, 
the  German  jirofessor  Karl  Lampreeht 
seized  upon  the  Boer  war  to  demon- 
strate to  Holland  that  England  is  the 
enemy  ;  and  Bernhardt  is  also  anti-Eng- 
lish. Xow  while  in  (Jermany  the  feel- 
ing against  England  has  raised  in  the 
past  a  croj)  of  aggressive  professors, 
lectures  and  liooks,  in  England  the  feel- 
ing against  Germany  did  not  lead  to 
dreams  of  contpiest  but  to  fear  of  in- 
vasion ;  of  tlie  "German  peril."  In- 
stead of  "Germany  and  the  Xext  War," 
we  had  "The  Englishman's  Home." 
Even  today,  in  the  midst  of  war,  the 
I';nglish  press  references  to  Germany 
are  temperate  when  compared  with 
German  references  to  England. 

A  third  factor  in  the  creation  of  na- 
tional hostility  was  the  matter  of  arma- 
ments, especially  the  navy.  The  Eng- 
lish case  for  a  predominant  navy  is 
England's  insular  position,  which  ren- 
ders her  liable  to  starvation  directly 
she  loses  command  of  the  sea ;  the  im- 
mensely larger  size  of  her  mercantile 
marine,  which  needs  jirotection ;  her 
colonies,  and  the  fact  that  she  main- 
tains but  a  small  army.  In  the  com- 
jietition  in  armaments  it  is  worth  not- 
ing that  on  the  eve  of  the  Hague  con- 
ference of  188S,  Mr.  Goschen  announced 
that  if  the  other  naval  powers  should 
be  prepared  to  diminish  their  programs 
of  ship-building,  we  should  be  prepared 
on  our  side  to  meet  such  a  i)roeedure 
by  modifying  ours:  the  German  govern- 
ment replied,  by  Colonel  von  Schwarz- 
hofC.  their  delegate  at  the  conference, 
with  a  scornful  speech.  At  the  second 
Hague  conference  in  10()7,  the  British 
proposal  lo  consider  a  concerted  arrest 
of  armaments  was  politely  shelved,  the 
(ierman  delegate.  Baron  Marschall  von 
Bieberstein  refusing  to  discuss  it.  The 
question  of  total  disarmament  has  not 
been  raised,  and  we  cannot  tell  whether 
she  would  "abolish  her  militarism  if 
her  neighbors,  the  French  and  the  Kns- 
sians.  would  disarm,  and  if  the  English 
would  sell  their  navy  as  old  iron,"'  but 
she  has  certainly  refused  on  several 
occasions  the  invitation  to  slacken  com- 
petition in  armaments. 

'Reprinted  In  "O.  C."  pp.  577-579. 
There  is,  however,  no  reason  to  suppose 
with  the  Editor  that  the  article  was  "in- 
spired l)v  the  British  government"  ("O. 
C."   p.   607). 

•"O.   C."   p.    608.* 

*  See  .lourdaln  in  Index  for  complete 
Reference. — Editor. 


DR.  ElilOT'S  I.ETTKR. 


.\  letter  sent  to  tlie  "Xew  Vork 
Time-."  coniiiientcd  upon.  Xew 
Voi-kei-     Slaats-Zcitiing,     .\ow     Vork. 

Herman  liiddcr. 

Tender  recent  date.  Dr.  Charles  W. 
Eliot.  I'resident  Emeritus  of  Harvard 
Vniversity,  in  a  letter  lo  the  Times, 
gives  an  able  e.xposltion  of  the  point  of 


view  of  those  Americans  whose  sym- 
pathies are  coutined  to  the  cause  of  the 
Allies  and  who  are  grieved  by  the  mis- 
conduct of  Germany  and  Austria.  I 
say  "grieved"  because  they  all  take 
great  pains  to  emphasize  their  admira- 
tion for  the  achievements  of  the  Ger- 
manic people  and  defend  their  present 
renunciation  of  sympathy  with  Ger- 
many on  the  ground  that  after  forty 
years  of  unparalleled  development  in 
the  arts  and  sciences  tlie  nation  has, 
in  an  hour  as  it  were,  thrown  away  the 
ideals  of  the  past  and  gone  off  after 
the  false  gods  of  bloodlust  and  con- 
quest. 

The  claim  of  Dr.  Eliot  to  an  audi- 
ence on  almost  any  subject  of  abstract 
thought  is  recognized.  In  dealing  with 
concrete  facts,  however,  he  has  not 
shown,  in  the  letter  under  reference, 
equal  ability  or  openness  of  mind.  .\s 
a  foremost  thinker  of  a  neutral  nation, 
writing  for  a  neutral  reading  iniblic,  a 
greater  distinction  between  "American 
.sympathies"  and  his  own  sympathies 
might  rightly  be  expected  from  Dr. 
Eliot's  pen.  A  greater  importance 
might  equally  well  have  been  given  to 
things  as  they  are  and  not  as  the  sen- 
timentalist would  have  them. 

Affirming  the  "immense  obligations 
under  which  Germany  has  placed  all 
the  rest  of  the  world."  Dr.  Eliot  now 
feels  "that  the  German  nation  has  been 
going  wrong  in  theoretical  and  practi- 
cal politics  for  more  than  100  years 
and  is  today  reaping  the  consequences 
of  her  own  wrong-thinking  and  wrong- 
doing." 

It  is  very  hard  to  take  these  conchi- 
sions  of  the  eminent  Doctor  seriously. 
They  are  neither  derived  logically  from 
his  premises  nor  defensible  by  comi)ari- 
son  with  the  political  history  of  other 
countries  in  Europe  during  the  last 
century.  Only  the  great  respect  which 
I  entertain  for  Dr.  Eliot's  accomplish- 
ments restrains  me  fnini  dismissing 
them  without  comment. 

The  "political  and  social  history  of 
the  .\nierican  people  and  its  govern- 
mental philosophy  and  practice"  is  the 
standard  t>y  which  Dr.  Eliot  judges 
Germany.  In  this  test  Germany,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  Dr.  Eliot,  is  found 
wanting.  I  do  not  question  the  pro- 
priety of  such  a  comparison  nor  the 
justness  of  Dr.  Eliot's  judgment  in  the 
prenn'ses.  The  point  I  wish  to  nuiko 
is  this:  Why  should  Germany  alone. 
of  the  eight  powers  now  engaged  in 
this  world  war.  be  measured  by  this 
standard?  Why  should  her  departure 
from  our  methods  of  government  and 
lines  of  thought  alone  be  iiroclaimed  to 
the  .\merican  people  and  Ihe  inference 
given  that  her  enemies  are  one  with 
ourselves  in  these  things?  The  same 
argument  would  condemn  Fnince  and 
Russia.  England.  Sorvia.  Belgium  and 
.Tapnn.  They  have  all  differed  from 
our  standards:  four  of  them  more  than 
Germany,  two  of  them  not  less.  They 
have  all  "been  going  wrong"  these 
htindred  years  and  must  now  be  "reap- 
ing the  conseouences."  If  we  are  to 
carry  Dr.  Eliot's  reasoning  to  its  logical 
conclusion.  Tf  T  may  presume  for 
myself  some  right  to  an  opinion  on  the 
world's  history.  T  would  not  say  that 
Germany  has  been  "wrong-thlnklng  and 
wrong-doing  for  over  TOO  years."  T 
would  not  even  allow  mv  symp.Tthy 
with  German  ideals  and  their  concrete 
attainments  to  lead  me  into  saying  that 


any  one  of  her  present  armed  foes  had 
been  doing  so.  They  have  all  differed 
from  us,  but  they  have  all  differed  one 
from  another ;  they  have  all  made 
mistakes,  and  so  have  we;  and  they  are 
all  striving,  each  according  to  the  light 
that  has  been  given  it,  for  the  same 
end.  11  is  tmgenerous  and  unfair  to 
single  out  Germany  and  attempt  to 
make  her  support  a  blame  which  should 
attach  to  all  Europe. 

Dr.  Eliot  goes  into  great  detail  to 
show  the  "many  important  matters 
concerning  which  American  sympathy 
is  strongly  with  Germany,"  and  his 
lu'esentation  of  such  points  is  masterly. 
The  value  of  his  tributes  to  German 
greatness  is  lessened,  however,  by  the 
suspicion  that  he  has  advanced  them 
only  to  safeguard  his  reputation  for 
fairness,  and  to  lend  strength  to  his 
subsetjuent  arraignment  of  the  Ger- 
many of  today.  "The  German  practices 
which  do  not  conform  to  American 
st.-mdards  in  the  conduct  of  public 
affairs"  are  enumerated  in  seven  para- 
graphs, and  1  will  take  them  up 
seriatim. 

A.  The  olijeclion  is  lo  "Germany's 
permanent  executive  and  secret  diplo- 
macy." As  an  .Vmcrican,  I  say:  "Ob- 
jection sustained."  1  would  extend  it. 
however,  to  cover  England.  Russia, 
Servia.  Belgium.  .Japan  and  France,  the 
executives  of  the  first  five  of  which 
are  (piile  as  permanent  as  that  of  Ger- 
many, unless  we  make  allowance  for 
Kussian  anarchy  and  Servian  regicide 
tlie  "secret  diplomacy"  of  all  of 
whom  has  shown  itself  far  more  dan- 
gerous to  the  jieace  of  Europe  than  that 
of  Berlin. 

B.  The  objection  is  lo  Germany's 
mobilization  by  executive  order.  Again, 
as  an  .\merican.  I  say  :  "Objection  sus- 
tained." I  would  ask  Dr.  Eliot,  how- 
ever, what  about  Russia  and  ,Iapan? 
Were  their  armies  mobilized  and  their 
fleets  assembled  by  order  of  Duma  and 
Diet?  What  of  England's  "warlike 
j)reparations"  five  days  before  war  was 
declared?  Where  were  the  Deputies 
when  President  Poincarfi  ordered  the 
French  mobilization  on  the  strength  of 
a  Cabinet  consultation? 

C.  The  objection,  in  greater  detail,  is 
to  the  "secrecy  of  European  diiilomatic 
intercourse  and  of  international  under- 
standings and  terms  of  alliance  in  Eu- 
rope." Again,  as  an  .\merican,  I  say  ; 
"Objection  sustained."  But  is  it  not 
true  that  so  far  as  we  can  judge  from 
the  facts  that  have  been  made  public. 
England  at  the  outbreak  of  the  present 
war  had  more  secret  alliances  than  any 
other  country  in  the  world?  And  is  it 
not  equally  true  that  so  far  as  we  know 
Germany  and  .Vustria  wore  the  only 
countries  in  Europe  which  had  none? 
The  terms  of  the  Triple  Alliance  and  of 
the  Austro-German  Alliance  hail  been 
public  property  for  years.  On  the  other 
hand.  Sir  Edward  Grey  was  comiielled 
to  acknowledge  before  Parliament  that 
he  had  entered  into  undertakings  with 
France  unknown  to  that  body.  On  more 
occasions  than  one  in  i>revlous  years  he 
had  made  technical  deinal  of  the  exis- 
tence of  the  web  of  diplomatic  intrigue 
which  he  had  silently  and  secretly 
woven  about  Ihe  English  iieojile. 

D.  The  objection  Is  to  "German  re- 
liance on  mililary  force  as  the  found:i- 
lion  of  true  nallonal  greatness."  If  the 
implication  could  be  defended.  I  would 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


siiy  again,  as  an  American  :  "Olijection 
sustaiued."  But  it  cannot  be.  Dr. 
Eliot  lias  been  reading  too  much  of  Co- 
nau  Doyle,  H.  G.  Wells  and  Anthony 
Hope,  and  the  privilege  had  not  been 
his  at  the  time  he  wrote,  to  see  Vis- 
count Bryce's  frank  dismissal  of  Bern- 
hardi  as  a  spokesman  for  Germany.  The 
German  people  have  suffered  from  mili- 
tarism, and  no  one  realizes  it  more  than 
Ihey  themselves,  but  they  have  suffered 
not  from  choice  but  from  necessity. 
Surrounded  by  armed  foes,  what  could 
Germany  do  but  arm  herself?  And  af- 
ter all.  who  has  suffered  most?  A  large 
percentage  of  the  male  population  of 
Germany  have  had  to  do  from  one  to 
two  years  of  army  service,  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  males  in  Russia  have  to 
do  from  two  to  four  years  similar  serv- 
ice, and  in  France  the  same  percentage 
has  been  forced  to  three  years  of  serv- 
ice. England  alone  has  escaped  from 
excessive  armament  on  land — and  has 
paid  for  it  by  maintaining  a  two-nation 
standard  on  the  water.  The  "wooden 
walls"  of  England  have  been  to  her 
what  the  "ring  of  bayonets"  has  been 
to  Germany — an  unpleasant  necessity, 
equall.v  oppressive. 

E.  The  objection  is  to  "the  extension 
of  national  territory  by  force  contrary 
to  the  wishes  of  the  population  con- 
cerned." Again,  as  an  American,  I  say : 
"Objection  sustained'" — but  I  cannot  re- 
frain from  extending  to  those  in  the 
Courtroom  the  privilege  of  Homeric 
laughter.  Will  Dr.  Eliot  tell  us,  in  a 
future  letter  wherein  the  allusion  lies? 
Has  Germany  through  forty  years  ex- 
tended her  territory  one  foot  in  Europe? 
Has  she  in  the  present  conflict  of  na- 
tions given  us  reason  to  believe  that  she 
even  desires  to  do  so?  On  the  other 
hand,  is  not  the  one  reason  for  France's 
entrance  into  the  war  the  "extension  of 
national  territory?"  Is  it  not  the  spirit 
of  the  "revanche" — the  desire  to  seize 
once  more  upon  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
that  were  Germany's  until  she  was 
robbed  of  them  by  Louis  XIV.,  that  has 
moved  France  to  her  disastrous  policy? 
The  best  minds  of  England  told  the 
world  in  1S70  that  Germany  was  not 


gian  soil  and  the  world  is  coming  to  see 
it. 

G.  The  objection  is  to  the  "German 
conduct  of  war."  I  shall  not  sustain 
this  objection,  in  view  of  Dr.  Eliot's 
subsequent  remark  that  "all  experienced 
readers  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  are 
well  aware  that  nine-tenths  of  all  the 
reports  they  get  about  the  war  come 
from  English  and  French  sources,  and 
this  knowledge  makes  them  careful  not 
to  form  a  judgment  about  details." 
When  the  London  Times  and  writers  of 
no  less  note  than  Jerome  K.  Jerome  are 
warning  England  not  to  believe  all  they 
hear  of  German  atrocities  we  need  not 
on  this  side  of  the  water  give  much 
heed  to  Belgian  tales  of  German  inhu- 
manity and  barbarism. 

I  regret  that  the  times  Have  called 
forth  conditions  which  require  me  to 
cross  pens  occasionally  with  many  an 
old  friend.  But  neither  Dr.  Eliot  nor 
myself  nor  anyone  of  the  other  Ameri- 
cans who  have  been  called  upon  to  dis- 
cuss the  events  now  taking  place  in 
Europe  .was  given  a  voice  in  their  mak- 
ing. We  are,  equally  with  the  victims 
of  the  war  on  the  Continent,  innocent 
sacrifices  on  an  altar  erected  by  others. 
I  would  not  say  one  word  in  disparage- 
ment of  the  doyen  of  Harvard.  I  am 
compelled,  however,  by  a  desire  not  to 
see  Germany  painted  in  misconceived 
colors,  to  ask  if  all  he  has  said  of  Ger- 
many could  not  have  been  said  with 
truth  of  the  aggregate  of  the  allies  now 
comliined  against  her?  If,  in  other 
words,  what  is  sauce  for  the  goose  is 
not  equally  good  enough  to  be  sauce  for 
the  gander? 


THE  UXDERLYIXG  CAUSE  TH.\T 
FORCED  THE  K.\ISER'S  HAND. 


The   Boston   Herald. 

Pi'ofessor  Kuno  Fi'aiicke,  Harvard 
University. 


It    is    easy    to    see    why   American 
public     opinion     should     have     con- 
demned by  an  overwhelming  major- 
ity   the    diplomatic    acts    of    Austria  _      _ 
oX  V  Vabsolved  from"the^harVof      ^"'^   Germany   which    have   been   the      ':e"^"g;'^i;%';enr'which "  affa'irs'have 
in,,^  fh£>ff   ),„t  ^nc  t^  !.<»  ^,.T,„,..,f„iofa.=i       immediate  occasion  of  the  terrific  ex-      f"  ,„,, .  ,„t„„   =„    Alanr.p-T.orraine  than 


stant  irritation  that  has  agitated  Eu- 
rope during  the  last   4  3   years.    Ger- 
many's policy  toward   France  during 
these   43   years   has  been   one  of  ut- 
most restraint  and   forbearance,  and 
has  been   dictated  by  the  one  desire 
of  making  her  forget  the  loss  of  the 
two     provinces,     German     until     the 
17th    century   and   inhabited    largely 
by    German   stock,    which   were   won 
back  from  France  in  1870.     Whether 
the  acquisition  of  these  provinces  was 
a  fortunate  thing  for  Germany  may 
be  doubted.  The  possession  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine    has   certainly   robbed    Ger- 
many of  the  undivided  sympathy  of 
the  world,  which  she  otherwise  would 
have   had.     But   it    is   probably    true 
that,  from  the  military  point  of  view, 
Alsace-Lorraine  was  needed  by  Ger- 
many as  a  bulwark  against  the  repe- 
tition of  the  many  wanton  French  in- 
vasions from  which  Germany  has  had 
to  suffer  since  the  time  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  and  the  age  of  Louis  XIV. 
However  this  may  be,  Germany  has 
done   her   best   during  the   last   four 
decades  to  heal  the  wounds  struck  by 
her  to  French  national   pride.       She 
abetted  French  colonial  expansion  in 
Cochin-China,      Madagascar,      Tunis. 
She  yielded  to  France  her  own  well- 
founded  claims  to  political  influence 
in  Morocco.     In  Alsace-Lorraine  itself 
she   introduced    an    amount   of   local 
self-government  and  home  rule  such 
as    England    has    not    accorded    even 
now  to  Ireland.     While  Ireland  still 
is  waiting  for  a  Parliament  at  Dub- 
lin, Strassburg  has  been   for  several 
years  the  seat  of  the  Alsace-Lorraine 
Diet,    a   provincial   Parliament   based 
on   universal  suffrage.     And  even  in 
spite  of  the  incessant  and  inflamma- 
tory  French   propaganda   which   last 
year   led    to    such    unhappy    counter- 
strokes    as     the     deplorable     Zabern 
affair,    there    can    be    no    reasonable 
doubt  that  the  people  of  Alsace-Lor- 
raine   have    been    gradually    settling 
down  to  willing  co-operation  with  the 
German  administration  which  insures 
them    order,    justice   and    prosperity. 
Nothing  is  a  clearer  indication  of  the 


land  theft,  but  was  to  be  congratulated 
upon  her  decision  to  retain  these  recon- 
quered provinces.  I  suggest  for  Dr. 
Eliot's  Five  Foot  Shelf  of  Universal 
Learning  the  addition  of  a  few  volumes 
dealing  in  this  connection  with  England 
in  Africa,  China  and  Venezuela,  with 
Russia  in  China  and  Persia,  with  Servia 
in  the  Balkans  and  with  Japan  in 
Corea  and  Manchuria. 

F.  The  objection  is  "to  the  violation 
of  treaties  for  no  reason  whatsoever." 
Again,  as  an  American,  I  say  :  "Objec- 
tion sustained."  Perhaps  Dr.  Eliot 
refers  to  the  "scrap  of  paper."  Rut  to 
be  fair  and  neutral  he  should  have 
called  attention  to  the  Sand  River  Con- 
vention and  to  the  Italian  scissors 
which  clipped  large  clauses  from  the 
Treaty  of  18S2,  on  which  the  Triple  Al- 
liance' was  based.  He  could  also  have 
added  to  his  collection  of  paleolithic 
Treaties  those  conventions  for  the  ob- 
servance of  the  territorial  integrity  and 
neutrality  of  China  to  which  both  Eng- 
land and  her  Oriental  .Vlly  were  parties 
and  which  both  have  now  thrown  to  the 
winds  of  the  East.  I  do  not  believe  any 
nation  tears  up  a  treaty  "for  no  reason 
whatsoever."  Germany  had  the  best 
reason  in  the  world  for  violating  Bel- 


plosion  which  now  shakes  the  foun- 
dations of  the  whole  civilized  world. 
Austria's  break  with  Servia  and 
Germany's  violation  of  Belgian  neu- 
trality— the  one  leading  to  war  be- 
tween Russia  and  Germany,  the 
other  bringing  England  into  the  fray 
— must  appear  to  the  uninitiated  as 
reckless  and  indefensible  provoca- 
tions and  as  wanton  attacks  upon  the 
laws  of  nations. 

The  thoughtful  observer,  however, 
should  look  beyond  the  immediate 
occasion  of  this  world  conflict  and 
try  to  understand  its  underlying 
causes.  By  doing  so  he  will,  I  be- 
lieve, come  to  the  conclusion  that 
fundamental  justice  is  to  be  found 
on  the  German  side  and  that  Ger- 
many has  been  forced  to  fight  tor 
her  life. 

It  is  an  unquestionable  fact  that 
the  unification  of  Germany  and  the 
establishment  of  a  strong  German 
empire  half  a  century  ago  were 
brought  about  against  the  bitter  op- 
position of  France,  and  that  the  de- 
feat incurred  by  France  in  1870,  in 
her  attempt  to  prevent  German  unifi- 
cation, is  at  the  bottom  of  the  con- 


latelv  taken  in  Alsace-Lorraine  than 
the  fact  that  Nationalists,  that  is,  the 
French  party  in  the  Strassburg  Diet 
has  never  been  able  to  rise  above 
insignificance;  and  that,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  considerable  number  of  re- 
sponsible oflrtces  in  the  civil  adminis- 
tration, including  the  highest  gov- 
ernment positions,  have  been  occu- 
pied by  native  Alsatians. 

While  Germany  has  thus  repeat- 
edly shown  her  willingness  and  de- 
sire to  end  the  ancient  feud,  France 
has  remained  irreconcilable;  and 
particularly  the  intellectual  class  of 
France  cannot  escape  the  charge  that 
they  have  persistently  and  willingly 
kept  alive  the  flame  of  discord.  It 
surely  cannot  be  said  that  the  restor- 
ation of  Alsace-Lorraine  is  a  vital 
necessity  to  France.  Without  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  France  during  the  last  gen- 
eration has  recovered  her  prosperity 
and  her  prestige  in  a  manner  that  has 
been  the  admiration  of  the  world.  It 
is  a  mere  illusion  to  think  that  the 
reconquest  of  Alsace-Lorraine  would 
add  to  her  glory.  It  would  have  been 
a  demand  of  patriotism  for  the  intel- 
lectual class  to  combat  this  illusion. 


BRITISH  WAR  POLITICS  TO  DATE 


Instead  of  this,  every  French  writer, 
every  French  scholar,  every  French 
orator,  except  the  Socialists,  year  in 
and  year  out  has  been  dinning  into 
the  popular  ear  the  one  word  re- 
venge. And  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  Prof.  Gustave  Lanson,  the  dis- 
tinguished literary  historian,  voiced 
the  sentiments  of  the  vast  majority 
of  his  countrymen  when  in  a  lecture 
delivered  some  years  ago  at  Harvard 
he  stated  that  France  could  not  and 
would  not  recognize  the  peace  of 
Frankfort  as  a  final  settlement,  and 
that  the  one  aim  of  the  French  policy 
of  the  last  4  0  years  had  been  to  force 
Germany  to  reopen  the  Alsace-Lor- 
raine question. 

If  there  were  people  in  Germany 
inclined  to  overlook  or  to  minimize 
this  constantly  growing  menace  from 
France,  their  eyes  must  have  been 
opened  when,  in  1912,  the  French 
government,  having  previously  abol- 
ished the  one-year  volunteers,  raised 
the  duration  of  active  military  serv- 
ice for  every  Frenchman  from  two 
years  to  three  and  in  addition  to  this 
called  out  in  the  autumn  of  1913  the 
recruits,  not  only  of  the  year  whose 
turn  had  come,  namely,  the  recruits 
born  in  1892,  but  also  those  born  in 
18  93.  This  was  a  measure  nearly 
identical  with  mobilization;  it  was  a 
measure  which  clearly  showed  that 
France  would  not  delay  much  longer 
striking  the  deadly  blow.  For  no 
nation  could  possibly  stand  for  any 
length  of  time  this  terrific  strain  of 
holding  under  the  colors  its  entire 
male  population  from  the  2  0th  to  the 
23d  year.  No  wonder  that  the  Paris 
papers  were  speaking  as  long  ago  as 
the  summer  of  1912  of  the  regiments 
stationed  in  the  eastern  departments 
as  the  "vanguard  of  our  glorious 
army"  and  were  advocating  double 
pay  for  them  as  being  practically  in 
contact  with  the  enemy. 

The  second  foe  now  threatening 
the  destruction  of  Germany  is  Eng- 
land. Can  it  truly  be  said  that  Eng- 
land's hostility  has  been  brouglat 
about  by  German  aggression?  True, 
Germany  has  built  a  powerful  navy; 
but  so  have  Japan,  the  United  States, 
Prance  and  even  Italy.  Has  England 
felt  any  menace  from  these?  Why, 
then,  is  the  German  navy  singled  out 
as  a  specially  sinister  threat  to  Eng- 
land? Has  German  diplomacy  dur- 
ing the  last  generation  been  particu- 
larly menacing  to  England?  Ger- 
many has  acquired  some  colonies  in 
Africa  and  in  the  far  east.  But  what 
are  Kamerun  and  Dar-es-Salaam  and 
Kiaochau  compared  with  the  colonies 
of  the  other  great  powers?  Where 
has  Germany  pursued  a  colonial  ag- 
gressiveness that  could  in  any  way  be 
compared  with  the  British  subjuga- 
tion of  the  South  African  republics  or 
the  Italian  conquest  of  Tripoli  or  the 
French  expansion  in  Algiers,  Tunis 
and  Morocco?  Wherever  Germany 
has  made  her  infl\ience  felt  on  the 
globe  she  has  stood  for  the  principle 
of  the  open  door.  Wherever  she  has 
engaged  in  colonial  enterprises  she 
has  been  willing  to  make  compro- 
mises with  other  nations  ahd  to  ac- 
cept their  co-operation,  notably  so 
in  the  Bagdad  railway  undertaking. 
And  yet  the  colonial  expansion  of 
every  other  nation  is  hailed  by  Eng- 
land as   "beneficial   to   mankind,"   as 


"work  for  civilization":  the  slightest 
attempt  of  Germany  to  take  part  in 
this  expansion  is  denounced  as  "in- 
tolerable aggression,"  as  evidence  of 
the  "bullying  tendencies  of  the  War 
Lord." 

What  is  the  reason  for  this  singu- 
lar unfairness  of  England  toward 
Germany;  of  this  incessant  attempt 
to  check  her  and  hem  her  in?  Not 
so  much  the  existence  of  a  large  Ger- 
man navy  as  the  encroachment  upon 
English  commerce  by  the  rapidly 
growing  commerce  of  Germany  has 
made  Germany  hateful  to  England. 
The  navy  has  simply  added  to  this 
hate  of  Germany,  the  dread  of  Ger- 
many. But  if  there  had  been  no  Ger- 
man navy,  and  consequently  no  dread 
of  Germany,  this  hate  of  Germany 
might  have  come  to  an  explosion  be- 
fore now.  For  the  history  of  the  last 
300  years  proves  that  England  has 
habitually  considered  as  her  mortal 
enemy  any  nation  which  dared  to 
contest  her  commercial  and  indus- 
trial supremac.v — first  Spain,  then 
Holland,  then  France,  and  now  Ger- 
many. As  long  as  German  firms,  by 
the  manufacture  of  artificial  indigo, 
keep  on  ruining  the  English  impor- 
tation of  indigo  from  India,  and  as 
long  as  the  Hamburg-American  Line 
and  the  North  German  Lloyd  keep  on 
outstripping  the  prestige  of  the  Cun- 
ard  and  White  Star,  there  can  be  no 
real  friendship  between  England  and 
Germany.  Although  England  has  re- 
peatedly proposed  to  Germany  naval 
agreements,  these  agreements  were 
avowedly  meant  to  perpetuate  the 
overwhelming  preponderance  of  Eng- 
land's fighting  power,  so  that  she 
would  at  any  moment  be  in  a  position 
to  crush  German  commercial  rivalry 
for  all  time.  She  apparently  thinks 
that  this  moment  has  now  come. 

That  Germany's  third  implacable 
enemy,  Russia,  is  clearly  the  aggres- 
sor, and  not  the  defender  of  her  own 
national  existence,  need  hardly  be 
demonstrated.  She  poses  as  the 
guardian  of  the  Balkan  States.  But 
is  there  any  case  on  record  where 
Russia  has  really  protected  the  in- 
dependence of  smaller  neighboring 
countries?  Has  she  not  crushed  out 
provincial  and  racial  individuality 
wherever  she  has  extended  her 
power?  Is  it  not  the  sole  aim  of  her 
national  policy  to  Russianize  forcibly 
every  nationality  under  her  sway? 
In  Finland  she  has  gone  back  on  her 
solemnly  pledged  word  to  maintain 
the  Finnish  constitution,  and  is  ruth- 
lessly reducing  one  of  her  most 
highly  developed  provinces  to  the 
dead  level  of  autocratic  rule.  In  her 
Baltic  provinces  she  is  trying  to  de- 
stroy root  and  branch  whatever  there 
is  left  of  German  culture.  Wher- 
ever the  Russian  chtirch  holds  domin- 
ion, intellectual  blight  is  sure  to  fol- 
low. To  think,  therefore,  that  Russia 
would  promote  the  free  development 
of  a  number  of  independent  Balkan 
States  under  her  protectorate,  is  to 
shut  one's  eyes  to  the  whole  history 
of  Russian  expansion.  No,  Russian 
expansion  in  the  Balkans  means 
nothing  less  than  the  extinction  of 
all  local  independence  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  Russian  despotism  from 
the  Black  Sea  to  the  Adriatic. 

Not  Russia,  but  Austria,  is  the 
natural   protector  of  the  equilibrium 


between  the  existing  states  on  the 
Balkan  peninsula,  and  their  natural 
guardian  against  Russian  domination. 
Austria  is  their  nearest  neighbor;  in- 
deed, the  possession  of  Bosnia  and 
Herzogovina  makes  her  a  Balkan 
State  herself.  Being  herself  more 
than  half  of  Slavic  stock,  she  has 
every  reason  for  living  on  good  terms 
with  the  various  Slav  kingdoms  south 
of  her.  Being  herself  forced,  through 
the  conglomerateness  of  her  popula- 
tion, to  constant  compromises  in  her 
internal  affairs  between  conflicting 
nationalities  within  her  borders,  she 
would  not  possibly  absorb  a  large  ad- 
ditional amount  of  foreign  territory. 
She  is  bound  to  respect  the  existing 
lines  of  political  demarcation  in  the 
Balkans,  and  her  sole  object  can  be 
through  commercial  treaties  and  tar- 
iff legislation,  to  open  up  what  used 
to  be  European  Turkey  to  her  trade 
and  her  civilizing  influence.  In  this 
she  must  clearly  be  supported  by  Ger- 
many. For  only  if  Austria  is  left 
free  to  exercise  her  natural  protecto- 
rate over  the  Balkan  States  can  there 
be  passage  between  Germany  and  the 
near  Orient,  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant routes  of  German  commerce. 
Russia's  unwillingness,  then,  to 
allow  Austria  a  free  hand  in  her 
dealings  with  Servia  was  an  open 
menace  to  Germany,  a  challenge 
which  had  to  be  accepted,  unless 
Germany  was  prepared  to  abdicate 
all  her  influence  in  the  near  Orient 
and  to  allow  Russia  to  override  the 
legitimate  claims  and  aspirations  of 
her  only  firm  and  faithful  ally. 

This  formidable  coalition  of  the 
three  greatest  European  powers, 
threatening  the  very  existence  of  Ger- 
many, has  now  been  joined  by  .lapan, 
openly  and  boldly  for  the  purpose  of 
snatching  from  Germany  her  one 
Asiatic  possession.  If  any  additional 
proof  has  been  needed  to  make  it 
clear  that  if  Germany  wanted  to  re- 
tain the  slightest  chance  of  extricat- 
ing herself  from  this  world-wide  con- 
spiracy against  her,  she  had  to  strike 
the  first  blow,  even  at  the  risk  of 
offending  against  international  good 
manners;  this  stab  in  the  bark  by 
Japan   would   furnish   such   proof. 


.WOTHRR  STOHY. 


l<"r<ini   "The   Katlierland."    Xeu    York. 
OctoIxT  II,  1!>14. 

Cleveland,  O.,  Sept.  12,  1914. 
To  the  Editors  of  "The  Fatherland:" 
We  hear  a  great  deal  of  unreason- 
ing criticism  of  the  actions  of  the 
German  army.  Let  "The  Fatherland," 
through  its  editorial  columns,  chal- 
lenge the  American  press  to  defend 
the  barbarism  of  the  Colorado  State 
Militia  in  shooting  down  helpless 
women  and  children  in  the  recent 
strikes  in  that  state.  When  they  have 
done  this,  but  not  until  they  have 
done  it,  are  they  qualified  to  speak 
on  "cruelty"  perpetrated  by  German 
soldiers. 

Very   truly  yours, 

Roger  B.  Buettell. 


To  the  amateur  strategist  the  war 
looks  like  a  race  to  see  whether  the 
Germans  can  get  to  Paris  before  the 
Russians  get  to  Berlin. 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


GERMANY'S    "INFAMOUS 
PROPOSAL." 

On  July  31.  1014,  Sir  Edward  Gre.y 
told  the  Germ.in  Ambassador  at  Lon- 
don (see  English  White  Paper.  Docu- 
ment No.  119)  that  Great  Britain 
should  be  drawn  into  it  if  Germany  and 
France  became  involved  in  war. 

Why? 

Why  should  it  follow  as  a  necessity 
that  Great  Britain  should  be  drawn 
into  it  if  Germany  and  France  became 
involved  in  war?  Nothing  in  the  na- 
ture of  things  demanded  such  an  ac- 
tion on  Great  Britain's  part,  for  she 
had  remained  neutral  in  a  former  war 
between  these  two  countries  (1870-71) 
and  in  the  present  case  France  was 
supposed  to  lie  in  a  better  position 
than  in  the  struggle  forty-three  years 
ago. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  there  existed  no 
necessity  for  the  British  people  to  go 
to  war  because  Germany  and  France 
had  fallen  out  and  gone  to  war,  for 
Germany  was  willing  to  promise  to 
Great  Britain— 

(1)  Not  to  take  one  foot  of  French 
soil,  (a)  neither  on  the  European  Con- 
tinent,  (b)  nor  in  the  French  colonies. 

(2)  Not  to  violate  the  neutrality  of 
Belgium  at  all.  if  Great  Britain  would 
obligate  herself  to  remain  neutral. 
(This  was  called  by  Asquith,  the 
British  Prime  Minister,  in  open  Parlia- 
ment, "an  infamous  proposal  by  Ger- 
many!") 

(3)  .\ny  reasonable  conditions  which 
Great  Britain  might  formulate  (British 
White  Paper,  Document  No.  123). 

To  any  reasonable  being  it  would 
seem  that  there  was  not  one  excuse 
left  for  Great  Britain  to  enter  into 
war,  for  to  (1)  secure  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium  alisoliitely,  (2)  to  secure 
the  status  quo  of  France  and  her  col- 
onies, (3)  and  thus  to  secure  herself 
against  obtaining  Germany  as  a  neigh- 
bor across  the  channel,  she  had  only  to 
declare  her  own  neutrality. 

Think  of  it,  think  of  the  awful 
amount  of  misery  which  Great  Britain 
could  have  saved  Belgium  alone,  and 
herself  also,  liy  simply  giving  to  an 
honest  question  an  honest  answer,  by 
saying  to  Germany  in  a  straightfor- 
ward manner :  "We  shall  remain  neu- 
tral as  long  as  you  uphold  the  letter 
and  the  spirit  of  your  promises." 

Why  did  not  Great  Britain  through 
the  mouth  of  her  servant  (or  had  we 
better  say,  master)  Sir  Edward  Grey 
give  such  a  straightforward  reply,  who 
instead  rejected  all  overtures  of  Ger- 
many to  come  to  a  peaceful  under- 
standing, and  insisted  on  keeiiing  every- 
body in  the  dark  with  regard  to  Great 
Britain's  attitude  and  her  intentions, 
by  saying :  "Our  hands  are  still  free 
and  we  are  considering  what  our  atti- 
tude shall  be." 

Does  not  that  sound  very  queer,  in 
fact  insincere?  Was  it  worthy  of  a 
great  nation  to  prevaricate  like  did 
Sir  Edward  (irey  in  this  case,  and 
to  pretend  to  be  undecided  as  to  what 
to  do  in  case  of  war  between  (Jermany 
and  France,  after  he  had  assured 
France  positircly  (British  White  Paper, 
Document  No.  110)  that  in  case  of 
war  between  Germany  and  France 
Great  Britain  would  join  France 
against  Germany? 


After  promising  France  Great  Bri- 
tain's help  in  case  of  war  with  Ger- 
ujany.  Sir  Edward  Grey  told  this  cold- 
blooded, ghastly  untruth  to  the  Ger- 
man Ambassador:  "Our  hands  are 
still  free  and  we  are  considering  what 
our  attitude  shall  be."  (British  White 
Paper,  Document  No.  123.)  Was  there 
ever  told  by  the  foreign  minister  of  a 
great  nation  a  more  criminal  untruth 
than  was  told  by  Sir  Edward  Grey  on 
that  occasion?  An  untruth,  which  cost 
Great  Britain  untold  treasure  in  gold 
and  in  lives,  which  caused  tens  of  thou- 
sands of'  widows  and  orphans  to  weep 
in  Great  Britain  and  Germany  ! 

An  untruth  so  atrocious  that  the 
Prime  Minister  dared  not  lay  the  whole 
of  it  before  Parliament,  liecause  the 
House  of  Commons,  as  MacDonald,  a 
member  of  Parliament  said,  otherwise 
never  could  have  been  persuaded  to 
declare  war  against  Germany,  who  was 
willing  to  fulfill  all  reasonable  condi- 
tions which  P^ngland  might  ask.  Arthur 
Ponsonby,  another  Member  of  Parlia- 
ment, In  an  open  letter  dated  August 
ISth.  published  in  the  London  "Nation" 
of  August  22.  1014,  says,  that  liehind 
the  backs  of  the  people  secret  but  bind- 
ing engagements  had  been  made  by  the 
British  Foreign  Office,  but  that  later 
on  during  the  negotiations  with  Ger- 
many Sir  Edward  Grey  declared  in  the 
most  explicit  way,  that  Great  Britain 
was  unfettered  in  the  event  of  war ! 

You  see,  gentle  reader,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary for  Germany  to  assert  that  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey,  the  representative  of  Great 
Britain,  jirevaricated  and  thereby  in- 
volveil  his  fatherland  in  a  gruesome 
find  indefensible  war,  for  Englishmen 
have  arisen  and  told  him  so  to  his  face, 
among  others.  MacDonald  and  Pon- 
sonby, Members  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, who  spoke  in  sorrow  and  shame, 
and  Bernard  Shaw.  England's  great- 
est playwright,  who  spoke  in  disgust 
and  contempt. 

Have  any  Germans  in  Germany 
arisen  and  accused  the  Kaiser  or  Beth- 
niaun-Hollweg  of  bad  faith,  of  willful 
perversion  of  facts,  of  the  telling  of 
falsehoods?  Has  there  been  a  dozen, 
or  six,  or  two.  or  even  one?  No,  not 
one — of  all  the  sixty-seven  millions  of 
Germans  in  the  fatherland  not  one  had 
to  hide  his  head  in  shame,  had  to  turn 
away  in  disgust,  because  he  had  to 
acknowledge  that  the  man  who  repre- 
sented Germany  had  been  unfaithful 
to  the  country  which  had  called  him 
to  his  high  place,  had  failed  in  putting 
the  welfare  of  his  country  above  his 
personal  ambition. 

A  career  not  of  statesmanship  but 
of  political  adventure  had  so  perverted 
Sir  Edward  Grey's  ideas  of  right  and 
wrong,  that  Germany's  honest  endeavor 
to  keep  England  out  of  the  war  by 
granting  all  her  reasonable  conditions, 
was  characterized  by  him,  or  the  Prime 
Minister,  as  "an-  infamous  proposal" 
and  the  negotiations  between  the  two 
countries  were  presented  by  them  to 
Parliament  in  such  a  garbled  and  un- 
true manner,  that  war  resulted,  while 
peace  would  have  been  assured  if  they 
had  given  a  truthful  and  complete  ac- 
count of  the  negotiations  with  Ger- 
manv. — The  Crucible. 


Let  us  pray  for  peace,  but  let  us 
also  insure  it  by  building  battle- 
ships. 


A  Reply  to  Jacob  H.  Schiff. 

In  the  New  York  "Times"  of  Novem- 
ber 22,  1914,  there  appeared  an  inter- 
view granted  by  Jacob  S.  SchifC  to 
that  paper's  representative.  As  Mr. 
Schiff  is  occupying  quite  a  prominent 
position  and  this  interview  has  been, 
widely  discussed,  it  seems  to  us  that 
Mr.  Schiff's  attention  should  be  called 
to  two  points,  concerning  which,  by 
reason  of  "Mehr  Llcht,"  he  might 
change  his  opinion. 

We  know  nothing  about  Mr.  Schiff 
personally,  but  it  stands  to  reason  that 
certainly  with  regard  to  high  finance, 
he  must  be  of  an  originating,  independ- 
ent mind,  to  have  attained  the  high 
place  which  he  now  occupies.  He  does 
not,  however,  show  any  independence 
of  mind  in  his  view  of  the  question  of 
the  so-called  Belgian  neutrality,  but  is 
satisfied  with  a  most  superficial  con- 
sideration of  the  subject.  It  has  been 
proved  by  unimpeachable  evidence  that 
Belgium  had  entered,  long  before  the 
war,  into  an  alliance  with  France  and 
England,  and  that  hers  was  therefore 
a  fradulent  neutrality,  in  other  words 
null  and  void— non-existing.  But  even 
if,  for  argument's  sake,  we  say  that 
Belgium's  neutrality  was  genuine,  still 
Germany  did  not  commit,  as  Mr.  Schiff 
asserts,  a  most  unjustifiable  action,  for 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
has  decided,  "That  while  it  would  al- 
ways be  a  matter  of  the  utmost  grav- 
ity and  delicacy  to  refuse  to  execute 
a  treaty,  the  power  to  do  so  was  a 
prerogative  of  which  no  nation  could 
be  deprived  without  deeply  affecting 
its  independence," 

This  decision  is  to  be  found  on  page 
OiOO,  vol.  130  of  the  United  States  Re- 
ports, and  appeals  so  strongly  to  com- 
mon sense  that  to  read  it  is  to  be 
convinced.  For  a  nation  to  be  able 
to  make  a  treaty  but  not  to  have  the 
power  to  terminate  it.  even  abruptly 
in  case  of  sudden  demand,  would  sim- 
ply mean  that  that  nation  had  ceased 
to"  be  independent.  A  treaty  between 
nations  is  equivalent  to  a  contract  be- 
tween individuals  and  is  subject  to  the 
same  general  laws. 

The  second  point  on  which  we  dis- 
agree with  Mr.  Schiff,  and  on  which 
be  disagrees  with  himself,  is  when 
he  declares  that  Germany,  if  victorious, 
would  become  at  once  a  serious  menace 
to  the  United  States,  and  would  before 
long  cliallenge  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

A  little  further  on  Mr.  Schiff  says 
himself  that  the  destruction  of  the 
victor  would  be  nearly  as  complete  as 
the  disaster  of  the  vanquished,  and 
how  anybody  can  think  that  in  case 
of  sncli  utter  exhaustion  Germany 
should  find  the  strength  and  feel  the 
desire  to  challenge  the  United  States 
passes  our  understanding.  It  will  take 
Germany  fifty  years  to  repair  the  dam- 
age, and  heal  the  wounds  of  this  war, 
and  by  the  time  she  will  have  recov- 
ered, her  pi'esent  enemies  will  have 
recovered  likewise.  This  alone  would 
keep  Germany  from  antagonizing  Un- 
cle Sam,  aside  from  the  fact  that  Ger- 
many's main  object  in  acquiring  col- 
onies was  to  open  to  Germans  lands 
where  they  could  stay  Germans — 
would  not  "have  to  amalgamate  with 
other  nations.  Germany  does  not  covet 
anv  lands  already  colonized  by  the 
wlilte    race,    as    her    past    history    has 


BRITISH  WAR  POLITICS  TO  DATE 


29 


shown,  but  she  wants  her  share  of  the 
waste  places  of  the  earth,  where  she 
can  show,  and  has  already  shown,  Eng- 
land how  her  colonies  can  and  should 
be  improved. 

Certainly  for  the  next  fifty  years 
Germany  will  be  unable  to  make  war 
on  Uncle  Sam,  and  after  that — less  than 
ever. 

We  trust  that  Mr.  Schiff  will  be  con- 
vinced by  our  arguments  and  should 
be  glad  to  hear  from  him. 


ENGLAND     IS     FRANK     IN     ONE 
THING — ITS  WAR  IS  A  COM- 
MERCIAL ONE. 


British  Tradesman-Policy  Is  Admitted 

by    Those    Who    .Speak    for    the 

Nuvalisiii  Nation  to  tlie  World 

at  Liirge. 


By  Edmund  von  Mach. 
From  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York. 

The  British  government  has  estab- 
lished in  London  a  sample  depot  of 
German  wares,  with  a  list  of  the 
places  where  they  used  to  be  sold,  at 
what  prices  and  in  what  quantities. 
Suggestions  are  also  made  how  this 
trade  may  be  diverted  to  England. 

This  is  natural  because  England 
looks  upon  the  economic  profits  to  be 
derived  from  this  war  as  the  most 
important.  A  London  magazine, 
therefore.  The  Financier,  spoke  in  a 
recent  number  (Boston  Evening 
Transcript,  March  3,  1915),  substan- 
tially as  follows: 

"Germany  is  on  the  point  of  losing, 
for  ten  years  or  longer,  not  only  the 
big  markets  of  Russia,  France  and 
Belgium,  but  also  those  of  the  whole 
English-speaking  race.  The  German 
foreign  trade  has  suddenly  ceased, 
and  it  is  our  duty  to  see  that  it  will 
never  start  again.  What  Germany 
has  achieved  by  years  of  painstaking 
labor  has  suddenly  been  given  into 
our  hands.  So  long  as  we  control  the 
routes  of  the  great  oceans — and  if 
we  improve  our  opportunity — the 
complaint  of  German  commercial 
competition  will  not  again  be  heard, 
at  least  in  our  lifetime." 

Solf-Sufficient  Confession. 

This  unblushing  confession  of 
what  England  is  fighting  for,  made 
only  a  few  months  after  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  is  a  worthy  counterpart 
to  the  famous  trumpet  call  to  arms  of 
1897  when  England  first  realized  her 
inability  to  win  by  fair  means  our 
German  competition.  "A  million 
petty  disputes,"  the  Saturday  Review 
said,  "buihl   up  the  greatest  cause  of 


war  the  world  has  ever  seen.  If  Ger- 
many were  extinguished  tomorrow  or 
the  day  after  tomorrow,  there  is  not 
an  Englishman  in  the  world  who 
would  not  be  richer.  Nations  have 
fought  for  years  over  a  city  or  a 
right  of  succession.  Must  they  not 
fight  for  two  hundred  million  pounds 
of  commerce?" 

From  the  English  point  of  view 
they  must,  of  course,  fight  for  it,  for 
Englishmen  hate  nothing  worse  than 
free  competition  in  the  open  markets 
of  the  world. 

English  wars  are  commercial  wars. 
The  English  government,  to  be  sure, 
has  generally  looked  for  moral 
sources  under  which  to  disguise  its 
real  purposes.  This  procedure,  how- 
ever, has  at  times  been  very  annoying 
to  her  blunt  fighting  men,  for  the  lat- 
ter openly  prefer  the  attitude  of  their 
famous  Admiral  Monck,  who  said  dur- 
ing the  English-Dutch  struggle  for 
commercial  superiority:  "What  does 
this  or  that  reason  matter?  What 
we  need  is  a  slice  of  the  commerce 
which  the  Dutch  now  have." 

Britons  Write  Neutral  News. 

If  the  press  of  our  English-Amer- 
ican friends,  who  in  spite  of  their 
hyphen  are  often  not  void  of  Ameri- 
can patriotic  feelings — this  state- 
ment has,  of  course,  no  reference  to 
the  British  subjects  who  are  engaged 
in  writing  "neutral"  war  news  in  our 
metropolitan  papers — would  recog- 
nize the  emphasis  which  England  has 
always  laid  on  the  economic  side  of 
her  wars,  two  recent  occurrences 
would  have  been  less  puzzling  to 
them. 

England's  objection  to  President 
Wilson's  Ship  Purchase  bill  was 
voiced  by  those  American  business 
men  who  cannot  conceive  of  a  flour- 
ishing American  industry  independent 
of  England.  Even  if  President  Wil- 
son sho\ild  have  wished  to  purchase 
every  German  merchantman  lying 
idle  in  an  American  port — and  this 
has  been  denied — the  material  benefit 
which  would  have  accrued  to  the 
German  companies  would  have 
amounted  to  only  a  few  million  dol- 
lars, and  even  if  this  money  could 
have  found  its  way  from  the  private 
owners  to  the  exchequer  of  the  Ger- 
man government,  it  would  have  been 
but  a  drop  in  the  bucket.  England's 
real  objection  was  due  to  her  fear 
lest  America  cut  loose  from  her 
walking  strings. 

Independent  of  the  British  carry- 
ing trade.  America  and  not  England 
might  be  the  real  gainer  of  the  war. 
But  the  very  thought  of  England  hav- 
ing instigated  a  world  war  without 
being   able   to    reap    tlin    glnrinus    re- 


ward of  two  hundred  and  fifty  million 
dollars'  worth  of  annual  trade,  was 
enough  to  break  every  honest  English 
heart!  And  this  would  not  have  been 
the  whole  calamity,  for  if  America 
could  have  her  own  ships,  England 
might  find  at  the  end  of  the  war  that 
she  had  not  one,  but  two  capable 
rivals — Germany  and  America!  She 
has  been  unable  to  hold  her  own 
against  one  rival;  against  two  she 
would  be  utterly  helpless! 

Must  Set  His  House  in  Order. 

And  she  knows  this,  for  there  is 
not  a  living  English  business  man 
who  is  not  convinced  in  the  bottom 
of  his  heart  that  he  must  set  his 
house  in  order  first,  before  he  can 
hope  to  compete  on  even  terms  with 
anybody.  England,  however,  hates 
progress.  She  does  not  wish  to  re- 
nounce her  oligarchical  government 
or  abolish  her  privileged  classes.  She 
regrets  the  destitution  of  her  laboring 
classes — perhaps,  but  she  would 
rather  pay  billions  to  crush  a  rival 
than  millions  to  improve  the  condi- 
tions of  her  own  people.  This  is  the 
real  cause  of  the  present  war. 

The  second  incident  mentioned 
above  as  showing  what  England  is 
aiming  at,  would  have  opened  the 
eyes  of  everybody,  if  there  had  not 
been  so  many  Americans  who  believe 
that  they  must  admire  the  political 
England,  because  the  literary  and  sci- 
entific England  has  meant  so  much  to 
them.  They  were,  therefore,  willing 
to  excuse  Sir  Edward  Grey's  an- 
nouncement last  week  that  England 
would  seize  in  the  future  all  German 
goods  purchased  by  and  shipped  to 
neutral  countries.  Officially  this  was 
a  measure  of  retaliation  against  Ger- 
many's submarine  war.  Actually  it 
was  England's  attempt  to  procure  for 
herself  the  German  dyestuffs  with- 
out which  her  textile  industry  is 
dying. 

Since  America  could  get  these  dye- 
stuffs,  there  was  danger  that  the 
I'nited  States  might  forge  ahead. 
Why  not,  therefore,  take  all  neutral 
steamers  carrying  goods  which  both 
England  and  America  need  into  an 
English  port,  keep  the  goods,  ex- 
change polite  notes  with  Mr.  Bryan, 
offer  perhaps  arbitration,  and  years 
hence  pay  the  present  market  prices 
of  the  captured  goods?  In  the  mean- 
while, England  would  have  revived 
her  own  industries  and  have  starved 
the  American  factories.  Unfortu- 
nately for  her  plans,  not  all  Ameri- 
cans are  hyphenated  English,  and 
most  Americans,  of  whatever  descent, 
may  be  trusted  to  rally  to  the  support 
of  their  country  whenever  her  natu- 
ral welfare  is  at  stake. 


ISOLATED    GERMANY. 


Editorial    from    "The    Chicago    Trilj- 
une."   .\ugust  C,    1»H. 

Merely  as  a  piece  of  military  con- 
fidence, Germany's  challenge  of 
Europe  is  wonderful.  The  triple  al- 
liance has  broken  down.  Italy  has 
declared  its  neutrality.  There  re- 
mains the  dual  alliance.  Austria- 
Hungary  has  its  hands  full  with  the 
veteran    army    of    Servia,    trained    in 


two  wars.  It  cannot  give  a  full 
measure  of  aid  to  Germany.  The 
two  Teutonic  empires  are  almost  en- 
tirely  surrounded   by    toes. 

Military  necessity  has  made  bellig- 
erents of  the  Belgians.  It  may 
make  belligerents  of  the  Dutch.  It 
might  even  make  belligerents  of  the 
Danes.  Except  for  such  aid  as  Aus- 
tria, hampered  by  an  active  foe,  can 
give,  Germany  is  Isolated. 

Frederick  the  Great  never  faced 
such  odds  as  Wilhelm  II  now  meets. 


The  new  element  of  speed  in  war- 
fare is  in  the  equation.  Distance  is 
not  the  same  protection.  Armies 
are  raised  and  moved  so  swiftly  that 
the  tactics  of  Frederick  in  selecting 
his  enemies  and  dealing  with  them 
singly  may  not  have  time  or  oppor- 
tunity. 

This  eruption  of  armed  men  has 
been  in  the  dreams  of  military  strate- 
gists for  a  decade  or  more.  The 
assumption  has  been  that  Germany 
must  meet  and  destroy  France.  •   •   * 


30 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


Fairness  and  Impartiality 
The  Plain  Duty  of  all  Intelligent  Neutrals  During  the  War 


AN    APPEAL   FOB   A    FAIR    JUDG- 
IMENT. 


New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,   New 
York. 

Judge  Peter  S.  Grosscup,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Herman  Ridder,  President  of 
the  "New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,"  in- 
troduces Judge  Grosscup's  article 
as  follows: 

"Judge  Peter  S.  Grosscup,  of  Chi- 
cago, to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the 
following  excellent  analysis  of  the 
question  of  responsibility  for  the  war 
in  Europe,  needs  no  introduction  to 
the  American  people.  As  a  District 
Court  Judge  for  the  Northern  Dis- 
trict of  Illinois  and  later  as  judge 
both  of  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court  and  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals, 
he  established  a  reputation,  equalled 
by  few  of  his  contemporaries,  for 
clear-cut  logic  and  fearless  expres- 
sion of  views. 

"The  application  of  sound  judicial 
sense  to  the  points  Involved  in  the 
present  war  has  been  avoided  by 
England  and  by  her  ardent  admirers 
in  America  for  obvious  reasons.  I 
believe,  and  to  some  extent  because 
this  has  been  the  case,  that  Judge 
Grosscup's  presentation  and  elucida- 
tion of  these  points  will  be  welcomed 
by  all  open-minded  Americans." 

.^n  .Appeal  For  a  Fair  Judgment. 

The  other  day  I  saw  a  group  of 
men  in  a  lane  some  distance  from  the 
road  who  seemed  to  be  in  earnest 
conversation.  Suddenly  one  of  the 
men  struck  one  of  the  others.  In- 
stinctively I  felt  that  he  was  the  ag- 
gressor— that  he  wished  a  fight.  But 
the  facts,  had  I  been  near  enough  to 
see  and  hear,  might  have  been  differ- 
ent. That  first  blow  as  I  saw  it 
may  have  been  in  self-defense;  I  was 
not  near  enough  to  see  the  other's 
clenched  fist.  It  may  have  been  de- 
served; I  was  not  near  enough  to 
hear  the  provocation.  What  is  the 
only  thing  visible  to  one  at  a  dis- 
tance may  not  have  been  the  fact 
at  all  as  seen  by  those  upon  the  spot. 

American  public  opinion  means  to 
be  fair.  But  we  in  America  saw  the 
beginnings  of  this  war  only  from  a 
distance.  It  looked  to  us  as  if  Ger- 
many struck  first.  Was  that  the  act 
of  an  aggressor  wishing  for  a  fight, 
or  the  act  of  one  who  believes  he  was 
justified  in  what  he  did?  At  first  I 
thought  Germany  the  aggressor, 
wishing  for  war.  The  reading  of 
the  English  White  Paper — getting 
the  facts  from  those  near  the  scene — - 
convinces  me  that  the  Kaiser  and  his 
councillors  did  not  do  what  they  have 
done  out  of  desire  for  war.  And 
while  it  does  not  convince  me  that 
war  was  unavoidable,  it  reveals  that 
responsibility  for  it,  whether  it  was 
avoidable  or  not,  is  on  Russia  pri- 
marily, and  as  much,  at  least,  on  Eng- 
land and  France  secondarily  as  on 
the  Kaiser  and  his  councillors.  Be- 
fore going  to  that,  however,  a  couple 
of  collateral  considerations  must  be 
noticed. 


The  first  of  these  is:  How  came  it 
about  that  Germany  was  so  ready  for 
war  at  the  moment  she  declared  war. 
If  she  did  not  desire  war?  Is  not 
"readiness"  an  evidence  of  "desire"? 
Yes  and  No.  That  depends  on  other 
facts — for  instance,  how  long  has 
that  readiness  existed?  One  ready 
and  wishing  for  war  would  strike 
quickly — would  not  wait  forty  years. 
Germany  has  been  "ready"  for  forty- 
three  years.  Her  situation,  both  on 
the  west  and  east,  has  compelled  her 
to  be  always  ready.  But  while  within 
the  last  sixteen  years  of  that  forty- 
three  England  has  made  war  on  the 
Transvaal,  the  United  States  on 
Spain,  Japan  on  Russia,  and  Italy  on 
Turkey,  Germany,  always  ready,  has 


S.  A.  S.  What  right  has  any  Brit- 
ish Consular  Officer  to  vise  mani- 
fests of  American  vessels  sailing  to 
neutral  countries? 

They  have  no  such  right  under 
international  law.  It  would  seem, 
however,  from  the  "Philadelphia  In- 
quirer" of  the  23rd  instant,  that  such 
right  has  either  been  extended  to 
them  or  has  been  suggested  by  Wash- 
ington. The  American  people  should 
protest  most  vigorously  against  this 
infringement  of  their  right. 

M.  O.  D.  Has  India  come  whole- 
heartedly to  the  support  of  England 
in  this  war? 

She  has  not.  The  people  of  India 
have  put  themselves  upon  record  as 
being  opposed  to  the  use  of  "Indian" 
troops  in  this  war.  We  should  not  be 
deluded  by  what  England  tells  us. 
The  Sikhs,  the  Gurkhas,  and  the  Pa- 
thans,  the  troops  which  England  has 
called  to  her  assistance  against  Ger- 
many, are  not  Indians  in  any  sense 
of  the  word.  They  are  mercenary 
hill  tribes  whom  England  enlists 
against  her  Indian  subjects.  They 
serve  to  keep  the  intelligent  Indians 
from  revolt.  There  is  a  common  say- 
ing in  India,  kept  up  by  the  English, 
that  once  the  English  are  withdrawn, 
the  Pathans  will  come  down  upon 
India,  and  then  "there  will  not  be  a 
rupee  or  a  virgin  left  in  all  India." 
The  truth  about  India  in  this  war  is 
this:  England  has  brought  thence 
certain  of  her  mercenary  troops  to 
fight  the  Germans.  When  England 
raises  the  cry  of  "a  loyal  India,"  we 
may  ask  England  how  many  artillery 
units  there  are  in  the  Indian  army. 
There  is  not  one.  Since  the  insur- 
rection of  18.t7  the  Indians  have  not 
been  entrusted  with  the  great  guns 
of  Britain's  modern  artillery.  Eng- 
land has  been  afraid  to  entrust  them 
with  artillery,  because  in  the  Sepoy 
Rebellion  the  artillery  units  which 
went  over  to  the  Indians  were  the 
hardest  which  she  had  to  handle. 
England  is  today  turning  against 
Germany  not  India,  but  the  wild 
troops  which  raped  the  women  of 
Canton  in  1912. — From  the  "Ques- 
tions and  Answers"  column  in  the 
"New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,"  Octo- 
ber 28,  1914. — The  Publisher  of 
"War  Echoes." 


remained  at  peace.  Does  that  count 
for  nothing  in  the  enquiry  of  whether 
"readiness"  is  evidence  of  "desire"? 
The  Kaiser  came  to  the  throne  in 
his  twenties;  he  is  now  in  his  fifties; 
during  that  period,  usually  the  fight- 
ing period  in  a  man's  life,  he  has  not 
sent  a  German  soldier  against  an  en- 
emy; of  the  million  soldiers  in  the 
field  today  the  German  army  alone  is 
without  a  private  soldier  who  has 
ever  before  seen  actual  service  in 
battle.  Does  that  count  for  nothing? 
Who  can  believe,  satisfactorily,  to 
himself,  that  readiness  of  that  kind 
is  evidence  of  desire? 

The  second  of  these  collateral  mat- 
ters is:  How  came  it  about  that  Ger- 
many invaded  Belgium  if  she  did 
not  desire  war?  The  White  Paper 
shows  that  Germany  told  England 
she  would  not  mobilize  against 
France  it  England  would  assure  the 
neutrality  of  France  in  Germany's 
affair  with  Russia.  That  shows  she 
was  not  seeking  war  even  with 
France,  her  old  enemy,  much  less 
with  little  Belgium  that  lay  between 
them.  The  White  Paper  shows  also 
that  Germany  asked  England  if  she 
(England)  would  remain  neutral  if 
Germany,  in  the  event  of  war  with 
France,  would  stay  out  of  Belgium. 
England  professed  to  treat  this  as 
the  offer  of  a  bribe  and  declined  to 
commit  herself.  The  White  Paper 
shows  also  that  when  Germany  could 
get  none  of  these  assurances  she 
asked  for  peaceful  transit  across  the 
Belgian  territory,  offering  to  com- 
pensate for  any  losses  that  might  fol- 
low. This  Belgium  refused.  One 
other  fact  in  this  connection — the 
geography  of  the  country.  A  look 
at  that  will  show  that  for  Germany 
to  swing  her  forces  solely  on  the 
southerly  bend  through  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  would  leave  her  northern 
flank  at  the  mercy  of  a  northern 
army,  from  either  England  or  France. 
To  keep  out  of  Belgium,  therefore, 
with  England  a  possible  enemy, 
would  have  been  military  madness. 
Now,  with  all  these  facts  in  mind, 
what  was,  not  the  technical,  but  the 
moral  obligation  of  Germany  to  Bel- 
gium? By  going  across  Belgium  she 
was  not  forcing  war  on  Belgium; 
for  although  Belgium  was  under  no 
duty  to  Germany  to  grant  her  tran- 
sit, she  was  under  no  duty  to  England 
or  France  to  resist  it  by  force.  She 
could  have  remained  neutral  by  re- 
maining passive,  as  China  is  remain- 
ing passive,  while  Japan,  called  out 
by  England,  is  going  across  her  ter- 
ritory toward  Germany's  Chinese 
port.  China  has  not  given  permis- 
sion: she  protests;  but  no  one  be- 
lieves, much  less  anyone  in  England, 
that  as  a  neutral  she  is  obliged  to 
take  up  arms  against  the  country 
whose  army  is  crossing.  Indeed,  Bel- 
gium's right  not  to  be  molested,  even 
by  troops  in  transit,  was  not  that  of 
"guaranteed  neutrality"  at  all,  rest- 
ing on  treaty,  but  of  territorial  in- 
violability, resting  on  the  fact  that 
she  was  an  independent  nation — the 
same  right  that  I  have  to  exclude  you 
from  my  house,  not  because  you  have 


THE  DUTY  OF  NEUTRALS  IX  THE  WAR 


agreed  with  someone  else,  to  let  me 
alone,  but  because  the  law  gives  me 
the  right,  on  my  own  account,  to  be 
let  alone. 

But  suppose,  in  pursuit  of  one  who 
has  attacked  you  or  is  about  to  at- 
tack you,  you  go  through  my  house, 
that  being  the  only  way  you  can  ef- 
fectuEily  overtake  him.  However 
technically  it  may  be  a  trespass,  will 
the  law  look  upon  it  as  a  moral 
wrong?  Some  abstract  rights  have 
to  yield,  on  occasion,  to  greater  con- 
crete needs.  Whether  Germany  was 
morally  right  in  attacking  France  is 
one  question;  her  military  neces- 
sities, in  case  she  was  morally  right 
in  the  attack,  is  another  and  a  dif- 
ferent question.  And  that  public 
opinion  lacks  all  sense  of  proportion 
which    holds,    that   however    morally 


right  the  attack  on  France  may 
have  been,  and  whatever  the  neces- 
sity of  going  across  Belgium,  there 
is  a  moral  wrong  in  trespassing  on 
Belgium's  abstract  right  of  terri- 
torial inviolability — compensation  be- 
ing guaranteed. t  At  least,  except  as 
an  excuse,  no  nation  yet  has  made 
it  a  cause  for  war.  As  for  France, 
assuming  again  that  Germany  was 
right  in  striking  her,  her  mouth  is 
closed  against  complaining  of  the 
violation  of  the  treaty  by  the  tact 
that  she  provoked  it.  And  England, 
in  declining  to  say  whether  she  would 
be  a  belligerent  or  not,  is  in  the  same 
posture.  As  pretended  guardians  of 
Belgium  they  cannot  provoke  an  at- 
tack and  then  fend  it  off  by  holding 
up  their  ward  between  them  and  the 
blows  that  follow;  so  that  as  a  moral 


question,  this  occupation  by  Ger- 
many of  Belgium  soil  for  the  purpose 
of  transit,  is  merged  in  the  larger 
moral  question:  Was  Germany  right 
in  her  attack  on  France — did  she 
honestly  believe  that  her  security 
and  honor  required  that  that  attack 
should  be  made? 

Though  the  White  Paper  covers 
five  pages  of  the  American  newspaper 
in  which  1  found  it,  the  essential 
facts  pertinent  to  this  larger  ques- 
tion are  few  and  can  be  compactly 
stated.  The  first  of  these — trite 
enough  but  never  to  be  lost  sight  of 
— is  that  the  Austro-Hungarian  mon- 
archy contains  a  very  large  Slav  popu- 
lation— the  race  of  the  Servians  also 
— some  of  it  added  in  recent  years. 
This  constituted,  to  say  the  least,  a 
highly  inflammable  anti-Austrian  ma- 


f'The  Belgian  nation  preferred 
ruin  and  death  to  the  shameful  per- 
jury proposed   to   her   by   Germany." 

— We  have  reprinted  this  quotation 
from  the  statement  made  public  by 
the  Belgian  legation  on  October  21, 
wherein  it  quoted  extracts  from  the 
Belgian  Gray  Book,  extracts  which 
were  published  by  "The  Chicago 
Tribune"  in   its   issue  of  October   22. 

After  reading  Judge  Grosscup's 
article  and  also  his  supplement, 
which  we  reprint  in  full  on  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  each  man  will  be  his 
own  judge  as  to  whether  Germany, 
in  requesting  Belgium  to  permit  her 
to  march  her  troops  through  Bel- 
gian territory,  for  which  privilege 
she  guaranteed  full  compensation, 
can  be  rightfully  accused  of  having 
proposed  a  "shameful  perjury"  to 
the  Belgian  nation. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is,  the 
Belgian  king  and  government  had 
allied  themselves  with  the  enemies 
of  Germany.  Both  France  and  Eng- 
land had  promised   help   to   Belgium. 

It  is  a  lie  to  say  that  "the  Bel- 
gian nation  preferred  ruin  and  death 
to  the  shameful  perjury  proposed  to 
her  by  Germany."  The  Belgian 
king  and  government  committed  an 
awful  crime  in  preferring  to  throw 
in  their  lot  with  England  and  France 
and  thus  trusting  to  the  fortunes  of 
war  to  defeat  Germany  instead  of 
remaining  strictly  neutral.  The  for- 
tunes of  war  have  gone  against  the 
Allies.  For  the  "ruin  and  death" 
brought  over  the  Belgian  nation,  tlie 
latter  should  hold  its  own  king  and 
government  responsible,  and  blame 
its  allies,  the  French  and  especially 
the  English,  for  not  having  fulfilled 
their    promises    for    efficient    help. 

Of  course  the  Belgian  nation  is 
finding  out  that  England  wanted  to 
use  it  only  as  a  cats-paw,  the  same 
as  England  is  using  her  French  and 
Russian   allies. 

In  this  connection  we  reproduce 
in  the  following,  part  of  an  article 
entitled  "The  Present  Situation  of 
the  War"  by  the  Military  Expert  of 
"The  Fatherland,"  New  York,  Octo- 
ber 28.   1914,  which  says: 

After  the  fall  of  Antwerp  our  (the 
German)  position  was  uncommonly 
favorable,  great  forces  were  now  free 
for   service   elsewhere. 


In  the  meantime  at  the  other  end 
of  our  lines,  the  bombardment  of 
Verdun  had  to  be  made  more  force- 
ful, in  order  to  ensure  more  rapid 
progress. 

We  have  reached  this  point  today, 
while  the  left  wing  of  the  French 
army  was  opposing  a  strong  German 
position  at  Armentieres,  northwest 
of  Lille,  and  in  no  position  to  make 
any  progress,  they  had  another — a 
new  group — apparently  French  ma- 
rines sent  up  to  the  coast  in  order 
to  intercept  the  Germans  at  the  Yser 
River,  between  Nieuport  and  Dix- 
mude,  hoping  to  meet  with  the  rem- 
nant of  the  Belgian  army.  Thus  pre- 
venting the  German  army  from  reach- 
ing the  coast. 

This  German  advance  sets  all  Eng- 
land by  the  ears — especially  many  of 
their  erstwhile  phlegmatic  golf  and 
tennis  heroes.      Why? 

The  English  Channel  Coast  of 
France  in  the  possession  of  the  Ger- 
mans? Yea,  that  is  certainly  a  turn 
we  did  not  foresee  on  August  4. 
From  this  point  the  war  could  be 
carried  over  to  the  sacred  soil  of 
proud  Albion,  where  throughout  cen- 
turies of  war  upon  war  the  rough- 
shod boot  of  a  foe  never  committed 
the  sacrilege  to  tread.  English  soil 
a  battlefield  for  European  squabbles? 
Ridiculous! 

Hear    the    liimdon    "Times": 

".And.  should  the  war  last  ten 
years;  sliould  the  last  French  Karron 
iif  Itordoauv;  the  last  Cossack  from 
the  Caucasus  (iiiil  his  grave  upon  the 
baltleflehl — Kiiglaiid's  soil  will  al- 
ways remain  unmolested  and  un- 
touched."* 

Whoever  has  failed  to  understand 
by  this  late  day,  the  facts  so  plainly 
written  upon  the  pages  of  current 
history,  will  soon  realize  the  impor- 
tant result  of  events  now  occurring. 

What  a  monument  to  England's 
perfidy;  to  Albion's  broken  pledges 
to  suffering  Belgium:  Liege,  Namur, 
Antwerp  crowned  by  delusive  hopes. 

A  similar  movement  is  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  great  sculptor  "Justice" 
for  ceremonious  unveiling  in  France. 

All  this  is  perfectly  clear  to  a  mili- 
tary expert,  however  prone  a  layman 
may  be  to  misinterpret  the  portend 
of  the  shadows  of  coming  events. 

Ostend,  Dunkirk,  Calais.  Havre  In 
the  possession  of  Germany  is  of  minor 


importance  to  France,  whose  main 
object  should  be  the  annihilation  of 
the  German  armies — not  the  defense 
of  her  unmolested  channel  coast 
line.  Her  marines  who  by  command 
of  her  treacherous  ally  are  wasting 
their  efforts  in  the  defense  of  Dun- 
kirk, should  fight  around  Lille,  or 
Arras,  or  Rove.  Dunkirk  is  not  a 
factor  in  the  final  result  of  this  war. 
In  the  coming  events  at  the  front 
only — will  the  decision  be  reached. 

The  iron  ring  around  Dunkirk;  the 
forts  at  Bruses — Francais.  Louis  and 
I)es  Dunes,  originally  erected  against 
false  .Albion  and  which  are  so  closely 
connected  with  English  history,  will 
now,  in  the  possession  of  Germany, 
become  the  starting  point  of  a  new 
era   in   world   liistory.* 

Even  while  writing  these  words, 
this  historic  spot  may  have  suc- 
cumbed to  German  conquest. 

The  present  position  of  the  Ger- 
mans in  Russia  promise  a  final  de- 
cision in  their  favor  at  an  early  date. 

Austria-Hungary,  having  succored 
Przeraysl,  has  once  again  a  free  hand, 
as  the  Russians  have  been  driven  out 
of  Hungary  across  the  Carpathian 
Hills. 

The  German  -  .\ustria  -  Hungarian 
left  seems  to  be  carrying  out  estab- 
lished plans  between  Ivangorod  and 
Warsaw,  as  they  have  again  taken 
the  offensive  in  their  endeavor  to 
cross  the  Vistula. 

England  and  France  are  exceed- 
ingly worried  over  the  slow  progress 
of  their  barbaric  friend  Russia.  They 
are  really  angry  that  the  Russians, 
after  promising  to  be  in  Berlin  by 
October,  are  now  further  away  from 
the  "Brandenburger  Thor"  than  they 
were  last  August.  There  is  no 
change  in  the  position  in  East  Prus- 
sia. General  Rennen-Kampf  seems 
to  he  disinclined  to  entertain  new 
adventures   just    at    present. 

To  the  satisfaction  of  llrother 
Churchill  a  few  more  "rats"  came 
out  of  their  holes.  Too  bail  that 
these  (ierman  rats  are  obliged  to  go 
all  the  way  to  the  coast  of  Scotland 
to  tind  otVal  to  fceil  on.  Note:  (ireat 
Itrilain  may  thank  Churchill  llial  tier 
navy  is  designated  as  "offal,"  a  fa- 
vorite  food    for   rats.* 


•P>mphasized    in    bold   type   by   the 
Editor. 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


terial  to  anyone  disposed  to  start 
a  fire  within  the  Austro-Hungarian 
boundaries.  Another  fact — not  so 
trite,  but  equally  important — is  that 
Servia  has  been  systematically  distri- 
buting firebrands  throughout  this  in- 
flammable matter.  "It  was  a  sub- 
versive movement,"  says  the  Aust- 
trian  foreign  minister  in  one  of  the 
dispatches  constituting  the  White 
Paper,  "intended  to  detach  from  Aus- 
tria a  part  of  her  empire,  carried  on 
by  organized  societies  in  Servia,  to 
which  Servian  high  officials,  including 
ministers,  generals  and  judges,  be- 
longed, and  resulting  in  the  assas- 
sination of  the  heir  to  the  throne 
and  his  wife,"  not  as  the  individual 
mad  deed  of  a  Guiteau  or  a  Czolgosz, 
we  might  add,  but  of  "an  organized 
propaganda  and  conspiracy"  that  de- 
veloped itself  in  several  attempts,  at 
unconnected  points,  by  several  per- 
sons, on  the  same  day;  a  statement 
of  the  Servian  attitude  nowhere  de- 
nied in  this  English  White  Paper, 
either  in  the  London  foreign  office  or 
the  embassies  at  Paris  or  St.  Peters- 
burg. On  the  contrary.  Sir  Edward 
Grey  says  he  cannot  help  but  look 
with  sympathy  on  the  basis  of  the 
Austro-Hungarian  complaint.  And 
Servia  herself  practically  admits  the 
truth  of  it,  in  her  reply  to  the  Aus- 
trian ultimatum,  for  though  she 
calls  whatever  agitation  took  place 
"political" — that  is  to  say,  something 
whose  object  is  the  change  of  govern- 
ment and  not  private  murder — she 
offers  to  dissolve  the  Narodna  Od- 
brana,  a  revolutionary  society,  and 
every  society  which  may  be  "direct- 
ing its  efforts  against  Austria-Hun- 
gary;" to  introduce  a  law  providing 
for  the  most  severe  punishment  of 
"publications  calculated  to  incite 
hatred  against  the  territorial  integ- 
rity of  Austria;"  to  remove  from  the 
"public  educational  establishments" 
in  Servia  everything  calculated  to 
foment  propaganda  against  Austria; 
to  publish  in  the  oflicial  gazette  and 
read  to  the  army  this  promised  new 
attitude  of  Servia  to  Austria;  and 
to  remove  from  military  service  all 
such  persons  as  judicial  inquiry  may 
have  proved  to  be  guilty  of  acts  di- 
rected against  the  integrity  of  the 
territory  of  Austria-Hungary — prom- 
ises no  people  would  make  unless 
there  was  a  basis  of  fact  for  the  com- 
plaint. 

But  though  Servia  thus  acknowl- 
edged the  basis  of  the  complaint,  and 
promised  to  take  measures  to  remedy 
it.  she  refused  the  "collaboration" 
of  Austrian  representatives,  or  the 
participation  of  Austrian  "delegates," 
in  the  investigations  relating  thereto. 
She  made  no  straight  out  denial  of 
the  subversive  movements  alleged. 
The  most  that  can  be  made  of  her 
answer  is  that  she  neither  admits 
nor  denies,  but  simply  calls  for  the 
proofs.  But  she  refused  the  presence 
of  Austria  at  the  taking  of  the  proofs. 
In  a  word,  as  Austria  viewed  it, 
should  the  promised  investigation  be 
a  whitewash,  or  should  it  be  a  sin- 
cere effort  to  locate  responsibility? 
Austria  wanted  a  sincere  investiga- 
tion— the  attitude  of  Servia  looks  as 
if  she  wanted  a  whitewash.  And  it 
was  on  that  that  the  two  countries 
broke. 


Now  was  Austria-Hungary  right  in 
making  the  demand  and  Servia  wrong 
in  refusing  the  demand,  that  Austrian 
delegates  sit  in  at  the  investigation? 
That  is  the  crux  of  the  matter  as  a 
question  between  Austria  and  Servia. 
The  conduct  of  nations,  like  that  of 
individuals,  must  stand  the  test  of 
common  sense.  And  like  individuals, 
nations  have  the  right  to  have  their 
word  taken  in  matters  of  this  kind 
until  their  word  is  no  longer  good,  by 
being  repeatedly  broken;  so  that  had 
this  been  the  first  complaint  by  Aus- 
tria against  Servia  on  this  matter, 
and  this  Servia's  first  promise  to  live 
hereafter  on  friendly  relations,  there 
would  have  been  no  justification  for 
Austria's  demand,  or  for  her  refusal 
to  take  Servia's  word  that  a  fair  in- 
vestigation would  be  made  and  the 
guilty  punished.  But  this  White 
Paper  shows  that  this  was  not  Ser- 
via's first  promise — that  she  had 
made  former  promises — that  this 
new  offer  of  her  word  was  the 
offer  of  an  already  broken  word. 
This  is  the  third  fact  in  the  enquiry 
— the    turning    fact   in    the    question 


Have   Slandered   the   Irish. 

"The  same  press  which  is  now 
slandering  the  Germans,  has  always 
in  the  past  slandered  the  Irish,  but 
now,  every  day,  inspired  articles  tell 
of  the  loyalty  of  the  Irish  people 
to  England  in  this  war.  We  are 
told  English  officers  are  to  be  sent  to 
Ireland  to  drill  the  Irish  volunteers, 
and  that  the  guns  and  uniforms  will 
be  given  to  them  by  the  English  gov- 
ernment. 

"I  think  I  know  the  character  of 
my  race,  and  I  am  free  to  say  that 
guns  and  military  instruction  will  be 
gladly  received  by  them  from  any 
source  whatever,  but  the  English  red 
coat  will  never  be  worn  by  an  Irish 
volunteer  and  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  King  George  will  never  be  taken 
by  an  Irish  national  volunteer  sol- 
dier. I  believe  that  the  majority  of 
the  Irish  race  in  America  are  op- 
posed to  England  in  this  unnecessary 
war  of  aggression  which  she  is  now 
waging  against  Germany.  The  Irish 
have  always  been  for  the  under  dog 
every  time,  and  Germany  is  the  un- 
der dog  in  this  war,  a  war  forced 
upon  her  by  England's  hatred  and 
intrigue. 

"May  the  Germans  continue  to 
grow  and  thrive.  We  know  them 
as  God-fearing,  law-abiding  and  self- 
respecting  citizens,  who  bring  credit 
to  any  community  they  live  in." 

Alfred  Williams  made  a  five- 
minute  speech  in  which  he  protested 
against  the  patriotic  stand  taken  by 
John  Redmond  in  the  present  crisis. 
He  said  it  is  time  to  sing  the  old 
song,  "Germany,  Oh.  Germany,  When 
Will  You  Set  Old  Ireland  Free?" 

The  members  appointed  to  the  re- 
lief committee  were:  Ed.  Ruhl,  Dr. 
Huetz,  Prof.  Rosenau.  Fraeulein 
Dierckes,  Jacob  Milch,  Mrs.  Walter 
Wesselhoeft,  Mrs.  Kuno  Francke, 
Mrs.  H.  L.  Carstein,  F.  Stoltmann. 
Charles  Eberhardt,  C.  W.  Holtzer, 
F.  W.  Kalkmann.  Max  Schubert, 
B.  J.  Arntz,  Max  Otto  von  Kluck. 


of  who  was  wrong  and  who  was 
right — a  fact  entirely  ignored  in 
the  views  pressed  upon  American 
public  opinion.  Five  years  before, 
March  18,  19  09,  Servia  gave  her 
word,  not  to  Austria  alone,  but  to 
the  great  powers,  that  this  scatter- 
ing of  firebrands  should  cease — that 
thereafter  she  would  live  as  a  friend- 
ly: neighbor.  That  shows  that  five 
years  before  the  offense  was  already 
in  existence.  Did  it  cease?  Was  the 
word  kept?  In  the  note  communi- 
cated to  Sir  Edward  Grey  by  the 
German  ambassador  July  24,  1914 — 
a  note  that  called  out  from  Sir  Ed- 
ward, not  a  denial,  but  an  expression 
of  sympathy — the  German  ambas- 
sador, referring  to  that  earlier  prom- 
ise says,  "It  was  only  owing  to  the 
far-reaching  self-restraint  and  mod- 
eration of  the  Austro-Hungarian  gov- 
ernment, and  to  the  energetic  inter- 
ference of  the  great  powers,  that  the 
Servian  provocation  to  which  Austria- 
Hungary  was  then  (March,  1909) 
exposed  did  not  lead  to  a  conflict. 
The  assurance  of  good  conduct  in  the 
future  which  was  then  given  by  the 
Servian  government  has  not  been 
kept.  Under  the  eyes,  at  least  with 
the  tacit  permission  of  official  Ser- 
via, the  great  Servian  propaganda 
has  continuously  increased  in  exten- 
sion and  intensity;  to  its  account 
must  be  set  the  recent  crime  the 
threads  of  which  lead  to  Belgrade;" 
an  indictment  that  none  of  the 
powers  so  much  as  question — neither 
the  foreign  offices  nor  embassies  of 
Russia.  England,  or  France — and  to 
which  Servia  practically  pleads  guilty 
in  her  answer  to  the  Austrian  ulti- 
matum already  stated. 

Now,  in  view  of  this,  what  was 
Austria-Hungary  to  do?  Accept  the 
word  of  Servia  again?  We  must  look 
at  it  not  from  the  standpoint  of  those 
who  think  the  Austro-Hungarian  gov- 
ernment ought  to  be  destroyed,  but 
from  the  standpoint  of  Austria-Hun- 
gary herself.  What  would  we  of 
America  do,  if  despite  a  solemn  prom- 
ise to  desist,  some  neighboring  na- 
tion continued  to  stir  up  racial  revo- 
lution among  our  people — say  Spain 
among  the  Porto  Ricans  or  Philip- 
pines? Would  we  accept  that  na- 
tion's word  again?  It  is  a  just  and 
generous  nature  that  accepts  the  of- 
fender's word  on  the  first  offense, 
but  a  foolish  or  craven  nature  that 
continues  to  accept  it  through,  repe- 
titions of  the  offense.  Let  us  not  lose 
sight  of  the  practical  side  of  the  prob- 
lem as  presented  to  Austria.  The 
spirit  behind  these  attacks  on  Aus- 
tria-Hungary was  not  the  spirit  of 
the  Servian  government  only,  but  the 
spirit  of  the  Servian  people,  also.  A 
government  may  be  reached  some- 
times by  protest.  But  there  are  cases 
in  which  a  people  can  only  be  reached 
by  some  tangible  military  demonstra- 
tion. History  is  replete  with  demon- 
strations of  that  kind:  so  that  the 
problem  of  Austria,  now  that  the 
government's  word  could  no  longer 
be  taken,  was  to  impress  the  people 
of  Servia  with  Austria-Hungary's  pur- 
pose not  to  be  silent  longer  under 
these  flying  firebrands.  We  went  to 
war  with  Spain  for  less  than  Aus- 
tria was  suffering  at  the  hands  of 
Servia.  England  declared  war  on  the 
republic    of    Paul    Kruger    for    less. 


THE  DUTY  OF  NEUTR.^LS  IN  THE  WAR 


33 


And  Italy  declared  war  on  Turkey  for 
less.  And  in  each  case  the  war  closed 
with  territory  detached  from  the  van- 
quished and  taken  by  the  victor. 
Were  we  wrong?  More  than  that: 
Did  any  great  outside  power  even 
say  Nay?  On  the  contrary,  we  were 
left  to  deal  with  the  problem  as  we 
thought  right.  Why,  then,  should 
any  outside  power  say  Nay  to  Aus- 
tria, especially  if  no  territory  was  to 
be  taken?  Morally  right  in  her 
demand  on  Servia,  to  sit  in  at  the 
investigation,  why  was  not  Austria 
left  alone  to  enforce  that  right,  as 
England,  the  United  States,  and  Italy 
had  been  left  to  enforce  their  rights? 
The  answer  is — Russia.  And  that 
too,  not  because  Austria  was  without 
just  cause  for  what  she  proposed,  but 
because  any  movement  against  the 
Slavs  of  Servia  would  not  be  tol- 
erated by  "home  opinion"  in  Russia. 
That  is  the  fourth  salient  fact  con- 
tained in  the  White  Paper.  Had  Rus- 
sia stood  aside  as  England  was  will- 
ing to  stand  aside,  except  to  see  that 
the  demonstration  against  Servia  was 
not  carried  too  far,  the  flame  would 
not  have  spread  to  Europe.  England 
had  no  interest  in  It,  as  an  "Austro- 
Servian  Question;"  so  Sir  Edward 
Grey  e.\pressly  declared.  France's  in- 
terest was  merely  that  of  ally  of  Rus- 
sia— it  was  put  on  that  ground  at 
the  time  by  the  French  foreign  office; 
so  it  was  Russia's  interference, 
and  Russia's  interference  alone,  that 
blew  the  flame  from  a  matter  con- 
cerning Austria  and  Servia  only,  to 
a  matter  Involving  Europe.  And 
upon  the  sole  reason  (at  least  such 
is  the  purport  of  the  White  Paper) 
that  there  was  a  condition  of  opin- 
ion "at  home"  that  would  not  permit 
her  to  be  tolerant,  or  even  just,  in 
such  a  dispute  as  this  abroad.  Group 
together,  in  your  mind,  these  three 
facts — the  presence  of  the  Slav  In 
large  numbers  in  Austro-Hungarian 
population;  the  systematic  stirring  of 
these  Slavs  by  Servia  against  Austria- 
Hungary;  and  the  persistence  of  Ser- 
via in  that,  even  after  solemn  prom- 
ises to  stop  it,  both  to  Austria  and 
the  great  powers — and  you  have 
staked  out  the  cause  of  the  war  as 
an  immediate  matter  between  Aus- 
tria and  Servia.  Add  the  fourth  fact 
— the  determination  of  Russia,  for 
reasons  of  her  own,  that  no  military 
demonstration  should  be  made  to  stop 
Servia — and  you  will  have  the  lever 
that  lifted  it  from  an  Austro-Servian 
question  to  a  European  question. 
Russia  is  the  great  Slav  country  of 
the  world.  It  is  not  impossible  that 
that  great  race  demanded  of  its  gov- 
ernment that  no  Slav  anywhere 
should  be  punished,  even  if  he  were 
stirring  up  the  Slavs  of  a  neighbor- 
ing nation.  It  is  not  impossible  that 
Russia,  pressed  at  home  by  her  own 
Slavs  for  a  greater  measure  of  civil 
liberty,  saw  in  the  Servian  situation 
a  vent  for  that  feeling,  by  becoming 
the  champion  of  the  race  abroad.  It 
is  not  impossible  that  Russia  has  de- 
signs of  her  own  on  the  Balkan  pen- 
insula, and  feared  that  a  demonstra- 
tion by  Austria  might  take  the  form 
of  acquiring  territory.  Whatever 
the  reason,  the  spark  that  ignited 
Europe  was  this  alleged  public  opin- 
ion in  Russia.  What  subsequently 
transpired    was   simply    the    develop- 


ment of  that  spark.  Germany  tried 
to  drown  it  out,  even  in  Russia;  the 
White  Paper  shows  that  on  a  sharp 
note  from  her  to  Austria,  Austria 
stipulated  not  to  take  any  of  Ser- 
via's  territory.  Germany  tried  to 
prevent  its  spreading  to  France;  did 
not  want  war  with  France;  the  White 
Paper  shows,  as  already  stated,  that 
she  said  she  would  not  mobilize 
against  France  if  England  would 
stipulate  for  France's  neutrality. 
And  it  is  certain  Germany  did  not 
want  war  with  England.  Even  after 
England  announced  she  would  not 
permit  Germany  to  attack  from  the 
sea  the  northern  coast  of  France, 
and  asked  about  the  purposes  of 
Germany  respecting  Belgium,  Ger- 
many suggested  that  if  England 
would  remain  neutral  she  would  stay 
out  of  Belgium.  But  Russia  was  im- 
movable; she  %vould  not  accept  the 
offered  stipulation  of  Austria  that  ter- 
ritory would  not  be  taken  from  Ser- 
via. England  would  make  no  assur- 
ances for  France;  and  with  respect 
to  Belgium,  professed  to  look  upon 
the  suggestion  as  the  offer  of  a  bribe. 

W^ar  is  hideous.  The  Kaiser  and 
his  father  always  ready,  as  their 
situation  made  it  essential  they 
should  be  ready,  had  for  forty-three 
years  averted  it.  But  if  put  in  his 
place,  the  head  of  a  nation,  what 
could  you  have  done?  What  could 
Austria  and  Germany  do?  Let  the 
Servian  government  and  the  Servian 
people  go  free,  on  her  own  word 
again?  That  would  be  to  invite  con- 
tinued attacks.  Servia  would  have 
ascribed  this  Indulgence  to  tear  of 
stirring  up  trouble  in  Europe.  Let 
Russia's  interference  change  this? 
Servia  would  have  known  then  that 
their  Indulgence  was  due  to  fear — the 
fear  of  Russia.  Besides  there  is  a 
national  self-respect  that  must  be 
maintained.  Germany  and  Austria 
bowing  to  the  yoke  of  Russia,  on  a 
matter  In  which  Germany  and  Austria 
were  right  and  Russia  wrong,  would 
have  been  Germany  and  Austria  al- 
ready morally  vanqui.shed.  Even 
though  France  and  England  has 
come  at  once,  and  openly,  to  the  side 
of  Russia,  could  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria have  let  the  matter  go  on  Ser- 
via's  word?  Not  unless  they  were 
willing  to  bow  their  necks  to  the  yoke 
of  Europe.  The  fact  that  England 
and  France  joined  Russia  in  putting 
on  the  yoke  would  not  have  allevi- 
ated the  servility  of  bearing  it. 

But  was  there  no  way  to  escape 
that  yoke  without  war?  That  is  the 
question  history  will  ask.  Without 
war  with  Russia,  no — unless  Austria 
accepted  the  Russian  veto  on  any 
demonstration  against  Servia,  Rus- 
sia's mind  was  made  up.  Austria 
stipulated  not  to  annex  Servian  ter- 
ritory; that  was  not  enough;  Russia 
remained  immovable.  England  sug- 
gested a  conference,  and  pending  such 
conference  that  Austria  be  allowed 
to  occupy  Belgrade.  Russia  refused. 
Russia  was  willing  that  England, 
Italy,  France  and  Germany  should  go 
into  conference,  but  made  it  clear 
that  pending  the  outcome  of  such  a 
conference,  Austria's  hands  must  be 
tied  even  from  making  a  military 
demonstration  of  her  determination 
that  the  incendiarism  should  cease. 
Russia's  will  In  the  matter  must  be 


accepted  by  Europe  as  well  as  by 
Germany  and  Austria.  That  was 
Russia's  attitude.  And  it  meant  to 
Austria  and  Germany  either  to  bow 
to  that  will,  or  war — with  Russia, 
at  least. 

Russia  undoubtedly  believed  she 
had  the  backing  of  France  in  this, 
and  possibly  of  England  also.  The 
White  Paper  contains  a  dispatch 
showing  that  the  French  ambassador 
at  St.  Petersburg  was  urging  the 
"solidarity"  of  Russia,  France  and 
England,  on  the  English  ambassador 
there.  '  Now,  why  did  France  back 
Russia?  Why  has  England  come 
finally  to  back  her,  for  the  Belgian 
matter  is  only  an  excuse?  On  this 
matter  between  Austria  and  Russia, 
Austria  was  right  and  Russia  was 
wrong.  For  Austria  to  have  surren- 
dered to  the  veto  of  Russia  would 
have  meant  the  surrender  of  her  in- 
dependence as  a  great  power.  Why 
did  France  (and  England  finally) 
virtually  insist  on  that  surrender? 
Because  of  the  Triple  Entente?  No 
ally  is  bound  to  support  another  ally 
in  a  wrong.  It  is  on  that  ground  that 
American  public  opinion  is  excusing 
Italy  from  her  obligation  to  Ger- 
many. Why,  then,  did  not  England 
and  France  let  Germany,  right,  have 
it  out  alone  with  Russia,  wrong? 

There  was  something  else  than  the 
Triple  Entente.  Europe,  the  chief 
seat  of  civilization,  is  the  chief  seat 
of  the  world-old  struggle  of  the 
races  also,  especially  easterh  and 
southeastern  Europe;  the  drawing  of 
the  races  together  by  the  concentric 
chords  of  modern  life  has  only  In- 
tensified that  struggle.  Europe  is 
the  seat  of  the  modern  struggle  of 
economic  ambitions:  industry  in  our 
day  has  become  the  affair  not  of 
Individuals  but  of  nations.  But  as 
colors  released  from  their  anchorage 
run  together,  the  races  drawn  out  of 
their  isolations  are  merging,  and  in- 
dustry no  longer  a  matter  of  small 
spheres  is  concentrating  into  larger 
spheres;  neither  races  nor  economic 
spheres  can  be  kept  separate  longer 
by  national  boundaries.  Within  the 
thirty  years  between  my  first  and  last 
visits  to  Europe  this  process  of  things 
becoming  alike  (including  people) 
has  transformed  Europe  from  a  land 
of  picturesque  differences  to  a  land 
resembling  America  in  identity  of 
dress,  of  mental  attitudes,  and  of  the 
internal  spirit  as  well  as  external 
appearances  of  live  affairs.  That 
means  that  the  day  of  a  larger  polit- 
ical concentration  is  at  hand  also. 
What  led  France  and  England  to 
back  Russia,  wrong.  In  this  Austria- 
Hungary  matter  against  Germany, 
right,  was,  undoubtedly,  their  appre- 
hension that  Germany  successful  over 
Russia  would  be  Germany  not  sim- 
ply prei'niinent.  but  preponderant, 
both  politically  and  economically, 
among  the  nations  of  the  continent. 

That  apprehension  may  have  been 
justified  by  the  probable  fact.  The 
spread  of  the  war  to  the  whole  of 
Europe,  In  consequence,  history  may 
justify;  I  am  only  stating  what  I  be- 
lieve to  be  the  basic  cause.  But  this 
thing  every  honest  mind  must  admit: 
If  this  was  the  Big  Cause,  underneath 
the  smaller  causes,  that  brought 
France  and  England  Into  the  strug- 


34 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


gle,  Germany,  by  every  law  that  en- 
titles a  nation  to  honestly  grow,  was 
entitled  to  resist  them.  And  i£  war 
on  one  side  of  this  apprehension  was 
something  not  to  be  denominated  as 
monstrous,  war  on  the  other  side  is 
equally  above  that  common  epithet. 
It  is  not  impossible  of  course  that 
Germany  made  a  mistake  in  believing 
war  with  Russia,  or  surrender  to  Rus- 
sia, was  unavoidable,  through  con- 
ference. Only  Omniscience  and  the 
Russian  Cabinet  knew.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  Germany  made  a  tac- 
tical mistake — that  the  participation 
of  England  on  the  side  of  Russia 
might  ha^  been  avoided  by  that  con- 
ference. Only  Omniscience  and  the 
English  Cabinet  knew.  And  it  is  not 
Impossible  that  Germany  made  a  mis- 
take as  to  her  own  strength,  even 
when  ready,  against  her  enemies'  un- 
readiness. The  event  will  prove.  But 
the  duty  and  the  responsibility  of 
balancing  these,  as  to  whether  he 
would  wait  for  such  conference  or 
not,  was  with  the  Kaiser  and  his 
counselors.  He  knew  that  Germany 
was  ready.  And  who  has  the  right 
to  say,  that  it  war  either  now  or  later 
was  inevitable — it  the  attitude  of 
France  and  England  supporting  Rus- 
sia, wrong,  against  Germany,  right, 
in  the  Austro-Servian  matter,  re- 
vealed their  true  attitude  toward  the 
natural  growth  of  Germany  in  the 
family  of  nations — who  has  the  right 
to  say  in  that  event  that  William  was 
bound  to  wait  until  his  own  prepara- 
tions had  been  matched  by  theirs. 
I  am  not  unreservedly  for  Germany, 
nor  tor  France  or  England  in  this 
war.  There  is  much  I  do  not  know 
that  might  turn  the  scale  either  way. 
But  I  am  for  an  open  mind.  The 
question  is  not:  Who  struck  the  first 
blow?  The  question  is:  Why  was 
any  blow  made  necessary? 

PETER  S.  GROSSCUP. 


the  war.  A  certain  phase  of  his  ar- 
gument was  taken  exception  to  by  "The 
Times."  I  now  have  pleasure  in  print- 
ing Judge  Grosscup's  counter-reply 
thereto. 

HERMAN  RIDDER. 


I  cannot  refrain  from  the  observa- 
tion that  Judge  Grosscup  has  not  only 
struck,  in  the  article  concluded  above, 
the  true  note  of  that  higher  neutral- 
ity enunciated  by  President  Wilson, 
but  that  he  has  also  given  a  sound, 
logical  and  workable  interpretation 
of  it.  If  in  the  beginning  all  Amer- 
icans and  all  American  organs  of  pub- 
licity had  approached  the  situation  in 
Europe  with  "an  open  mind"  we 
might  have  been  spared  the  war  of 
words  which  it  has  brought  down 
about  our  ears.  Attack  inspires  de- 
fense, and  as  in  Europe,  Germany 
and  Austria  were  not  the  aggressors, 
so  in  the  American  press,  it  was  not 
those  who  sympathized  with  Germany 
and  Austria  who  opened  hostilities 
but  those  who  insisted  upon  vilify- 
ing them.  It  is  high  time  that  "cease 
firing"  was  sounded. 

HERMAN  RIDDER. 

A   Continuance  of  article: 
AN    APPEAL   FOR    A   FAIR   JUDG- 
MENT. 


By  Judge  Peter  S.  Grosscup,  of  Chi- 
cago, in  Herman  Ridder's  Column, 
"The  War  Situation  from  Day  to 
Da.v,"  in  the  "New  Yorker  Staats- 
Zeitung."  October  25,  1914. 
I     published    in     this    column    some 

days  ago   Judge  Grosscup's  article  on 


An  editorial  just  seen  by  me  in  the 
"New  York  Times"  comments  on  some 
views  the  Belgian  neutrality  expressed 
by  me  in  an  article  in  the  "Staats- 
Zeitung."  This  comment  was  no  doubt 
meant  to  be  fair  and  was  without  tem- 
per— something  rather  unusual  these 
days  in  European  war  talk.  But  It 
left  an  incorrect  impression  of  what  I 
had  written.  Will  you  let  me  briefly 
state  what  my  view  is? 

The  Congress  of  Vienna  of  1815,  sit- 
ting after  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  took 
Holland  and  Belgium  away  from  Aus- 
tria and  made  of  them  a  single  king- 
dom, guaranteeing  its  neutrality.  The 
parties  to  that  stipulation  included 
England  and  Prussia,  the  party  feared 
being  France.  In  1S31  Belgium  ob- 
tained her  independence  and  again  had 
her  neutrality  guaranteed  by  the  great 
powers,  including  England  and  Prus- 
sia. The  effect  of  this  stipulation  was 
that  of  international  "contract"  be- 
tween the  powers  signing,  that  in  case 
of  war  between  them,  and  especially  in 
case  of  war  between  other  powers,  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium,  a  small  state 
comparatively,  should  be  observed  and 
protected  by  the  larger  states.  Unques- 
tionably the  decision  of  Germany  to 
cross  Belgium  was  in  contravention  of 
that  contract,  and,  in  consequence,  an 
international  wrong,  unless  countervail- 
ing circumstances  had  arisen  that 
made  compliance  with  that  contract  a 
greater  wrong.  The  point  I  wish  to 
bring  out  is  that  the  relation  of  Ger- 
many and  England  with  respect  to  the 
Belgian  matter,  so  far  as  England  was 
concerned,  was  a  matter  of  contract 
only. 

On  the  other  hand  Belgium  as  an 
independent  neutral  state  was  en- 
titled, not  by  this  contract,  mainly,  but 
by  the  law  of  nations,  to  possess  her 
territory  inviolate  from  the  trespass  of 
other  uations.  Until  early  in  the  19th 
century  this  right  included  the  right 
to  grant  leave  to  belligerents  to  cross 
her  territory  on  the  way  to  the  enemy. 
This,  says  the  German  authority 
quoted  in  your  editorial — the  nations 
of  the  continent  being  small  and 
largel.v  separated  from  each  other  by 
the  territory  of  other  nations — was  a 
matter  of  "necessity."  Since  the  early 
part  of  the  century,  however,  the  opin- 
ion has  become  pretty  near  unanimous 
that  a  neutral  nation  may  not  grant 
such  leave,  but  on  the  contrary  must 
"prohibit"  the  use  of  its  territory  for 
the  transit  of  troops.  "It  is  neverthe- 
less conceivable."  says  >Sir  Thomas  Bar- 
clay, an  English  authority  writing 
since  1907  for  the  Encyclopedia  Britan- 
nica,  "that  under  pressure  of  military 
necessity,  or  on  account  of  an  over- 
whelming interest,  a  powerful  belliger- 
ent state  would  cross  the  territory  of  a 
weak  neutral  state  and  leave  the  conse- 
quences to  diplomacy;"  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  which  he  cites  the  act  of  Eng- 
land in  crossing  Portugese  territory, 
on  its  way  to  the  South  African  repub- 
lics in  1901.  over  the  protest  of  Por- 
tngal.  Those  w-ho  succeed  him  in  writ- 
ing   may    also    cite    as   an   illustration 


Japan's  crossing  China  in  this  war  of 
1914  on  her  way  to  the  German  Chi- 
nese port,  and  over  the  protest  of 
China  also — Japan,  according  to  her 
premier's  statement,  having  been  called 
out  by  England.  In  a  word,  neither 
the  law  of  international  trespass,  nor 
treaty,  abolishes  "necessity"  as  an  ele- 
ment in  international  warfare. 

Now  let  us  look  at  the  facts  as  a 
matter  of  "contract"  between  England 
and  Germany — assuming  of  course  that 
Germany  was  morally  right  in  an  at- 
tack of  any  kind  on  France.  To  march 
into  France  by  any  way  other  than 
through  Belgium  is  to  go  by  a  south- 
erly bend  through  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 
That  would  leave  the  whole  of  the 
northern  half  of  France  free  from  at- 
tack except  from  the  south.  Bismarck 
could  afford  to  do  this  in  1870  because 
England  had  announced  her  neutrality. 
On  August  2.  1914,  six  days  before  the 
German  armies  touched  Belgium,  and 
when  the  question  of  German  neutral- 
ity was  still  under  discussion  between 
the  English  and  German  foreign  offices, 
England  not  only  had  not  announced 
her  neutrality  but  gave  her  engage- 
ment to  France  that  she  would  pre- 
vent, with  her  fleet,  the  Germans  from 
attacking  or  blockading  with  their  fleet 
the  northern  ports  of  France.  England 
could  not  do  this  and  remain  a  neutral. 
To  say  she  would  block  with  her  fleet 
impending  operations  of  the  German 
fleet  in  the  war  that  was  opening  in 
France  was,  in  itself,  an  act  of  war; 
this,  too,  in  connection  with  the  fact 
that,  when  England  asked  Germany 
her  intentions  respecting  Belgium.  Ger- 
many asked  England  if  she  (Germany) 
remained  out  of  Belgium,  would  Eng- 
land remain  neutral — a  question  Eng- 
land refused  to  answer  except  to  say 
she  would  not  tie  her  hands.  Here, 
then,  was  England  already  enough  at 
war  with  Germany  to  block  any  at- 
tack on  the  northern  ports  of  France; 
ready,  too.  to  come  through  those  ports 
with  her  armies  to  the  help  of  the 
French  armies,  in  case  she  became  a 
full  belligerent  which  her  attitude 
clearly  foreshadowed;  and  not  above 
coming  through  Belgium  also,  in  case 
of  stress,  upon  the  flank  of  Germany, 
as  her  conduct  in  South  Africa  showed. 
Now  what  under  such  circumstances 
was  Germany  to  do  with  that  "con- 
tract" with  England?  Keep  it,  as  a 
sportsman,  you  say.  would  keep  his 
side  of  a  stipulation  however  onerous, 
and  thereby  increase  by  one-half  Ger- 
many's chances  of  defeat,  certainly 
prolong  the  war,  and  with  equal  cer- 
tainty give  up  a  much  larger  toll  of 
lives  to  bring  the  war  to  an  end?  War 
is  not  a  sport ;  and  defeat  in  war  and 
its  bruises  are  not  the  defeated  sports- 
man going  home  with  a  sore  pride  or 
sores  on  his  arms  and  legs.  Defeat  in 
such  a  war  as  this  is  the  loss  of  every- 
thing for  which  a  capable  and  gallant 
people  have  struggled  since  1^70,  and 
the  bruises  are  the  families  left  at 
home  without  husbands,  sons  and 
brothers.  To  say  that  a  "stipulation" 
thus  misused  by  England — the  England 
that  has  since  palmed  it  off,  as  the 
"cause"  of  war  although  she  had  al- 
ready entered  the  arena  before  as  a 
partial  belligerent  at  least — should  pre- 
v.ail  over  these  larger  circumstances 
both  military  and  humane,  is  not  the 
essence  of  morality ;  It  is  quixotic,  con- 
trary   to    the    common    sense    of   one's 


THE  DUTY  OF  NEUTRALS  IN  THE  WAR 


35 


obligations,  inhuman  as  well  as  un- 
human,  and  would  have  marked  the 
German  Kaiser  as  a  faithless  servant 
of  his  people. 

But  what  about  the  consequences  to 
Belgium?  The  sympathies  of  the  world 
naturally  go  out  to  her — not  less  the 
sympathies  of  those  who  believe  she 
was  beguiled  into  unnecessary  fight- 
ing on  her  part  than  of  those  who 
think  it  was  her  duty  to  fight.  As  a 
neutral  nation  Belgium  could  not  have 
granted  leave  to  Germany  to  cross  her 
territory.  I  will  go  as  far  as  the  au- 
thority quoted  and  say  it  was  her  duty 
to  "prohibit"  Germany  from  crossing 
her  territory.  But  she  was  under  obli- 
gation to  England  or  the  other  nations 
to  use  herself  up  and  her  army  in  that 
prohibition.  Belgium  is  to  Germany  in 
military  strength  about  what  Switzer- 
land would  be  to  Austria.  Switzerland 
is  also  a  country  whose  neutrality  is 
guaranteed.  Now  suppose  Austria,  in 
a  time  of  peace,  had  put  some  great 
dishonor  on  France — bad  seized  her 
President  and  his  ministers  when  on  a 
visit  to  Vienna  and  held  them  as  pris- 
oners— how  could  France  reach  Aus- 
tria by  land  e.xcept  through  Germany, 
Italy  or  Switzerland?  Suppose  fur- 
ther that  Germany  refused  transit  and 
Italy  as  a  member  of  the  Triple  Alli- 
ance not  only  refused  transit  but  with 
her  navy  barred  the  sea  as  England 
barred  the  sea  to  Germany,  would 
Switzerland  be  obliged  to  let  France 
eat  up  her  army  on  its  way  to  the 
enemy?  Along  with  the  balance  of  the 
world  Switzerland's  sense  of  justice 
and  feelings  might  be  all  on  the  side 
of  France — must  she  in  spite  of  that 
on  "a  point  of  law"  become  practically 
the  fighting  ally  of  Austria?  The  con- 
clusion is  absurd.  It  puts  a  "point  of 
law"  above  humanity  and  ordinary 
common  sense.  Who  thinks  that  in 
case  Switzerland  would  not  thus  im- 
molate her  army,  Austria  or  the  world 
would  hold  her  accountable  after- 
wards? Who  thinks  China  will  be  held 
accountable  by  Germany  after  the  war, 
even  if  Germany  is  successful?  Who 
feels  that  England  would  hold  Belgium 
accountable?  And  why  not?  Because 
down  in  his  heart  every  man  knows 
that  to  hold  a  power  like  Belgium  or 
Switzerland  to  such  an  accountability 
would  shock  the  moral  sense  of  the 
world.  In  any  wide  vision  of  the  situ- 
ation, therefore,  Belgium  was  not  re- 
quired to  resist  Germany  "by  force." 
She  had  the  right  to,  but  was  not 
morally  required  to.  Even  as  a 
"point  of  law"  in  international  juris- 
prudence, her  obligation  did  not  go 
that  far.  International  law  is  not  un- 
reasonable. It  recognizes  "necessity" 
as  a  force  in  affairs.  It  does  not  de- 
mand more  blood  than  is  necessary  to 
reach  conclusions — rleniands  no  fruit- 
less blood  of  the  innocent  bystander  to 
fulfill  a  technicality  or  keep  the  record 
straight.  If  Germany  is  morally  wrong 
in  this  war  on  France  and  Russia,  my 
pro-English  friend  does  not  need  this 
side  issue  to  justify  his  sympathies. 
On  the  other  hand  If  Germany  is 
morally  right  as  between  her  and 
France  and  Russia,  he  Is  forgetting  the 
duty  not  to  sacrifice  to  a  "word"  the 
wider  and  sulistanlial  "thing."  the  in- 
creased danger  of  defeat  and  increased 
cost  of  life  involved  in  shuttinc  one's 
eyes  to  what  may  be  the  overshadow- 
ing niili(.-irv  necessity  <if  the  situation. 


And  if  you  reply  that  such  doctrine  is 
immoral,  my  answer  is  that  in  this 
case  you  are  making  a  fetish  of  some- 
thing that  it  would  be.  in  the  highest 
sense  of  humanity,  immoral  not  to  dis- 
regard ;  for  it  is  the  letter  of  the  law 
that  killeth.  only  the  spirit  that  mak- 
eth  alive.  England  professing  still  to 
be  not  at  w-ar.  holding  back  Germany 
on  the  neutral  sea — itself  a  flagrant 
violation  of  neutrality — will  cut  a  poor 
figure  in  her  pretense  that  what 
brought  her  into  the  conflict  was  this 
subsequent  violation  of  Belgian  neu- 
trality  by   Germany. 

In  a  word,  the  position  of  England 
toward  Germany  was  this:  You  shall 
not  use  the  neutral  seas  to  attack  with 
your  navy  the  northern  ports  of 
France  or  open  them  up  to  your 
armies.  I  will  use  my  navy  to  prevent 
you  from  the  use  of  such  neutral  seas. 
Nor  shall  you  reach  northern  France 
with  your  armies  through  Belgium.  I 
will  use  this  "contract"  of  neutrality 
to  block  that.  My  obligation  toward 
neutrality  amounts  to  nothing  on  the 
seas ;  but  your  obligation  of  neutrality 
is  everything  on  the  land.  And  be- 
cause Germany  did  not  submit  to  this 
double  cross  on  her  right  to  attack 
France  from  the  north,  England  pro- 
fesses to  have  gone  into  the  war  as 
the  champion  of  the  cause  of  the  in- 
violability of  treaties  and  of  neutrality. 
PETER  H.  GROSSCUP. 


XEM'S    THE    NEW    YORK     TEVfES 
WOULD  LIKE  TO  StTPRESS. 


(From  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York. 
.September  2;?,  1914.) 

The  New  York  Times  chides  the 
British  censor  for  not  suppressing  the 
story  of  the  Turco  soldier  who  pro- 
tested vehemently  when  from  his 
scanty  baggage  there  was  removed 
the  head  of  a  German  soldier  which 
he  proposed  carrying  back  with  him 
to  Africa  as  a  souvenir.  Evidently 
the  old  hypocrite  on  Times  Square 
was  taken  off  its  guard.  For  we  now 
know  just  what  news  the  editor  of 
the  Times  regards  as  "fit  to  print." 
Whatever  helps  England  or  hurts 
Germany  is  fit  to  print,  whatever  un- 
masks the  true  nature  of  tlie  bar- 
barous war  waged  against  Germany 
by  the  savages  of  Africa,  the  Mon- 
gols of  Asia  and  the  Cossacks,  under 
the  direction  of  London  is  not  fit  lo 
print.  Meanwhile  the  Times,  more 
English  than  the  English  censor,  con- 
tinues its  criminal  campaign  for  the 
suppression  of  truth. 


If  I  may  be  permitted  a  word  to 
the  American  press,  I  should  say,  dis- 
card your  bias,  forget  your  sympath- 
ies, overlook  your  prejudice  and 
mine,  and  enter  upon  the  campaign  of 
peace  with  the  energy,  the  determin- 
ation and  the  grit  so  characteristic  of 
America.  When  Barrie  lectures  In 
the  United  States  tell  him  we  want 
peace.  Make  that  sentiment  so 
strong  and  so  universal  that  the  na- 
tions of  the  world  will  hear  our  cry. 

Should  Germany  refuse  an  honor- 
able and  lasting  peace,  then  and  then 
only  will  the  time  have  come  to  heap 
abuse  on  its  ruler  and  odium  on  its 
government. — Herman  Ridder. 


THE  Rl.SSLAN  "ORANGE  PAPER." 

The  publication  of  the  Russian 
"Orange  Paper"  throws  important, 
and  what  may  be  regarded  as  prac- 
tically definite  light  on  the  question 
of  immediate  responsibility  for  the 
present  war  of  the  nations.  The 
British  and  Geruian  "White  Papers" 
already  given  to  the  reading  world 
have  contained  notliing  that  ap- 
proaches in  definitiveness  the  con- 
fession of  the  Russian  Foreign  Of- 
fice of  the  fatherly  interest  taken 
by  Russia  in  the  affairs  of  Servia, 
and  of  the  filial  obedience  with  which 
Belgrade  responded  thereto.  I  have 
had  occasion  previously  to  draw  at- 
tention to  the  well-defined  policies 
of  Russia  and  Servia.  It  remained, 
however,  for  the  Russian  government 
to  show  how  closely  interlocked  they 
were  and  with  what  complete  accord 
both  were  working,  or  being  worked, 
toward  their  fulfilment. 

The  ambitions  of  Servia  may  be  de- 
scribed as  the  extension  of  her  ter- 
ritory and  the  increase  of  her  popu- 
lation by  the  detachment  from  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire  of  those 
adjacent  provinces  in  which  the 
Slavic  element  predominates.  These 
ambitions  in  themselves  may  be  re- 
garded as  laudable  or  otherwise,  ac- 
cording to  the  political  and  ethical 
frame  of  mind  of  the  observer.  It 
is  perhaps  possible  that  Mexico  would 
like  to  see  returned  to  her  all  that 
southwestern  portion  of  the  United 
States  which  once  was  hers.  As 
long  as  such  feelings  remain  within 
bounds  they  do  not  constitute  a  casus 
belli  with  Mexico.  But  should  the 
Mexican  people  attempt  by  a  cam- 
paign of  education,  backed  by  secret 
murder  and  open  assassination,  to 
secure  the  restitution  of  this  terri- 
tory to  Mexico,  and  should  it  be  dis- 
covered that  this  campaign  had  the 
support  of  the  authorities  in  Mexico 
City.  I  do  not  believe  we  should  hesi- 
tate long  in  demanding  of  Mexico 
an  understanding  quite  as  vigorous 
as  that  which  Austria-Hungary  asked 
of  Servia.  Were  such  a  campaign 
to  culminate  in  the  assassination  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States 
or  of  his  Secretary  of  State,  as  in 
Servia  it  ended  in  the  murder  of 
the  Austrian  Archduke,  I  am  sure 
our  act  of  retribution  would  be 
swifter.  That  Austria  should  have 
taken  the  stand  which  she  eventually 
took,  is  not  surprising.  It  is  cause 
for  marvel  only  that  she  did  not  as- 
sume it  months  before. 

The  frame  of  mind  of  the  Servian 
people  upon  the  conclusion  of  the 
Balkan  war  may  be  compared  with 
that  of  the  Japanese  after  their  suc- 
cessful war  with  Russia.  They  had 
beaten  the  enemy,  and,  consequently, 
could  lick  the  world.  If  we  carry 
the  comparison  further,  however,  we 
must  admit  that  the  Servian  govern- 
ment, like  the  Japanese,  held  a  more 
conservative  estimate  of  its  powers. 
And  it  is.  and  all  along  has  been, 
impossible  of  conception  that  Servia 
would  have  maintained  herself  in  the 
position  of  defending  the  anti-.'\uB- 
trian  propaganda  unless  she  had  been 
able  to  depend  implicitly  upon  the 
support  of  a  strong  ally.  The  am- 
bitions of  the  Servian  people  could 
not    be    realized    without    the   aid   of 


36 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


Russia,  and  in  return  for  that  aid 
Servia  was  willing  to  act  as  a  cat's 
paw  to  draw  Austria-Hungary  into 
a  conflict  in  which  Russia  would 
come  to  her  support,  and  at  the  same 
time  find  an  excuse  for  annexing, 
if    possible,    the    Galician    provinces. 

All  this  has  been  known  by  those 
who  have  followed  the  course  of 
events  in  the  Balkans  in  recent  years. 
It  is  confirmed  now  by  the  Russian 
Foreign  Office. 

If  Servia  had  depended  impartially 
upon  the  powers  signatory  to  the 
several  Balkan  conventions,  why  was 
it  that  the  Austrian  note  of  July  23 
reached  St.  Petersburg  the  same 
day  from  Belgrade,  and  was  not 
communicated  to  the  Foreign  OlHce 
of  the  other  interested  powers? 
It  reached  them  apparently  only 
through  the  diplomatic  channels  of 
Austria-Hungary.  If  Russia  and 
Servia  were  not  playing  a  concerted 
game  of  political  intrigue,  what  ex- 
cuse can  be  offered  for  this  oversight 
on  the  part  of  the  government  in 
Belgrade?  If  Servia  wanted  peace, 
why  did  she  refer  her  troubles  only 
to  Russia,  who,  she  knew,  wanted 
war? 

The  oft-repeated  assertion  that  the 
Czar  did  his  best  to  preserve  the 
peace  of  Europe  is  contradicted  by 
the  published  documents  of  his  own 
foreign  office.  It  develops  from  a 
reading  of  the  telegram  of  July  24, 
the  day  before  the  time  limit  set  in 
the  Austrian  ultimatum  elapsed, 
from  the  Prince  Regent  of  Servia  to 
His  Majesty  the  Emperor  in  St. 
Petersburg,  that  Servia  was  "ready 
to  accept  the  Austro-Hungarian  con- 
ditions which  are  compatible  with 
the  situation  of  an  independent 
State,  as  well  as  those  whose  accep- 
tance shall  be  advised  us  by  your  Ma- 
jesty." In  other  words,  Belgrade 
was  ready  to  submit  to  the  just  and 
natural  demands  of  Vienna,  if  only 
His  Majesty  gave  the  word.  Had  the 
Czar  counseled  Servia  as  every  con- 
sideration of  propriety  demanded,  he 
should  counsel  her,  there  would  have 
been  no  conflict  between  Austria  and 
Servia.  In  this  hour  of  opportunity, 
however,  the  Czar  chose  to  be  con- 
sistent rather  than  correct.  Having 
encouraged  the  Servian  propaganda 
for  his  own  purposes  and  by  the 
promise  of  support,  it  was  perhaps 
too  late  for  him  to  retrace  his  steps. 
It  was  easier,  apparently,  to  go  ahead 
and  attempt  to  see  the  thing  through, 
and  that  is  what  he  did. .  With  the 
long-sought  pretext  at  hand,  it  would 
have  been  bad  management  from  the 
Russian  point  of  view  to  pass  it  up. 
The  Russian  and  French  armies  had 
been  whipped  into  shape  and  the 
British  fleet  was  being  held  in  leash. 
It  was  now  or  perhaps  never  for 
Russia  to  strike  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  her  aims. 

But  even  when  war  had  become 
inevitable  between  Austria  and 
Servia,  the  impossibility  of  Russia 
not  coming  to  the  aid  of  Servia  can 
be  explained  only  on  the  grounds  of 
consistency.  There  could  have  be^n 
no  possible  outcome  of  such  a  con- 
flict which  called  upon  Russia  to  in- 
tervene on  one  side  or  the  other, 
except  that  she  had  backed  Servia 
against  Austria  to  a  point  from  which 


she  could  not  retreat  without  "los- 
ing face."  It  is  clear  now  what  Rus- 
sia stands  and  has  stood  for — in- 
trigue against  neighboring  states, 
murder  and  assassination.  The  pre- 
tense that  she  sought  peace  by  ask- 
ing delay  on  the  part  of  Austria  is 
too  shallow  to  hold  much  water.  To 
her,  and  to  her  alone,  was  it  given 
to  counsel  Servia  in  the  right  direc- 
tion and  she  refused  to  do  so.  Even 
then  it  was  given  her  to  allow  Aus- 
tria and  Servia  to  settle  their  dis- 
pute without  her  interference.  When 
she  failed  in  this,  she  failed  to  pre- 
serve  the   peace   of   Europe. 

It  is  idle  to  talk  now  of  what  the 
German  Emperor  might  have  done. 
As  an  ally  of  the  Austrian  Emperor, 
he  could  not  be  expected  to  counsel 
Austria  against  demanding  of  Servia 
the  righting  of  wrongs  which  had 
come  to  be  intolerable.  He  did  what 
he  could  to  localize  the  war,  did 
more  than  any  other  sovereign  of 
Europe,  and  his  efforts  to  this  end 
ceased  only  when  it  became  unmis- 
takably apparent  that  Russia  could 
not  be  swerved  from  her  purpose  of 
attacking  Austria. 

The  then  position  of  Germany  was 
sufficiently  explained  in  the  note 
handed  to  the  British  Government, 
on  July  24,  by  the  German  Ambas- 
sador at  the  Court  of  St.  James. 

"The  Imperial  Government  want 
to  emphasize  their  position  that  in 
the  present  case  there  is  only  the  ques- 
tion of  a  matter  to  be  settled  ex- 
clusively between  Austria-Hungary 
and  Servia,  and  that  the  great  pow- 
ers ought  seriously  to  endeavor  to 
reserve  it  to  those  two  immediately 
concerned.  The  Imperial  Govern- 
ment desire  urgently  the  localization 
of  the  conflict,  because  every  inter- 
ference of  another  power  would, 
owing  to  the  different  treaty  obliga- 
tions, be  followed  by  Incalculable 
consequences." 

It  was  not  the  entrance  of  Ger- 
many into  the  war  that  started  the 
conflagration,  but  the  unwarranted 
interference  of  Russia  in  a  quarrel 
which  was  not  hers,  and  when  his- 
tory writes  the  story  of  1914,  the 
name  that  will  stand  out  pre-emi- 
nently before  all  others,  written  in 
letters  of  blood,  will  be  Nicholas  II. 


AN    UNFAIR    COMPARISON. 


"*  *  *  In  England  the  opponents 
of  the  war,  and  I  understand  that 
they  are  represented  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  maintain  that  the  For- 
eign Office  failed  to  do  everything 
possible  to  avoid  the  war.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  England  knew  of  the 
agreements,  the  plans  and  the  pur- 
poses of  France  and  Russia.  Eng- 
land knew  on  July  first  of  this  year 
what  all  the  world  knows  now, 
namely,  that  Germany  and  Austria 
had  been  isolated  by  diplomatic  in- 
trigues of  the  Triple  Entente.  The 
dream  of  Edward  VII  to  crush  his 
hated  nephew  was  about  to  be  real- 
ized. The  fact  that  England,  Russia 
and  France  join  in  the  chorus  shout- 
ing "The  Kaiser  did  it,  the  Kaiser 
did  it'  will  not  blind  history  when 
it  places  the  responsibility  for  this 
war." — Herman  Ridder,  in  the 
"New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung." 


Editorial  from  the  "Milwaukee  Free 
Pre.ss,"   September  21,    1914. 

We  have  not  had  presented  a  sufficient 
reason  for  the  almost  complete  destruction 
of  Louvain.  It  does  not  seem  to  reach 
the  spot  to  say  that  Belirians  fired  on  Ger- 
man troops.  Mexicans  did  the  same  on 
Americans  at  Vera  Cruz  but  Vera  Cruz  is 
now  a  better  organized,  healthier  and  hap- 
pier city  than  it  was  before  the  Americans 
entered.  American  military  justice  upon 
citizens  found  shootingr  was  as  severe  as 
the  Germans'  upon  Belgians  caught  in  the 
act.  The  non-combatant  sacrifices  his 
standing  when  he  does  this,  but  it  does  not 
warrant  such  wholesale  destruction  as 
was  the  punishment  given  by  the  Germans. 

This  paragraph  from  an  editorial 
in  "The  Chicago  Tribune"  is  a  typical 
specimen  of  the  kind  of  argument, 
speciously  fair  upon  its  face,  by 
means  of  which  certain  American 
newspapers  create  sentiment  against 
Germany. 

There  does  not  exist  even  the  ves- 
tige of  a  parallel  between  the  Ger- 
man occupation  of  Louvain  and  the 
American   occupation    of   Vera   Cruz. 

The  United  States  was  not  at  war 
with  anyone.  Her  troops  were  landed 
without  declaration,  and  to  this  day 
no  precedent  or  warranty  has  been 
adduced  for  this  strange  violation 
of  the  territory  of  a  friendly  nation. 
In  the  anomalous  position  which  our 
troops  occupied  at  Vera  Cruz,  the 
meting  out  of  "American  military 
justice  upon  citizens  found  shooting" 
is  in  itself  a  strange  commentary  on 
the  event. 

Had  this  arbitrary  act  on  the  part 
of  our  Government  led  to  national 
armed  resistance  on  the  part  of  Mex- 
ico, such  as  met  the  German  army 
when  it  entered  upon  its  pacific 
march  through  Belgium,  what  would 
then  have  been  the  policy  of  the 
American  generals? 

Had  Mexico  declared  war  upon  us, 
would  we  have  paused  to  make  Vera 
Cruz  a  healthier,  better  organized 
city?  Would  we  have  continued  to 
tolerate  the  guerilla  warfare  of  non- 
combatants  to  the  extent  of  making 
it  an  individual  and  not  a  community 
matter? 

The  smouldering  ruins  of  Filipino 
villages,  the  "water  cure"  inflicted 
upon  tight-tongued  insurrectos, 
which  engaged  the  press  some  fif- 
teen years  ago,  may  testify  to  the 
contrary. 

Let  us  not  be  hypocrites.  War  is 
one  thing,  and  a  police  move — such 
as  we  assume  the  occupation  of  Vera 
Cruz  to  have  been — is  another. 

It  was  for  us  to  avoid  any  act  that 
might  antagonize  the  Mexican  people 
to  convince  them  of  our  pacific  in- 
tent. It  was  for  the  Germans  har- 
rassed  from  the  start  by  civilian  at- 
tack, to  teach  a  lesson  that  would 
once  and  for  all  stop  the  guerilla 
warfare   of   Belgian   non-combatants. 

We  are  not  in  a  position  to  pass 
upon  the  necessity  of  the  destruction 
of  Louvain,  as  "The  Tribune"  seema 
to  be.  Its  correspondent,  Mr.  Ben- 
nett, believes  that  it  was  merited. 
It  is  hard  to  think  in  terms  of  war 
in  a  land  peace,  and  the  thought  of 
this  fair  city  in  ruins  is  a  tragic  one. 


IMMEDIATE  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 

From  the  Time  of  the  Assassination  of  the  Archduke  and  Duchess  of  Austria 

The  Real  Immediate  Cause  of  the  War 

The  Russian  Mobilization 


The  Philosopher  of  History  on  Modern  Ultra-pragmatism 
in  this  World  Politics 


GERM  A  X   "WAR-MAKERS" — A 
fUITICAL  STUDY. 


Gernianistic  Society  of  Chicago. 


B)  Xoel  Sargent,  of  the  University  of 
Washington. 

The  great  European  war  has  been 
ascribed  to  many  causes,  but  the  one 
of  which  we  hear  the  most  is  beyond 
doubt  German  militarism.  "Ger- 
many," w"e  are  told,  "had  a  chip  on 
its  shoulder  and  was  ready  and  will- 
ing, even  anxious,  to  fight  any  or  all 
comers."  "Germany  was  the  most 
formidable  military  power  on  the 
Continent  and  took  no  pains  to  avoid 
the  conflict."  "The  people  of  Ger- 
many are  a  war-like  race  and  believe 
that  In  might  is  right."  "Ever  since 
1870  the  feeling  of  militarism  has 
been  predominant  in  the  Teuton  em- 
pire." These  are  serious  charges  to 
make,  and  appeal  strongly  to  every 
American  when  they  are  constantly 
reiterated.  The  United  States  is,  and 
always  has  been,  opposed  to  mili- 
tarism in  any  form.  As  a  result  ap- 
peals to  our  natural  prejudice  have 
a  great  effect.  But  while  we  can 
never  approve  of  militarism,  for  its 
own  sake,  yet  it  is  possible  to  under- 
stand, by  reviewing  actual  facts,  the 
reasons  for  Germany's  strength,  and 
to  disprove  the  allegation  that  Ger- 
iimny  is  a  warlike  nation. 

The  Historical  Record. 

History  demonstrates  to  us  that 
Germany"  is  not  an  aggressive  coun- 
try. The  war  of  1870  was  the  result 
of  French  desire  to  engage  in  a  strug- 
gle with  Prussia.  Sir  Henry  Lytton 
Bulwer  stated  in  the  Commons  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1871,  that  Germany  had 
been  exposed  to  a  war  which  was  un- 
justly brought  upon  her.  Mr.  Wash- 
burne,  American  Minister  to  France 
in  1870,  writes  in  his  "Recollections 
of  a  Minister  to  France,"  (v.  1,  ch. 
2):  "It  really  appeared  that  the 
government  of  France  had  deter- 
mined to  have  war  with  Germany, 
mute  line  route.  Tlie  iilloEod  causes 
growing  out  of  the  talk  that  Ger- 
many was  to  put  a  German  prince 
on  the  throne  of  Spain  were  but  a 
mere    pretext." 


Mr.  Horsman  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons said  on  Feb.  17,  1871:  "I 
insist  that  if  you  take  the  whole 
history  of  Germany  you  must  say 
that  she  has  not  been  an  aggressive 
power."  Viscount  Royston  added: 
"Prussia  has  never  been  aggressive 
outside  what  she  considered  her  own 
sphere." 

Again,  take  the  German  record 
since  1870.  What  do  we  find?  Over 
forty  years  of  unbroken  peace. 
What  other  nation  can  point  to  such 
a  record?  Not  England,  with  her 
bitter  struggle  with  the  Boers.  Nor 
Italy  with  her  defeat  in  Abyssinia 
and  the  war  with  Turkey.  Neither 
Japan  nor  Russia  with  their  war  of 
1904.  Nor  can  the  United  States 
and  Spain  lay  claim  to  a  better  rec- 
ord. Surely,  this  record  must  speak 
for  itself.  If  Germany  had  really 
desired  war  what  magnificent  oppor- 
tunities she  has  had.  At  the  time 
of  the  Boer  war  it  would  have  been 
an  easy  matter  to  start  a  confiict  with 
England.  Or  after  the  Russo-Jap 
war  of  1904,  when  the  Russian  arms 
were  demoralized  by  defeat.  Or  dur- 
ing the  Algeciras  or  Agadir  inci- 
dents. If  Germany  had  wished  for 
war  what  better  chances  could  she 
have  possessed?  Germany's  record 
does  not  prove  her  a  warlike  power. 

Prof.  Arthur  McDonald,  In  an  ad- 
dress at  the  American  Institute  of 
Criminal  Law  and  Criminology  in 
Washington  in  October,  1914,  showed 
the  years  the  countries  of  Europe 
remained  at  peace  from  1800  to 
189.">,  a  period  of  90  years.  Ger- 
many was  at  war  11  years;  Spain  13 
years;  .\ustria-Hungary  14;  Italy 
Ifi;  Turkey  16;  England  19;  Russia 
20;    France    21. 

German  "militarism"  has  kept  the 
peace  for  over  forty  years.  Not  an- 
other great  nation  can  show  us  a 
record  to  compare  with  this.  Facts 
are  the  truth  and  the  truth  is  mighty 
and    must   prevail. 

The   Kai.ser'.s    War. 

"William  II.  the  'war  lord'  of  Eu- 
ope,  the  war-mad  ruler,  the  supreme 
autocrat  of  Germany,  personally 
started  the  confiict.  This  is  the 
Kaiser's  War,"  Such  is  the  charge. 
Let  us  see. 


These  two  words — "war  lord" — 
have  done  more  to  influence  the  be- 
lief of  the  Americans  that  German 
militarism  is  a  menace  to  world 
peace  than  any  one  thing.  Yet  the 
term  "dvr  ohcrxte  Kriegsherr,"  from 
which  they  are  derived,  means 
merely  "chief  commander  of  the 
forces."  Every  sovereign  country 
has  an  ••ohcrstcr  Krirgshcrr,"  as 
George  V  in  England,  Nicholas  II  in 
Russia,  or  Woodrow  Wilson  in  our 
own  land.  Twenty  years  ago  some 
one  took  the  phrase,  highly  elabo- 
rated it,  and  flung  it  out  to  the  world 
as  "supreme  war  lord,"  which  has 
been  a  powerful  ally  for  all  those 
who  feared  or  disliked  "Prussian 
militarism." 

The  constitutional  powers  of  the 
Emperor  are  not  exceptional.  He 
has  the  power,  just  as  our  own 
President,  to  declare  defensive  war. 
For  offensive  war  he  must  obtain 
the  consent  of  the  Bundesrat.  All 
funds,  in  both  offensive  and  defen- 
sive wars,  are  voted  by  the  Reich- 
stag, as  by  the  House  in  this  country. 
The  military  power  of  the  executive 
everywhere  includes  the  supreme 
command  of  all  the  military  forces 
of  the  nation.  In  some  monarchical 
countries,  as  Great  Britain,  it  em- 
braces also  the  right  to  declare  war. 
In  France  the  assent  of  both  cham- 
bers is  necessary.  In  both  France 
and  Germany  it  is  admitted  that  the 
executive  can  declare  defensive  war 
without  the  necessity  of  obtaining 
the  legislative  consent.  Even  w^here 
the  executive  may  initiate  hostilities, 
extensive  war  cannot  be  waged  for 
any  length  of  time  without  the  ap- 
proval of  the  legislature,  since  it  and 
not  the  executive  controls  the  source 
of  supply.  When  compared  with 
other  rulers  the  power  of  the  Kaiser 
is  not   excessive. 

Now  let  us  consider  William  II. 
Is  he,  as  a  man,  warlike  and  mili- 
tant? Is  he  an  enemy  of  peace?  It 
is  diflicult  to  believe  this.  The 
Kaiser  has  always  acted  in  the  in- 
terests of  peace.  And  he  has  had. 
as  Emperor,  many  chances  to  em- 
broil his  country  in  foreign  relations 
which  must  inevitably  have  led  to 
w^ar.  After  the  settlement  of  Agadir 
the  Kaiser  was  severely  arraigned  by 


38 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


the  jingoistic  members  of  the  Berlin 
press  (Germany,  like  every  other 
nation,  including  our  own,  has  a 
jingoistic  press)  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  exhibited  weakness  in  the 
councils  of  Europe.  French  jour- 
nalists have  called  him  •'GuiUaume  le 
timide." 

On  the  first  page  of  the  magazine 
section  of  the  "New  York  Times" 
for  June  8,  1913,  there  are  some 
Interesting  letters.  Here  are  some 
extracts: 

"The  one  man  outside  this  coun- 
try from  whom  I  obtained  help  in 
bringing  about  the  Peace  of  Ports- 
mouth (ending  the  Russo-Jap  war) 
was  His  Majesty  William  II.  From 
no  other  nation  did  I  receive  any 
assistance,  but  the  Emperor  person- 
ally, and  through  his  Ambassador  at 
St.  Petersburg,  was  of  real  aid  in 
helping  induce  Russia  to  face  the  ac- 
complished fact  and  come  to  an 
agreement  with  Japan.  *  *  * 
This  was  a  real  help  to  the  cause 
of  international  peace,  a  contribu- 
tion that  far  outweighed  any  amount 
of  mere  talk  about  it  in  the  abstract, 
for  in  this  as  in  all  other  matters  an 
ounce  of  performance  is  worth  a 
ton    of   promise." 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

"The  highest  praise  that  I  can  of- 
fer concerning  the  Emperor  William 
II  is  that  he  would  have  made  as 
good  a  King  of  England  as  our  his- 
tory has  provided,  and  as  good  a 
President  of  the  United  States  as  any 
since  George  Washington. 

"It  was  said  of  the  Emperor  Wil- 
liam that  he  was  medieval  in  his  war 
spirit,  but  he  has  proved  himself  a 
modern  keeper  of  the  peace  *  *  * 
The  world  owes  to  Emperor  William 
a  debt  of  gratitude.  He  might  have 
found  cause  to  reap  advantage  from 
European  embroilment  of  his  own 
making,  but  he  has  proved  himself 
among  the  most  civilized  interna- 
tionally patriotic  of  rulers." 

SIR   GILBERT    PARKER. 

"The  truth  of  history  requires  the 
verdict  that,  considering  the  critic- 
ally important  part  that  has  been 
his  among  the  nations,  he  (the  Ger- 
man Emperor)  has  been  for  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century,  the  greatest 
single  individual  force  in  the  prac- 
tical maintenance  of  peace  in  the 
world." 

W.   H.   TAFT. 

England's  greatest  daily,  the  "Lon- 
don Times"  (see  Literary  Digest  of 
July  12,  1913)  said:  "His  homage 
to  peace  is  no  mere  lip-service.  It 
comes  from  a  deep  and  real  sense  of 
the  awful  responsibility  to  Heaven 
and  to  man  which  weighs  upon  the 
author  of  an  unjust  war."  Yet  we 
are  now  asked  to  believe  that  a  man 
with  these  high-minded  ideals  and 
principles  has  wilfully  started  an  un- 
just war. 

M.  Charles  Bonnefon  in  the  "Paris 
Figaro"  remarked:  "On  two  occa- 
sions of  initial  significance  has  the 
Emperor  courageously  plied  his  oars 
in  stemming  the  current  of  popular 
fury  *  *  *  He  has  braved  uni- 
versal unpopularity  in  order  to  main- 


tain the  peace  of  Europe.  The 
"Berlin  Vorwiirts"  refused  to  join 
in  the  Kaiser's  anniversary  celebra- 
tion, but  had  to  admit:  "We  are 
ready  to  believe  that  William  II  hon- 
estly  wishes   for   peace." 

The  record  of  William  II  is  open 
to  the  world.  The  truth  may  be 
caught  up  by  the  winds  of  calumny; 
it  may  be  distorted  and  turned  aside, 
but  it  shall  not  be  lost — its  influence 
shall    be    lasting. 

Statements  by  men  who  know  are 
surely  worth  far  more  than  the 
vaporings  of  war-mad  journalists  or 
politicians. 

Is  it  probable  or  possible  that  the 
Kaiser  was  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury deliberately  deceiving  the  world, 
and  that  now,  at  the  age  of  55,  he 
has  determined  to  unmask  and  strike 
for  the  mastery  of  Europe?  Even 
less  likely  is  it  that  the  Emperor 
suddenly  changed  overnight  like  a 
chameleon  changing  its  color.  It  is 
an  insult  to  our  intelligence  to  ask 
us  to  believe  such  things.  For  one, 
I  prefer  to  take  my  stand  with  the 
ideas  expressed  by  Roosevelt  and 
Taft,  who,  in  supreme  office  for 
twelve  years,  surely  had  ample  op- 
portunity to  become  acquainted  with 
the  real  aims  and  purposes  of  the 
rulers  of  foreign  nations.  The  "New 
Statesman"  (English  weekly)  said 
editorially  in  its  issue  of  October  24, 
1914:  "Those  who  may  be  expected 
to  know  most  about  the  point  are 
almost  unanimous  in  declaring  their 
conviction  that  the  Kaiser  did  not 
want  war." 

The  truth  is  that  this  is  a  war  of 
the  German  people.  Critics  who 
otherwise  oppose  the  Germans  admit 
this  point.  Dr.  Gibbons,  former 
Professor  of  History  at  Rogers  Col- 
lege, Constantinople,  in  his  late  book, 
"The  New  Map  of  Europe,"  says  that 
this  war  is  "the  war  of  the  people, 
intelligently  and  deliberately  willed 
by  them."  Sidney  Low,  former  editor 
of  the  "St.  James  Gazette,"  in  the 
"Edinburgh  Review"  of  October  says 
that  this  war  has  the  unanimous  sup- 
port of  the  German  people.  Prof. 
Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  tells  us:  "Whether 
rightly  or*  wrongly,  the  feeling 
throughout  Germany  and  among  all 
classes  was  that  the  war  was  forced 
upon  them."  Andrew  Bonar  Law, 
leader  of  the  Opposition  in  the  Com- 
mons, said  ("New  York  Sun"'  of  Nov. 
11):  "I  have  never  cherished  the 
delusion  that  this  is  a  war  of  the 
German  ruler's  army.  It  is  a  war  of 
the  German  nation." 

The  German  people  are  unanimous 
in  their  support  of  the  present  war. 
Not  since  history  began  has  the  world 
witnessed  such  a  spectacle  of  a  uni- 
fied and  courageous  people  resisting 
forces  whose  success  they  believe 
would  be  inimical  to  their  future  as 
a  people  and  as  a  nation.  Without 
exception  they  believe  themselves  to 
be  obeying  the  command:  "Fight  the 
good  fight  of  faith." 

The  "Euro-Nietzschian  War." 

The  works  of  Nietzsche,  Treitschke, 
and  von  Bernhardi  are  said  to  have 
inculcated  In  the  German  people  a 
love  of  war  and  of  force,  and  a  feel- 


ing of  disregard  for  the  rights  of 
others.  Learned  professors  at  Ox- 
ford have  published  a  very  interest- 
ing book  with  the  title  the  "Euro- 
Nietzschian  War." 

Let  us  first  take  up  the  question 
of  Nietzsche  and  his  influence.  We 
find  in  him  a  writer  who  vacillated 
from  one  policy  to  another.  Start- 
ing as  an  admirer  of  Wagner  and 
Schopenhauer,  as  one  imbued  with 
religious  principles,  he  became  embit- 
tered; he  denounced  German  culture, 
German  ideals,  and  everything  else 
German;  he  denounced  militarism 
and  nationalism;  he  opposed  all 
moral  Christian  laws  and  in  a  sort 
of  hyper-Darwinism  preached  the 
"survival  of  the  fittest."  At  last  he 
became  insane.  This  is  the  man 
whose  writings  are  held  responsible 
for  the  great  struggle. 

But  Nietzsche's  writings  lead  us 
to  no  such  conclusion.  He  was  the 
bitter  opponent  of  German  culture, 
"upon  which,"  he  said,  "I  looked 
down  even  in  1873  with  unmitigated 
contempt."  He  denounced  Wagner 
as  a  musician  of  decadent  emotional- 
ism. Schopenhauer  he  rejected.  He 
termed  D.  P.  Strauss  (the  theological 
and  philosophical  writer)  the  "Phil- 
istine of  Culture."  Why  credit  this 
individual  with  unlimited  power  over 
a  people  whose  culture  he  derided 
and  whom  he  deplored  for  a  race, 
ordinary,  even  cowardly  in  thought, 
and  weak?  But,  did  he  not  say  that 
"a  good  war  justifies  any  cause?" 
Did  he  not  preach  the  doctrine  of  the 
Superman,  the  being  who  was  to  es- 
tablish his  own  code  of  morality? 
These  things  are  quite  true,  but  their 
significance  fades  when  we  consider 
the  real  attitude  of  Nietzsche. 

The  war  that  he  preached  and  the 
force  that  he  urged  were  to  lie  hii 
and  of  the  iiidividnnl.  and  not  the 
race  or  nation.  Nationalism  he  de- 
tested. In  this  respect  he  is  diamet- 
rically opposed  to  Treitschke  and  von 
Bernhardi.  Of  Rome,  the  great  em- 
pire, he  asked:  "Who  venerates  this 
colossus?"  He  doubted  if  large  em- 
pires were  not  inimical  to  art  and 
beauty.  He  ridiculed  the  "bovine 
spirit  of  nationality"  and  denounced 
Prussian  militarism.  Since  the  war 
started  the  University  of  Oxford  has 
published  many  pamphlets,  one  of 
them  entitled  "Nietzsche  and  Treit- 
schke." by  Ernest  Barker.  M.  A.  Mr. 
Barker  is  forced  to  admit  (p.  12): 
"Passages  such  as  these  (which  he 
has  just  quoted)  would  seem  to  in- 
dicate an  aggressive  and  militant  na- 
tionalism. But  Nietzsche  is  not 
consistent:  and  nationalism  is  one 
of  his  many  'hcte  noirrx.'  His  con- 
structive idea  is  not  national,  and 
the  war  he  would  preach  is  not  an 
ordinary  battle  of  the  nations."  Mr. 
Barker  adds:  "Nietzsche  loved 
neither  nationalism  nor  militarism." 
He  emphasized  European  culture, 
and  the  coming  unity  of  European 
economics.  He  termed  the  State 
"that  coldest  of  monsters  and  most 
frigid  of  liars"  which  pretends  to  be 
the  People,  and  by  the  People  is  de- 
tested. "Talk  not  of  'land  of  my 
fathers';  our  bark  must  steer  for  the 
land  of  our  children."  Nationalism, 
says     Nietzsche,     is     "that     national 


POLITICAL  PR.\GMATISM  AND  FORCE 


39 


heart-itch      and      blood  -  poisoning. 
Nietzsche,  while  he  despised  English 
culture,  was  a  great  admirer  of  the 
Russian  and  the  Slavic  culture. 

To  sum  up:    Nietzsche  despised  the 
German  culture  and  the  German  peo- 
ple-   he   was   the   foe  of   militarism; 
he  was  the  bitter  enemy  of  national- 
ism;   his   doctrine    of   force,   of   war, 
and  his  standard  of  master  and  slave 
morality  (cf.  teachings  of  Callicles  in 
Plato's    Gorgias)    was    for    the    Indi- 
vidual and  not  for  the  State.     On  the 
very  face  of  it,  therefore,  it  does  not 
seem  a  reasonable  proposition  to  as- 
sert  that   Nietzsche   can   be  held   re- 
sponsible    for     the    war,     which     he 
would  have  been  the  first  to  mourn. 
Regard  the  matter  without  preju- 
dice for  a  moment.     The  German  peo- 
ple   are    alleged    to    be   imbued    with 
Nietzsche's  doctrine  of  the  Superman 
How   ridiculous!      It  cannot  be   said 
that  the  Social  Democrats  believe  in 
the  idea  of  supreme  force.     The  Cath- 
olics vote  as  a  party  in  Germany  and 
are  very   strong.      But  the   Catholics 
are   not   Nietzschians.      They   do   not 
believe    in    the    idea    of    master    and 
slave    morality   or    in    the   idea   of   a 
Superman.         Nietzsche      denounced 
Christianity    and    would    not    be    in 
favor  with  the  Catholic  voters.   These 
two    parties    represent    a    large    ma- 
jority  of   all  Germans. 

Economically  Nietzsche's  doctrines 
are  but   the  policy   of   "laU^ser  fmre 
taught  by   Jean-Baptiste   Say,    Adam 
Smith,  and   Ricardo.     T.   W.   Rolles- 
ton     former    Taylorian    Lecturer    at 
Oxford,  writes  in  the  "Hibbert  Jour- 
nal"   of    October,    1914:     "No    ideal 
could     be     more     unlike    Nietzsche  s 
than   that   which    the   Germans  have 
followed    for   forty   years.      *      * 
Nietzsche's     social     philosophy     was 
that  of  a  violent  individualism — the 
subordination    of    the    individual    to 
the  interests  of  a  vast  political   ma- 
chine  was   one   of    the    many   things 
he   detested   in   his   native   country.' 
Yet  the  German  economy  of  the  past 
quarter   of   a   century   and   over   has 
been   the  exact  opposite  of  this  pol- 
icy.    With  the  possible  exceptions  of 
New   Zealand,   Switzerland,   and   Bel- 
gium,    Germany     has     passed     more 
measures  of  social   reform   than  any 
other     country.      The     workers     are 
protected   in    every    imaginable    way. 
Agitators  for  measures  of  social  and 
Industrial    relief    in    our    own    land 
have  for  many  years  pointed  to  Ger- 
many as  a  model.     A  nation  imbued 
with"  the  idea  of  force,  of  every  man 
for   himself,   of    the   survival    of   the 
fittest — imbued   with   Nietzscheism — 
would    never    have    adopted    such    a 
program.       Theoretically     inconceiv- 
able   we    can    state    that    practically 
Nietzsche   has   no   great  influence   in 
the  German   Empire  of   today. 
Treitschkc. 
Our   next    war-maker    is    Heinrich 
von    Treitschke.    the   great  historian. 
Lord  Acton  pronounced  Treitschke  to 
be  "the  one  writer  of  history  who  is 
more    brilliant    and     powerful    than 
Droysen."     He  continues:  "He  writes 
with  the  force  and  fire  of  Mommsen. 
He    accounts    for    the    motives    that 
stir  a  nation,  as  well  as  for  the  coun- 
cils   that    govern    it."      He    was    the 


personal  enemy  of  Nietzsche,  "this 
madman,  who  tells  us  so  much  about 
his  inactual  thought,  and  who  has 
nevertheless  been  bitten  to  the  mar- 
row by  the  most  actual  of  all  vices, 
the  folie  des  grandeurs."  The  cause 
of  this  outburst,  which  is  but  a  sam- 
ple of  the  conflict  of  words  between 
the  two  men,  was  an  attack  by  Nietz- 
sche on  Prussian  professordom. 

Nationalism,  condemned  by  Nietz- 
sche, is  the  starting  point  and  goal  of 
Treitschke.  "The  State  is  Power." 
"This  truth  remains:  the  essence  of 
the  state  consists  in  this,  that  it  can 
suffer  no  higher  power  than  itself." 
Dr.  Munroe  Smith,  Professor  of  Juris- 
prudence at  Columbia  since  1891, 
writes  in  the  "Bookman"  for  Decem- 
ber (1914):  "Although  the  state  is 
might,  Treitschke  does  not  admit 
that  might  is  right.  The  state  is  un- 
questionably subject  to  the  moral 
law  »  »  »  Power  which  tram- 
ples all  right  under  foot  must  perish 
in  the  end."  Thus  in  his  history  of 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  Treitschke 
asserts  that  the  humiliation  of  Ger- 
many was  a  just  retribution  for  the 
attempt  of  German  kings  to  rule 
Italy  and  re-establish  world  empire. 
Those  are  in  the  wrong  who  main- 
tain that  Treitschke  advocated  world 
dominion  and  the  rule  of  force  with- 
out consideration  of  the  right  of  the 
question  at  issue. 

Treitschke's  Germanistic  preach- 
ings of  twenty  years  ago  have  not 
formed  a  school.  His  great  works 
on  history,  which  include  the  re- 
marks that  have  been  translated  into 
English  since  the  war  started,  are 
found  in  ponderous  two  and  four-vol- 
ume sets.  Even  in  Germany  people 
do  not  pore  through  such  works  of 
history  as  a  matter  of  pleasure.  In 
all  the  present  author's  reading  on 
the  subject,  covering  such  periodicals 
as  "Blackwood's,"  the  "Edinburgh 
Review."  the  "Fortnightly,"  "Con- 
temporary," and  other  English  peri- 
odicals for  the  last  few  years,  includ- 
ing all  the  jingoistic  articles,  he  did 
not  find  until  this  w-ar  broke  out  a 
single  reference  to  Treitschke  as  be- 
ing responsible  for  any  militaristic 
spirit  in  Germany.  Not  a  single  ref- 
erence. He  did,  however,  find  a  few 
references    to   Bernhardi. 

Sidney  Whitman,  F.  R.  G.  S.,  prom- 
inent English  political  writer,  says 
in  the  "Fortnightly  Review"  for  Oc- 
tober, 1914:  "Prof.  Cramb  (author 
of  'Germany  and  England.'  published 
1914)  tells  us  that  it  takes  at  least 
half  a  century  for  any  German 
thought  to  cross  the  North  Sea,  and 
proves  it  to  be  so  in  his  own  case. 
He  credits  Treitschke  with  an  in- 
fluence over  the  German  mind  of 
today — which  he  no  longer  possesses 
— to  the  same  extent  as  he  did  about 
forty  years  ago.  I  am  in  a  position 
to  cite  Professor  Hans  Delbriick  as 
my  authority  for  the  statement  that 
Treitschke's  influence  has  been  on 
the  wane  for  some  time;  that  he  is 
no  longer  actual  in  the  present;  that 
ho  is  olil-fashinned    (rcraltet)." 

Prof.  Smith,  previously  quoted, 
says:  "It  seems  to  me  improbable 
that  Treitschke's  theories  of  the 
state  and  of  war  have  appreciably 
affected    the    conduct    of    Germany. 


When  we  survey  a  list  of  the  great 
historians  of  Treitschke's  time  we 
can  see  that  it  is  foolish  to  assert 
that  his  doctrines  could  have  dom- 
inated Germany.  A  few  of  them  are: 
von  Ranke  (1795-1886);  Mommsen 
Giesebrecht  (1814-1889);  Hausser 
(1818-1867,  bom  in  Alsace);  von  by- 
bel  (1817-1895);  Burckhardt;  and 
Droysen.  Yet,  none  of  these,  all  as 
great  as  Treitschke,  has  been  de- 
clared responsible  for  t^e  w^an 
Though  a  great  historian,  Treitschke 
has  never  exercised  a  great  influence 
on  the  German  people  nor  have  his 
doctrines  ever  been  widely  dissem- 
inated throughout  Germany.  Three 
of  our  warmakers  have  been  thus 
disposed  of. 

Bernhardi. 


Now    for    Bernhardi,    the    terrible 
man  who  represents  the  best  thought 
and  ideals  of   modern  Germany,  the 
man    who    preaches    militarism    and 
force,  force  and  militarism,  the  man 
who   glories  in  the  greatness  of  war 
Tor    war's    sake,    and    would   humble 
the     other     nations     of     the     world 
Rather  a  terrifying  picture,  isn  t  it^ 
Yet    not  half  as  rabid  as  some  of  the 
statements  that  have  been  made  dur- 
ing the  past  few  months.     It  is  not 
too    much    to    say    that    not    one    in 
every    ten    thousand    Ainericans    had 
heard    of   Gen.    Bernhardi   until   this 
war.     Since  then  he  has  become  one 
of     the     best     sellers.       Bernhardi  s 
book,  "Germany  and  the  Next  War, 
IS  sa  d  to  represent  the  true  German 
ideal.      The    English    bave    exploited 
it    for    its     full     value.       The     Lord 
Bishop  of  Carlisle  ("Nineteenth  Cen- 
furr  for  October)    solemnly  assures 
us  that  "this  is  the  book  which  has 
deeply   penetrated   the  minds  of  the 
German      people,      poisoning      then- 
hearts  with  jealousy,  confusing  their 
thoughts  with  plausibilities  and  pre]^ 
iirticp"?     etc  "      Now,    what    are    the 
facts     as     to    this    most    interesting 
book'     we  are  told  by  leading  Ger- 
mans that  Germany  repudiates  Bern- 
hardi.    But  German  assurances  will 
no[    be    suflicient    for    the    doubters 
According    to    the    German    literary 
puWications  (before  the  war  started) 
seven  thousand  copies  of  Bernhardi  s 
book    had    been    sold    in    Germany^ 
We  can  safely  place  the  maximum  at 
10.000  copies.     According   t"   Brock- 
haus'  "Deutscher  Literatur  Catalog 
for  1913-1914,  the  book  consisted  of 
333    pages    and    sold    ^^v    iX^^O    to 
$2.10,  according  to  the  binding.    The 
nr ice  is  not  one  which  would  lead  to 
a   wide   sale.      It   would   seem,   then 
reasonable  to  assert  that  the  book  s 
circulation    was   confined   almost   en- 
tirely to  military  circles. 

Professor  Kiihnemann.  when  in 
Seattle,  assured  his  hearers  that  he 
had  never  heard  of  the  book  until  he 
came  to  America,  and  Professor 
Kuno  Meyer  relates  that  upon  an  en- 
quiry among  the  professors  of  Berlin 
rniversity  only  two  were  found  to 
have  read  the  book  before  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  war.  We  do 
not  need,  however,  to  rely  on  Ger- 
man opinion,  which  would  be  dis- 
counted by  American  readers^  Dr. 
Dillon,  prominent  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, has  just  published  a  work  an- 
tagonistic to  Germany,  entitled  A 
Scran  of  Paper."  which  is  published 


40 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


by  Doran's.  Dr.  Dillon  was  for  many 
years  the  foreign  and  diplomatic 
editor  of  several  of  the  best  English 
periodicals.  In  the  "Contemporary 
Review"  for  March,  1914,  Dr.  Dillon 
says:  "Gen.  Bernhardi  is  not  Ger- 
many, nor  do  his  demands  embody 
the  intentions  or  the  wishes  of  the 
Kaiser's  Government."  Consider  an 
American  opinion.  The  "Boston 
Transcript"  of  Feb.  1,  1913,  said: 
"General  Bernhardi's  book  is  at  this 
distance  a  piece  of  academic  thun- 
der, whatever  it  may  mean  to  the 
timorous  in  England."  The  "Na- 
tion" (American)  of  Feb.  6,  1913, 
writes  in  its  book  review  column: 
"There  is  nothing  very  surprising 
in  all  this  talk,  with  which  the 
Blatchfords  in  England,  the  Bourgets 
and  D^^roult'des  in  France,  and  the 
Homer  Leas  in  our  own  country  have 
made  us  familiar."  Bearing  out  the 
same  thought  is  the  "New  Statesman" 
(English)  of  Sept.  5,  1914,  which 
said:  "General  Bernhardi's  doc- 
trines are  now  pretty  well  known. 
For  that  matter  they  were  well 
known  before  ever  he  wrote  his  book, 
as  they  have  been  the  commonplaces 
of  militarists  the  world  over."  Why 
is  it  that  we  have  been  constantly 
reminded  of  von  Bernhardi  and  that 
the  writings  of  "militarists  the  world 
over,"  who  expressed  the  same  "com- 
monplaces" have  been  neglected? 
Can  it  be  that  Germany's  enemies 
wish  to  point  out  the  German  vulner- 
abilities, but  would  have  us  forget 
those  of  their  own  countries?  Is 
there  a  skeleton  in  the  closet  or  a 
nigger  in  the  woodpile? 

Bernhardi  is  a  jingoist.  He  op- 
poses the  peace  movement.  He 
would  fight  any  reduction  in  arma- 
ments. He  is  a  patriot  and  a  nation- 
alist. But  to  assert  that  Bernhardi 
dominates  Germany  savors  of  the 
ridiculous.  Germany  is  censured  be- 
cause— simply  because  the  writings 
of  Bernhardi  have  been  cleverly 
used  and  manipulated  by  the  English 
and  by  English  sympathizers  to  make 
the  British  and  Americans  believe 
that  Germany  is  Bernhardi  and  that 
Bernhardi  is  Germany — one  and  in- 
separable. 

Every  country  has  its  jingoists. 
France  has  Senator  Humbert,  M. 
Delcass<^,  M.  Clemenceau,  and  others 
who  favored  strong  military  forces. 
Can  we  not  accept  as  true  Bernard 
Shaw's  statement  that  jingoists  are 
as  prevalent  and  as  powerful  in  Eng- 
land as  in  Prussia  or  France?  Many 
Englishmen,  however,  do  not  take 
anything  Shaw  says  seriously.  Per- 
haps a  few  quotations  and  examples 
will  serve  to  convince.  England  has 
its  Prof.  Cramb.  The  reviewer  in  the 
Dublin  Review  of  last  October  said 
that  the  Professor  "proclaims  him- 
self, as  enthusiastically  as  Gen.  Bern- 
hardi, a  disciple  of  the  Religion  of 
Valour,  announcing,  apparently  with 
satisfaction,  that  Corsica  has,  in  this 
twentieth  century,  conquered  Gal- 
lilee  *  *  ■*  The  glamour  of  war 
possesses  him  *  *  *  A  peace  pol- 
icy is,  in  his  eyes,  a  mere  expression 
of  weakness,  a  symptom  of  demorali- 
zation." 

In  the  "Nineteenth  Century"  for 
April,  1911,  there  is  an  article  en- 
titled   "God's    Test    by    War,"    writ- 


ten by  Harold  F.  Wyatt.  There  is 
nothing  in  Gen.  Bernhardi's  work 
which  can  compare  with  this  arti- 
cle.    Here  are  a  tew  passages: 

"Efiiciency  for  war  is  God's  test 
of  a  nation's  soul.  This  is  the  ethi- 
cal content  of  competition." 

"If  war  could  suddenly  be  ren- 
dered henceforth  impossible  upon 
earth,  the  machinery  by  which  na- 
tional corruption  is  punished  and  na- 
tional virtue  rewarded  would  be  un- 
geared. The  higher  would  cease  to 
supersede  the  lower." 

"While  human  nature  remains 
what  it  is  at  present,  war  must  re- 
tain its  place  beside  death  as  a  vital 
and  essential  part  of  the  economy  of 
God." 

"A  spurious  and  bastard  humani- 
tarianism  masquerading  as  religion 
declares  war  to  be  an  anachronism 
and  a  barbaric  sin." 

Perhaps  since  Bernhardi  is  a  mili- 
tary man,  military  authorities  would 
appeal  better.  For  years  Lord 
Beresford,  Captain  Faber  and  Lord 
Roberts  have  been  urging  England  to 
gain  an  overwhelming  superiority 
over  all  other  nations.  Take,  if  you 
will,  this  statement  setting  forth  the 
advantages  of  an  offensive  warfare. 
"The  heart  of  a  nation  has  gone  out 
of  it,  which  bases  its  security  on  de- 
fense alone.  As  Raleigh  urged  upon 
Cecil,  'If  we  be  once  driven  to  the 
defensive,  farewell  might.'  To  talk 
about  'National  Defense  Committee' 
is  a  selfish  idea  and  an  insult  to  our 
world  Empire."  This  statement  may 
be  found  in  the  "Nineteenth  Century" 
for  June,  1900.  Its  author  is  Major- 
General  Sir  W.  G.  Knox,  K.  C.  B., 
C.   B. 

The  United  States  is  not  free  from 
jingoists.  One  great  American  press 
association  is  entirely  militaristic  and 
jingoistic.  Hobsonism  is  not  un- 
known. Roosevelt,  Gardner,  Weeks 
and  Lodge  are  but  a  tew  of  the  great 
men  who  urge  this  country  to  arm 
itself.  We  have  our  "Army  and 
Navy  League"  and  other  organiza- 
tions of  a  similar  nature.  In  the 
"Independent"  of  July  6,  1905,  Paul 
Morton,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
writes: 

"The  United  States  will  in  time 
logically  and  inevitably  become  the 
most   powerful    nation    in    the   world 

*  *  *  The  fulfillment  of  such  a 
destiny  as  this  will  be  advanced  or 
retarded  in  direct  ratio  to  the  expan- 
sion of  the  naval  power  of  the  coun- 
try." Congressman  Britten  of  Illi- 
nois, in  the  House  on  Sept.  13,  1913, 
said:  "No  policy  of  disarmament 
can  penetrate  the  peace  w^e  now  en- 
joy. The  millennial  peace  is  yet  be- 
low the  horizon  of  our  vision  *  *  * 
It  is  the  man  behind  the  punch  that 
goes  by  unmolested.  Preparedness 
for  war  is  the  best  promoter  of  peace 

*  *  *  Power  is  the  climax  to  all 
argument."  Gen.  Homer  Lea's  "The 
Valor  of  Ignorance"  can  be  compared 
to  the  works  of  Gen.  Bernhardi  and 
Prof.   Cramb. 

The  truth  is  apparent.  All  coun- 
tries possess  their  jingoists.  As  we 
have  seen,  also,  von  Bernhardi's 
teachings  are  not  the  thoughts  of 
the  German  nation.     It  is  absolutely 


impossible  to  trace  this  war,  from  the 
German  side,  to  any  one,  two,  or 
three  men;  it  is  a  war  of  and  by  the 
German  people. 

National  E.\'i>enditures. 

From  the  standpoint  of  expendi- 
tures, both  absolute  and  relative, 
Germany  compares  very  favorably 
with  other  nations.  According  to  of- 
ficial figures  furnished  by  the  British 
Admiralty  and  War  Offices  (see  "Liv- 
ing Age,"  June  14,  1914),  the  five 
warring  nations  pay  for  their  armies 
and   navies: 

Russia,  $455,000,000;  Germany, 
$350,000,000;  France,  $280,000,- 
000;  England,  $375,000,000;  and 
Austria-Hungary   only    $145,000,000. 

The  real  question,  however,  is  not 
the  absolute  amount  spent  by  each 
government,  but  the  burden  to  the 
tax-payers.  On  this  basis  the  per 
capita  expenditures  are  as  follows: 
Russia  $3.70;  Germany  $5.38; 
France  $7.00;  England  $8.33;  Aus- 
tria-Hungary $3.00.  Russia's  ex- 
penditure per  capita  is,  of  course, 
less  because  of  the  countless  mil- 
lions of  Russian  subjects.  In  the 
per  capita  statistics  the  population 
of  only  European  Russia  has  been 
used.  Figures  could  be  quoted 
which  would  favor  more  the  German 
side,  but  it  seems  best  to  use  these 
figures,  furnished  by  the  British 
government,  which  eliminate  all 
non-corresponding    expenditures. 

The   National  Burden. 

Consider  the  sizes  of  the  various 
armies  in  their  peace  strength.  I 
Times"  of  Nov.  8,  1914.  In  round 
take  my  figures  from  the  "New  York 
numbers,  Germany's  peace  army 
consisted  of  800,000  men;  Russia's 
of  1,284,000;  and  France's  of  869,- 
000.  In  Russia,  tlfere  is  one  soldier 
for  every  9  5  persons;  in  Germany, 
one  for  each  81;  in  France,  one  sol- 
dier for  each  4  6  persons.  The  term 
of  service  is  less  in  Germany  than 
in  Russia,  thus  equalizing  the  bur- 
den between  Russia  and  Germany. 

The  population  of  Germany  in- 
creased 14  per  cent  from  1901  to 
1910,  but  the  number  of  men  in  her 
army  and  navy  combined  increased 
only  7.8  per  cent!  To  show  that 
Germany  had  no  aggressive  designs 
we  have  only  to  mention  that  during 
these  ten  years  nearly  900,000  men, 
the  vast  majority  fit  for  service  in 
the  army,  were  excused  by  being 
placed  in  the  "Ersatz  Reserve."  The 
men  in  this  reserve  receive  no  mili- 
tary training;  they  are  only  liable 
to  be  called  out  and  trained  in  case 
of  war.  If  Germany  had  desired  or 
expected  war  she  would  have  put 
these  men  into  the  regular  army. 

A    Vital    Factor. 

A  strong  army  is  a  necessity  to 
Germany.  The  fact  that  she  did  not 
make  it  numerically  superior  to  her 
neighbors'  forces  and  that  her  mili- 
tary burden  is  lighter  indicates  that 
she  was  not  aggressive  but  prepared, 
well  prepared,  to  wage  war  if  forced 
to  do  so.  Germany's  strategic  posi- 
tion emphasizes  the  need  of  an  effi- 
cient army.  Germany  is  situated 
like    a   nut    between    two    crackers — 


POLITICAL  PRAGMATISM  AND  FORCE 


Russia  on  one  frontier  and  France 
on  the  other.  Russia's  dream  of  ex- 
pansion and  France's  wish  for  re- 
venge made  it  necessary  for  Ger- 
many to  be  prepared  against  any  at- 
tempt to  crush  her  by  a  concerted 
effort  of  the  two  powers.  Russia 
enormously  strengthened  her  army 
in  recent  years.  The  increase  of  her 
military  and  naval  expenditures  dur- 
ing the  past  four  years  has  been 
truly  startling.  Mr.  J.  Ellis  Barker, 
a  very  prominent  English  author, 
now  bitterly  opposed  to  the  Germans, 
wrote  In  the  "Fortnightly"  of  April  1, 
1913:  "The  events  of  the  last  few 
years  have  awakened  her  (Germany) 
to  a  sense  of  insecurity.  Germany 
has  found  it  necessary  to  increase 
her  army  because  the  Balkan  War 
has  endangered  her  position.  She 
must  reckon  with  the  possibility  of 
having  to  fight  France  and  Russia 
simultaneously.  Her  army  is  pri- 
marily intended  to  be  a  weapon  of 
defense."  Mr.  Barker  found  no  rea- 
son to  believe  that  Germany  was  do- 
ing aught  but  trying  to  defend  her 
own   interests. 

In  view  of  Germany's  perilous  po- 
sition we  cannot  do  else  but  agree 
with  Mr.  Balfour's  statement  (House 
of  Commons,  July  14,  1910),  that 
"it  is  on  the  Army  that  their  na- 
tional existence  depends."  However 
much  we  may  deplore  the  necessity, 
a  little  reasoning  should  be  sufficient 
to  convince  us  that,  for  Germany,  a 
well-prepared  army  is  a  national 
need. 

The    Navies. 

We  still  have  the  naval  situation 
to  consider.  Is  not  British  Navyism, 
with  its  demand  for  supreme  con- 
trol, more  dangerous  to  the  world 
than  Germany's  militarism,  with  an 
army  inferior  in  size  to  those  of 
either  France  or  Russia?  England 
says  she  must  rule  the  sea.  We  can 
readily  perceive  that,  as  an  island 
power,  England  is  justified  in  want- 
ing a  strong  navy,  but  it  is  difficult 
to  concur  in  her  two-keel-to-one 
standard. 

The  English  Navy  is  an  enormous 
burden  to  the  country.  Mr.  A.  Mac- 
Callum  Scott,  former  secretary  of  the 
New  Reform  Club,  writes  in  the  "Con- 
temporary Review"  for  April,  1914: 
"The  cost  of  the  German  Navy  is  only 
?1.75  per  head  of  the  population  of 
Germany,  whereas  the  cost  of  the 
British  Navy  is  $5.50  per  head  of  the 
population  of  the  United  Kingdom." 
The  average  family  of  five  persons  is 
taxed  $8.75  in  Germany  and  $27.50 
in  the  United  Kingdom  towards  the 
cost  of  maintaining  the  respective  na- 
vies. The  German  naval  expendit- 
ures are  not  so  enormous  as  the 
British  agitators  would  have  us  be- 
lieve. 

A  study  of  the  British  attitude 
towards  their  naval  expansion  is 
highly  interesting.  Consider  the 
following  statements  taken  from 
speeches  delivered  in  the  House  of 
Commons: 

"Our  Empire  Is  only  kept  going  by 
supremacy  at  sea."  (Lord  Charles 
Beresford.  March  17,  1910.)  "I 
should  like  to  see  a  Navy  which 
would  stop  the  shade  of  a  shadow  of 


an  idea  that  it  could  be  attacked  at 
all,  and  if  once  we  had  a  Navy  of  that 
character,  I  am  perfectly  certain  it 
would  be  very  cheap,  no  matter  what 
the  insurance  (meaning  cost)  was." 
The  following  remarks  were  made 
March  15,  1910: 

"If  we  are  to  have  peace  we  must 
be  prepared  for  war."  (Sir  C.  Kin- 
loch-Cooke.) 

"We  want  a  Navy  for  this  country 
which  no  power  dare  to  attack."  (M. 
Foot  Mitchell.) 

"Under  present  conditions  our  food 
supply,  our  national  independence, 
our  treaty  obligations,  and  our  rights 
of  asylum,  must  be  defended  by  ade- 
quate forces."  (Mr.  Hyndman,  lead- 
er of  British  Social  Democratic 
party.) 

"We  wish  the  two-power  standard 
to  apply  to  the  two  next  strongest 
powers."     (Mr.  Arthur  Lee.) 

Can  you  not  imagine  what  a  cry 
of  militarism  would  go  up  in  this 
country  if  we  should  demand  that 
we  must  have  a  navy  so  strong  that 
no  power  would  even  dream  of  at- 
tacking us?  These  few  quotations 
•show  that  England  desired  a  power- 
ful navy,  one  which  could  meet  any 
two  other  nations.  Such  statements 
could  be  multiplied  many,  many 
times  if  space  did  not  forbid.  Does 
not  such  a  policy  constitute  more  of 
a  world  menace  than  Germany's  land 
strength,  numerically  inferior  to  the 
armies  of  France  or  Russia? 

Eventually,  after  many  years  of 
such  rodomontade,  about  1907  or 
1908  there  came  a  time  when  the 
English  public  refused  to  listen  to 
plans  for  a  more  powerful  navy,  and 
the  resulting  large  and  ever  increas- 
ing expenditures.  The  Big  Navy  men 
resorted  to  a  skillful  policy  of  press 
agitation.  Navy  Leagues  sprung  up 
like  mushrooms  and  propaganda 
work  continued  steadily.  These 
bodies  worked  smoothly  and  efficient- 
ly. "They,"  said  Mr.  Dickinson  in 
the  Commons,  March  16,  1910,  "have 
kindled  a  feeling  of  suspicion  and 
distrust  on  the  part  of  our  nation." 
The  same  work,  we  must  admit,  was 
going  on  in  Germany,  when  the  peo- 
ple were  urged  to  support  the  fleet 
for  two  reasons:  (1)  the  fear  of 
English  aggression,  should  any  con- 
tinental dispute  arise,  and  (2)  close- 
ly allied  to  this,  the  enormous  expan- 
sion of  German  commerce.  This 
phase  will  be  considered  later. 

After  carefully  preparing  the  way 
the  panic  was  launched  in  1909. 
The  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  sup- 
ported by  the  Prime  Minister,  star- 
tled the  nation  with  the  revelation 
that  Germany  was  making  a  stupen- 
dous acceleration  in  the  production 
of  naval  armaments.  Germany  was 
said  to  be  planning  the  construction 
of  Dreadnaught  after  Dreadnaught. 
The  journals  were  filled  with  articles 
inspired  by  words  such  as  these,  de- 
livered In  the  Commons  on  March 
10,  1909.  Mr.  Balfour  said:  "Ger- 
many will  have  seventeen  of  these 
great  Dreadnaughts  in  July,  1911, 
and  we  shall  have  only  fourteen. 
*  •  •  There  Is  no  doubt  they  will 
have  thirteen  on  1st  April,  1911." 
Mr.  McKenna,  First  Lord  of  the  Ad- 


miralty, said:  "My  own  opinion  is 
tha:  they  will  have  thirteen  complet- 
ed in  August,  1911."  Mr.  Asquith, 
the  Prime  Minister,  was  not  quite  so 
pessimistic,  and  stated:  "In  Novem- 
ber, 1911,  we  shall  have  sixteen 
against   thirteen." 

Four  Dreadnaughts  were  imme- 
diately voted.  The  panic,  and  that 
alone,  made  the  vote  possible.  Time 
tested  these  revelations.  They  did 
not  stand  the  test.  It  was  discovered 
that  the  program  of  German  building 
upon  which  the  Commons  author- 
ized the  construction  of  the  four 
Dreadnaughts  were  ludicrously  incor- 
rect, perhaps,  who  knows,  deliberate- 
ly misleading.  When  November, 
1911,  came  around,  Germany  had  but 
five  Dreadnaughts,  instead  of  the 
"from  thirteen  to  seventeen"  it  was 
alleged  she  would  have.  Mr.  Balfour 
capped  the  government  estimate  by 
stating  that  by  April,  1912,  Germany 
would  probably  have  21  Dread- 
naughts to  England's  20.  Actually, 
Germany  had,  on  March  31,  1912, 
only  nine  of  those  great  ships,  to 
England's  fifteen.  On  May  31,  1913, 
Germany  had  thirteen  and  England 
twenty-two.  Not  till  1914  was  Ger- 
many to  have  seventeen,  the  number 
Mr.  Balfour  said  they  would  have  in 
July,  1911.  The  panic  figures  of 
1909  were  absolutely  unfounded  and 
have  been  proved  completely  erro- 
neous. Yet  the  English  Navy  was  in- 
creased as  if  they  had  been  correct. 
The  German  bogey  served  a  useful 
purpose  for  those  who  stood  for  an 
exaggerated  British  Navy. 

Indeed,  it  was  this  very  agitation 
in  England  which  led  to  part  of  the 
increase  in  the  German  Navy,  the 
remainder  of  the  increase  being  ac- 
counted for  by  German  commercial 
expansion.  Mr.  Dillon,  in  a  powerful 
speech  delivered  July  14,  1910,  said 
that  it  was  British  aggression  and 
disastrous  blunders  that  had  caused 
the  creation  of  the  German  Navy 
League,  founded  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  German  Navy. 
He  stated  further:  "It  is  an 
abominable  thing,  but  there  are 
men  in  this  country,  who  are  delib- 
erately and  avowedly,  without  any 
concealment  whatever,  trying  to  pro- 
voke war  between  Germany  and  this 
country.  Many  of  them,  notably  Mr. 
Maxse  of  the  "National  Review,"  and 
many  other  publications,  openly  say 
this  war  is  bound  to  come,  and  the 
sooner  the  better."  Dr.  Dillon  re- 
ferred to  "the  outrageous  and  crim- 
inal agitation  carried  on  against  Ger- 
many tor  the  last  three  years."  Can 
we  greatly  blame  Germany  for  trying 
to  prevent  England  from  gaining  an 
overwhelming  naval  superiority, 
since  it  was  evident  that  if  these  two 
countries  alone  should  engage  in  war, 
the  struggle  must  occ\ir  on  the  sea? 
The  "Review  of  Reviews"  for  Octo- 
ber, 1914,  editorially  (p.  394)  re- 
fers to  England's  "ruinous  policy  of 
naval  expansion  that  has  forced  Ger- 
many, France  and  the  United  States 
to  follow  after."  Mr.  W.  H.  Dickln- 
son  said  In  the  Commons  (March  15, 
1910):  "I  believe  if  we  could  look 
Into  the  inmost  secrets  of  the  Ger- 
man Navy  we  should  find  that  it  has 
been  this  country  that  on  every  occa- 


42 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


sion  has  brought  about  the  increase 
in  that  navy."  German  naval  expan- 
sion is  justified  in  large  measure  by 
the  English  attitude  on  the  naval 
question.  Nothing  but  overwhelm- 
ing superiority  would  satisfy  Britain. 
England  must  bear  a  large  share  of 
the  responsibility  for  German  naval 
growth,  a  responsibility  she  cannot 
escape. 

The  end  is  not  yet.  Mr.  Churchill 
laid  down  a  standard  in  what  are 
called  capital  ships,  which,  he  stated, 
would  be  satisfactory  from  the  Eng- 
lish point  of  view.  This  ratio  was 
that  of  sixteen  British  capital  ships 
to  ten  German.  Subsequently  Ad- 
miral von  Tirpitz,  on  Feb.  7,  1913, 
stated  in  the  Reichstag  that  such  a 
ratio  would  be  satisfactory  to  Ger- 
many. Concerning  this  statement, 
Mr.  Molteno,  member  of  Parliament 
since  1906,  says  in  the  "Contempo- 
rary Review"  of  Feb.,  1914: 

"This  pronouncement  has  not  re- 
ceived adequate  appreciation  or  at- 
tention in  this  country.  It  is  an  un- 
welcome statement  to  those  who  de- 
sire to  create  an  inordinate  navy. 
In  any  fair  attempt  to  estimate  the 
naval  situation  it  would  be  mon- 
strous not  to  realize  the  full  meaning 
of  this  admission  on  the  part  of  Ger- 
many. *  *  *  It  proves  conclu- 
sively that  she  has  no  desire  to  at- 
tack us,  or  of  aggression  upon  us." 
With  desire  to  follow  out  this  plan, 
the  German  Naval  Estimates  for 
1914  provided  for  only  two  large 
ships  with  an  occasional  third.  This 
was  very  unwelcome  to  the  Big  Navy 
men  of  Britain.  The  Navy  League 
of  England  said:  "Now  that  her 
yearly  programs  have  been  reduced 
from  four  ships  to  two,  with  an  occa- 
sional three,  it  is  the  most  difficult 
thing  in  the  world  to  get  up  steam 
for  the  further  tasli  which  lies  before 
us,  namely  to  create  a  sufficient  mar- 
gin of  strength  to  protect  the  'whole- 
world  interests  of  the  Empire.'  " 
That  admission  of  von  Tirpitz  must 
not  be  forgotten  in  any  discussion  of 
the  Anglo-German  naval  situation. 
In  England's  attempts  to  make  it 
appear  that  German  ascendancy  was 
approaching  and  that  national  dis- 
aster was  imminent  they  have  elected 
to  ignore  this,  and  all  other  state- 
ments, which  would  tend  to  weaken 
the  case  for  the  necessity  of  a  great 
navy.  But  facts  cannot  be  ignored 
nor  successfully  hidden. 

A  large  part  of  Germany's  naval 
growth  can  be  justified  on  another 
ground — her  commercial  expansion. 
Her  mercantile  development  has 
been  astounding. 

The  trade  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland   since   1870   has  arisen   from 


two  billion  dollars  to  five  and  a  half 
billions.  Germany's  has  increased 
from  one  billion  to  five  billions.  Ger- 
many's trade  is,  therefore,  five  times 
what  it  was  in  1870;  England's  only 
two  and  a  half  times  as  great.  Eng- 
land's advantage  over  Germany  in 
1870  was  one  hundred  per  cent;  now 
it  is  but  ten  per  cent.  Comparing  the 
figures  of  1870  with  those  of  1906  as 
to  the  tonnage  entered  and  cleared 
in  the  German  and  British  ports  re- 
spectively we  find  that  the  amount 
passing  in  British  bottoms  in  England 
was  multiplied  by  three;  and  the 
amount  passing  in  Germany  in  Ger- 
man bottoms  was  multiplied  by  seven- 
teen. Comparing  with  France  we 
find  that  in  1870  the  amount  of  mer- 
chandise passing  in  and  out  of  Ger- 
many in  German  bottoms  was  less. 
In  1906  it  was  sixty-seven  per  cent 
greater,  so  that  Germany's  commerce 
increased  much  more  rapidly  than 
that  of  France.  In  1900  the  German 
mercantile  marine  consisted  of  1,000,- 
000  tons  flying  under  the  German 
standard;  in  1910  there  were  4,266,- 
000  tons  sailing  under  that  Aegis. 
Hamburg  was  in  1914  the  second 
port  of  the  world.  Germany  must 
have  protection  for  her  commerce. 
Geographically  she  is  confined  to  one 
sea.  In  war  with  France  that  coun- 
try could  do  more  harm  to  German 
commerce  than  in  1870.  The  Germans 
believed,  therefore,  that  they  had  to 
protect  their  commerce  against  other 
nations,  as  well  as  against  England. 

This  principle  of  naval  protection 
for  commerce  is  well  recognized 
everywhere.  Nor  is  it  a  new  doc- 
trine. Jean-Baptiste  Say,  the  French 
economist,  said:  "The  art  of  naviga- 
tion is  an  expedient  of  war,  as  well 
as  of  commerce.  The  working  of  a 
vessel  is  a  military  maneuver;  and 
the  nation  containing  the  larger  pro- 
portion of  seamen  is  the  more  power- 
ful in  a  military  point  of  view."  The 
"Edinburgh  Review"  (April,  1909, 
p.  9.5)  said:  "Our  naval  greatness 
*  *  *  was  conspicuous  before 
our  navigation  laws  were  framed.  It 
existed  then,  as  it  had  done  before 
and  has  done  since,  in  a  degree  com- 
mensurate with  our  commerce,  which 
will  be  found  the  regulator  of  naval 
power  in  all  countries."  These  ideas, 
simply  expressed,  mean  that  naval 
power  tends  to  vary  directly  with  the 
amount  of  commerce  and  the  prosper- 
ity of  a  nation.  It  is  this  principle 
which  accounts  for  much  of  Ger- 
many's  naval   growth. 

Mr.  Verney  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons on  March  17,  1910,  after  pre- 
senting figures  as  to  Germany's  mar- 
ine development,  commented:  "I 
wanted  to  account,  if  I  may,  at  all 
events  to  some  extent,  for  the  growth 


in  their  navy  by  reference  to  the 
growth  in  their  mercantile  marine.  I 
think  that  tells  entirely  against  the 
idea  of  any  scare  being  got  up  in 
this  country  by  reason  of  the  growth 
of  the  German  navy."  The  "Edin- 
burgh Review"  of  April,  1914  (p. 
448),  says:  "The  German  navy  has 
grown  with  the  growth  of  national 
spirit  in  Germany  and  with  the  con- 
sciousness of  necessity.  The  increase 
of  manufactures,  the  expansion  of 
foreign  commerce,  the  progressive 
change  which  is  converting  Germany 
from  an  agricultural  Into  an  in- 
dustrial country,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  German  interests  throughout 
the  world,  are  the  causes  of  the 
growth  of  the  German  navy." 

Dr.  Gibbons,  in  his  book  "The  New 
Map  of  Europe,"  refers  to  the  navy 
as  "the  safeguard  of  commerce." 
Nor  is  this  doctrine  peculiar  to  Eu- 
rope. Hilary  A.  Herbert,  our  former 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  wrote  in  the 
"Forum"  of  Sept.,  1897:  "We  should 
be  able  to  protect  our  commerce  in- 
stantly, and  see  that  such  questions 
(trade  relations)  are  not  decided 
wrongfully  to  our  detriment.  We 
cannot  afford  to  be  in  the  condition 
we  occupied  during  the  Napoleonic 
era,  when  Great  Britain  and  France 
*  *  *  warred  on  our  commerce 
until  we  were  compelled  *  *  • 
to   fight." 

Rear-Admiral  Melville  believes  that 
"it  is  not  only  our  right  to  extend 
our  trade,  but  it  is  our  duty  to  pre- 
vent foreign  markets  from  being  un- 
justly taken  away  »  *  *  It  is  certain 
that  in  order  to  hold  on  to  what 
we  have  secured  through  conquest 
or  industrial  superiority  we  must 
maintain  an  armed  force  of  sufficient 
strength  to  manifest  our  readiness 
and  ability  to  protect  commercial 
rights  and  privileges."  Why  con- 
demn Germany  because  along  with 
her  enormous  increase  in  commerce 
she  has  increased  her  naval  power  at 
the  same  time?  German  naval 
growth  is  entirely  logical. 
Conclusion. 

To  sum  up  the  points  made.  The 
historical  record  shows  Germany  to 
be  the  most  peaceful  of  all  the  great 
powers.  The  war  cannot  be  traced 
to  the  Kaiser,  to  Nietzsche,  Treit- 
schke,  Bernhardi,  or  to  any  other  man 
or  group  of  men,  but  is  the  struggle 
of  a  whole  nation  fighting  shoulder 
to  shoulder  and  with  but  a  single 
thought — the  Fatherland.  The  Ger- 
man Army  is  an  inexorable  necessity 
of  Germany's  geographical  situation; 
her  navy  has  grown  because  of  ag- 
gressive English  tactics;  and  the  in- 
crease of  German  militarism,  weighed 
by  facts,  vanishes. 


MODERN  DIPLOMACY 
ESPECIALLY  "SECRET"  DIPLOMACY 

Discussion  on  General  and  Special  Diplomatic  Questions 


Vital  Causes  of  the  War 
The  Mystery  of  Diplomacy  and  International  Politics 


WHY  GERMANY  IS  AT  WAR. 


"The  Irish  Voice,"  March  17,  1915. 

lu  the  last  few  months  responsible 
and  irrespousilile  persons  in  the  coun- 
tries now  at  war  with  Germany  have 
repeatedly  made  the  assertion  that 
the  European  War  broke  out  because 
Germany  desired  it  and  that  it  is  now 
being  waged  in  the  name  of  European 
civilization,  in  the  interest  of  the 
smaller  democratic  nations  against 
Prussian  militarism.  These  state- 
ments are  one  and  all  Incorrect. 

The  Causes  of  the  War. 

The  International  crisis  which  led 
up  to  the  present  war  is  rooted  in 
the  conflict  of  interests  between  Aus- 
tria-Hungary and  Servla.  On  the  28th 
of  June,  1014,  this  opposition  de- 
veloped into  an  acute  situation  through 
the  murder  of  the  Austro-ilungarian 
heir-apparent  and  his  wife.  In  the 
course  of  the  investigation  of  this  de- 
spicable crime  the  Austro-Hungarlan 
authorities  discovered  that  it  had  been 
committed  in  the  name  of  the  Pan- 
Servian  propaganda,  that  this  propa- 
ganda had  its  origin  in  Servla,  that 
its  ultimate  goal  was  the  destruction 
of  Austria-Hungary  and  that  Servian 
officers  and  officials  were  directly,  as 
well  as  Indirectly  accomplices  in  the 
murder.  Since  Servla  had  on  March 
31,  inOO,  made  Austria-Hungary  the 
promise  that  she  would  put  an  end 
to  the  Pan-Servian  agitation,  Austria- 
Hungary  was  now  compelled  not  only 
to  seek  reparation  for  the  murder  of 
Sarajewo  but  also  to  Insist  upon  guar- 
antees that  the  .Servian  government 
would  keep  its  pledge  and  actually 
suppress  this  propaganda.  In  this 
matter  Austria-IIungary  had  a  right 
to  expect  the  sympathy  of  the  entire 
civilized  world.  For,  not  only  had  the 
murder  of  Sarajewo  aroused  the 
greatest  repugnance  all  over  Europe, 
but  it  also  recalled  the  fact  that  the 
present  Servian  government  and  a 
ronsiderablp  portion  of  its  personnel 
had  liocn  concerned  in  the  no  less  hor- 
rible murder  of  King  -Mexander  and 
Queen  Draga.  England  In  particular 
had  for  years  refused  to  send  diplo- 
matic representatives  to  a  country 
whose  authorities  had  In  part  thus 
soiled  their  hands  with  blood. 

The  Austro-IIungarian  note  which 
was  delivered  in  Belgrade  .Tuly  2.3. 
1914,    clearly    expressed    these    convic- 


tions and  desires.  The  Servian  an- 
swer, which  had  to  be  delivered  with- 
in 48  hours,  did  not,  however,  in 
sufficient  measure  comply  with  the 
wishes  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  gov- 
ernment because  the  kingdom  of 
Servla,  as  has  been  clearly  proved  by 
disclosures  of  the  Xovoye  Vremva  of 
the  10th  and  2:}rd  of  December,  1914, 
was  certain  of  Russian  protection. 
Consequently  Austria-Hungary  saw 
herself  compelled  to  break  off  diplo- 
matic relations  with  Servla  and  de- 
clared war  on  July  28.  In  doing  so 
Austria-Hungary  by  no  means  Intended 
to  annex  Servian  territory  or  to  bring 
about  a  displacement  of  the  balance  of 
power  in  the  Balkan  States,  as  she 
very  soon  made  known  In  Petrograd 
in  order  to  calm  the  uneasiness  that 
had  been  caused  there. 

Germany  as  the  ally  of  Austria- 
Hungary  from  the  very  beginning  of 
the  crisis  took  the  stand  that  the  con- 
flict of  her  ally  with  Servla  was  of 
a  local  nature  and  would  therefore 
have  to  be  localized.  And  In  the 
course  of  the  succeeding  International 
negotiations  which  endeavored  to 
smooth  the  differences  and  solve  the 
crisis.  Germany  could  not  give  up  this 
standpoint. 

Russia. 

Soon  after  the  conflict  between  Aus- 
tria-Hungary and  Servla  had  become 
acute  a  great  unrest  became  notice- 
able in  Russia.  For  years  Russia  had 
assumed  the  role  of  guardian  to  the 
southern  Slav  nations.  Inasnuich 
this  attitude  had  met  with  little  favor 
and  in  part  with  open  opposition  in 
Bulgaria.  Init  was  welcomed  all  the 
more  in  Servla.  Russia  interpreted 
this  role,  which  was  legalized  by  no 
international  agreement,  to  nie:in  that 
she  was  to  protect  Servla  even  against 
a  ,1ust  castigation  for  misdeeds  com- 
mitted or  abetted  by  Servian  officers 
and  oHicials.  .Mthough.  as  mentioned 
above.  Austria-Hungary  had  already 
given  the  assurance  that  she  In  no 
wise  intended  to  endanger  the  terri- 
torial integrity  of  Servla  or  disturb 
the  distribution  of  power  in  the  Balkan 
peninsula,  Russia  mobilized  those  por- 
tions of  her  troops  which  would  be 
affected  by  a  war  against  Austria-Hun- 
gary on  July  29. 

Attempt.'!  at  Mediation. 

The  nttemiits  at  mediallon  which 
were    made    by    the    other    Eiiropean 


powers  in  the  last  weeks  of  July,  1914, 
centered  in  the  last  instance,  though 
this  was  not  acknowle<lged,  around 
the  question  whether  an  understand- 
ing between  Austria-Uungao"  aud  Rus- 
sia or  Austria-Hungary  and  Servla 
were  desirable.  Germany  was  com- 
pelled to  remain  true  to  her  convic- 
tion that  mediation  between  her  ally 
and  Servla  was  not  in  place,  especially 
since  Austria-Hungary  in  making  the 
above-mentioned  declaration  had  al- 
ready complied  with  all  of  Russia's 
justified  demands.  Therefore,  Germany 
could  not  agree  to  the  proposals  of 
Sir  Edward  Grey  on  July  2tj.  accord- 
ing to  which  the  London  ambassadors 
of  Germany,  France  and  Italy  were  to 
meet  in  conference  under  his  chairman- 
ship. Such  a  conference  would  have 
brought  the  Austro-Hungarian  differ- 
ence with  Servla  before  a  European 
tribunal,  which  by  no  means  harmo- 
nized with  the  actual  state  of  affairs 
or  Germany's  duties  as  an  ally.  Never- 
theless Germany,  for  her  part,  con- 
tinued In  her  efforts  to  bring  at>out 
a  peaceful  solution.  She  brought  about 
direct  negotiations  between  Vienna  and 
Petrograd  and  energetically  furthered 
them  although  the  mobilization  of  the 
Russian  troops  against  Austria-Hun- 
gary hampered  these  efforts  markedly. 
France  looked  with  mistrust  upon  the 
German  proiwsal  because  she  feared 
thereby  to  compromise  herself  In  the 
eyes  of  Russia  (French  Yellow  Book 
No.  02).  Formally  England  accepted 
Germany's  jiroiKisal.  But  at  the  same 
time — she  had  already  mobilized  and 
concentrated  her  fleet  as  early  as 
July  24.  Besides  the  French  charge 
d'affaires  In  London  could  report  to 
his  government  already  on  July  25 
(French  Yellow  Book  No.  37)  that  Sir 
Edward  Grey  had  told  the  German 
ambassador,  no  European  power  could 
restrain  Itself  In  the  case  of  war.  This 
attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Triple 
Entente  brought  about  a  decided 
strengthening  of  the  Russian  war  party. 
After  Russia  had  mobilized  against 
Austria-Hungary  on  July  20.  It  ordered 
a  complete  mobilization  of  its  army 
and  navy  In  the  night  from  July  .30  to 
July  31.  which  now  threatened  Germany. 
This  was  all  the  more  dangerous  be- 
cause Germany  was  not  only  constantly 
active  in  the  interest  of  European 
peace  but  at  that  very  time  an  inter- 
change of  telegrams  had  begun  between 
the  German  Emperor  and  the  Czar.  In 
the   interests   of  her  own   safety   Ger- 


44 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


many  was  now  compelled  to  reply  with 
a  declaration  of  a  state  of  impending 
war  in  Germany  on  July  31  and  at  the 
same  time  requested  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment to  cease  mobilizing.  When 
no  answer  to  this  note  was  received 
from  Petrograd,  Germany  was  like- 
wise forced  to  a  complete  mobilization 
after  the  expiration  of  the  apijointed 
time  on  August  1. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  was 
entirely  pointless  of  Sir  Edward  Grey 
to  repeat  at  the  last  moment  his  pro- 
posal of  an  international  conference 
to  be  held  in  London,  which  had  pre- 
viously been  rejected  by  Germany  and 
Russia.  For  in  the  meantime  tlie  ob- 
ject of  dispute  between  Austria-Hun- 
gary and  Servia  had  in  no  wise  been 
altered.  But  Grey  had  already  in  the 
above-mentioned  manner  given  the 
German  Ambassador  in  Loudon  to 
understand  that  England  would  take 
part  in  a  European  war  and  had  con- 
fidentially informed  the  members  of 
the  Entente  of  this  warning  given  to 
Germany.  And  besides  these  powers 
had  already  a  distinct  advantage  over 
Germany  iu  having  moliilizt'd  earlier. 
Long  before  the  official  luoliilization 
Russian  had  begun  a  displacement  of 
troops  on  a  large  scale ;  since  July 
24  the  English  fleet  was  mobilized  and 
concentrated ;  the  military  prepara- 
tions of  France  had  begun  on  July 
27.  or  still  earlier.  Now  since  all  new 
military  preparations  would  have  had 
to  cease  during  such  a  conference  on 
the  part  of  all  participants,  the  nego- 
tiations would  have  been  carried  on 
under  the  pressure  of  the  bayonets 
and  the  threat  of  the  ship's  guns  of 
the  mobilized  Entente  powers,  where- 
as Germany  would  not  have  even  par- 
tially mobilized.  Hence  the  acceptance 
of  Grey's  repeated  proposal  could  mean 
nothing  but  war  or  humiliation  for 
Germany. 

Since  in  the  meantime  the  Russian 
and  French  forces  had  crossed  the 
German  borders  on  August  2,  the 
European  war  had  actually   begun. 

France  and  England. 

The  war  between  Germany  and  Rus- 
sia broke  out  because  Russia  denied 
Germany's  ally  the  right  to  force  the 
punishment  for  a  mean  crime  com- 
mitted against  a  prominent  member  of 
its  royal  family.  It  was  to  be  assumed 
according  to  the  treaties  existing  be- 
tween France  and  Russia  that.  France 
would  take  part  in  a  war  even  if  Rus- 
sia were  involved  in  it  because  she 
protected  a  country  which  harbored 
regicides.  Nevertheless  Germany  made 
the  effort  to  restrict  the  war  to  her 
Eastern  border  and  to  prevent  it  from 
becoming  a  European  calamity.  The 
inquiry  of  the  German  Ambassador  in 
Paris  respecting  this  question,  was 
answered  evasively  by  the  French  Pre- 
mier on  August  1,  that  is,  it  was  in 
reality  very  distinctly  answered.  For 
the  attitude  of  France  the  circum- 
stance may  have  been  decisive,  that 
already  on  July  27  the  German  Am- 
bassador in  London  was  informed  that 
Germany  could  not  count  on  English 
neutrality  in  the  event  of  a  European 
war  (French  Yellow  Book  No.  63)  and 
that  the  French  Ambassador  Cambon 
could  on  July  31  report  to  his  (Govern- 
ment (French  Yellow  Book  No.  110) 
that  the  British  Secretary  of  Foreign 
Affairs  had  said  to  Prince  Lichnowsky, 
England  could  not  keep  out  of  a  war  in 


which  France  was  involved.  On  Au- 
gust 1,  the  Freuch  Ambassador  was 
then  able  to  add  (Blench  Yellow  Book 
No.  12G)  that  Sir  Edward  Grey  was 
about  to  propose  iu  the  Cabinet  meet- 
ing that  the  English  fleet  should  pre- 
vent the  German  fleet  from  sailing 
through  the  Channel  or  making  any 
demonstration  whatever  against  the 
French   coast. 

Accordingly  France  is  at  war  with 
Germany  because  she  was  forced  to  it 
by  her  treaty  with  Russia,  because 
she  was  assured  in  advance  of  English 
support,  and  because  such  a  war  was, 
in  short,  the  final  and  logical  result  of 
the  determined  desire  for  revenge  on 
the  part  of  the  French  people  and  the 
French  government. 

As  for  England,  Sir  Edward  Grey 
had  repeatedly  given  the  assurance  in 
Parliament  that  his  government  had 
entered  upon  no  obligations  that  would 
tie  its  hands  in  the  case  of  a  European 
war.  This  was  literally  true  but  in 
spirit  it  was  false.  Sir  Edward  Grey 
had  obligated  himself  to  take  counsel 
with  France  in  the  event  of  war 
whether  the  proposed  collaboration  of 
the  army  and  navy  heads  of  the  two 
nations  should  actually  be  materialized 
against  Germany.  In  any  case  Ger- 
many had  to  attempt  to  assure  herself 
of  England's  neutrality  in  the  coming 
conflict.  That  these  attempts  were 
hopeless  from  the  beginning  is  shown 
by  the  exposition  of  the  state  of  af- 
fairs which  Sir  Edward  Grey  made  in 
Parliament  on  August  3.  He  there  de- 
clared that  England  would  in  no  case 
have  remained  an  idle  spectator  if  the 
German  fleet  had  attacked  the  French 
coast  and  merchant  marine,  because 
this  coast  was  laid  open  to  attack  by 
the  concentration  of  the  French  fleet 
in  the  Mediterranean  on  the  ground  of 
the  agreement  with  England.  Grey 
further  openly  declared  in  this  speech 
that  a  German  victory  over  France  was 
opposed  to  English  interests  and  could 
therefore  not  be  permitted  by  England. 
Finally  Grey  expressed  the  opinion  in 
the  same  speech  that  neutrality  would 
be  just  as  detrimental  to  England  as 
participation  in  the  war  and  that, 
moreover,  England's  most  vital  inter- 
ests would  be  imperilled  by  a  neutral 
stand. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  was 
impossible  for  the  German  government 
to  be  assured  of  England's  neutrality 
by  any  guarantees  whatever,  namely, 
that  it  would  respect  the  French  coast 
or  guarantee  not  to  make  any  conquest 
of  French  soil.  The  German  inquiry 
under  what  circumstances  England 
would  remain  neutral  could  hence  not 
be  answered.  England  had  bound  her- 
self over  against  France  to  such  an  ex- 
tent to  a  participation  in  the  war — as 
Grey  correctly  stated  on  August  .3 — 
that  England  would  have  imperilled 
her  honor  and  reputation  had  she  kept 
out  of  the  war. 

By  her  attitude,  therefore,  England 
brought  about  the  victory  of  the  Rus- 
sian war  party  and  thereby  gave  the 
impulse  for  the  general  mobilization  in 
Russia,  and  thus  assisted  toward  the 
war  between  Russia  and  Germany.  She 
further  abette<l  France  in  her  inten- 
tion to  enter  into  the  war  and  herself 
took  part  in  the  war.  because,  accord- 
ing to  Grey's  views,  this  participation 
in  no  way  hampered  England  but.  on 
the  contrary  guaranteed  the  safety  of 
her  most  vital  interests. 


Belgium. 

In  his  speech  of  August  3,  1914, 
which  set  forth  the  causes  of  England's 
participation  iu  the  war.  Grey  spoke 
only  conditionally  of  the  Belgian  ques- 
tion. Subsequently  England  sought  to 
conceal  the  true  reasons  for  the  par- 
ticipation in  the  war.  She  pleaded  the 
protection  of  Belgian  neutrality,  where- 
as she  entered  the  fray  merely  for  the 
protection  of  her  own  material  inter- 
ests. Herein  the  protection  of  Belgian 
neutrality  rests  solely  on  British  inter- 
ests, as  Sir  Edward  Grey  distinctly 
said  on  August  3,  which  demand  that 
this  portion  of  the  North  Sea  coast 
should  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  any 
great  power. 

Belgian  neutrality  became  invalid 
for  Germany  in  that  no  doubt  existed 
on  the  part  of  France  to  concentrate 
her  troops  along  the  line  Givet-Namur. 
The  declarations  made  on  August  2  in 
Brussels  by  the  German  Minister  prove 
this.  Documents  which  were  later 
found  by  the  Germans  in  Brussels  fur- 
nish a  further  basis  for  it.  According 
to  them  Belgium  had  for  years  made 
plans  in  conjunction  with  England  and 
iterance  for  carrying  out  military  oper- 
ations against  Germany  in  common.  In 
the  eyes  of  every  thoughtful  non-parti- 
san these  documents  are  tantamount 
to  proof.  They  have  already  been  pub- 
lished. It  is  unnecessary,  therefore  to 
enter  ujwn  them  again  here. 

Accordingly  the  European  war  broke 
out  because  Russia  declared  her 
.solidarit.v  with  the  Servian  regicides, 
because  France  and  Russia  were  allied, 
because  both  nations  were  abetted  in 
their  warlike  intentions  li.v  England, 
and  because  England  lioped  to  acom- 
plish  through  the  war  the  defeat  of 
German.v  which  seemed  to  her  abso- 
lutely necessary. 

Thus  we  see  that  Germany  in  waging 
a  war  which  is  purely  and  simply  de- 
fensive and  was  forced  upon  her  by 
her  neighbors. 


Note. — See  the  Tahle  of  Contents  or 
the  Index  for  the  telegi'ams  in  the 
Diplomatic  Correspondence  and  "The 
Case  of  Belgium"  referred  to  in  this 
article. — The  Editor. 


THE  CASE  OF  AUSTRIA. 


(Editorial  in  the  "Springfield  Repub- 
lican.") 

That  Austria  is  not  wholly  without 
a  case  may  he  seen  by  considering 
the  part  played  by  the  Maine  in  our 
own  Spanish  war.  The  justification 
of  a  sort,  urged  for  that  war  was 
that  dangerous  and  intolerable  con- 
ditions were  maintained  in  Cuba  near 
our  shores,  and  the  sinking  of  the 
Main  was  taken  as  a  kind  of  dem- 
onstration, a  concrete  instance.  It 
would  be  a  closer  parallel  to  suppose 
Texas  filled  with  rebellious  Mexicans 
anxious  to  secede  to  Mexico,  and  a 
President  of  the  United  States  as- 
sassinated by  a  Texan  affiliated  with 
a  band  of  conspirators  at  the  Mexican 
capital.  Under  such  conditions  we 
may  be  sure  that  this  country  would 
be  as  hot  for  war  as  Austria,  and 
that  the  demands  made  upon  Mexico 
for  apology  and  amendment  would  be 
quite  as  severe  as  those  now  im- 
posed upon  Servia. 


DIPLOMACY  AND  INTERNATIONAL  LAW 


DIPLOMATIC    CORRESPONDENCE. 


How   The   French-Geniiau   Conflict 
CoiiJd  Have  Been  Avoided. 


The  Chicago  Herald. 

Under  this  title  the  German  Gov- 
ernment has  published  a  new  pam- 
phlet containing  the  following  corre- 
spondence between  Prince  Henry  of 
Prussia,  King  George  of  England  and 
the  German  Emperor.  This  serves  to 
Illustrate  the  point  that  Russia  at  no 
time  was  willing  to  desist  from  her 
policy  of  mobilization.  The  burden 
of  proof  becomes  stronger  each  day 
that  had  Russia  been  willing  to  ar- 
bitrate the  questions  at  issue,  the 
present  war  could  have  been  averted. 

The  text  is  reprinted  from  the 
"Chicago   Herald"   of   September   11. 

Note  Prece<ling   the  Correspondence. 

"The  following  documents  refer  to 
the  exchange  of  views  between  Ger- 
many and  England  immediately  be- 
fore the  war  broke  out.  It  will  be 
perceived  from  these  documents  that 
Germany  was  prepared  to  spare 
Prance  in  case  England  should  re- 
main neutral  and  would  guarantee 
the   neutrality   of   France. 

We  believe  that  historical  docu- 
ments such  as  these  telegrams  re- 
quire a  deeper  study  than  the  "Chi- 
cago Herald"  seems  willing  to  devote 
to  them,  judging  from  the  flippant 
heading  it  gave  these  telegrams  in 
its  issue  of  September  11.  The  head- 
ing: "From  Georgie  to  Nicky  to 
Willy."  We  are  not  surprised  that 
this  strong  pro-British  daily  should 
desire  to  treat  these  telegrams  as  a 
joke  in  order  to  distract  its  readers' 
attention  from  them ;  for  if  they 
seriously  considered  and  analyzed 
these  messages,  they  would  readily 
perceive  how  "English  diplomacy 
faced  right  about,  disavowed  a  peace 
proposal  of  England's  King,  and 
joined   Russia." 

The  Chicago  "Daily  News"  there- 
fore deserves  great  credit  for  having 
published  in  its  issue  of  September 
11,  the  letter  received  from  Berlin 
from  its  Special  Correspondent,  Mr. 
Raymond  E.  Swing,  wherein  these 
telegrams  are  analyzed  and  com- 
mented upon. 

Mr.   Swing  begins  his  letter  thus: 

"Berlin,  Germany,  Aug.  24. — The 
accumulation  of  historical  material, 
which  is  to  help  the  world  decide  the 
causes  of  the  present  war,  goes 
slowly  forward.  Battles  make  more 
interesting  reading,  but  historical 
material,  be  it  ever  so  uninteresting 
on  first  acquaintance,  turns  out  to 
contain  dramatic  stuff  of  the  finest 
quality,  and  serves  also  as  the  only 
guide  to  the  world's  judgment.  The 
battle  decides  only  strength;  these 
telegrams  and  notes  decide  right  and 
wrong. 

"The  latest  array  of  telegrams 
made  public  In  Berlin  and  herewith 
published  comprises  some  of  the  com- 
munications between  London  and 
Berlin  during  the  critical  days  pre- 
ceding the  outbreak  of  the  war.  They 
are  not  so  startling  as  the  German 
"White  Book."  liut  they  make  iiniiiy 
significant  points,  two  of  which  are 
highly  important.      One,     which     the 


St.  Petersburg  dispatches  strongly 
indicated,  is  that  Germany  was  work- 
ing to  preserve  peace.  The  other 
proves  that  England,  up  to  one  crit- 
ical moment,  was  co-operating  in  this 
movement,  and  that  at  this  one 
moment  English  diplomacy  faced 
right  about,  disavowed  a  peace  pro- 
posal of  England's  king,  and  joined 
Russia  in  imposing  a  condition  upon 
Austria  in  the  Servian  conflict  which 
alone  might  have  made  war  unavoid- 
able had  not  Russia's  own  mobiliza- 
tion interfered  to  break  off  negotia- 
tions.     »      •      »      " 

As  we  wish  to  make  "War  Echoes" 
a  book  for  present  as  well  as  future 
reference,  we  hope  our  readers  will 
find  it  convenient  because  we  have 
not  only  reprinted  in  full  the  docu- 
ment as  it  appears  in  the  pamphlet 
issued  by  the  German  Government, 
but  also  have  added  the  complete 
analysis  and  comments  made  thereon 
by  Mr.  Swing.  Our  readers  will  find 
Mr.  Swing's  letter  reproduced  imme- 
diately following  the  above  tele- 
grams.— Editor. 

"Telegram  of  his  royal  tughness 
Prince  Henry  of  Prussia  to  H.  M.  the 
King  of  England,  of  July  30,  1914: 

"  'Am  here  since  yesterday;  have 
informed  William  of  what  you  kindly 
told  me  at  Buckingham  Palace  last 
Sunday,  who  gratefully  received  your 
message.  William,  much  preoc- 
cupied, is  trying  his  utmost  to  fulfill 
Nicky's  appeal  to  him  to  work  for 
maintenance  of  peace  and  is  in  con- 
stant telegraphic  communication  with 
Nicky,  who  today  confirms  news  that 
military  measures  have  been  ordered 
by  him  equal  to  mobilization,  meas- 
ures which  have  been  taken  already 
five  days  ago. 

"  'We  are  furthermore  informed 
that  France  is  making  military  prep- 
arations, whereas  we  have  taken  no 
measures,  but  may  be  forced  to  do  so 
any  moment  should  our  neighbors 
continue,  which  would  then  mean  a 
European  war.  If  you  really  and 
earnestly  wish  to  prevent  this  terri- 
ble disaster,  may  I  suggest  you  using 
your  influence  on  Prance  and  also 
Russia  to  keep  neutral,  which  seems 
to  me  would  be  most  useful.  This  I 
consider  a  very  good,  perhaps  the 
only  chance,  to  maintain  the  peace  of 
Europe. 

"  'I  may  add  that  now  more  than 
ever,  Germany  and  England  should 
lend  each  other  mutual  help  to  pre- 
vent a  terrible  catastrophe,  which 
otherwise  seems   unavoidable. 

"  'Believe  me  that  William  is  most 
sincere  in  his  endeavors  to  maintain 
peace,  but  that  the  military  prepara- 
tions of  his  two  neighbors  may  at  last 
force  him  to  follow  their  example  for 
the  safety  of  his  own  country,  which 
otherwise  would   remain   defenseless. 

"  'I  have  informed  William  of  my 
telegram  to  you,  and  hope  you  will 
receive  my  information  In  the  same 
spirit  of  friendship  which  suggested 
them.      (Signed)  HENRY.' 

"Telegram  of  11.  M.  the  King  of 
England  to  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia, 
July  :J0,  1914: 

"  'Thanks  for  your  telegram.  So 
pleased  to  hear  of  William's  efforts  to 
concert  with  Nicky  to  maintain  peace. 


Indeed  I  am  earnestly  desirous  that 
such  an  irreparable  disaster  as  a 
European  war  should  be  averted.  My 
government  is  doing  its  utmost  sug- 
gesting to  Russia  and  France  to  sus- 
pend further  military  preparations  if 
Austria  will  consent  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  occupation  of  Belgrade  and 
neighboring  Servian  territory  as  a 
hostage  for  satisfactory  settlement  of 
her  demands,  other  countries  mean- 
while suspending  their  war  prepara- 
tions. Trust  William  will  use  his  great 
influence  to  induce  Austria  to  accept 
this  proposal,  thus  proving  that  Ger- 
many and  England  are  working  to- 
gether to  prevent  what  would  be  an 
international  catastrophe.  Pray  as- 
sure William  I  am  doing  and  shall 
continue  to  do  all  that  lies  in  my 
power  to  preserve  peace  of  Europe. 
(Signed)  GEORGE.' 

"Telegram  of  his  majesty,  the  Em- 
peror, to  his  majesty,  the  Iving  of 
England,  of  July  31,  1914: 

"  'Many  thanks  for  your  kind  tele- 
gram. Your  proposals  coincide  with 
my  ideas,  and  with  the  statements  I 
got  this  night  from  Vienna,  which  I 
have  had  forwarded  to  London.  I 
just  received  news  from  the  chancel- 
lor that  official  notification  has  just 
reached  him  that  this  night  Nicky  has 
ordered  the  mobilization  of  his  whole 
army  and  fleet.  He  has  not  even 
awaited  the  results  of  the  mediation  I 
am  working  at  and  left  me  without 
any  news.  I  am  off  for  Berlin  to 
take  measures  for  insuring  safety  of 
my  eastern  frontiers  where  strong 
Russian  troops  are  alreadv  posted. 
(Signed)  WILLY.' 

"Telegram  of  the  King  of  England 
to  his  majesty  the  Emperor,  of  Aug. 
31,  1914: 

"  'Many  thanks  for  your  telegram 
last  night.  I  sent  an  urgent  telegram 
to  Nicky  expressing  my  readiness  to 
do  everything  in  my  power  to  assist 
in  reopening  conversations  between 
powers  concerned. 

"'(Signed)  GEORGIE.' 

"Telegram  of  the  German  ambas- 
sador in  London  to  the  cliancellor,  of 
Aug.  1,   1914: 

"  'Sir  E.  Grey  just  asked  me  by 
telephone  whether  I  believed  I  was 
in  a  position  to  be  clear  that  we 
would  not  attack  France  in  a  war 
between  Germany  and  Russia  in  case 
France  should  remain  neutral.  I  de- 
clared I  believed  to  be  able  to  give 
such  an  understanding. 

"■(Signed)  LICHNOWSKY." 

"Telegram  (►f  his  majesty  the  Em- 
peror («  his  majesty,  the  King  of 
England,  of  .\ug.  1,  1914: 

"'I  just  received  the  communica- 
tion from  your  government  offering 
French  neutrality  under  guarantee  of 
Great  Britain.  Added  to  this  offer 
was  the  inquiry  whether,  under  the 
conditions,  Germany  would  refrain 
from  attacking  France.  On  technical 
grounds  my  mobilization,  which  had 
already  been  proclaimed  this  after- 
noon, must  proceed  against  two 
fronts,  east  and  west,  as  prepared; 
this  cannot  be  countermanded  be- 
cause, I  am  sorry,  your  telegram 
came  bo  late.      But  If  France  offers 


46 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


me  neutrality,  which  must  be  guar- 
anteed by  the  British  fleet  and  army, 
I  shall,  of  course,  refrain  from  at- 
tacking France  and  employ  my 
troops  elsewhere.  I  hope  that  France 
will  not  become  nervous.  The  troops 
on  my  frontier  are  in  the  act  of  being 
stopped  by  telegraph  and  telephone 
from  crossing  into  France. 

"'(Signed)  WILLIAM.' 

"Telegram  from  the  chanceUor  to 
the  German  ambassador  in  liondon, 
of  Aug.  1,  1914: 

"  'Germany  is  ready  to  accept  Brit- 
ish proposals  in  ease  England  guaran- 
tees with  all  her  forces  absolute  neu- 
trality of  France  in  Russo-German 
conflict.  German  mobilization  has 
been  ordered  today  on  account  of 
Russian  challenge  before  English 
proposal  was  known  here.  It  is  there- 
fore now  Impossible  to  make  any 
change  in  strategical  distribution  of 
troops  ordered  to  the  French  fron- 
tier. But  we  guarantee  that  our 
troops  will  not  cross  the  French  fron- 
tier before  7  p.  m.  on  Monday,  the 
3d  inst.,  in  case  England  will  pledge 
herself    meanwhile.       (Signed) 

"  'BETHMANN-HOLLWEG." 

"Telegram  of  his  majesty,  tke 
King  of  England  to  his  majesty,  the 
Emperor,  of  Aug.  1,  1914.: 

"  'In  answer  to  your  telegram  just 
received,  I  think  there  must  be  some 
misunderstanding  as  to  a  suggestion 
that  passed  in  friendly  conversation, 
between  Prince  Lichnowsky  and  Sir 
Edward  Grey  this  afternoon  when 
they  were  discussing  how  actual 
fighting  between  German  and  French 
armies  might  be  avoided  while  there 
is  still  a  chance  of  some  agreement 
between  Austria  and  Russia.  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  will  arrange  to  see  Prince 
Lichnowsky  early  tomorrow  morning 
to  ascertain  whether  there  is  a  mis- 
undertanding  on  his  part. 

"'(Signed)  GEORGE.' 

.  .  "Telegram  of  the  German  ambas- 
sador in  London  to  the  chancellor,  of 
Aug.  2,  1914: 

"  'Sir  E.  Grey's  suggestions  were 
prompted  by  a  desire  to  make  it  pos- 
sible for  England  to  keep  permanent 
neutrality,  but  as  they  were  not 
based  on  a  previous  understanding 
with  France  and  made  without 
knowledge  of  our  mobilization,  they 
have  been  abandoned  as  absolutely 
hopeless. 

"■(Signed)  LICHNOWSKY. 

"(Note  following  the  correspon- 
dence. ) 

"The  essence  of  Germany's  decla- 
rations is  contained  in  Emperor  Wil- 
liam's telegram  to  the  King  of  Eng- 
land, of  Aug.  1,  1914.  Even  if  there 
existed  a  misunderstanding  as  to  an 
English  proposal,  the  kaiser's  offer 
furnished  England  the  opportunity  to 
prove  her  pacific  disposition  and  to 
prevent  the  Franco-German  war." 


HOW   THE   KAISER   WORKED   TO 
AVOID  WAR. 


Messages  of  the  German  Ruler  and 
Prince  Henry  to  King  George — 
British  Plan  Withdrawn — Elev- 
enth Hour  Efforts  to  Bring  About 
an  Understanding — Diplomacy  by 
Telephone. 


Immense  flocks  of  storks  are  re- 
ported in  southern  France.  We 
know  of  nothing  that  France  needs 
more. — Prom  the  "Boston  Evening 
Transcript." 


The  Chicago  Daily  News. 

Berlin,  Germany,  Aug.  24. — The  ac- 
cumulation of  historical  material, 
which  is  to  help  the  world  decide  the 
causes  of  the  present  war,  goes  slowly 
forward.  Battles  make  more  interest- 
ing reading,  but  historical  material,  be 
it  ever  so  uninteresting  on  first  ac- 
quaintance, turn  out  to  contain  dra- 
matic stuff  of  the  finest  quality,  and 
serves  also  as  the  only  guide  to  the 
world's  judgment.  The  battle  decides 
only  strength ;  these  telegrams  and 
notes  decide  right  and  wrong. 

The  latest  array  of  telegrams  made 
public  in  Berlin  and  herewith  published 
comprises  some  of  the  communications 
between  London  and  Berlin  during  the 
critical  days  preceding  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  They  are  not  so  startling  as 
the  German  "white  book,"  but  they 
make  many  significant  i)oints,  two  of 
which  are  highly  important.  One, 
which  the  St.  Petersburg  dispatches 
strongly  indicated,  is  that  Germany  was 
working  to  preserve  peace.  The  other 
proves  that  England,  up  to  one  critical 
moment,  was  co-operating  in  this  move- 
ment, and  that  at  this  one  moment 
English  diplomacy  faced  right  about, 
disavowed  a  peace  proposal  of  Eng- 
land's king,  and  joined  Russia  in  im- 
posing a  condition  upon  Austria  in  the 
Servian  conflict  which  alone  might 
have  made  war  unavoidable  had  not 
Russia's  own  mobilization  interfered  to 
break  off  negotiations. 

How  Kaiser  Worked  for  Peace. 

The  first  point  is  quickly  proved  by 
combination  of  the  white  book  and 
the  telegrams  that  are  here  presented. 
Everyone  of  the  kaiser's  dispatches  to 
the  czar  is  impregnated  with  his  desire 
for  peace  and  his  willingness  to  work 
for  it  to  the  end.  The  telegrams  of  his 
brother.  Prince  Henry,  to  King  George 
adds  to  the  kaiser's  own  telegrams  most 
convincing  evidence. 

"William,  who  is  most  concerned," 
telegraphs  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  "is 
extending  himself  to  the  utmost."  The 
huiguage  by  its  very  straightforward 
strength  gives  a  lucid  picture  of 
Brother  William,  his  mind  filled  with 
information  about  Russia's  and 
France's  military  preparations  and  con- 
sequent forebodings  of  war  and  himself 
"most  concerned,"  since  his  ideal  of 
peace  was  in  danger.  It  must  have 
been  already  apparent  to  William  that 
Cousin  Nicholas  was  allowing  himself 
to  pilot  Russia  outside  of  diplomatic 
waters.  "Nicholas  today  confirmed  the 
news  that  five  days  ago  he  ordered  mil- 
itary measures — tantamount  to  mobil- 
ization." No  doubt  William  was  "most 
concerned."  Then  Prince  Henry  pro- 
ceeds: "If  you  really  and  uprightly 
wish  to  avert  this  frightful  calamity 
may  I  suggest  that  you  use  your  in- 
fluence upon  France  and  also  upon  Rus- 
sia to  keep  them  neutral.  I  believe  it 
to  be  a  sure  and  perhaps  the  only  pos- 
sibility of  maintaining  peace."    Tlien  he 


continues :  "Believe  me  that  William  Is 
utterly  upright  in  his  efforts  to  main- 
tain peace."  The  whole  telegram  is  a 
frank  and  manly  statement  between 
cousins.  It  was  not  intended  for  event- 
ual historical  evidence.  It  rings  with 
the  vibrations  of  the  moment. 

King  George's  Peace  Plan. 

But  the  really  significant  telegram 
of  the  lot  is  the  second,  the  answer 
of  Cousin  George,  another  document 
teeming  with  frankness  and  spirit. 
"Very  glad  to  hear  of  William's  ef- 
forts," replies  George.  George,  too, 
has  an  "earnest  wish"  that  the  "Ir- 
reparable catastrophe  should  be  pre- 
vented." Hla  next  tentence  la  very 
Important: 

"My  government  is  doing  its  ut- 
most to  induce  Russia  and  France  to 
defer  further  military  preparations 
in  case  Austria  is  satisfied  with  the 
occupation  of  Belgrade  and  neigh- 
boring Servian  territory  as  security 
for  a  peaceful  adjustment  of  her  de- 
mands, while  at  the  same  time  other 
countries  suspend  their  war  prepa- 
rations." Here  in  one  sentence  Is  a 
solution  of  the  Austrian-Servian  con- 
flict. With  this  proposal  there  could 
be  no  doubt  where  England  stood. 
It  was  a  strikingly  intelligent  pro- 
posal. The  air  was  cleared.  Read- 
ing on,  William  must  have  smiled 
gravely  as  he  read,  "I  trust  William 
will  use  his  great  influence  to  move 
Austria  to  accept  this  proposal." 

When  Prince  Henry  received  this 
telegram  he  was  off  at  once  to  the 
Kaiser  and  thence  to  the  chancellor's 
palace,  and  there  they  talked  and 
argued  until  2  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. A  few  hours  later  there  was 
another  long  conference,  with  many 
taking  part.  The  tone  of  this  meet- 
ing was  distinctly  hopeful,  one  can 
easily  imagine. 

The  Fateful  Word  from  Russia. 

Then  a  messenger  enters.  In  the 
little  red  satchel  attached  to  his  red 
belt  are  many  dispatches  and  these 
are  laid  upon  the  table.  The  chan- 
cellor starts  to  opening  them  and 
hands  them  to  his  secretary  for  dl- 
ciphering.  They  soon  come  upon  a 
vital  message.  We  know  it  was 
short,  but  the  text  has  not  been 
made  public.  It  was  to  this  effect: 
"The  Czar  ordered  full  mobilization 
of  army  and  navy  today."  It  was 
signed  by  Pourtales,  the  German  am- 
bassador at  St.  Petersburg.  The 
fateful  decision  had  been  made. 

The  next  telegram  of  the  series 
with  London  is  not  by  Henry,  but  by 
William  himself.  It  voices  bitter  dis- 
appointment. "Your  proposals  coin- 
cide with  my  ideas  and  with  messages 
from  Vienna."  In  other  words,  the 
solution  of  the  difficulties  has  been 
found.  But,  he  continues,  Nicholas 
has  ruined  it  all  by  mobilizing. 
There  follows  a  human  and  moving 
complaint:  "He  did  not  even  wait 
for  the  results  of  mediation  and  left 
me  altogether  without  news."  Can 
any  one,  reading  this,  doubt  that  the 
Kaiser  wished  peace?  "I  am  going 
to  Berlin  to  insure  the  safety  of  my 
eastern  frontier  where  already  strong 
Russian  troops  have  taken  up  their 
position."  This  was  defense,  not  at- 
tack. War  had  been  forced  upon 
him   and  Russia  was  the  culprit. 


DIPLOMACY  AND  INTERNATIONAL  LAW 


The  Plan  Evolved  in  St.  Petersburg. 

So  far,  Russia  had  borne  the  brunt 
of  the  blame  for  this  war  from  the 
Berlin  point  of  view  and  not  until  a 
copy  of  the  Russian  "orange  book," 
corresponding  with  the  German 
"white  book,"  arrived  in  Berlin,  was 
there  a  hint  of  strange  maneuverings 
in  British  diplomacy.  Not  forgetting 
that  King  George's  solution  had  been 
suggested  in  a  telegram  of  July  30, 
the  Germans  read  with  astonishment 
that  the  British  ambassador  in  St. 
Petersburg,  working  together  with 
Foreign  Minister  Sasonow,  had 
evolved  an  entirely  different  solu- 
tion, and  informed  the  Russian  am- 
bassadors in  other  countries  about  it 
only  July  31.  The  change  in  the 
proposal  was  radical.  Instead  of  al- 
lowing Austria  to  hold  Belgrade  as 
security,  Austria  was  to  retire  from 
Servia.  She  was  to  have  no  security 
other  than  a  promised  word.  Within 
twenty-four  hours  England  had 
changed  her  course;  hitherto  her  at- 
titude as  known  in  Berlin  had  been 
peaceful ;  within  a  day  it  became  pro- 
vocative. 

In  the  light  of  this  fact,  what  can 
be  thought  of  King  George's  next 
telegram  to  the  Kaiser?  "I  have  sent 
an  urgent  dispatch  to  Nicholas  in 
which  I  have  expressed  my  willing- 
ness to  do  everything  in  my  power 
to  further  the  resumption  of  the 
negotiations  between  the  powers  in- 
volved." What,  then,  is  English  di- 
plomacy? Did  or  did  not  George 
know  of  the  action  of  his  ambassador 
in  St.  Petersburg?  If  he  did,  what 
a  lamentable  deception  this  telegram 
appears!  And  if  he  did  not,  is  not 
British  diplomacy,  by  this  very  fail- 
ure, responsible  in  no  small  measure 
for  the  outbreak  of  this  war? 

That   Mes.sage   by   Telephone. 

The  remaining  telegrams  are  in- 
structive, though  the  die  had  already 
been  cast.  The  telephone  conversa- 
tion between  Grey  and  Lichnowsky 
on  the  subject  of  French  neutrality 
was  immediately  dispatched  to  Ber- 
lin. It  is,  by  the  way,  unheard  of 
in  diplomatic  circles  thus  to  commit 
national  destinies  to  telephonic  com- 
munication. The  chancellor  received 
it  about  thirty-five  minutes  before 
the  mobilization  order  was  to  be 
made  public,  though  it  appears  that 
the  order  was  already  in  force.  In 
five  minutes  he  was  in  the  palace, 
closeted  with  the  Kaiser.  How  they 
must  have  regretted  the  delay  of 
Grey's  suggestion!  A  few  hours 
earlier  and  the  mobilization  toward 
the  French  frontier  would  have  not 
been  ordered. 

However,  the  message  is  not  alto- 
gether too  late.  The  Kaiser  imme- 
diately writes  his  answer,  possibly 
sitting  to  the  task  at  once,  and  writ- 
ing in  pencil  with  his  clear,  rapid 
hand  the  message  to  George,  surely 
in  English:  "If  France  offers  her 
neutrality  I  shall  naturally  avoid  an 
attack  upon  France  and  shall  dispose 
of  my  troops  otherwise.  I  hope  that 
France  will  not  be  nervous." — Al- 
most as  though  the  Kaiser  were 
thinking  aloud — "The  troops  at  my 
frontier  are  even  now  being  held 
back  by  telegraph  and  telephone  from 
crossing  the  French  boundary." 


The  palace  must  have  presented  a 
busy  scene,  the  adjutants  at  the  tele- 
phone, the  chancellor  perhaps  at  an- 
other table  writing  messages  to  the 
front,  while  William  sent  his  tele- 
gram to  Cousin  George. 

But  Something  Went  Wrong. 

But  English  diplomacy  had  slipped 
again.  George's  next  telegram  was 
not  filled  with  the  cousinly  affection 
which  shone  out  in  ijrevious  mes- 
sages. It  is  not  introduced  with  a 
word  of  thanks,  as  are  his  others, 
and  it  is  tinctured  this  time  with  the 
odor  of  diplomatic  evasion.  "There 
must  have  been  a  misunderstand- 
ing." A  diplomatic  method  of  say- 
ing: "Things  have  changed"  even 
as  they  changed  the  day  before. 

The  last  telegram  of  the  series 
shows  why  things  had  changed. 
"•The  proposals  of  Sir  Edward  Grey," 
wires  the  German  Ambassador  in 
London,  "which  are  attributable  to 
a  wish  to  assure  the  possibility  of 
England's  continuous  neutrality  were 
made  without  previously  sounding 
France"— just  as  Sir  Edward's  am- 
bassadorial conference  was  suggested 
without  previously  sounding  the 
powers  involved — "and  without 
knowledge  of  mobilization,  and  in 
the  meantime  have  been  given  up  as 
completely  hopeless."  When  France 
was  sounded,  it  follows,  England 
found  that  its  hasty  suggestion  was 
unfortunate  and  evidently  found  that 
the  possibility  of  England's  own  con- 
tinuous neutrality  was  dimming.  In 
three  days  England  had.  Indeed, 
changed! 

These  telegrams  are,  to  be  sure, 
incomplete.  We  do  not  yet  know 
what  occurred  in  these  three  days  of 
England's  change,  nor  what  justifica- 
tion she  can  give  for  her  own  right 
about  face.  But  in  any  attempt  to 
hold  certain  individuals  responsible 
for  this  war  it  becomes  more  and 
more  obvious  that  the  responsibility 
must  be  divided.  And  unless  the 
peculiarities  of  these  telegrams  are 
illuminated  by  startling  justifying 
facts  a  goodly  quantity  of  the  blame 
must  fall  in  London. 

Prince  Henry  of  Prussia  to  King 
(Jeorge,  July  30. 

"I  arrived  yesterday  and  having 
repeated  what  you  so  kindly  told 
me  at  Buckingham  palace  to  Wil- 
liam, who  received  your  message 
gratef\illy. 

"Williain.  who  is  much  concerned, 
is  extending  himself  to  the  utmost 
to  comply  with  the  request  of  Nich- 
olas to  work  for  the  maintenance 
of  peace.  He  is  in  constant  tele- 
graphic communication  with  Nich- 
olas, who.  today  confirmed  the  news 
that  five  days  ago  he  ordered  mili- 
tary measures  which  are  tantamount 
to   mobilization. 

"We  also  received  information 
that  Prance  is  making  military  prep- 
arations, while  we  have  taken  no 
similar  measures;  we  shall,  however, 
be  forced  into  them  at  any  moment 
If  our  neighbors  continue  in  this  way. 
That  would  mean  European  war. 

"If  you  really  and  uprightly  wish 
to  avert  this  frightful  calamity,  may 
I   suggest  to  you   that  you  use  your 


influence  upon  France  and  also  upon 
Russia  to  keep  them  neutral?  That, 
in  my  opinion,  would  be  of  the  great- 
est usefulness.  I  believe  it  to  be  a 
sure,  and,  perhaps  the  only,  possi- 
bility of  maintaining  peace.  I  should 
like  to  add  that  now  more  than  ever 
Germany  and  England  must  mutu- 
ally support  each  other  to  avert  a 
terrible  catastrophe  which  otherwise 
seems  unpreventable. 

"Believe  me  that  William  is  ut- 
terly upright  in  his  efforts  to  main- 
tain peace.  But  the  military  prep- 
arations of  his  two  neighbors  can 
force  him  finally  to  follow  their  ex- 
ample in  order  that  his  otherwise  un- 
protected country  may  be  safe.  I 
have  informed  William  of  my  tele- 
gram to  you  and  I  hope  that  you  will 
accept  my  message  in  the  same 
friendly  spirit  in  which  it  is  sent. 
"HENRT." 

King  George  to  I'rince  Henry, 
July  30. 

"Thanks  for  your  telegram.  Very 
glad  to  hear  of  William's  efforts  to 
unite  with  Nicholas  for  preserving 
peace.  I  have  the  earnest  wish  that 
such  an  irreparable  catastrophe  as  a 
European  war  should  be  prevented. 
My  government  is  doing  its  utmost 
to  induce  Russia  and  France  to  defer 
further  military  preparations  in  case 
Austria  is  satisfied  with  the  occupa- 
tion of  Belgrade  and  neighboritffe 
Servian  territory  as  security  for  a 
peaceful  adjustment  of  her  demands, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  other 
countries  suspend  their  war  prepa^ 
rations.  I  trust  that  William  will 
use  his  great  influence  to  move  Aus- 
tria to  accept  this  proposal;  that 
would  be  evidence  that  Germany  and 
England  are  working  together  to 
avert  what  would  be  an  international 
catastrophe. 

"Please  assure  William  that  1  am 
doing  everything  and  will  do  every- 
thing in  my  power  to  maintain  Euro- 
pean peace. 

"GEORGE." 

Kaiser  to  King  George,  July  31. 

"Many  thanks  for  your  friendly 
message.  Your  proposals  coincide 
with  my  ideas  and  with  the  mes- 
sages which  I  received  this  evening 
from  Vienna  and  which  I  forwarded 
to  London.  I  have  just  learned  from 
the  chancellor  that  he  has  just  re- 
ceived the  news  that  Nipholiis  this 
evening  has  ordered  the  mobilization 
of  his  entire  army  and  fleet.  He  did 
not  even  wait  for  the  results  of  medi- 
ation, for  which  I  was  working,  and 
left  me  altogether  without  news.  I 
am  going  to  Berlin  to  insure  the 
safety  of  my  eastern  frontier,  where 
already  strong  Russian  troops  have 
taken  up  their  position. 

"WILLIAM." 


Perhaps  the  everlasting  height  of 
optimism  was  contained  in  Gen.  Gal- 
lleni's  wards  when  the  French  state 
offlcials  left  Paris:  "The  members 
of  the  government  of  the  republic 
have  left  Paris  to  give  new  impetus 
to  the  defense  of  the  nation." — From 
"The  Daily  News,"  Chicago,  Septem- 
ber 4.   1914. 


48 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


THE  HISTORY  OF  EIGHT  DAYS. 


Translation   of  Editorial, 
niinois  Staats-Zeitung,  Chicago. 

We  have  demonstrated  several 
times  how  England  has  worked 
against  Germany.  In  the  course  of 
the  last  year,  however.  It  seemed  aS 
if  the  British  politicians  could  not 
reconcile  themselves  to  being  on 
friendly  terms  with  Germany,  be- 
cause the  latter  was  a  great  indus- 
trial competitor,  and  also  because  of 
the  trouble  over  the  Bagdad  Railway. 

The  future  may  prove  that  Eng- 
land broke  the  bonds  of  friendship 
with  Germany  because  the  situation 
became  too  serious,  and  that  this  will 
be  the  British  excuse  for  hostility. 
This  also  may  account  for  there  be- 
ing only  ten  days'  interval  between 
the  Austrian  ultimatum  to  Servia 
and  the  British  declaration  of  war 
on   Germany. 

On  July  23  the  Austrian  govern- 
ment sent  its  demands  to  Belgrade, 
and  this  action  caused  a  great  storm 
In  the  European  press.  Both  the 
German  and  Italian  newspapers  ex- 
pressed their  belief  that  the  demands 
were  entirely  justified  in  view  of  the 
murder  of  Serajevo.  The  English 
press  took  the  same  stand  even  more 
strongly,  as  nobody  thought  of  the 
possibility  that  the  murder  might 
have  been  committed  with  a  view  to 
causing   war  with   Germany. 

The  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  tor  example, 
on  July  24,  said  that  it  was  Servia's 
duty  to  meet  the  Austrian  demands, 
while  the  Westminster  Gazette,  organ 
of  the  liberal  party,  asserted  that  no 
power,  not  even  Russia,  could  say 
that  Servia  should  not  give  Austria 
the   satisfaction   demanded. 

But  St.  Petersburg  and  Paris  al- 
ready had  decided  otherwise.  The 
Novoje  Vremya  on  July  24  again  gave 
the  opinion  of  the  Russian  minister 
of  foreign  affairs,  that  Russia  could 
not  remain  indifferent  to  such  action, 
and  the  Paris  Temps  strongly  stated 
that  the  Vienna  ultimatum  should 
find  a  tremendous  echo  in  Russia. 

These  opinions  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  politicians  at  London  to  the  op- 
portunity for  making  political  capital 
out  of  the  affair,  which  the  British 
press  twenty-four  hours  before  had 
agreed  was  justified.  Consequently 
on  July  25  one  could  read  in  the 
Times:  "All  who  have  universal 
peace  at  heart  should  earnestly  hope 
that  Austria-Hungary  had  not  spoken 
its  last  word  in  the  Servian  note.  If 
this  is  the  case,  however,  we  would 
face  a  war  that  would  be  of  unlimit- 
ed danger  to  all  the  great  powers  of 
Europe." 

London  believed  in  the  possibility 
of  war  long  before  Secretary  Grey 
urged  mediation  of  the  trouble,  and 
this  gives  any  fair-minded  person  the 
impression  that  England  did  not  care 
to  maintain  peace  after  it  ascertained 
the  position  of  Russia  and  France 
and  realized  how  favorable  was  the 
opportunity  for  war  upon  Germany. 
Each  of  the  following  days  affirmed 
this  opinion.  In  order  to  prove  this 
It  may  be  cited  that  the  English  gov- 
ernment spoke  with  two  mouths.  In 
some  newspapers  were  found  optimis- 


tic   governmental    expressions,    while 
in  others  war  views  were  expressed. 

For  example,  the  Westminster  Ga- 
zette on  July  25  said  the  European 
situation  showed  great  dangers, 
while  the  Novoje  Vremya  openly 
spoke  of  Russian  mobilization.  The 
following  day  an  order  was  issued  in 
St.  Petersburg  stopping  all  news  of 
military  operations.  On  that  same 
day  the  mobilization  order  was  se- 
cretly issued,  but,  notwithstanding 
the  censorship,  the  Echo  de  Paris  told 
its  readers  that  Russia  was  preparing 
for  war.      *      *      * 

An  echo  of  these  preparations  was 
seen  in  an  article  in  the  London 
Morning  Post  of  July  27,  which  stated 
that  England's  duty  as  a  nation  was 
to  assist  friendly  powers  in  case  of 
necessity. 

The  kaiser  returned  from  his  trip 
to  Norway  on  July  2  8  and  was  wel- 
comed by  a  hypocritical  telegram 
from  the  czar,  indicating  that  the 
Russian  ruler  wanted  him  to  be  the 
mediator  in  the  trouble.  The  kaiser 
immediately  took  hold  of  the  media- 
tion proposals  with  Sir  Edward  Grey, 
while  Russia  was  making  great  prep- 
erations  for  war,  the  French  ad- 
miral, Lapeyrere,  was  ordering  the 
concentration  of  the  Mediterranean 
fleet  at  Toulon,  and  the  commander 
of  the  English  fleet  in  the  same  wa- 
ters had  called  his  ships,  which  were 
scattered  all  over  the  Levant,  to  as- 
semble at  Malta. 

It  was  not  until  July  31  that  Ger- 
many and  the  kaiser  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  exact  state  of  af- 
fairs and  learned  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  triple  entente  had  bull- 
dozed the  true  friends  of  peace  in  or- 
der to  gain  time  for  their  own  prep- 
erations  for  war.  After  this  the 
ultimatum  went  to  St.  Petersburg  and 
war  followed  by  a  formal  declaration 
of  war. 


BERNARD     SHAW    CLAIMS    RVSS 

PERIL  OP  WESTERN 

EUROPE. 


"Our  Trade  Ambassador." 

"The  trade  embassador  of  the  Na- 
tional Chamber  of  Commerce  to 
South  America  will  find  his  work  cut 
out  for  him.  If  he  or  the  organiza- 
tion which  commissions  him  is  under 
a  contrary  impression  they  will  be 
painfully  disillusioned. 

"He  will  find  a  well  defined  po- 
litical distrust  of  us  that  does  not 
help  trade  relations.  He  will  find 
differences  of  manners  that  mean 
more  than  the  mannerless  American 
suspects.  He  will  find  competitors 
with  established  relations,  competi- 
tors who  take  the  trouble  to  please, 
and  have  not  at  all  the  American  at- 
titude of  "be  pleased  or  be  d d;" 

competitors  who  study  conditions, 
commercial,  financial,  and  social,  and 
who  meet  them.  He  will  find  a  sin- 
gular absence  at  belief  in  the  innate 
superiority  and  manifest  destiny  of 
North  Americans. 

"In  a  word,  he  will  find  uphill 
work,  and  he  will  return,  we  hope,  to 
tell  some  neglected  truths  to  a  peo- 
ple too  much  given  to  the  doctrine 
that  'we  kin  lick  all  creation'  in 
the  arena  of  world  trade." — The  pub- 
lisher of  "War   Echoes." 


By  George  Bernard  Shaw. 

London,  Aug.  2  0  (by  mail  to  New 
York,  Sept.  1.) — It  is  idle  and 
somewhat  exasperating  to  talk  of 
"lifting  the  acts  and  thoughts  of  the 
British  people  to  the  plane  of  the 
noblest  and  purest  patriotism,"  with 
such  a  business  in  hand  as  the  pres- 
ent war. 

The  hard  fact  is  that  we  have 
placed  ourselves  in  such  a  position 
that  we  cannot,  without  the  most 
cowardly  treachery,  refuse  to  throw 
ourselves  with  all  our  might  into 
the  war  on  the  side  of  France. 

But  we  are  all  three — France, 
Germany  and  England  alike — com- 
mitting a  crime  against  civilization 
tor  the  benefit  of  Russia,  and  to  ask 
me  or  any  other  sane  man  to  create 
an  illusion  of  nobility  and  purity 
and  patriotism  around  such  a  crime 
is  to  ask  honest  people  to  do  the 
work  of  dupes  and  fools. 

We  Must  Fight  and  Die. 

We  shall  have  to  fight  and  die  and 
pay  and  suffer  with  the  grim  knowl- 
edge that  we  are  sacrificing  our- 
selves in  an  insane  cause,  and  that 
only  by  putting  up  a  particularly 
good  fight  can  we  bring  ourselves 
out  of  it  with  credit. 

For  my  part  I  can  only  hope  that 
all  the  western  powers  quoted  will 
acquit  themselves  so  heroically  that 
they  will  be  forced  to  divide  the 
honors  of  war  and  shake  hands  for- 
ever. 

For  what  is  to  happen  if  we  smash 
Germany  and  smash  Sweden,  It  we 
have  forced  Sweden  to  join  Ger- 
many? 

Simply  that  we  shall  have  to  de- 
fend both  Sweden  and  Germany 
against  Russia,  and  to  defend  them 
when  we  are  exhausted  by  a  fratri- 
cidal war. 

And  if  Germany  smashes  us  and 
annexes  the  coast  of  the  North  Se^, 
what  sort  of  back  seat  shall  we  and 
France  occupy — we,  who  might  have 
dictated  the  destinies  of  Western 
Europe  if  we  had  stood  for  civili- 
zation and  not  for  loans  to  Russia 
and  capitalistic  exploits  in  Persia? 
Draft  Peace  During  War. 

It  is  fortunate  for  us  all  that 
smashing  is  school  boy  brag.  We 
can  display  tremendous  bravery  and 
exhaust  one  another  in  the  face  of 
inexhaustible  Russia  (not  more  In- 
exhaustible, however,  than  we  three 
shall  be  when  we  unite),  but  we  can- 
not smash  one  another. 

For  the  present  there  Is  only  one 
thing  to  be  done  besides  fighting  for 
all  we  are  worth,  lest  we  be  ashamed 
as  weaklings  and  cowards  as  well  as 
fools  and  madmen,  until  we  learn  to 
respect  one  another  and  respect  our 
high  destiny  as  the  joint  standard- 
bearers  of  Western  civilization  as 
against  the  half-civilized  Eastern  le- 
gions to  whom  we  have  taught  the 
art  of  killing  by  machinery. 

And  that  one  thing  is  to  set  to 
work  immediately  to  draft  the  in- 
evitable treaty  of  peace,  which  we 
must  all  sign  when  we  have  had 
our  bellyful  of  murder  and  destruc- 
tion. 


FURTHER  CAUSES  OF  THE  GREAT  WAR 

The  Nations  are  all  to  Blame  and  all  are  Right  from  a  Certain  Point  of  View- 
Causes  and  the  Occasion  of  the  War 


Great  Britain  and  Germany 
A  Manly  and  Peaceful  Pursuit  of  Industry  and  Progress  Spurned 


LETTER  OF  AN  ENGLISHALW  TO 
HIS  GERMAN   FRIEND. 

Although  I  am  an  P^nglishmau  and 
my  country  is  at  war  with  yours,  I  do 
not  consider,  however,  that  my  loyalty 
to  England  need  necessarily  compel  me 
to  obliterate  from  my  memory  the  long 
years  of  friendship  I  have  entertained 
for  Germany.  Ever  since  I  first  went 
there  as  a  student  some  nineteen  years 
ago.  I  have  always  remained  one  of  her 
staunchest  friends  and  most  enthus- 
iastic admirers,  and  I  am  still  so  today, 
though  in  certain  quarters  It  may  be 
considered  heretical  to  admit  it.  I  have 
mixed  so  much  with  Germans  and  have 
been  afforded  such  exceptional  oppor- 
tunities for  studying  their  splendid 
State  and  Municipal  governmental  sys- 
tems and,  in  fact,  the  entire  civil  and 
military  administrative  machinery  oi> 
which  German  i)Ower  and  greatness  de- 
pends. I  am  possibly,  therefore,  better 
qualified  to  estimate  correctly  what 
Germany's  tremendous  powers  of  re- 
sistance are  destined  to  be  during  this 
couHict,  than  many  of  those  whose 
knowledge  of  German  international  af- 
fairs is  basetl  mostly  on  hearsay,  but 
who  publish  columns  on  the  subject 
daily  in  the  French  and  British  presses. 
It  is  a  pity  that  so  many  Englishmen 
wlioii  they  visit  foreign  countries  and 
especially  European  ones,  are  usually 
incapable  of  divesting  themselves  of 
their  inherent  insularity  and  racial 
prejudices.  Because,  by  failing  to  real- 
ize that  there  is  something  new  worth 
learning,  or  at  any  nite  investigating, 
In  every  civilized  land,  much  useful 
information  slips  by  them  unperceived 
to  the  detriment  of  their  own  country. 
'I'he  average  Britisher's  conception  of 
|)atriotisMi  is  to  entertain  ;i  pitying  con- 
tempt for  everybody  (and  everything) 
whu  liMs  hM(l  till'  iinsfoi-tuiie  nt  being 
irealed  outside  the  British  Isles,  and 
it  is  entirely  due  to  this  unfortimiite 
temperamental  characteristic  that  all 
we  English  have  had  such  an  unpleas- 
ant and  rough  awakening  concerning 
(Jermany's  might  since  the  outbreak  of 
this  war.  Individuals  often  get  angry 
at  first  when  suddenly  startled,  and 
this  is  exactly  what  has  happened  In 
England.  She  embarked  on  this  cam- 
I)aign  thoroughly  convinced  that  at  the 
first  shout  of  the  Triple  Entente,  the 
"Walls  of  Jericho"  would  almost  in- 
stantly collapse  and  that  within  three 
months   the  German  Empire  would  be 


in  crticiiiis.  But  to  her  disgust  she 
has  discovered  that  the  Germans  are 
not  |)erturbed  in  the  very  least  at  tak- 
ing on  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  if 
necessary  any  interested  spectators  who 
may  care  to  take  a  hand  in  the  game. 
In  consequence,  the  disillusinnnient  of 
my  "sporting"  compatriots  knows  no 
bounds,  and  the  only  comfort  they  get 
is  by  reading  the  volumes  of  the  above, 
interwoven  with  slander,  belched  forth 
daily  by  their  press  at  Germany's  ex- 
pense. But  there  is  a  comical  side  to 
the  present  situation  which  disinter- 
ested spectators  are  not  likely  to  over- 
look.— Because  the  Germans  have  so 
far  succeeded  In  withstanding,  prac- 
tically single  handed,  the  onslaught  of 
a  gigantic  coalition,  the  object  of  which 
was  the  total  annihilation  of  their  Em- 
pire, they  are  now  being  accused  of 
having  secretly  spent  years  in  prepar- 
ing their  defensive  military  machine 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  subjugating 
Europe  and  especially  poor  little  Eng- 
land. Personally,  I  have  not  the  faint- 
est notion  whether  the  German  Govern- 
ment is  directly  or  indirectly  respon- 
sible for  this  terrible  conflagration,  but 
what  I  do  know  is,  that  the  German 
Nation  has  got  its  back  to  the  wall  and 
is  fighting  the  largest  military  jMwers 
of  the  world,  and  such  being  the  case, 
if  any  of  the  English  people  have  a 
spark  of  sporting  instinct  remaining  in 
tliem,  they  who,  hitherto,  have  always 
been  believed  to  be  the  admirers  of  true 
sport  and  of  everything  that  is  sports- 
manlike in  the  noblest  and  highest 
sense  of  the  word,  then  in  my  opinion, 
tliey  should  bo  the  first  to  acknowledge 
what  a  magnificent  fight  the  (Jernian 
nation  is  putting  up!  Eren  if  pour 
i-oiinlry  xhnuld  he  rvcntnallu  defeated, 
till'  teniffic  niftis  aiininst  whirh  she  is 
fiiilitiiifl  irill  riih  the  victors  of  all  plory, 
(iiiil  iiiifiiirtiiil  hixtoiian.H  of  future  gt^i- 
eriitinux  irili  assuredly  dedicate  it  all 
to  her. 

For  years  I  have  Incessantly  im- 
pressed on  my  countrymen  what  a 
stupendous  power  the  German  Empire 
is,  but  my  opinions  were  scofT<Ml  at  and 
I,  myself,  was  "dubbed"  pro-German 
and  was  told  that  I  was  mipatriotlc 
and  belittled  my  own  country,  because 
I  maintained  that  in  certain  respects 
Germany  was  a  greater  country  than 
England  owing  to  the  superiority  of 
her  military  and  educational  systems. 
Now,  if  I.  a  private  individual,  could 
collect   sulficlent  data   for  the  purpose 

4* 


of  enabling  me  to  assess  her  strength 
at  its  true  value,  how  much  more 
should  our  Military  Attaches  have  been 
able  to  do  so,  possessing  all  the  ad- 
vantages which  the  sacred  robes  of  offi- 
cialdom bestowed  on  them.  It  is  evi- 
dent, therefore,  that  our  military  rep- 
resentatives in  Berlin  were  either  crim- 
inally negligent  and  apathetic,  or  else 
hopelessly  incompetent,  and  I  should 
be  inclined  rather  to  believe  the  latter. 
But  in  either  case,  it  is  preposterous 
for  us  now  to  accuse  the  German  Gov- 
ernment of  wilful  duplicity  and  im- 
pute to  it  aggressive  motives  for  adopt- 
ing precautionary  defensive  measures 
while  the  British  nation  peacefully 
slumbered.  Such  a  point  of  view  is 
as  irrational  as  that  of  the  Peace-at- 
any-price  Party  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons who,  prior  to  the  war,  was  con- 
tinually beseeching  the  (Jermans  to 
disarm,  so  that  Great  Britain,  with  her 
vast  colonial  possessions  wrapt  tightly 
around  her,  might  continue  to  sleep  in 
perfect  tranquility  and  free  from  all 
anxiety  for  the  future.  But  when  sug- 
gesting such  an  unbusinesslike  and  un- 
practical arrangement,  British  politi- 
cians completely  ignored  the  fact,  that 
were  she  to  have  adopted  such  a  fatu- 
ously short-sighted  policy,  Germany 
would  speedily  have  been  smothered  by 
her  French  and  Russian  neighbors  and 
their  cohorts  of  hangers-on.  Instead 
of  attempting  to  usher  in  the  milleniuni 
before  the  world  was  ready  for  it,  these 
well-meaning  but  misguided  idealists 
would  have  served  the  case  of  civiliza- 
tion far  better,  had  they  directed  their 
energies  in  bringing  pressure  to  bear 
on  their  Government  to  heed  the  old 
classical  dictum  "Si  vis  paccm,  para 
helium"  (If  you  wish  peace,  pre])are 
for  war),  but  which  preferred  to  pan- 
der to  the  Ignorant  proletariat  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  its  manhood  votes  on 
which  depended  ministerial  posts  and 
huge  yearly  .salaries  regardless  of  na- 
tional .security.  So  obsessed  was  the 
Government  with  .'>ocial  reform,  that 
had  this  war  been  postponed  but  a  few 
years  more,  the  probal)ilitles  are  that 
we  should  have  had  an  appalling  na- 
tional disaster. 

For  some  years  prior  to  this  war  I 
contributed  innumerable  articles  to  our 
I)ress.  In  which  I  showed  how  utterly 
futile  it  was  to  try  to  prevent  a 
country  like  the  German  Empire,  con- 
taining a  population  of  sixty-eight  mil- 
lions and  possessing  the  most  perfectly 


so 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


organized  and  trained  army  wlaich  lias 
ever  existed,  the  second  largest  Navy 
and  mercantile  marine,  and  an  ever  in- 
creasing commercial  and  Industrial 
prosperity,  from  expanding  and  ac- 
quiring Colonies,  Protectorates,  Com- 
mercial spheres  of  influence,  or  what- 
ever you  choose  for  convenience  sake 
to  call  them.  I  emphasized  the  fact, 
that  quite  apart  from  all  equitable  con- 
siderations, such  a  systematic  and 
ruthless  blocking  policy  as  was  being 
pursued  by  our  Government  with  re- 
gard to  Germany's  legitimate  territorial 
aggrandizement  aspirations,  would 
most  certainlj'  culminate  in  some  such 
frightful  world-wide  cataclysm  as  has 
now  actually  come  to  pass.  In  direct 
contradistinction  to  this  negative  line 
of  policy.  I  strongly  advocated  a  rap- 
prochement with  her,  based  on  an  ami- 
cable and  equitable  settlement  by  which 
she  would  be  allotted  certain  spheres 
of  influence  in  Asia  Minor  and  Africa. 
I  was  opposed  all  along  to  the  Franco- 
British  Entente  and  still  more  so  to  the 
fatal  Triple  Entente,  as  I  foresaw 
clearly  that  both  these  agreements  con- 
tained the  germs  of  future  interna- 
tional complications,  and  were  thus 
bound  to  defeat  their  ostensible  "raison 
d'etre"  namely,  to  safeguard  the  peace 
of  Europe.  To  wish  to  cultivate 
friendly  relations  with  France  was  ad- 
mirable, but  the  modus  operandi  em- 
ployed for  doing  so  could  not  have  been 
more  clumsily  devised  and  more  cal- 
culated to  injure  rather  than  benefit 
France's  interests,  by  the  mere  fact 
that  the  terms  of  the  "Entente  Cor- 
diale"  were  shrouded  in  so  much  mys- 
tery, that  nobody  knew  what  they  were 
or  to  what  extent  England  had  pledged 
herself  to  assist  France,  should  she 
be  involved  in  a  war.  Besides,  from 
the  very  outset,  the  French  were  per- 
mitted to  exaggerate  its  political  sig- 
nificance and  placed  an  entirely  differ- 
ent interpretation  on  it  to  that  which 
the  British  Government  had  originally 
intended.  Its  natural  tendency,  there- 
fore, was  to  foster  in  them  a  spirit  of 
misplaced  confidence  in  their  ability  of 
waging  a  successful  war  of  revenge 
against  their  old  enemy  and  so  recover 
their  lost  provinces  of  Alsace-Lorraine. 
But,  as  might  well  have  been  expected, 
the  Germans  viewed  the  whole  transac- 
tion with  the  utmost  suspicion  .Tud  dis- 
like, and  especially  the  Triple  Entente, 
because  they  firmly  believed,  that  its 
primary  object  was  to  head  them  off 
in  every  direction,  and  definitely  pre- 
vent them  from  ever  obtaining  those 
outlets,  the  possession  of  which  is  es- 
sential for  ensuring  the  future  economic 
and  commercial  prosperity  of  their  Em- 
pire. The  immediate  result  of  this 
threatening  coalition  was  to  compel 
Germany  to  redouble  her  armament 
efforts,  and  for  having  done  so  she  is 
now  being  roundly  abused  by  Great 
Britain  and  accused  of  compassing  the 
destruction  of  Europe.  If  she  had  not 
maintained  her  lead  in  armaments  I 
should  like  to  know  whether  there  is  a 
single  English  Statesman  worthy  of 
the  name,  who  would  have  been  willing 
to  stake  his  personal  honor,  that  imme- 
diately the  military  preparations  of 
France  and  Russia  had  been  completed 
and  they  believed  themselves  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  crush  her,  that  they 
would  not  have  hesitated  to  seize  upon 
the  first  opportune  moment  for  picking 


a  quarrel  with  Germany  and  forcing  a 
war  upon  her.  Sandwiched  in  as  she 
is  between  two  avowed  and  implacable 
foes  such  as  they  are,  what  else  could 
she  do  than  prepare  for  all  eventuali- 
ties? Is  it  conceivable  that  a  great 
and  progressive  nation  as  Germany 
is.  was  going  to  incur  the  risk  of  being 
reduced  to  the  status  of  a  second 
class  Power?  The  fact  that  Germany 
did  not  go  to  war  with  F'rance  in  1905 
when  the  Moroccan  crisis  arose,  speaks 
volumes  for  her  peaceful  intentions.  ^ 
Then,  if  ever,  was  the  psychological 
moment  for  her  to  have  done  so,  as 
France,  Russia,  England  and  Belgium 
were  wholly  unprepared  for  war,  their 
military  affairs  being  in  a  chaotic  con- 
dition. 

No.  in  my  opinion,  a  combination  of 
unfortunate  circumstances,  but  not  Ger- 
many, were  the  cause  of  this  terrible 
conflict,  however  much  in  certain  quar- 
ters it  may  be  desired  to  attribute  it 
to  her.  To  act  in  self  defense  is  fre- 
quently mistaken  for  aggression.  For 
instance,  suppose  two  persons  have  an 
altercation  and  one  of  them  is  sud- 
denly seen  to  strike  the  other,  would 
he  not  appear  to  be  the  aggressor  in 
the  eyes  of  anybody  watching  the  scene 
.a  way  off  and  to  whom  the  words  which 
were  exchanged  between  them  were  in- 
audible? May  not  one  man  have  said 
something  to  the  other  which  compelled 
him  to  act  as  he  did?  Moreover,  is  it 
not  conceivable  that  believing  himself 
to  be  the  weaker  of  the  two,  and  realiz- 
ing that  the  other  was  fast  losing  con- 
trol of  himself,  but  deemed  it  expedi- 
ent, therefore,  to  hit  first  and  not  in- 
cur the  risk  of  receiving  a  staggering 
knock-out  blow?  This  is  exactly  what 
happened  in  Germany's  case.  The  pre- 
mature mobilization  of  the  Russian 
troops  coupled  with  France's  truculent 
and  threatening  attitude  obliged  the 
Germans  for  the  sake  of  their  own 
safety  to  declare  war.  and  thus  en- 
deavour to  deal  the  enemy  a  decisive 
blow  before  he  was  ready.  But  Ger- 
man critics  declare  that  if  Germany 
had  not  desired  war.  her  military  mo- 
bilization could  not  have  been  com- 
pleted prior  to  that  of  her  opponents. 
But  they  forget  that  her  peculiar 
geographical  position,  namely  between 
France  and  Russia,  necessitated  that 
her  troops  should  always  be  in  a 
constant  state  of  preparedness  to  take 
the  field  at  a  moment's  notice,  just  as 
the  British  fleet  is  maintained  on  a 
war  footing  and  is  always  ready  for 
active  service.  The  fact  is.  that  by 
their  clever  scheming,  the  Russians  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  German  govern- 
ment appear  to  be  the  aggressor,  when 
in  reality  it  was  merely  dealing  a  de- 
fensive blow.  But  now  because  the 
Germans  have  objected  to  being  annihi- 
lated ("butchered,  to  make  a  Triple 
Entente  holiday")  and  are  defending 
themselves  heroically  in  the  face  of 
overwhelming  odds,  their  foes  now 
blame  them  for  their  extraordinary 
powers  of  resistance  and  accuse  them  of 
having  secretly  compassed  the  down- 
fall of  Europe. 

In  order  to  gain  the  sympathy  of 
neutral  states.  Great  Britain  has  ad- 
vanced the  preposterous  plea  that  she  is 
championing  the  case  of  freedom 
against  militarism.  If  this  were  the 
case,  she  should  then  be  waging  this 
war   .igainst   the   whole   world,   as   all 


civilized  countries  except  the  Americas 
have  adopted  compulsory  military  serv- 
ice and  maintain  large  armies.  Be- 
sides, she  herself  has  of  late  become  an 
ultra  military  power,  and  has  even  gone 
so  far  as  to  adopt  a  veiled  form  of 
military  dictatorship  which  is  one  of 
the  most  sensible  things  she  has  done, 
especially  as  Lord  Kitchener  is  one  of 
the  very  ablest  of  great  statesmen  we 
have  ever  had.  No !  let  us  admit  frank- 
ly that  we  are  not  fighting  militarism, 
but  oul,y  the  wonderful  German  mili- 
tary machine  that  has  raised  the  stand- 
ard of  military  efficiency  to  such  a 
pitch  that  it  has  so  far  enabled  the 
German  Empire  to  withstand,  practi- 
cally single-handed,  the  onslaught  of 
the  hordes  of  a  united  Europe.  The 
fact  is  that  England  realizes  only  too 
well  that  Germany's  homogeneous  mili- 
tary governmental  system  is  what 
stands  between  her  and  becoming  the 
dominant  commercial  power  of  Europe 
and  which  proud  position  she  is  per- 
fectly justified  in  coveting.  For,  if  it 
were  not  for  the  inconvenient  counter- 
balancing effect  of  German  military 
power,  our  naval  preponderance  would 
permit  of  our  playing  off  one  country 
against  the  other  and  whilst  they  were 
scrambling  for  the  fence  we  should  be 
gathering  in  the  sovereigns.  We  are 
hearing  a  great  deal  just  at  present  con- 
cerning the  iniquities  of  this  brutal  and 
tyrannical  German  militarism,  but 
what  about  navalism?  Has  it  ever 
dawned  on  English  people  how  lu- 
dicrously inconsistent  their  abuse  of 
German  militarism  on  land  is,  consider- 
ing the  fact  that  Great  Britain's  naval- 
ism aids  at  playing  identically  the  same 
game  on  sea ;  also  that  it  is  of  equally 
vital  importance  to  the  German  Em- 
pire's existence  as  a  great  power  for 
her  to  retain  her  military  supremacy 
as  it  is  to  our  existence  to  retain  our 
naval  supremacy. 

I  am  fully  aware  that  the  German 
people  are  convinced  that  England  was 
the  evil  genius  who  caused  this  war, 
but  I  venture  to  differ  with  them  on 
that  point.  There  is  not  the  least 
shadow  of  a  doubt  that  the  British 
Isles  were  madly  jealous  of  Germany, 
and  what  is  more,  feared  her.  They 
knew  that  her  commerce  was  on  the 
increase  and  that  her  navy  was  grow- 
ing stronger  year  by  year,  necessitat- 
ing a  proportional  increase  in  that  of 
theirs  and  which  was  already  costing 
them  £45.000.000  annually."  As  it 
would  have  been  suicidal  for  her  to 
abandon  the  race  in  naval  armaments, 
England  was  obliged,  therefore,  to  re- 
double her  efforts  in  the  hope  that  the 
German  government  would  either  tire 
of  the  contest  or  else  go  bankrupt,  and 
which  was  a  most  probable  contingency 
seeing  that,  not  only  had  it  to  meet 
naval  exiienses  but  ever-increasing 
colossal  military  ones  as  well.  How- 
ever, in  spite  of  her  heavy  naval  expen- 
diture England  had  no  desire  to  become 
embroiled  herself  in  a  c<inflict  with 
the  Germans,  although  she  may  not 
have  been  adverse  to  seeing  them  hum- 
bled hy  other  powers.  The  flirtatious 
British  government  had  unquestionably 
whispered  many  "sweet  nothings"  into 
France's  loving  ear  during  those  early 
h.alcyon  days  of  the  courtship,  and  prior 
to  the  conclusion  of  the  mysterious 
"Triple  MC'nage."  But  judging  from 
the  lack  of  martial  ardour  displayed  by 


MEETING  A  NEIGHBOR  .\S  A  COMPETITOR 


SI 


the  British  govemment  by  not  adopt- 
ing the  most  trivial  and  palpable  mili- 
tary precautions  commensurate  with 
the  foreign  policy  to  which  it  had  com- 
mined  itself.  I  think  I  am  justified  in 
declaring  that  the  one  prayer  it  offered 
daily  to  Heaven  was  that  no  oc-casion 
would  arise  necessitating  the  fulfill- 
ment of  those  promises  it  had  made  its 
mistress.  Hence,  my  contention  that 
we  were  not  the  instigators,  but  invol- 
untary participators  in  this  upheavaL 
When  the  Anstro-Servian  crisis  arose 
in  July.  1914.  followed  by  the  Atistro- 
German-Russian  one,  the  English  cab- 
inet was  placed  in  an  apfialling  di- 
lemma, and  however  much  Germans 
may  be  Incensed  against  us  today,  those 
of  them  who  have  studied  political 
questions  will.  I  feel  sure,  agree  with 
me  in  this.  On  the  one  hand,  the  gov- 
emment knew  it  had  guaranteed  to 
support  France  should  she  be  attacked, 
but  what  was  even  worse  still,  it  real- 
ized that  if  Russia  should  again  re- 
ceive an  unavenged  rebuff  on  .Servia's 
behalf  (she  had  already  received  seT- 
eral  since  the  annexation  of  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  by  Austria  in  1909),  the 
probabUities  were  that  she  would 
sicken  of  the  paralytic  and  impotent 
policy  of  the  Triple  Entente,  and.  in 
consequence,  would  conclude  an  inde- 
pendent agreement  vrith  Germany  to 
the  serious  detriment  of  British  inter- 
ests in  Asia  Minor  and  Persia.  But 
besides  all  this,  there  was  yet  another 
reason,  no  less  important,  which  im- 
pelled the  govenmient  to  adopt  the 
course  it  did.  For  ten  years  that  scur- 
rilous rag  and  insatiable  scavenger. 
•The  Daily  Mail,"  Lord  Xorthdiffe's 
personal  property  and  mouthpiece,  and 
supported  by  its  foster  brother,  the 
once  distinguished  "Times."  carried  on 
a  systematic  and  ruthless  anti-German 
campaign  with  a  view  to  terrifying  the 
gullible  public  and  arousing  its  insen- 
sate hatred  for  Germany  and  all  her 
works:  The  immediate  result  of  this 
iniquitous  policy  was.  that  when  the 
Euror>ean  crisis  arose  in  July  last,  pub- 
lic opinion  in  England  was  already 
inflamed  against  the  Germans,  that 
however  much  one  govemment  might 
have  wished  to  do  so.  It  would  never 
have  been  permitted  to  draw  back  at 
the  eleventh  hour  and  leave  France  to 
her  fate.  Had  it  done  so.  it  would  not 
have  remained  in  office  twenty-four 
hours.  But  what  I  am  particularly  de- 
sirous of  impressing  on  the  German  na- 
tion, is  the  iniportanc-e  of  differentiat- 
ing in  its  hatred  of  England,  between 
the  individual  Englishman  and  his 
press-ridden  govemment.  I  can  assure 
you.  that  had  the  question  of  war  or 
peace  been  submitted  in  the  form  of 
a  referendum  to  the  peoi>le.  there 
would  have  been  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority in  favour  of  peace  because  none 
of  our  working  classes  wanted  war 
with  the  Germans,  however  much  they 
may  have  been  interested  in  the  "Daily 
Mail's"  exciting  and  sensational  nov- 
elette anti-Gpmian  jargon.  They  were 
simply  rushed  headlong  into  heel  by 
their  government  and  its  inexorable 
taskmaster,  the  press.  Do  not  imagine 
that  the  mush  you  rend  in  our  daily 
newsiKipers  is  thf  tnie  voice  of  the 
English  natioti.  The  childish  and  fu- 
tile abuse  which  is  i>ow  being  heaped 
upon  Germany  comes  solely  from  the 
pens  of  that  handful  of  scum  of  scum 


of  Fleet  Street  editors,  who  by  their 
maniacal  ravings  have  succeeded  in 
hypnotizing  my  compatriots  into  be- 
lieving that  they  abhor  Germany  and 
Germans,  that  the  latter  are  barbari- 
ans but  that  the  Russians  are  saints. 
If.  however,  the  "Daily  Mail"  suddenly 
veered  around  and  commenced  publish- 
ing leading  articles  rigorously  decrying 
the  war.  and  showing  what  economic 
and  commercial  suicide  it  was.  what 
a  baneful  effect  it  wotild  ultimately 
have  on  the  interests  of  our  working 
classes  and  on  those  of  all  other  coun- 
tries, and  how  nimecessary  it  was.  see- 
ing that  prior  to  the  July  European 
crisis,  we  had  no  tangible  reason  what- 
soever, for  quarreling  with  Germany, 
the  latter  would  speedily  witness  the 
most  startling  revulsion  of  feeling  im- 
aginable against  this  conflict  in  Great 
Britain.  Consequently.  I  maintain  that 
it  is  the  fault  of  our  respective  presses, 
we  are  all  now  murdering  each  other 
and  are.  thereby,  retarding  our  civil- 
ization by  hundreds  of  years. 

But  the  question  is :  How  can  peace 
l>e  once  more  restored?  Tnfortunately 
so  long  as  both  O^rmany  and  England 
are  both  quite  convinced  that  each  is 
certain  eventually  to  smash  the  other 
there  can  be  no  possible  prospect  of  a 
speedy  settlement.  However,  those  of 
us  Germans  and  English  who  have  still 
retained  our  mental  equilibrium  and 
have  not  allowed  the  war  fever  to  take 
too  strong  a  hold  upon  us.  must  strive 
to  instil  a  little  common  sense  into 
our  respective  unhappy  comjwrriots. 
If  ever  there  were  an  opiwrtunity  for 
the  press  to  prove  what  a  mighty 
power  for  good  it  can  be,  this  is  most 
certainly  the  moment  of  all  others  for 
doing  so.  Public  opinion  today  is 
formed  and  influenced  almost  entirely 
by  what  the  various  daily  newspapers 
write:  of  what  vital  importance  it  is. 
therefore,  that  they  shotild.  one  and 
all.  endeavour  to  uphold  unflinchingly 
the  standard  of  right  or  their  inter- 
pretation of  it.  in  as  charitable  a  spirit 
as  possible  for  those  whose  opinions 
differ  from  theirs  and  thus,  to  quiet 
rather  than  excite  the  unreasonable 
and  harmful  passions  by  which  the  ig- 
norant masses  are  swayed.  Only  by 
this  means  it  is  possible  to  guide 
them  along  the  path  which  Is  best 
calculated  to  lead  to  the  most  satis- 
factory results  both  for  themselves  and 
the  good  of  the  whole  world. — The 
"Continental  Times."  Berlin. 


THE  WAR  \SD  AMERICA. 


H.  B.  M.  When  was  Sir  .Arthur 
Conan  Doyle  knighted?  Was  it  after 
he  had  written  and  circulated  in  Eu- 
rope his  famous  pamphlet  defending 
Great  Britain  in  the  South  African 
War?  Is  he  writing  a  similar  de- 
fense  for   the  present   occasions? 

Sir  Arthur  was  knighted  in  1902. 
subsequent  to  the  publication  and 
distribution  of  the  pamphlet  to  which 
you  allude  and  two  years  after  the 
appearance  of  "The  Great  Boer 
War."  It  has  been  announced  in  the 
press  that  he  is  now  working  on  a 
book  having  to  do  with  the  present 
war. — From  the  "Questions  and  .A.n- 
swers"  column  in  the  "New  Yorker 
Staats-Zeitung,"   November   9,    1914. 


"And  the  Lord  our  God  delivered 
him  before  us:  and  we  smote  him, 
and  his  sons,  and  all  his  people." 


Xew   Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,   New 
York. 

Herman  Bidder. 

When  so  much  is  being  written  on 
every  angle  of  the  European  war,  so 
much  that  will  serve  its  purpose  of 
creating  a  temporary  misconception 
of  the  aims  and  ideals  of  Germany 
and  Austria  and  then,  having  lived 
its  little  day  in  type-metal,  will  pass 
into  the  limbo  of  the  past,  a  mono- 
graph on  the  war  from  the  able  pen 
of  Professor  Hugo  Muensterberg,  of 
Harvard  University,  is  not  only  time- 
ly but  to  those  Americans  who  are 
striving  to  maintain  a  neutral  mind 
and  who  desire  only  fair  play,  ex- 
ceedingly welcome. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  Introduce 
Prof.  Muensterberg  to  the  reading 
public  in  America,  or  in  Europe. 
For  twenty  years  his  pen  has  been 
active  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
defending  in  turn  American  ideals  in 
Europe  and  German  ideals  in  Amer- 
ica. I  know  of  no  man.  now  living, 
who  has  sought  more  consistently  or 
more  intelligently  to  promote  a  prop- 
er understanding  not  alone  between 
Americans  and  Germans  but  also  be- 
tween Americans  and  Europeans  in 
general,  including  the  British  peo- 
ple. 

The  book  which  Professor  Muens- 
terberg has  written  on  the  war,  and 
which  Messrs.  Appleton  will  publish 
today,  deals  of  necessity  only  with 
causes  and  morals.  It  is  free  from 
prophecies  and  does  not  even  touch 
on  the  military  operations  which  have 
already  taken  place.  Its  great  value 
lies  in  the  clearly  thought  and  con- 
cisely put  causes  which  led  up  to 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  man  of  superior 
intellect  and  education  whose  life 
has  been  divided  nearly  equally  be- 
tween Gennany  and  the  United 
States.  The  spirit  which  permeates 
it  is  that  of  cold,  logical  reasoning, 
which  alone,  and  more  especially  in 
times  like  the  present,  when  the 
smoke  of  battle  is  still  In  our  nos- 
trils, can  be  of  assistance  to  those 
who  wish  to  arrive  at  the  truth. 

There  is  no  attempt  on  the  author's 
part  to  belittle,  to  slander  or  to  con- 
done. He  has  a  good  word  for  each 
of  the  participants  in  the  struggle. 
To  him  there  is  no  immortality  In 
the  war.  It  is  as  moral  a  conflict  as 
inevitability  could  make  one.  It  had 
been  building  for  many  years.  In 
the  author's  own  words: 

"-A.nd  yet  was  ever  a  war  more 
natural,  more  unavoidable?  It  Is 
central  Europe's  desperate  defence 
against  the  mighty  neighbors  of  East 
and  West,  who  have  prepared  and 
prepared  for  the  crushing  blow  to 
the  German  nations.  This  war  had 
to  come  sooner  or  later.  Russia  spent 
billions  to  be  ready  to  push  the  steam 
roller  of  its  gigantic  population  over 
the  German  frontier.  France  armed 
as  no  civilized  nation  ever  armed  be- 
fore; even  the  educated  had  to  serve 
three  years  in  the  army  against  the 
one  year's  service  in  Germany.  For 
decades  the  French  did  not  allow 
Germany  an  hour  to  rest  without  ar- 
mor. 


52 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


"Germany's  pacific  and  industrious 
population  had  only  the  one  wish:  to 
develop  its  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial, its  cultural  and  moral  re- 
sources. It  had  no  desire  to  expand 
its  frontiers  over  a  new  square  foot 
of  land  in  Europe.  It  aimed  to  un- 
fold its  commerce  over  the  markets 
of  the  world  and  to  build  up  a  great 
national  literature  and  art  and  sci- 
ence. It  became  prosperous  and 
even  luxurious.  But  never  did  th% 
neighbors  allow  Germany  a  pause  in 
its  training  of  patriotic  defenders. 
The  neighbors  begrudged  this  pros- 
perity of  the  fatherland  which  had 
been  wealv  and  poor  through  cen- 
turies satisfied  with  songs  and 
thoughts  and  dreams.  They  threat- 
ened and  threatened  by  ever  increas- 
ing armaments.  Germany  had  to 
spend  a  vast  part  of  its  material  and 
mental  income  in  a  hard  preparation 
for  defence." 

Six  nations  have  cast  their  lots 
against  Germany  and  Austria;  yet  for 
Prof.  Muensterberg  there  is  but  one 
war — the  war  between  Russia  and 
Germany.  A  native  of  Danzig,  reared 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Russian  ad- 
vance, he  speaks  with  the  voice  of 
one  who  knows.  The  Slavic  peril  is 
for  him  the  one  great  fact  which 
stands  out,  clear-cut  and  unmistak- 
able, among  the  varied  dangers  which 
are  now  threatening  the  German 
people. 

"All  other  nations  are  in  a  hurry, 
Russia  has  time;  all  others  econo- 
mize with  men,  Russia  can  waste  and 
waste  and  will  always  grow.  All 
other  nations  have  wavered  in  their 
enterprises,  Russia  remains  unswerv- 
ingly loyal  to  its  aim  of  world  con- 
trol. Russia  has  seen  reverses  which 
would  have  crushed  any  weaker  na- 
tion; defeats  in  Turkey,  defeats  in 
Asia;  she  hardly  felt  them.  The 
clumsy  bear  withdrew  his  heavy  paw 
for  a  while  to  put  it  forth  with  tre- 
mendous power  at  another  spot.  Rus- 
sia is  the  one  nation  on  earth  which 
is  invincible." 

Afld  yet  Prof.  Muensterberg  has  not 
one  harsh  word  for  this  perpetual 
eternal,  invincible  foe  of  Germany. 
She,  too,  is  moving  in  channels 
dredged  for  her  by  first  causes.  The 
meaning  of  Russian  domination  is 
not  overlooked,  however.  "The 
Slavic  world  is  full  of  deep  melan- 
choly beauty,  of  devoted  loyalty,  of 
religious  democracy,  of  sincere  ideal- 
ism," but — "the  Russian  life  is  one 
of  cultural  inefficiency,  a  life  from 
which  no  true  inner  progress  may 
be   hoped." 

The  diplomatic  incidents  which 
preceded  the  open  declaration  of  war 
are  condensed  and  reviewed  in  a 
spirit  of  broad  non-partisanship.  The 
conclusions  at  which  the  author  ar- 
rives are  those  of  every  intelligent 
and  unbiased  reader  of  the  corre- 
spondence which  has  been  made  pub- 
lic. The  murder  of  the  Archduke  of 
Austria  brought  to  a  head  the  ma- 
chinations of  the  Pan-Slavs  not  alone 
in  Servia  but  in  the  southern  prov- 
inces of  Austria-Hungary,  and  de- 
manded the  ultimatum  sent  by  Vi- 
enna to  Belgrade. 

"Belgrade  was  willing  to  yield 
completely  to  its  great  neighbor,  but 
at  noontime  of  the  day  on  which  the 


ultimatum  was  to  end,  a  cipher  tele- 
gram from  Petersburg  arrived,  and 
the  message  of  the  Russian  govern- 
ment to  the  Servian  reversed  the 
mood  of  the  little  kingdom.  The 
bellicose  Servian  Crown  Prince, 
standing  in  his  automobile,  drove 
jubilantly  through  the  excited  crowds 
on  the  streets,  and  a  few  hours  later 
a  refusal  was  sent  to  Vienna  which 
could  mean  nothing  but  war.  The 
Czar  had  instigated  it  and  was  con- 
sistent: the  Russian  empire  was  to 
back   little   Servia   against   its   foes." 

The  immediate  order  which  fol- 
lowed the  mobilization  of  the  Russian 
army,  and  which  was  carried  out  un- 
swervingly in  the  face  of  repeated 
protests  and  entreaties  from  the  Ger- 
man Emperor,  was  the  real  declara- 
tion of  war.  If  the  Emperor  erred 
at  all,  he  erred  in  not  meeting  the 
challenge  of  Russia  sooner. 

The  part  played  by  England  in 
this  "cosmic  catastrophe"  is  so  over- 
shadowed in  Prof.  Muensterberg's 
mind  by  that  of  the  Russian  danger, 
that  little  space  is  given  to  it.  And 
perhaps  rightly  so  in  a  work  from 
the  pen  of  a  philosopher.  The  Rus- 
sian danger  is  racial  and  cultural, 
the  British  economic  and  commercial. 
The  Russianization  of  Germany,  or 
of  an  essential  part  of  it,  would  mean 
the  turning  back  of  the  hands  on 
the  clock  of  cultural  progress  not 
alone  for  Germany  but  for  all  Eu- 
rope and  the  whole  world — the 
achievement  of  British  aims  would 
mean  no  more  than  a  temporary  eco- 
nomic set-back  which  in  time  the 
inner  virility  of  the  German  people 
might  be  looked  to  recoup.  There 
are  not  wanting  those,  however,  who 
see  behind  the  "clumsy  bear"  of  Rus- 
sia the  work  of  Britain's  far-reaching 
diplomacy,  and  feel  that  as  the  in- 
stigator and  abettor  of  the  Russian 
advance,  Great  Britain  demands 
more  attention  than  is  generally  ac- 
corded her.  The  entrance  into  the 
war  of  England  is  condoned  on  the 
grounds  of  national  expediency. 
There  is  no  bitterness  expressed  on 
account   of   race   treachery. 

"The  whole  idea  of  race  obliga- 
tion and  race  treachery  is  a  con- 
struction which  has  nev6r  really  been 
accepted  by  the  political  powers  of 
the  world  .  .  .There  cannot  be 
a  more  unlike  racial  companionship 
than  England,  Russia,  France,  Servia 
and  Japan,  and  yet  the  whole  history 
of  mankind  justifies  the  welding  to- 
gether of  strange  elements.  The 
cousinship  of  Germans  and  English- 
men  is   no   political   tie." 

That  England,  while  committing 
no  crime,  has  "committed  a  great 
historical  blunder"  is  clear  to  the 
author,  however. 

"But  will  England  pluck  the  fruits 
for  which  it  reaches  out  its  hand 
even  if  Germany  is  crushed?  The 
German  defeat  will  satisfy  the  long- 
ing of  France  without  strengthening 
it  strategically,  but  it  will  immense- 
ly strengthen  the  Slavic  nations.  Rus- 
sia will  be  the  great  winner,  and  the 
new  strength  of  Russia  will  be  the 
real  danger  to  the  British  Empire, 
which  will  be  weakened  anyhow  by 
the  exhausting  war.  Russia  will  at 
once  push  forward  in  Asia;  India 
will  be  liberated,  and  if  India  secures 


itB  independence,  Canada  and  Aus- 
tralia will  be  lost.  If  the  German 
dam  against  the  Russian-Servian 
flood  Is  broken,  twenty  years  later  the 
area  of  the  British  Empire  will  be 
pitifully   small." 

The  inconsistency  of  the  Anglo- 
phile element  in  the  American  press 
is  alluded  to,  and  explained  on  the 
basis  of  "the  psychology  of  the 
crowd."  A  year  ago,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  celebration  of  the  twenty-flfth 
anniversary  of  the  inception  of  the 
present  German  Emperor's  reign  of 
unbroken  peace,  it  lauded  Germany 
and  its  Emperor  to  the  skies.  Today 
there  is  nothing  too  wild,  too  imag- 
inative, too  ridiculous  and  untrue  to 
ascribe  to  the  aims  and  ideals  of 
both.  The  German  cables  were  cut 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war  and  the 
American  press  was  flooded  with 
anti-German  reports  colored  by  the 
enemy.  Acting  on  first  impulses  and 
first  "news,"  the  campaign  of  vilifi- 
cation was  set  in  motion  and  it  is 
only  now,  when  the  truth  is  begin- 
ning to  come  in  from  Germany,  that 
the  better  element  among  the  Amer- 
ican papers  is  returning  to  the  nor- 
mal. The  writings  of  H.  G.  Wells, 
for  England,  Henri  Bergson,  for 
France,  and  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  for 
the  United  States,  are  disposed  of  by 
dignified  controversion — those  of  the 
petty  "penny-a-liners."  who  have 
turned  their  pens  alike  against  Ger- 
many and  the  truth,  by  an  expres- 
sion of  poorly  veiled  contempt. 

"They  are  hardly  conscious  lies; 
they  are  the  hysteric  illusions  of 
over-excited  brains.  The  bystanders 
are  really  convinced  that  they  saw 
the  horrible  ferocities.  I  fancy 
Richard  Harding  Davis  believed  sin- 
cerely that  he  actually  saw  those 
wild  impossibilities  with  which  his 
reports  are  bristling. 

There  is  not  a  line  in  the  two  hun- 
dred and  ten  pages  which  make  up 
"The  War,  and  America"  which  will 
not  repay  reading.  They  are  pages 
pleasantly  written  but  nevertheless 
calmly  thought  out  and  concisely  put. 
As  a  contribution  to  the  literature 
of  the  present  war  and  to  the  philos- 
ophy of  war  in  general,  their  place 
is  assured.  In  the  concluding  chap- 
ter, on  "The  Morals  of  the  War,"  the 
reader  will  find  in  the  suggestion  of 
a  novel  basis  for  world  peace,  "cos- 
mochorism,"  food  for  new  thought 
and  perhaps  the  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion now  uppermost  in  all  American 
minds:  Why  is  war?  When  will  the 
necessity   for  it   cease  to   be? 


FOREIGN   CHARITY    AND   NATrV'E 
WAGES. 


From    "The    Chicago    Tribune,"    No- 
vember 14,   1914. 

Clinton,  la.,  Nov.  12. — [Editor  of 
"The  Tribune."] — Will  some  gentle- 
man kindly  explain  to  the  writer 
through  the  columns  of  "The  Trib- 
une" why  some  people  "sincerely 
trust"  that  $5,000,000  of  America's 
money  be  sent  abroad  to  help  the 
needy,  and  kick  like  Texas  steers  if 
they  have  to  pay  living  wages  for 
American  skilled  labor? 

H.  P.  S. 


MEETING  A  NEIGHBOR  AS  A  COMPETITOR 


S3 


A  GERMAN  MENACE. 


A  letter  written  to  the  Chicago 
"Tribune"  in  reply  to  an  article  on 
the  German  Menace  to  Great  Britain 
— Its  RiHing  Xavy. — By  the  Editor  of 
"War  Echoes." 

The  Editor  in  Chief, 

The  Tribune,  Chicago,  111. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  am  frankly  and  honestlj-  a  Ger- 
man sympathizer  in  the  present  Euro- 
pean conflict,  and,  no  doubt,  pri- 
marily so,  because  of  my  deep-seated 
conviction  of  the  justice  of  the  Ger- 
man-Austrian cause,  and,  conse- 
quently, I  have  an  abiding  faith  in 
them.  To  be  sure  the  Historian  will 
some  day  settle  this  question  to  the 
satisfaction  of  most  enlightened  and 
disciplined  people,  settling  their 
cause  in  its  true  light.  And  not  un- 
til this  is  done,  and  until  we  refuse 
to  hear  a  verdict  with  but  a  part  of 
the  evidence  and  only  some  of  the 
witnesses  in  the  case,  shall  I  lose 
faith  in  a  country  that  bears  the 
reputation  and  character  of  that  of 
Germany. 

It  is  simply  faith  based  on  knowl- 
edge. It  is  fact  and  truth.  It  is 
certainly  the  more  abiding  thing  we 
have  to  judge  by;  this  spiritual, 
intellectual,  and  practical  Germany 
is  universally  acknowledged  where 
people  have  not  been  too  much  con- 
cerned with  fear,  prejudice,  jealousy, 
revenge,  ambition,  etc.  Can  it  pos- 
sibly fail  to  appeal  to  us  that  we  are 
dealing  with  a  situation  created  by 
Germany's  bitterest  enemies?  I 
venture  to  predict  that  Germany  will 
retain  her  abiding  character,  in  spite 
of  all  the  abuse,  vilification  and 
slander  heaped  upon  her  in  this 
crisis.  Be  not  deceived;  History 
shows  that  strength,  character  and 
courage  are  made  in  such  trying 
times.  But  the  thing  created  by  the 
passions  of  man  against  her,  un- 
justly, will  pass  away,  with  traces  of 
guilt  and  contrition,  let  us  hope, 
from  the  guilty. 

I  am  indeed  gratified  for  the  let- 
ters appearing  under  "Voice  of  the 
People,"  for  it  is  precisely  the  want 
of  such  a  Forum  in  the  popular  press, 
publishing  overwhelming  material 
from  England  and  her  Allies,  while 
their  enemies  have  been  shut  out 
from  the  world,  that  I  am  ready  to 
make  any  possible  sacrifice  to  de- 
fend Germany.  For  the  press  it 
simply  spells  BUSINESS.  Could 
Germany  and  Austria  assure  us  im- 
mediate and  ultimate  financial  gain 
by  boosting  her.  she  would  get  the 
support.  I  have  been  told  that  Ger- 
many lacked  practical  wisdom  by  re- 
futing to  spend  several  millions  to 
this  end,  that  she  will  have  to  pay 
It  anyway,  and  that  in  an  infinitely 
harder  way,  by  much  suffering  and 
making  additional  human  sacrifices 
for  the  sale  of  ideals  and  patriotism, 
than  she  would  have  been  obliged  to 
sacrifice  by  the  every-day  practise  of 
bribing,  such  as  is  common  even  in 
our  very  households;  why  then  cher- 
ish high  Ideals  in  regard  to  how  we 
may  "get  there"  in  relations  with  our 
neighbor  nations. 

To  defend  her,  not  so  much  In  her 
claims,  though  I  feel  that  I  have  just 


reason  to  have  more  faith  in  their 
claims  than  in  those  of  her  enemies, 
but  as  against  the  claims  of  her  ene- 
mies. From  the  very  first  of  the 
conflict  I  have  had  a  genuine  reluc- 
tance to  mete  out  in  the  same 
kind,  style  and  measure  in  which  it 
was  meted  out  by  the  Anti-German 
press  the  world  over.  This  has  had 
one  inevitable  result;  nine  out  of 
every  ten  responsible  persons  we 
meet,  who  have  any  interest  in  the 
conflict  at  all,  are  still  harping  the 
echoes  of  the  first  impressions,  made 
upon  them  by  the  Allies  literature: 
now  it  is  "German  Militarism,"  now 
"Prussian  Militarism;"  it  is  "German 
Conceit"  and  "German  Culture."  We 
could  stand  their  "Kultur"  it  we 
would  never  see  it  or  hear  of  it,  but 
"to  choke  it  down  our  throats,"  that 
is  what  we  object  to.  Then  it  is  the 
"Militarism  Supreme,"  the  "Autocrat 
Kaiser,"  the  "degenerate  Crown 
Prince,"  and  so  forth  without  end. 
But  one  thing  is  certain  that  we  have 
not  been  honest  and  fair,  for  it  is 
evident  that  we  have  not  availed  our- 
selves of  the  many,  most  excellent 
articles  on  these  and  many  similar 
questions  by  a  number  of  American 
writers  of  character,  learning  and 
spirit  unquestioned.  Are  we  ac- 
quainted, for  instance,  with  such 
men  as  Dr.  John  W.  Burgess,  Dr. 
Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler,  Hon.  Peter 
S.  Grosscup,  Dr.  George  Stuart  Ful- 
lerton.  Dr.  F.  Westfall  Thompson, 
Dr.  Ferdinand  Schevill,  Dr.  Herbert 
Sanborn  and  many  others,  whose 
non-German  names  will  indicate  that 
they  are  not  defending  Germany  from 
sentiment  alone.  Have  we  who  have 
so  much  to  say  about  German  sins 
and  crime,  read  and  digested  what 
these  great  American  scholars  have 
to  say  to  this? 

Now,  as  voiced  by  your  recent  cor- 
respondent in  this  department,  Mr. 
Owen  Howard  Owen,  we  finally  have 
also  to  hear  of  the  "German  Naval 
Menace."  To  be  more  exact,  in 
speaking  of  Germany,  Mr.  Owen  de- 
clares that  "if  they  could  prove  that 
the  German  Naval  program  was  not 
a  distinct  MENACE  to  Great  Britain" 
(Tribune,  March  22,  Voice  of  the 
People).  Now,  Mr.  Owen,  honor 
bright,  as  man  to  man,  why  should 
Germany  be  obliged  to  make  a  con- 
fession on  this  point?  If  she  said 
it  is  to  protect  our  growing  com- 
merce, they  would  give  her  the  lie; 
if  she  said,  straightforwardly,  with 
her  customary  candor  and  frankness 
(where  the  German  philosopher  has 
no  doubt  been  at  fault  for  the  non- 
Teutonic  world)  that  this  navy  is  to 
protect  us  against  our  neighbors  in 
case  of  war,  they  would  brand  her 
with  "Ambition."  "World  Emperor- 
ism,"  "Menace,"  etc.  I  cannot  see 
why  Germany  should  have  to  explain 
her  conduct  in  this  particular  at  all. 
Did  England  make  apologies  for  her 
growing  navy?  Do  you,  Mr.  Owen, 
make  apologies  to  your  competitor 
when  you  strip  him  in  honest  business 
and  other  competition?  Or,  if  your 
competitor  should  think  you  "a 
menace"  to  him  in  your  prospering 
business?  I  trust  I  have  heard  the 
last  such  unreasonable  objections.  I 
would  let  such  statements  pass  alto- 
gether if  It  were  not  that  the  unrea- 


soning masses  swallow  in  a  most 
pathetic  manner  everything  they  bear 
and  see;  then  they  try  to  digest  it 
as  best  they  can — since  it  is  spoken 
of  the  unpopular  element  among  us 
to  the  popular.  Give  us  this  day 
our  daily  sensation  and  some  poor 
devils  at  war  to   lie   about. 

You  observe,  Mr.  Owen,  that  I  fail 
to  see  the  logic  of  speaking  of  a 
"German  Naval  Menace"  inasmuch  as 
Germany  has*  never  had  more  than 
half  of  the  British  naval  force,  that 
is,  in  the  number  of  ships,  their  man- 
ning, and  the  money  invested.  This 
fact  ought,  also,  by  the  way,  settle 
that  question  of  "Militarism."  Brit- 
ish Navalism,  of  course,  is  not  "Mili- 
tarism." And  now,  through  British 
maneuvering,  since  the  opening  of  the 
war,  Germany  is  easily  opposed  in  the 
present  naval  warfare,  by  five  to  one 
in  the  number  of  ships,  and  by  even 
more  in  the  cost  of  their  equipment. 
Is  it,  Mr.  Owen,  that  the  British  Em- 
pire realized  that  the  German  Navy 
would  be  more  than  a  match  for  them 
in  case  of  war?  If  this  is  the  case 
and  especially  so,  in  the  light  of  the 
part  that  Great  Britain  played  in 
getting  into  the  slaughter-game  to 
cripple  an  honest  competition,  when 
she  had  as  good  a  chance  to  make  a 
military  showing  as  she  might  ever 
expect  to  have  again,  that  is  while 
other  nations  would  be  sure  to  do  the 
bulk  of  the  fighting — then  she  ought 
to  be  defeated. 

The  idea  was  this,  that  the  com- 
bination of  naval  and  land  forces  of 
the  Allies  would  be  irresistible;  alone 
or  with  one  power  she  would  not  have 
had  a  ghost  of  a  show  to  force  her 
will  among  nations.  It  must  not  be 
overlooked,  moreover,  that  England 
was  in  as  good  a  position,  both  from 
point  of  view  of  influence,  and  honor 
at  stake,  to  prevent  the  war  by  sim- 
ply putting  her  flnger  on  Russia — 
yes,  and  France  and  Belgium — and 
say  that  she  would  not  back  Russia 
up  in  her  interests  in  the  Serbian- 
Balkan  policy.  I  wish  somebody 
would  point  out  to  me  where  Eng- 
land had  more  at  stake,  both  in  hon- 
or and  other  national  interests,  than 
Germany.  Hence,  why  could  she  not 
have  honorably  done  this? 

Is  a  small  man  a  menace  to  a  large 
man  simply  because  the  small  man  de- 
velops to  the  utmost?  Why  should 
we  expect  the  small  man  to  make  ex- 
planations and  apologies  for  the  de- 
velopment of  his  powers?  You  say 
he  might  some  day  give  me  a  thrash- 
ing. But  are  we  so  certain  that  the 
big  fellow  ought  not  to  have  a  thrash- 
ing, that  the  little  fellow  has  a 
weaker  cause  just  because  he  has 
come  into  the  limelight?  Any  way 
you  wish  to  take  it.  Mr.  Owen,  I  fall 
to  see  the  point;  and  have  you  not 
observed  how  this  "Meniice."  the  Ger- 
man Fleet,  has  been  utterly  Incapable 
of  protecting  the  German  commerce, 
for  which  purpose  it  was  called  into 
existence?  We  were  not  called  into 
existence,  primarily  to  fight,  but  to  be 
happy  in  constructive  work  and  yet  I 
see  a  VIRTI'E  In  using  force  at  times. 
And  so  the  German  Navy  does  not  be- 
come a  menace,  even  if  it  finds  duties 
other  than  protecting  German  com- 
merce. Or.  don't  you  trouble  your- 
self   in   trying    to    see   the   other   fel- 


54 


THE  VITAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


low's  situation,  Mr.  Owen?  Can  we 
not  even  see  so  simple  a  point?  Is 
it  because  of  our  selfishness  or  what? 

Did  Great  Britain  really  expect  the 
world  to  come  to  her  assistance,  to 
defend  her  against  Germany  in  case 
of  war?  If  you  will  recognize  a 
menace  when  you  see  one,  Mr.  Owen, 
behold  Russia  mobilizing,  egged  on 
by  France  and  Great  Britain;  here 
you  have  a  real  cause  tor  a  declara- 
tion of  war  and  they  got  it.  Russia 
succeeded  in  becoming  a  real  menace 
to  Germany,  but  by  this  trick  alone. 
Can  you  show  me  that  England  and 
France  are  not  also  guilty  of  this? 
Is  Germany  not  guilty  with  Austria, 
if  the  Austrian-Balkan  policy  is  repre- 
hensible? And,  mind  you,  this  Balk- 
an question,  ultimately  the  real  issue, 
was  of  no  primary  concern  to  Great 
Britain,  perhaps  not  to  France  even. 
I  would  ask:  Is  it  Germany's  fault 
that  her  fleet  of  about  one-fifth  the 
size  and  number  of  ships  and  of 
about  one-sixth  the  cost  of  the  Allied 
fleets  is  yet  "a  menace"  to  them?  If 
this  is  your  real  meaning,  Mr.  Owen, 
then  I  say  it  serves  them  right  that 
they  are  facing  a  menace.  Is  a  man 
a  menace  simply  because  he  is  capa- 
ble of  holding  his  own  and  protect- 
ing his  home,  his  all,  against  three 
or  four  who  have  plotted  "to  get 
him"?  Or,  are  Germans  a  menace  be- 
cause they  are  intelligent,  industri- 
ous and  serious  in  the  tasks  of  life? 

I  would  not  be  surprised  if  a  fur- 
ther complaint  were  lodged  against 
Germany  because  she  is  getting  more 
effective  results  with  her  fifty  sub- 
marines than  all  her  enemies  com- 
bined with  five  times  that  number? 
Hence,  next,  the  Submarine  Menace. 
Oh,  yes,  the  submarine  is  "a  menace" 
too,  because  of  its  efficiency.  And 
here  we  come  to  the  crux  of  the  whole 
controversy  about  Germany  and  her 
enemies — EflSciency,  "Made  in  Ger- 
many." We  cannot  compete  with 
you,  Germany,  and  so  you  must  be 
crushed.  But  there  is  no  end  to  this. 
It  is  common  knowledge  that  Ger- 
many has  made  more  of  her  native  as 
well"  as  created  resources,  when  taken 
together,  than  perhaps  any  other  peo- 
ple. Why  should  that  be  a  menace? 
Why  should  it  be  a  menace  to  be  able 
to  read  and  write,  to  think  hard,  rea- 
son,   take    discipline,    learn    to    obey, 


command  and  serve?  Why  should  it 
be  a  menace  to  be  able  to  make  a 
better  article  and  sell  it  cheaper  than 
some  one  else  can  do?  No,  competi- 
tion along  these  lines  is  too  hard  and 
takes  too  long;  it  is  too  laborious, 
for  England  impossible.  There  was 
one  idea  with  France  and  Great  Brit- 
ain in  this  competition  problem:  the 
"Bear"  must  save  us.  We  shall  settle 
this  question  in  quite  a  unique  and 
original  fashion.  We  know  how  to 
unite  the  "Gordian  Knot." 

When  speaking  of  menaces,  I  have 
often  observed  that  "the  menace"  is 
very  frequently  well  named.  You 
could  easily  show  and  that  with  ex- 
cellent reason,  how  the  British  navy 
has  been  and  still  is  a  menace.  Con- 
sult Washington,  for  example,  at 
present.  Consult  the  spirit  of  Wash- 
ington and  Lincoln.  Consult  the 
American  archives  from  1800  to  1812. 
Nor  need  we  go  outside  of  our  own 
country  to  settle  this  question,  Mr. 
Owen.  But  this  philosophizing  is  a 
mighty  slow  and  inexpedient  busi- 
ness, hence  the  war;  it  is  certainly 
not  Germany's  fault  if  not  enough 
philosophizing  was  done.  You,  Mr. 
Owen,  and  your  sympathizers  in  this 
connection  may  console  yourselves 
with  the  thought  that  he  who  would 
rise  and  maintain  his  position  honor- 
ably, nobly  and  in  righteousness  must 
pay  the  price,  must  win  his  spurs, 
just  as  Spain,  France,  England  in 
turn,  had  done.  They  all  have  passed 
through  these  critical  moments. 
They  ought  to  know  upon  what  their 
laws  and  morals  are  written.  You 
may  console  yourselves,  moreover, 
in  the  fact  that  the  literature  writ- 
ten against  the  menace  of  the  British 
navy  will  make  interesting  reading  to 
you  all  in  times  of  trouble.  It  is 
quite  possible,  too,  that  you  could 
not  take  this  record  seriously,  as 
Great  Britain  may  have  been  the 
Chosen  People,  in  your  eyes,  to  enjoy 
the  privilege  of  a  large  navy  alone, 
and  by  virtue  of  "Divine  Right."  Of 
course,  it  is  a  heinous  crime  for  the 
Turk  or  the  Jap  to  cherish  such  an 
ambition.  Yes,  even  for  our  kin,  the 
Germans.  Has  not  our  own  Secretary 
of  State  clearly  implied  in  his  recent 
analysis  of  cases  coming  under  inter- 
national law  that  Great  Britain  is 
getting  the  better  of  it  at  sea  in  the 


present  conflict,  not  by  any  illegal 
act,  but  by  sheer  virtue  of  posession 
is  99  per  cent  of  the  law  "she  can 
get  away  with  it"  in  every  day  slang. 

The  implication  is  clear  and  sim- 
ple. German  sympathizers  may  re- 
gret it  and  other  sympathizers  may 
congratulate  themselves,  secretly,  for 
the  good  fortune,  but  what  are  we 
going  to  do  about  it?  You  see  we 
all  face  the  same  law,  and  there  it 
is  hard  and  fast.  It  certainly  does 
not  take  a  bright  man  to  see  the 
great  realm  of  human  endeavor  that 
lies  between  the  "Letter  of  the  Law" 
and  the  "Spirit  of  the  Law"  within 
which  latitude  we  might  commit 
plenty  that  were  questionable  and 
wrong  if  the  shoe  were  on  the  other 
foot,  but  a  region  within  which  we 
may  steer  safely  to  the  harbor  of 
temporary  success.  Just  let  unfor- 
tunate Spain  or  Japan  do  one-half 
what  Great  Britain  has  done,  even  in 
the  present  crisis  and  you  will  see 
another  type  of  neutrality  and  even 
getting  away  around  the  law.  Why 
in  the  case  of  the  Maine,  we  did  not 
even  wait  to  investigate.  The  offense 
rests  so  much  in  the  offender;  it 
grows  so  much  out  of  our  feelings  in 
relation  to  the  offender. 

I  find  this  an  opportune  time,  also, 
to  say  what  I  have  often  said  in  this 
connection,  and  what  to  the  best  of 
my  knowledge  thousands  of  good  and 
able  sympathizers  all  over  this  coun- 
try have  been  saying;  let  us  set  our- 
selves the  noble  task  of  clearing  up 
misconceptions,  too  hastily  formed  by 
the  helpless  innocent,  who  do  not 
think  for  themselves;  let  us  neu- 
tralize the  venom  and  poison  sent 
into  the  minds  and  hearts  of  millions 
of  innocent  Americans  by  the  enemies 
of  Germany.  We  can  also  prevent 
the  still  further  evitable  damage  that 
would  be  done  by  inflammatory 
writers  by  inspiring  leaders  to  a 
manly  and  womanly  dignity,  to  speak 
evil  of  no  man  and  to  cultivate  an 
insatiable  thirst  for  facts,  truths,  fair 
play,  and  above  all,  for  us  Americans 
to  be  neutral  in  Spirit  as  well  as  Word 
— in  this  task  America  always  first, 
we  may  not  dare  or  do  too  much. 
Sincerely  yours. 

Hotel  Holland, 
Chicago,  111. 


Further  Evidence  of  the  Work  of  the  War  Makers 


TWO  EXTREME  VIEWS. 


Editorial    from    "The    Daily    News," 
Chicago,  November  10,  1914. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  is  indignant  because 
the  United  States  has  not  taken  ag- 
gressive steps  on  behalf  of  Belgium. 
He  does  not  go  the  length  of  saying 
in  so  many  words  that  we  should 
have  declared  war  on  Germany,  but 
many  persons  will  think  they  dis- 
cover this  to  be  his  meaning  on  read- 
ing the  sixth  of  his  papers  on  the 
war  appearing  in  The  Daily  News. 
Although  this  country  is  not  one  of 
the  signatories  to  the  two  long  stand- 
ing treaties  which  guarantee  Bel- 
gium's neutrality,  the  ex-president  is 
of  the  opinion  that  our  participation 


in  The  Hague  conventions  obligates 
us  to  take  cognizance  of  any  infrac- 
tion of  those  stipulations.  It  is  on 
this  ground  that  he  declares  the 
present  administration  has  failed  in 
its  duty. 

The  United  States  is  called  upon  as 
a  "trustee  of  civilization,"  Mr  Roose- 
velt thinks,  to  investigate  all  the 
charges  made  against  Germany.  "If 
such  an  investigation  is  made,"  he 
writes,  "and  if  the  charges, prove  well 
founded,  then  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
United  States  to  take  whatever  action 
may  be  necessary  to  vindicate  the 
principles  of  international  law  set 
forth  in  these  [The  Hague]  conven- 
tions." 

This  is  vague,  though  forceful. 
Apparently,  it  points  down  the  red 
pathway  of  war. 


While  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  crying  out 
for  direct  interference  by  the  United 
States  in  European  affairs,  it  is  in- 
teresting to  discover  how  far  peace 
advocates  will  allow  themselves  to 
go  in  the  other  direction.  Writing 
in  the  current  number  of  the  North 
American  Review,  Prof.  Phelps  of 
Yale  shows  how  easy  it  is  for  well 
meaning  persons  to  become  extrem- 
ists in  their  enthusiasm  for  a  cause. 
In  the  course  of  his  appeal  for  peace 
Prof.  Phelps  exclaims:  "Would  it  not 
be  fine  in  the  future  if  the  United 
States  of  America  should  make  some 
actual  sacrifice  to  prevent  war? 
Would  it  not  be  splendid  if  we  actu- 
ally sustained  insults  and  material 
damage  from  some  other  country  and 
did  not  fight?" 


MEETING  A  NEIGHBOR  AS  A  COMPETITOR 


55 


LIBERALS  PLEAD  FOR  CO- 
OPERATION. 


Leaders     Object     to     British    Policy 

Wliich      Preceded     the    Present 

War  Encouraged   by   Great 

Britain. 

Prominent  members  of  the  Liberal 
organization  are  taking  measures  to 
direct  public  policy  toward  the  re- 
form of  European  methods  of  shap- 
ing the  destinies  of  the  various  na- 
tions. It  is  the  purpose  of  these 
leaders  to  carry  on  a  vigorous  cam- 
paign, in  which  their  plans  will  be 
outlined  and  the  thinking  public 
urged  to  co-oprate.  The  following 
letter  to  the  London  "Morning  Post" 
has  been  sent  broadcast  as  the  fore- 
runner of  the  movement  for  govern- 
mental reform: 

"There  are  many  thousands  of 
people  in  the  country  who  are  pro- 
foundly dissatisfied  with  the  general 
course  of  policy  which  preceded  the 
war.  They  are  feeling  that  a  divid- 
ing point  has  come  in  national  his- 
tory; that  the  old  traditions  of  secret 
and  class  diplomacy,  the  old  control 
of  foreign  policy  by  a  narrow  clique 
and  the  power  of  the  armament 
organizations  have  got  henceforth  to 
be  combated  by  a  great,  conscien- 
tious and  well  directed  effort  of  the 
democracy. 

"We  are  anxious  to  take  the  meas- 
ures which  may  focus  this  feeling 
and  help  to  direct  public  policy  on 
broad  lines  which  may  build  up  on 
a  more  secure  and  permanent  foun- 
dation the  hopes  which  have  been 
shattered  for  our  generation  in  the 
last  month.  The  objects  we  have  in 
view  are: 

"First. — To  secure  real  parlia- 
mentary control  over  foreign  policy 
and  to  prevent  It  being  again  ^aped 
in  secret  and  forced  upon  the 
country  as  an  accomplished  fact. 

"Second. — When  peace  returns  to 
open  direct  and  deliberate  negotia- 
tions with  the  democratic  parties  and 
influences  on  the  continent,  so  as  to 
form  an  international  understanding 
depending  on  popular  parties  rather 
than  on  governments. 


"Third. — To  aim  at  securing  such 
terms  that  this  war  will  not,  either 
through  the  humiliation  of  the  de- 
feated nation  or  an  artiflcial  rear- 
rangement of  frontiers,  merely  be- 
come the  starting  point  for  new  na- 
tional antagonisms  and  future  wars. 
When  the  time  is  ripe  for  it,  but  not 
before  the  country  is  secure  from 
danger,  meetings  will  be  organized 
and  speakers  provided.  But  the  im- 
mediate need  is,  in  our  opinion,  to 
prepare  for  the  issue  of  books, 
pamphlets  and  leaflets  dealing  with 
the  course  of  recent  policy  and  sug- 
gesting the  lines  of  action  for  the 
future.  Measures  are  being  taken 
to  prepare  these  at  once,  and  they 
will  be  ready  for  publication  when 
the  proper  opportunity  occurs.  For 
this  we  shall  be  glad  of  any  subscrip- 
tion which  you  can  spare  and  would 
like  to  know  if  you  are  willing  to 
support  us  in  this  effort  in  order  that 
we  may  communicate  with  you  as 
occasion  arises. 

"There  may  be  other  ways  in 
which  voluntary  help  may  be  of 
value.  We  shall  be  glad  of  the 
names  and  addresses  of  any  of  your 
friends  who  you  think  are  likely  to 
share  the  views  expressed  in  this 
letter." 

The  foregoing  communication 
bears  the  signatures  of  E.  Ramsay 
MacDonald,  Charles  Trevelyan,  Nor- 
man Angell  and  E.  D.  Bord,  who  will 
have  direct  charge  of  the  campaign. 
— Reprinted  from  the  "News  of  the 
War  in  Europe,"  supplied  by  "The 
Fatherland,"  New  York. 


THE       BRITISH      AND       GERMAN 
W'HITE  PAPERS. 


HORNET  STINGS. 


Prom  "The  Hornet,"   Chicago,  Octo- 
ber 15,   1914. 

Did  you  notice  the  fragrant  bou- 
quets which  the  French  and  British 
army  commanders  are  lately  throw- 
ing at  each  other?  General  French 
is  simply  de-lighted  about  the  dash 
and  bravery  of  Jean  Crapaud  and 
Joffre  is  just  tickled  about  the  mag- 
nificent courage  of  Tommy  Atkins. 
It  reminds  one  of  two  boys  whistling 
as  they  pass  a  graveyard  after  dark. 
They  are  trying  to  keep  up  their 
courage.    •      •      • 


(From  an  Editorial  in   "The  Boston 
Herald,"  .Aug.  28,   1914.) 

Occasionally  the  public  interest  to 
be  served  by  the  distribution  of  a 
pamphlet  is  so  great  that  the  news- 
papers owe  it  all  the  free  advertis- 
ing they  can  give.  Such  is  the  case 
with  the  full  text  of  the  White  Pa- 
per of  the  British  Foreign  Office  and 
the  memorandum  issued  by  the  Ger- 
man Government,  which  the  New 
York  "Times"  has  brought  out  in 
pamphlet  form  and  is  selling  at  ten 
cents. 

Everybody  who  wishes  to  form  a 
coherent  and  unprejudiced  opinion 
of  the  relations  of  the  two  great 
powers — Great  Britain  and  Germany 
— should  read  the  diplomatic  corre- 
spondence. And  no  one  who  fails 
to  do  so  has  longer  any  intellectual 
right  to  express  a  cocksure  opinion 
on  the  struggle.  Here  is  a  body  of 
evidence  of  the  most  substantial  char- 
acter. It  deserves  the  attention  of 
every  thoughtful  citizen.  Up  to  date 
nothing  has  thrown  such  a  clear 
white  light  on  the  sources  of  the 
present  desperate  calamity  as  the 
full  text  of  the  diplomatic  correspond- 
ence of  the  two  powers,  in  whose 
leadership  a  large  share  of  the  civ- 
ilization of  the  world  rests. 


How  deficient  is  our  English  lan- 
guage when  it  comes  to  describing 
colors!  Thus  we  all  remember  Rich- 
ard Harding  Davis'  wonderful  de- 
scription of  the  almost  Invisible 
"gray"  uniforms  of  the  Germans, 
which  so  melted  into  the  landscape 
that  they  could  hardly  be  seen,  ex- 
cept as  a  mist,  across  a  city  square, 
while  from  St.  Louis  comes  a  dis- 
patch that  says:  "A  British  agent 
who  is  buying  10,000  horses  and 
mules  in  Missouri  is  rejecting  gray 
ones.  He  says  they  can  be  seen  far- 
ther than  animals  of  any  other 
color." — From  "The  Boston  Globe," 
September  9,  1914. 


SECOND  CHAPTER 

UNFORTUNATE   BELGIUM 

PROCLAIMING  A  VIRTUE  LONG  SINCE  SURRENDERED 
BELGIAN  NEUTRALITY  A  MYTH 


GERMANY  AND  THE  TRIPLE  ENTENTE 
THEIR  BELGIAN  POLICY 

Their  Position  and  Consequent  Attitude  in  regard  to  the  Future  of  Belgium 
Belgium  Co-operates  with  France  and  England  Against  Germany 
In  Consequence  Belgium  Loses  her  Neutrality 


THE  GERMAN  GEOGRAPHIC  POSITION 
HER  CONSEQUENT  ATTITUDE  BEFORE  THE  WAR  AND  NOW 

Germany's  Honorable  Proposal  to  Beliiium 
Even  after  Belgium's  Secret  Dealing  with  the  Entente 

Evidence  of  these  Secret  Negotiations — Meaning  Trouble  for  Germany 
Great  Britain,  France,  Belgium 


THE  NON-TEUTONIC  NATIONS  OF  EUROPE 
THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM  AND  THE  OTHER  NATIONS 

The  Interesting  Position  of  the  Teutonic  Nations  in  this  Great:  World  Conflict 
The  Deeper  Meaning  of  the  Alignment  of  Nations  at  War 


THE  ENGLISH-FRENCH-BELGIAN  POSITION 
THEIR  CONSEQUENT  ATTITUDE 

The  Popular  Notion  that  there  was  a  NeutraHty  to  Violate 
That  the  Entente  were  Duty-bound  to  Protect  Belgium  in  This  Sham  Neutrality 


BELGIAN  NEUTRALITY— ITS  REAL  MEANING 
A  "SCRAP  OF  PAPER" 

What  the  German  Chancellor  meant  by  thus  describing  the  Belgium  Neutrality  Guarantee 

INTRODUCTION 


BKLGIAX  NEUTRALITY — ITS 
REAL  MEAXIXG. 


The  Vital  Issue. 

EDITOR'S  NOTE: 

This  article  by  Professor  John  W. 
Burgess  was  released  to  the  press  of 
this  great  country  two  weeks  ago. 
Which  newspaper  printed  it?  If 
our  readers  will  give  us  the  name  of 
the  paper  in  which  it  appeared  before 
this  copy  of  the  "Vital  Issue"  goes 
to  press  we  would  be  glad  to  give 
them  credit  for  their  sense  of  honor 
and  fairness.*  Is  it  not  strange  that 
a  special  paper  has  to  be  founded 
to  print  such  material  as  is  contained 
in  our  magazine?  In  spite  of  the  im- 
mense difficulties  this  paper  will  con- 
tinue to  throw  a  true  light  on  the 
present  European  crisis. 


BY  PROFESSOR  JOHN  W.   BUR- 
GESS. 

Of   Columbia  University,   New   York. 

So  much  has  been  said  about  "Bel- 
gian Neutrality,"  so  much  assumed, 
and  it  has  been  spoken  of  as  such 
a  .sa<Ted  tiling  that  it  may  be  well 
to  examine  the  basis  of  it  and  get 
an  exact  idea  of  its  scope.  It  is  not 
a  moral  question.  It  is  a  question  of 
truth.     It  is  a  question  purely  of  in- 


•The  "Milwaukee  Free  Press" 
printed  this  article  of  Professor  Bur- 
gess under  the  heading  of  "What 
Belgian  Neutrality  Really  Means," 
on  its  editorial  page  of  October  13, 
1914. 

Read  also  the  paragraphs  headed : 
"The  Case  of  Belgium."  in  the  article 
by  I'roft'ssor  John  W.  Burgess,  entitled, 
"Why  I  CliMiupion  Germany,"  and  also 
iuiicle  iTilillcd:  "Has  Germany  Vio- 
lalfil  I!clf.'iati  Neutrality."  both  of 
which  iiiiiinrtant  papers  have  been  re- 
printed elsewhere  in  this  book. — 
Editor,  War  Echoes. 


DOCTOR  JGH.X  W.  BURGESS 

ternational  agreement  and  we  must 
find  for  it  such  an  agreement  and 
the  agreement  must  not  have  been 
abrogated  nor  have  become,  by 
change  of  conditions,  obsolete.  Of 
course  by  the  term  "Belgian  neu- 
trality" is  meant  guaranteed  neutral- 
ity, not  simply  the  "general  neutral- 
ity of  all  states  not  at  war"  at  a  time 
when  other  states  are  at  war. 

On  the  19th  day  of  April,  1839, 
Belgium  and  Holland,  which  had 
from  1815  to  183  0  formed  the 
United  Kingdom  of  the  Netherlands, 
signed  a  treaty  of  separation  from, 
and  independence  of,  each  other.  It 
is  in  this  treaty  that  the  original 
pledge  of  Belgian  neutrality  is  to  be 
found.  The  clause  in  the  treaty 
reads:  "Iielf{iiiiu  in  (he  limits  above 
described  shall  form  an  independent 
neutral  state  and  sliall  be  hound  to 
obsene  the  ^tinie  neutrality  towards 
all  other  states."  On  the  same  day 
and  at  the  same  place,  London,  a 
treaty,  known  in  the  history  of  di- 
plomacy as  the  "Quintuple  Treaty," 
was  signed  by  Great  Britain,  France, 
Prussia,  Austria  and  Russia,  approv- 
ing and  adopting  the  treaty  between 
Belgium  and  Holland.  A  little  later, 
May  11th,  the  German  Confederation, 
of  which  both  Prussia  and  Austria 
were  states,  also  ratified  this  treaty. 

In  the  year  1866  the  German  Con- 
federation was  dissolved  by  the  short 
war  between  Prussia  and  Austria.  In 
1867  the  "North  German  Union"  was 
formed,  of  which  Prussia  was  the 
largest  state. 

Did  these  changes  abrogate  the 
guarantee  of  the  Treaty  of  1839,  or 
make  it  obsolete?  The  test  of  this 
came  In  the  year  1870,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  hostilities  between  France 
and  the  North  German  Union.  Great 
Britain,  the  power  most  interested  in 
the  maintenance  of  Belgian  neutral- 
ity, seems  to  have  had  considerable 
apprehension  about  it.  Mr.  Glad- 
ys 


stone,  then  Prime  Minister,  said  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  the  2nd 
of  August,  1870:  "I  am  not  able 
to  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  those 
who  have  held  in  this  House  what 
plainly  amounts  to  an  assertion  that 
the  simple  fact  of  the  existence  of  a 
guarantee  is  binding  on  every  party 
to  it,  irrespective  altogether  of  the 
particular  position  in  which  it  may 
find  itself  at  the  time  when  the  oc- 
casion for  acting  on  the  guarantee 
arises." 

Acting  on  this  view,  the  British 
government  then  sought  and  procured 
from  the  French  government,  and 
from  the  government  of  the  North 
German  Union  separate  but  identical 
treaties,  ratified  on  the  9th  and  26th 
of  August,  1870,  respectively,  guar- 
anteeing the  neutrality  of  Belgium 
during  the  period  of  the  war  be- 
tween France  and  tJio  Xorth  German 
Union  (the  so-called  Franco-l'russian 
war),  which  had  just  liroken  out,  and 
for  one  year  from  the  date  of  its 
close.  In  these  treaties  Great  Brit- 
ain limited  the  possible  operation  of 
her  military  forces  in  maintaining  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium  to  the  territory 
of  the  state  of  Belgium. 

Tlieso  treaties  expired  in  the  year 
1872,  and  the  present  (Jernian  Em- 
igre has  never  signed  any  treaty 
guaran(<H»ing  the  neutrality  of  Bel- 
gium. If  the  Treaty  of  18:i9  had  be- 
come so  unreliable  in  1870  as  to  re- 
quire, in  the  opinion  of  the  British 
government,  the  new  treaties  of  1870 
in  order  to  make  sure  of  the  guar- 
antee of  Belgian  neutrality,  what 
shall  we  say  about  it  in  1914.  42 
years  aff<»r  fliese  treaties  of  1870 
have  expired,  and  after  the  North 
German  Union,  which  was  party  to 
them,  has  given  way  to  the  present 
German  Empire? 

Finally,  Tlie  Hague  Conference  of 
1007  draft<'d  a  convention  which 
reads: 


60 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM' 


"The  territory  of  neutral  powers  is 
Inviolable.  Belligerents  are  forbid- 
den to  move  troops  or  convoys  of 
either  munitions  of  war  or  supplies 
across  the  territory  of  a  neutral 
power." 

Great  Britain,  Germany,  Austria- 
Hungary  and  Italy  refused  to  sign  it 
and  did  not  sign  it.  Russia  was  not 
represented. 

Perhaps  we  may  now  somewhat 
more  clearly  understand,  why  the 
German  Chancellor  referred  to  the 
guarantee  of  Belgian  neutrality  as  a 
"scrap  of  paper."  At  any  rate, 
these  facts,  taken  together  with  the 
facts  that  Great  Britain  refused  to 
pledge  lier  own  neutrality  In  the 
present  war  even  on  the  condition 
that  Germany  would  agree  not  to 
move  her  troops  through  Belgiom 
and  not  to  attack  the  north  coast  of 
France,  and  declined  to  formulate 
any  conditions  upon  which  she  would 
remain  neutral,  clearly  reduce  Eng- 
land's much  vaunted  altruistic  rea- 
son for  entering  upon  this  war  to  a 
diplomatic  subterfuge. 

JOHN  W.  BURGESS. 
Athenwood,  Newport,  R.   I.,  Septem- 
ber 11,  1914. 


'SOME    REAL    NEWS.' 


Editorial    from   "The    Vital    Issue," 
New  York,  October  10,   1914. 

We  believe  our  readers  and  the  un- 
told millions  of  sympathizers  of  Ger- 
many will  surely  consider  it  a  treat  to 
read  the  many  interesting  articles 
which  appear  in  the  present  copy  of 
"The  Vital  Issue." 

The  article  by  Professor  Burgess 
proves  so  convincingly  that  somebody 
has  lied  about  the  Belgian  Neutrality 
Question.  Will  the  British  Govern- 
ment sit  up  and  take  notice  of  "The 
Vital  Issue?"  We  think  it  will.  It 
will  be  much  upset  by  now  reading 
the  true  facts  about  this  Belgian  is- 
sue, instead  of  seeing  their  lies  con- 
tinually reprinted  by  American  news- 
papers. More  discoveries  will  follow. 
We  will  catch  them  again. 

With  these  new  facts  at  hand,  the 
statement  issued  by  Sir  Edward  Gos- 
chen,  the  then  Ambassador  to  Ger- 
many, loses  almost  its  entire  force. 
Perhaps,  it  even  does  him  an  injury, 
because  the  statement  issued  by  him 
is  absolutely  misleading,  not  to  use 
stronger  terms.  However,  he  may 
not  have  been  acquainted  with  the 
status  quo  of  the  Belgian  situation, 


and  we  will  therefore  be  charitably 
Inclined  and  attribute  his  statement 
to  a  lack  of  knowledge  rather  than  to 
malice.  Inasmuch  as  Sir  Edward 
Goschen's  statement  formed  a  part  of 
the  British  White  Paper,  it  becomes 
evident  that  the  British  White  Paper 
loses  in  Importance  and  trustworthi- 
ness. 

Many  editors  will  no  doubt  regret 
that  they  have  been  so  imposed  upon 
and  that  they  have  innocently  fallen 
to  be  a  victim  to  the  British  wiles. 
Innocently,  these  editors  have  stirred 
up  hatred  against  a  friendly  country. 
Let  them  beware  in  the  future  of 
British  lies  and  British  systematic  se- 
cret work. 


Berlin's  comment  on  the  advance 
southeast  of  Verdun  corroborates  a 
French  report  of  yesterday.  Of  the 
German  claims  of  advance  there  is 
nothing  from  Paris  except  the  vague 
remarks  that  the  Kaiser's  troops  are 
in  a  strong  position.  However,  since 
the  war  started,  Berlin  has  made  no 
claims  which  have  not  been  proved 
later.  When  the  German  war  office 
has  nothing  favorable  to  report,  it 
simply  issues  no  report. — Prom  the 
"Chicago  Examiner,"  September  27, 
1914. 


Making  a  Fuss  over  a  Virtue  long  since  Surrendered 
Belgian  Neutrality  a  Myth 


BELGIAN  NEUTRALITY. 


New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,   New 
York. 

Herman  Ridder. 

So  much  has  been  written  about 
the  breach  of  Belgium's  neutrality 
that  I  shall  say  a  few  words  on  the 
German  side  of  this  question.  A  spe- 
cial treaty  provided  for  "Belgian  neu- 
trality during  warfare."  England, 
Prance  and  Germany  agreed  to  it. 
For  many  years  past  France  has,  in 
a  measure  violated  the  neutrality  of 
Belgium  by  assisting  that  country  in 
building  the  fortresses  on  the  German 
frontier.  The  details  of  the  fortifica- 
tions of  Liege  and  Namur  were  partly 
worked  out  by  the  French  General 
Staff,  giving  them  a  decided  military 
advantage  over  Germany. 

As  far  as  we  can  learn  from  German 
sources,  preceding  the  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities. French  officers,  in  larger  num- 
bers than  ordinarily,  were  active  in 
Belgium.  It  is  certain,  at  any  rate, 
that  the  French  had  made  extensive 
preparations  in  ■  Belgian  territory  for 
the  eventuality  of  a  war  with  Germany. 
Not  to  take  account  of  these  prepa- 
rations would  have  been  folly  and  sui- 
cide on  Germany's  part. 

More  than  this,  the  erection  in  Bel- 
gium of  a  series  of  great  fortifications 
does  not  appeal  to  the  unbiased  mind 
as  an  act  of  pure  Belgian  initiation  and 
violation.  Neutralized  as  her  territory 
Is  by  a  European  convention,  what 
necessity  could  have  prompted  her  to 
these  steps?  The  answer  must  be 
sought  not  in  Belgium  but  in  Paris. 
The  fortress  of  LiSge  and  Namur  were 


designed  for  defense  again  Germany, 
but  where  are  the  fortresses  to  insure 
the  Belgiun  frontier  against  France? 

Germany  requested  Belgium  to  allow 
the  transfer  of  German  troops  in  Ger- 
man railroad  cars  over  the  Belgian 
lines.  The  bulk  of  Belgian  traffic  In 
times  of  peace  is  carried  on  In  German 
cars,  there  being  a  tremendous  through 
traffic  of  German  goods.  Germany  of- 
fered to  pay  for  these  facilities  and  to 
pay  for  anything  else  that  it  might  use 
at  Belgium's  own  price,  to  put  in  order 
again  anything  that  was  destroyed  and 
to  guarantee  the  integrity  of  the  terri- 
tory of  Belgium  in  the  fullest  measure. 
This  offer  was  not  accepted  and  the 
simple  law  of  self-preservation  forced 
Germany  to  its  subsequent  steps.  As 
matters  have  turned  out  it  would  have 
been  the  part  of  wisdom  of  Belgium  to 
have  accepted  the  proposition  of  Ger- 
many. It  was  furthermore,  increas- 
ingly clear  to  the  German  government 
that  England  wante<l  to  keep  its  hands 
free  to  join  the  fray  whenever  the  time 
seemed  favorable.  The  consideration  of 
the  opportune  moment  and  nothing  else, 
has  been  the  reason  why  skilful  Eng- 
lish diplomacy,  although  we  have  only 
the  English  "White  Paper"  to  go  by, 
emphasized  the  Belgian  neutrality  in 
the  final  dealings,  to  the  exclusion  of 
almost  everything  else. 

England  knew  well,  that  Germany 
"in  defence''  would  quickly  turn  "to 
attack" ;  that  a  man  or  a  nation,  fight- 
ing for  its  life,  must  anticipate  the 
enemy's  move  and  not  wait  for  it.  In 
view  of  the  French  activities  in  Bel- 
gium during  times  of  peace,  it  was 
reasonable  for  Germany  to  assume  that 
France  would  not  hesitate  to  violate  the 


neutrality  in  times  of  war.  It  was 
essentially  a  measure  of  defense  on  the 
part  of  Germany,  and  as  the  results 
show,  an  important  part  in  the  general 
strategy  of  the  war. 

England  never  objected  to  France 
overseeing  the  military  policy  of  Bel- 
gium. Would  England  have  warred  on 
France  if  France  had  violated  Bel- 
gium's neutrality  in  actual  warfare?  Is 
there  anything  in  the  "White  Paper"  to 
indicate  that  England  applied  the  same 
hypocritical  morality  to  France  and 
Russia  which  it  adopted  towards  Ger- 
many? Do  we  find  any  sharp  English 
comment  on  the.  embargo  placed  on  a 
German  wheat  shipment  to  Belgium 
previous  to  the  outbreak  of  hostilities? 
Belgium  was  a  convenient  excuse,  a 
very  flimsy  one  at  that,  of  English 
diplomatic  hypocrisy.  Perfide  Albion! 

It  would  be  well  for  we  Americans, 
before  rashly  condemning  Germany,  to 
recall  the  many  emergencies  we  had  to 
meet  in  connection  with  the  Panama 
Canal.  We  took  the  larger  view  of  the 
situation  and  overlooked  the  technical- 
ities. The  United  States,  Columbia, 
Panama,  and  the  Hay-Pauncefote 
treaties  present  many  analogies  with 
tlie  Belgian  situation. 

The  men  who  were  intrusted  with 
the  safeguarding  of  Germany  were 
actuated  by  a  high  consciousness  of 
their  mobilizations  towards  Germany. 
However  imperative  from  a  purely 
military  point  of  view,  the  passage 
through  Belgium  may  have  been.  It 
was  undertaken  with  the  greatest  re- 
luctance and  with  every  desire  to  avoid 
friction.  The  Belgian  resistance  is  one 
of  the  most  regrettable  features  of  the 
war. 


BELGIAN  NEUTRALITY  A  MYTH  AND  A  SNARE 


61 


FIIRTHERING   GERMAN   'KrLTUR" 
German   Officers  give   Instructions   in   a    Scliool   In   Brussels 
(By    Courtesy    of    the    "Chicago    Abendpost" ) 


nELGIUM'S    CHANGE   OP   POLICY. 


Translation   of   Editorial   Which   Ap- 
peared in  German  in  the  "Illinois 
.St.aat*i-Zeitun)t."  Chicago, 
September  9,  1914. 

The  latter  part  of  June,  1908.  or 
more  than  six  years  ago,  an  article 
appeared  in  the  Antwerp  Matin, 
which  read  thus:  "Belgium  recog- 
nizes the  value  of  Germany's  constant 
mode  of  dealing  governed  as  it  is  by 
;i  siiirit  of  IciyiUty  :  CcrMiany  wants 
no  foreign  property,  and  impressed 
with  a  regard  for  the  rights  of  na- 
tions, would  not  Impose  on  a  weaicer 
nation.  England,  according  to  U.  S. 
Senator  Harrison,  has  cast  a  longing 
eye  on  Belgian  Congo,  which  lies  be- 
tween English  possessions  and  for 
that  reason  is  an  obstacle  in  the 
building  of  the  railroad  from  the 
Cape  to  Cairo.  She  wants  to  wipe 
out  the  Congo  as  she  did  the  Trans- 
vaal and  Orange  Free  State  and  with 
this  object  began  a  campaign  of  def- 
amation, describing  the  Belgians  as 
corrupt  and  cruel  colonizers.  If  in 
the  pursuit  of  her  selfish  policy  Eng- 
land should  be  the  cause  of  any  more 
dilTiculties,  we  will  be  forced  to  take 
the  initiative  and  appeal  to  the  states 
that  took  the  place  of  god-father  at 
the  baptism  of  the  Belgian  kingdom, 
and  ask  them  to  decide,  whether  or 
not  we  had  violated  the  articles  of 
the  Treaty  of  Berlin  and  sinned 
against  civilization.  Then  with  the 
mighty  aid  of  Germany,  on  which  we 
rely  as  we  do  also  on  the  justice  of 


our  cause,  righteousness  will  gain  a 
victory  over  a  policy,  the  brigandish 
aim  of  which  is  only  too  apparent." 

The  Brussels  "LY'toile  Beige."  a 
paper  that  is  entirely  influenced  by 
Parisian  baiters,  designated  the 
above  article  as  an  excellent  essay. 
Six  years  ago  then  Germany,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Belgian  people,  was  the 
guardian  of  the  rights  and  peace  of 
nations.  England  on  the  other  hand, 
the  agent  of  a  piratical  policy.  Has 
even  the  slightest  evidence  been  fur- 
nished of  German's  intentJon  of  a 
similar  policy  as  that  England  is 
charged  with  by  the  Belgians?  No, 
indeed.  The  only  increase,  during 
this  time,  in  German's  colonial  pos- 
sessions was  a  stretch  in  French 
Congo,  and  the  Belgians  well 
acqtiainted  with  the  character  of  the 
backwoods  In  their  own  African 
colony,  are  best  able  to  conceive  that 
only  a  desire  to  keep  peace  could 
have  induced  Germany  to  accept  this 
swamp  and  fever-ridden  district  in 
exchange  for  her  claims  on  Morocco. 

Now  when  the  imperial  govern- 
ment in  the  early  days  of  August 
solemnly  assured  the  Belgian  govern- 
ment that  it  had  no  intention  of 
seizing  Belgian  territory  and  added 
that  it  would  at  the  close  of  hostili- 
ties with  France  Immediately  with- 
draw all  Its  troops  from  Belgian  soil 
and  make  full  reparation  for  any 
damage  done,  Belgium  had  no  cause 
to  doubt  these  assurances.  The  fact 
is.  that  Belgium  which  in  the  mean- 
time   had    completely    succumbed    to 


British  and  French  influence  in  case 
of  war  was  to  figure  as  an  ally  of 
these  powers,  and  by  pretending  to 
uphold  their  neutrality,  aid  in  veiling 
the  extensive  strategic  plans  of  the 
French  military.  The  tales  of  the 
violation  of  Belgian  neutrality  by 
Germany,  of  the  disregard  and  In- 
fringement of  the  rights  of  nations 
shown  by  this  same  Germany,  of  the 
desperate  struggle  of  the  Belgian's 
against  suppression,  should  finally 
disappear  from  the  columns  of  Amer- 
ican newspapers.  Germany  has  hun- 
dreds of  witnesses  to  testify  that  on 
the  eve  of  August  1st,  the  railway 
station  at  Exquelinnes  had  already 
been  occupied  by  French  troops. 
Even  those,  whose  fanatical  hatred 
of  Germany  would  not  admit  that 
an  alliance  between  Brussels,  Paris 
and  London  existed,  must  confess 
that  this  was  undoubtedly  a  violation 
of  Belgium's  neutrality  by  the 
French.  Although  King  Albert  made 
no  attempt  to  call  on  Germany,  one 
of  the  Treaty  powers  for  protection 
in  this  war,  in  addition  to  Servia. 
the  country  of  assassins,  Belgium  has 
assumed  the  most  disgraceful  and 
treacherous  role.  In  llial.  being  too 
cowardly  to  confess  Its  alliance  with 
England  and  France,  demands  strict 
neutrality  of  Germany,  after  having 
basely  violated  it  herself.  It  would 
be  well  to  compare  the  statement  of 
the  Antwerp  paper  with  the  charges 
now  brought  against  Germany  by 
Belgium,  in  order  to  fully  judge  the 
faithlessness  of  Belgium  and  the  In- 
credibility  of   her   accusations. 


62 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM" 


THE  CAT  IS  LET  OUT  OF  THE 
BAG. 


Translation   of  Editorial. 
Illinois  Staats-Zeitung,   Chicago. 

An  article  appearing  in  the  "Taeg- 
liche  Rundschau."  a  Berlin  newspa- 
per, in  which  it  is  said  to  advocate 
the  annexation  of  that  part  of  Bel- 
gium occupied  at  the  present  time  by 
the  German  troops,  has  aroused  the 
ire  of  our  anglo-American  colleague, 
"The  Chicago  Tribune."  Our  col- 
league assures  us  that  such  an  act 
would  prove  Germany  unworthy  of 
the  sympathy  of  the  Americans  which 
they  are  catering  to,  because,  as  the 
"Tribune"  further  reasons,  Belgium 
should  not  be  punished  for  having 
fulillled  her  international  duty  in 
such  a  heroic  manner.  We  do  not 
know  to  what  extent  the  "Taegliche 
Rundschau"  is  justified  in  its  as- 
sumption that  Germany  will  annex 
Belgian  territory,  but  we  do  know, 
that  if  Belgium's  fulfillment  of  her 
international  treaty"  were  reviewed 
through  a  strong  lense  another  con- 
struction would  be  put  on  it.  We 
have  shown  in  a  previous  article  that 
Belgium  was  not  entitled  to  a  guar- 
antee of  neutrality  by  another  power 
until  it  had  given  absolute  proof  of 
its  intentions  to  remain  neutral.  Bel- 
gium has  done  just  the  reverse,  for 
she  has  not  made  the  slightest  pro- 
test against  the  massing  of  French 
troops  on  her  border  and  she  was 
stricken  with  blindness  when  French 
aviators  crossed  through  her  prov- 
inces to  spy  on  the  movements  of 
German   troops. 

Belgium  saw  no  breach  of  neutral- 
ity whatever  in  permitting  French 
troops  to  further  strengthen  her  for- 
tifications. Only  when  the  Germans 
ask  permission  to  march  through  her 
territory,  vouching  full  reparation  for 
any  damages  done,  did  she  remember 
that  strict  neutrality  had  been  guar- 
anteed her,  while  Belgium  with  the 
aid  of  guns  was  trying  to  maintain 
her  neutrality  so  far  as  Germany  was 
concerned,  she  made  no  attempt  to 
conceal  her  recent  negotiations  with 
France  and  England  and  offered  no 
protest  when  France  claimed  her  as 
an  ally. 

And  now  the  cat  has  been  let  out 
of  the  bag. 

Now  that  the  Belgians  after  suf- 
fering heavy  losses  have  been  van- 
quished by  the  Germans  and  the  rem- 
nants of  her  army  found  their  way 
to  the  French,  the  Germans  in  pos- 
session of  almost  her  whole  kingdom, 
now  again  Kaiser  Wilhelm  proifers 
his  hand  for  peace.  The  Kaiser 
notes  that  the  honor  of  the  Belgian 
army  has  been  preserved  by  their 
heroic  deeds  on  the  field  of  battle  and 
has  appealed  to  the  king  and  the 
government  of  Belgium  to  avoid  fur- 
ther unnecessary  bloodshed.  He  as- 
sured them  that  any  agreement  with 
Belgium  would  be  acceptable,  that 
would  not  interfere  with  the  war 
with  France,  and  that  he  has  no  in- 
tention whatever  of  annexing  Belgian 
territory,  and  that  as  soon  as  condi- 
tions will  permit  all  German  troops 
■will  be  withdrawn  from  Belgium. 

More  generosity  could  hardly  be 
expected  from  a  victor,  but  Belgium 


has  rejected  the  generous  proffer. 
She  is  determined  to  continue  her 
struggle  against  Germany  in  conjunc- 
tion with  France  and  England.  Thus, 
Belgium  is  not  defending  its  neutral- 
ity. It  is  an  ally  of  the  Triple  En- 
tente. Will  our  esteemed  colleague, 
the  "Tribune"  still  feign  indignation 
that  Germany  is  treating  a  foe  as  a 
foe?  And  will  our  worthy  anglo- 
American  contemporary  ape  England, 
that  she  make  Belgium  a  pretense 
for  renouncing  her  friendship  for  the 
Germans?  The  "Tribune"  should 
submit  the  neutrality  cat  that  has 
been  let  out  of  the  Belgian  bag  to  a 
closer  inspection  before  she  expresses 
an   opinion. 


AN  AUTHORITY  ON  NEUTRALITY. 


THE    "LOQUACIOUS"    AMBAS- 
SADOR. 


(Prom  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York, 
September  23,    1914.) 

The  anti-German  press  Is  pleased 
to  refer  to  Count  Bernstorff  as  Ger- 
many's "loquacious"  ambassador. 

The  Russian  and  the  English  am- 
bassador, we  are  told,  do  not  talk 
half  so  much.  But  we  feel  sure  that 
both  England  and  Russia  would  be 
mightily  pleased  if  their  ambassadors 
could  talk  half  so  well  and  to  such 
excellent  purpose.  Everything  that 
Count  Bernstorff  has  touched  has 
been  successful,  just  as  the  mythical 
touch  of  Midas  turned  all  things  upon 
which  he  laid  his  hands  into  gold. 

Count  Bernstorff  asked  for  the 
opening  of  the  wireless  station  at 
Tuckerton;  his  request  was  granted. 
Count  Bernstorff  protested  against 
the  habit  of  regarding  this  country 
as  a  naval  base  for  belligerent  pow- 
ers;  his  protest  was  heeded. 

Count  Bernstorff  protested  against 
the  arming  of  British  commercial  ves- 
sels leaving  from  American  ports; 
again  the  American  Government, 
with  admirable  fairness,  me*t  the  am- 
bassador's wishes. 

Bernstorff's  articles  in  the  Times 
and  in  the  Independent  have  already 
been  too  widely  printed  to  need  re- 
capitulation here.  All  in  all,  Ger- 
many is  to  be  congratulated  on  pos- 
sessing so  wide  awake  a  spokesman. 
Count  Bernstorff  owes  his  success  to 
his  moderation.  He  never  speaks 
without  just  cause;  he  never  asks 
unless  his  request  is  righteous. 
There  is  nothing  back-handed  in  his 
methods,  he  meets  America  fairly 
and  squarely,  in  the  same  spirit  in 
which  our  own  Government  is  accus- 
tomed to  act.  No  wonder  England 
and  Russia  would  like  to  cut  the 
freedom  of  speech  of  the  German 
ambassador  as  they  have  cut  the 
German  cable. 


Note:  Moreover,  it  requires  the 
greater  diplomat  to  talk  freely  and 
unhampered  and  yet  discreetly  and 
wisely!  Any  fool  can  play  doctor  by 
looking  wise  and  saying  nothing. — 
Editor. 


Probably  by  this  time  the  "movie" 
actors  are  fighting  European  battles 
in  New  Jersey. — From  "Waterville 
Sentinel." 


Milwaukee  Free  Press. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Milwaukee 
Free  Press:  Anent  the  hue  and  cry 
raised  by  the  Anglo-American  press 
against  the  German  violation  of  Bel- 
gium neutrality — the  protection  of 
which  was  England's  only  pretext 
for  entering  the  war — a  quotation 
from  a  well-known  English  political 
writer.  Homer  Lea,  in  his  "Day  of 
the  Saxon,"  published  in  1912,  is 
extremely   apropos. 

On  page  213,  he  says:  "The  neu- 
trality of  a  minor  state  once  it  is 
included  in  the  theater  of  war  waged 
between  greater  nations,  becomes  an 
anomaly.  A  kingdom  in  such  a  po- 
sition invariably  constitutes  an  area 
over  which  war  is  waged  until  one 
or  the  other  combatants  is  capable 
of  incorporating  it  within  his  base 
and  forcing  the  conflict  into  the  ter- 
ritories of  the  enemy.  The  neutral- 
ity of  these  three  countries  (Bel- 
gium, Holland  and  Denmark)  has 
increased,  not  diminished  the  prob- 
abilities of  war." 

On  page  215,  "The  northern  stra- 
tegic sphere  (for  England  In  time 
of  war)  includes  military  control 
over  Belgium,  the  Netherlands  and 
Denmark." 

On  page  226:  "The  occupation  of 
the  Persian  and  Afghanistan  fron- 
tier prior  to  the  war  with  Russia, 
or  the  European  frontiers  (Belgium, 
Holland  and  Denmark)  in  a  con- 
flict with  Germany,  arouses  in  the 
British  nation  an  appearance  of 
great  opposition  to  the  violation  of 
neutral  territory. 

"This  is  false  for  the  empire  has 
never  been  moved  by  the  sanctity  of 
neutrality. 

"It  is  only  a  means  of  evading 
responsibility  and  shifting  It  upon 
these  nations,  deluding  themselves 
with  the  belief  that  such  declarations 
are  inviolable;  whereas  no  nation 
has  violated  neutral  territory  and 
denied  their  obligations  more  fre- 
quently  than  England." 

On  page  227:  "Neutrality  of 
states  under  the  conditions  just  men- 
tioned has  never  heretofore  nor  will 
in  future  have  any  place  in  inter- 
national association  in  time  of  war. 
Such  neutrality  is  a  modern  delusion. 
It   is   an   excrescence. 

"In  1801  Maderia  was  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  British  without  any 
previous  communication  to  the  court 
of  Lisbon,  in  order  that  it  should 
not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  French, 
observing  in  this  action  the  true 
principle  governing  such  activities  In 
war.  ,^,       . 

"In  1807  the  British  fleet,  without 
any  notification,  with  no  intimation 
given  of  hostile  intentions,  no  com- 
plaint of  misconduct  on  the  part  of 
Denmark,  entered  the  Baltic,  seized 
the  Danish  fleet  and  blockaded  the 
island  of  Zealand  on  which  is  situ- 
ated the  city  of  Copenhagen. 

"The  purpose  of  this  attack  was  to 
anticipate  the  occupation  of  Den- 
mark and  the  use  of  her  fleets  by 
France.  So  correct  is  the  principle 
of  this  initiation  that  it  stands  out 
with  remarkable  brilliancy  in  the 
darkness  of  innumerable  military  er- 
rors made  by  the  Saxon  race. 


BELGIAN  NEUTRALITY  A  MYTH  AND  A  SNARE 


"It  England  were  therefore  Justi- 
fied in  seizing  Denmark  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century 
for  no  other  heason  than  to  prevent 
the  employment  of  the  Danish  fleet 
by  the  French,  how  much  more  is 
she  justified  during  peace  in  the 
twentieth  century,  in  the  occupation 
of  its  southern   frontiers. 

"That  this  principle  was  applicable 
in  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  but  is  not  so  under  the  civ- 
ilization of  the  twentieth,  is  an  er- 
roneous conception  of  the  principles 
that  direct  the  conflict  of  nations. 
While  England  and  other  nations 
violated  both  peace  and  neutrality 
in  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  we  find  Russia  and  Japan 
doing  the  same  thing  in  China  and 
Korea  In  the  beginning  of  the  twen- 
tieth." 

"Wars  involving  neutral  states  are 
governed  by  the  following  principles: 

"1.  Whenever  a  minor  state  rests 
between  the  bases  of  two  combat- 
ants and  constitutes  a  portion  of  the 
subsequent  theater  of  war,  it  is  es- 
sential to  seize  that  state  prior  to 
or  at  the  beginning  of  a  war,  either 
for  one's  own  advantage  or  to  pre- 
vent it  from  falling  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy. 

"2.  When  the  neutrality  of  a 
minor  state  constitutes  an  element 
of  weakness  to  a  great  power,  those 
frontiers  from  which  arise  the  weak- 
ness should  always  be  subject  to  the 
control   of  the  military   power. 

"3.  When  the  continental  neu- 
trality or  independence  of  a  minor 
state  threatens  the  existence  of  a 
great  power,  as  Korea  threatened  Ja- 
pan, it  should  be  deprived  of  its  In- 
dependence and  absorbed  by  the 
greater  power." 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  It  is  a  poor  rule 
that  doesn't  work  both  ways.  It 
strikes  me  this  is  a  case  of  sauce 
for  the  goosfr — and  another  example 
of  England's  hypocrisy. 

MARY  BLAKE  BROECKER. 

Milwaukee,   Sept.    27. 


AN  EXCUSE  FOR  A  MINISTER'S 
MISTAKES. 


C.  L.  B.  How  would  you  justify 
von  Bethmann-Holweg's  reference  to 
"a  scrap  of  paper"? 

I  would  justify  it  on  the  ground 
that  the  Chancellor  of  the  German 
Empire  knew  exactly  what  he  was 
talking  about  and  was  man  enough 
to  speak  tho  truth.  That  the  treaty 
which  guaranteed  Belgian  neutrality 
had  been  rendered  of  no  more  value 
than  the  paper  upon  which  it  was 
written,  by  England,  France  and  Bel- 
glum,  was  known  to  him  when  he 
made  the  remark  and  has  since  be- 
come known  to  the  world  at  large. 
The  blunt  frankness  of  the  Chan- 
cellor has  been  worked  to  death  by 
England  and  will  probably  live  in 
her  histories  along  with  the  distorted 
"blood  and  iron"  of  Bismarck.  It 
will  live,  however,  as  a  monument  to 
the  frank  and  open  diplomacy  of  Ger- 
many, in  contradistinction  to  the  se- 
cret intrigues  of  England,  Russia  and 
Prance. — From  the  "Questions  and 
Answers"  column  of  the  "New 
Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,"  October  27, 
1914.  —  The  Publisher  of  "War 
Echoes." 


Illinois  Staats-Zeltung,   Chicago. 
Horace  L.   Brand. 

The  "Literary  Digest"  Is  the  name 
of  a  weekly  magazine  published  in 
New  York  by  the  Funk  &  Wagnalls 
Company. 

We  reprint  below  from  its  issue 
of  September  26,  1914: 

"Thus  a  bitter  objection  to  the 
intervention  of  England  in  the  Eu- 
ropean struggle  is  expressed  by  Mr. 
Ramsay  MacDonald,  a  labor  member 
of  Parliament,  who  published  in  the 
"Labor  Leader"  (Manhattan,  Eng- 
land) the  following  severe  criticism 
of  Sir  Edward  Grey: 

"The  justifications  offered  are 
nothing  but  the  excuses  which  min- 
isters can  always  produce  for  mis- 
takes. It  has  been  known  for  years, 
that,  in  the  event  of  a  war  between 
Russia  and  France  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Germany  on  the  other,  the  only 
possible  military  tactics  for  Germany 
to  pursue  were  to  attack  Prance  hot- 
foot through  Belgium  and  then  re- 
turn to  meet  the  Russians.  The  plans 
were  in  our  war  office.  They  were 
discussed  quite  openly  during  tUe 
Agadir  trouble,  and  were  the  subject 
of  some  magazine  articles,  particu- 
larly one  Mr.  Belloc.  Mr.  Gladstone 
made  it  clear  in  1870  that  in  a  gen- 
eral conflict  formal  neutrality  might 
be  violated.  He  said  in  the  House 
of  Commons  in  August,  1870: 

"I  am  not  able  to  subscribe  to  the 
doctrine  of  those  who  have  held  in 
this  house  what  plainly  amounts  to 
an  assertion,  that  the  simple  fact  of 
the  existence  of. guarantee  is  binding 
on  every  party  to  it,  irrespective  al- 
together of  the  particular  position  in 
which  it  may  find  itself  at  the  time 
when  the  occasion  for  acting  on  the 
guarantee  arises." 

"Germany's  guarantee  to  Belgium 
would  have  been  accepted  by  Mr. 
Gladstone.  If  France  had  decided  to 
attack  Germany  through  Belgium, 
Sir  Edward  Grey  would  not  have 
objected,  but  would  have  justified 
himself  by  Mr.  Gladstone's  opinion." 

Thus  far  the  words  of  Mr.  Ram- 
say MacDonald.  labor  member  of  the 
British   Parliament. 

Mr.  Keir  Hardie — says  the  Lit- 
erary Digest — also  a  labor  member 
of  Parliament,  is  a  "brilliant  sup- 
porter   of   Mr.    Ramsay    MacDonald." 

It  is  common  knowledge  that  the 
English  people  are  NOT  a  unit  in 
favor  of  England's  participation  in 
the  war.  But  the  "ofl5cial  class"  in 
England  is  also  divided,  for  two 
members  of  the  British  Council  (viz: 
Lord  Morley  and  Hon.  John  Burnsl 
resigned  their  portfolios  rather  than 
follow  Sir  Edward  Grey  in  his  war 
upon   Germany. 

And  now  we  learn  that  a  labor 
member  of  Parliament  openly  ac- 
cuses his  government  of  making  the 
so-called  "violation  of  Belgian  neu- 
trality" an  excuse  "for  mistakes 
made  by  ministers." 

And  England's  own  great  states- 
man, Gladstone,  made  it  clear  that 
"in  a  general  conflict  formal  neutral- 
ity might  be  violated." 

Therefore  Germany — according  to 
the  English  view  in  1870 — was  justi- 


fied "in  a  general  conflict"  of  violat- 
ing the  neutrality  of  Belgium.  Why 
is  the  English  view  In  1914  differ- 
ent? 

Because  in  1870  England  feared 
France  more  than  Prussia  and  want- 
ed to  see  France  crushed.  But  in 
1914  England  feared  Germany  most 
and  WANTED  TO  ENGAGE  GER- 
MANY IN  WAR,  so  as  to  help  Prance 
and  Russia  crush  Germany's  military 
power,  while  England  destroyed  its 
navy  and  commerce. 

But  the  ILLINOIS  STAATS  ZEI- 
TUNG  has  repeatedly  printed  proof 
that  Belgium  had  committed  breeches 
of  her  neutrality  long  before  German 
soldiers  set  foot  upon  Belgian  soil 
and  France  violated  Belgian  neutral- 
ity because  French  troops  crossed 
the  Belgian  frontier  even  before 
Germany  declared  war  on  France  or 
Prance  on  Germany. 

Thus  England  can  find  neither 
reasonable  justification  nor  a  plaus- 
ible excuse  for  warring  upon  Ger- 
many, because  "Belgian  neutrality 
was  violated  by  Germany"  and  Mr. 
Ramsay  MacDonald  is  another  Eng- 
lishman who  is  brave  enough  to  tear 
the  mask  from  official  England's 
hypocritical   face. 


IN    DEFENSE    OF    CIVILIZAXION? 


Editorial    in    The    Chicago    Tribune, 
August  36,  1914. 

The  assertion  ascribed  to  the  Taeg- 
llsche  Rundschau  that  Germany  would 
retain  all  of  Belgium  which  she  occu- 
pies in  this  war  is  not  consistent  with 
the  claims  for  American  sympathy 
made  by  Germans  and  by  German- 
Americans.  The  kaiser  would  have  not 
a  moral  leg  to  stand  on  If  he  absorbed 
Belgium.  His  case  against  her  is  of  the 
weakest.  It  Is  merely  a  case  of  mil- 
itary necessity,  a  case  that  may  be  con- 
ceded, for  the  time  being  under  the  law 
of  self-preservntinn. 

But  If  Germany  asserts  that  she 
has  a  right  to  punish  Belgium  with 
the  loss  of  her  independence  because 
Belgium  refused  to  assent  to  the  nul- 
lification of  her  pledged  neutrality 
and  thus  to  become  a  passive  ally 
of  Germany  against  a  nation  with 
which  she  was  at  peace,  then  Ger- 
many will  forfeit  the  approval  of  the 
neutral  world. 

Let  there  be  no  doubt  about  this. 
If  there  ia  one  nation  in  the  Euro- 
pean conflict  which  has  the  unmeas- 
ured sympathy  and  admiration  of  the 
.\iiiorii"iii  poii|ile  if  is  r.olgiuiii.  .''be 
has  done  her  full  duty  under  inter- 
national law,  and  she  has  asserted 
her  independence  with  splendid  gal- 
lantry and  heroic  sacrifice.  If  there 
is  any  excuse  for  Germany's  action 
against  her  it  is  only  that  of  the  di- 
rect necessity,  and  such  excuse  ceases 
with  a  German  triumph.  If,  then, 
Germany  insists  upon  taking  Bel- 
gium, she  will  be  punishing  Belgium 
for  doing  her  duty. 

With  such  action  Germany's  policy 
would  be  stripped  naked  of  moral 
claims  and  stand  forth  in  the  ugly 
guise  of  remorseless  conquest.  There 
would  bo  nothing  left  of  her  claim, 
then,  that  she  is  defending  civiliza- 
tion from  barbarism,  even  if  there 
were  much   to   it   now. 


64 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM' 


THE  EXPOSURE  OF  THE  BELGIAN 
NEUTRALITY  FRAUD. 

\n  astounding  discovery  iias  been 
twide  bv  the  German  authorities  in  the 
Belgian  capitol.  Amongst  the  archives 
of  the  military  staff  in  Brussels,  our 
authorities  found  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  a  neatly  written  agreement 
between  Belgium  and  England  in 
which  Belgium  (Belgium,  who  was,  oh ! 
so  neutral)  is  assigned  the  part  which 
she  was  to  play  in  the  war  against 
Germany.  The  "Xordd.  AUg.  Zeit." 
gives  us"  the  following  information  with 
regard  to  the  discovered  documents: 

The   English   assertion   that    the   in- 
fringement upon  Belgian  neutrality  by 
Germany     caused    England's    interfer- 
ence in  the  present  war,  is  proven  to 
be   false   bv    Sir    Edward   Grey's    own 
statements."   By  means  of  the  discovery 
imide  by  the  German  authorities  in  the 
archives  of  the  military  staff  in  Brus- 
sels, a   new  light  has  been  cast  upon 
the  pathos  of  moral  indignation,  with 
which  Germany's  invasion  of  Belgium 
was  used  by  England,  for  the  purpose 
of  stirring  up   wrath  against  us.     By 
the  contents  of  a  folio  which  bears  the 
superscription,  "English  intervention  in 
Belgium,"    it   is    plain   to   see   that   as 
long  ago  as  1906  the  sending  to  Belgium 
of    an    English    expedition    corps    was 
planned    in    case    of    a    war    between 
France  and  Germany.     According  to  a 
document  written  to  the  Belgian  Min- 
ister of  War,  on  April  10th,  1<J06,  it  is 
to  be  seen  that  the  Chief  of  the  Belgian 
Military  Staff,  in  conjunction  with,  and 
on  the  "repeated  advices  of.  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Barnardiston.  who  was  at  this 
time  English  Military  Attache  in  Brus- 
sels,  had   worked  out   a    definite  plan 
for  the  combined  operation  of  an  Eng- 
lish  army-corps  of   100,0(X)   men,   with 
a  Belgian  army-corps  against  Germany. 
The  plan  received  the  approval  of  the 
Chief  of  the  Military  Staff.  Major  Gen- 
eral   Geierson.     The   Belgian   Military 
StafE  was  furnished  with  all  Informa- 
tion regarding  the  strength  and  mem- 
bership of  the  English  troops,  as  well 
as  to  the  formation  of  the  expedition 
corps,  points  of  embarkation  and  exact 
calculati<ins  for  the  time  necessary  for 
transport,  etc.,  etc. 

With  this  information  as  a  founda- 
tion, the  Belgian  Military  Staff  had 
prepared,  in  a  detailed  manner,  plans 
for  the  transport  of  English  troops,  and 
for  their  shelter  and  maintenance.  Co- 
operation was  carefully  planned  far 
down  to  the  very  minutest  details.  The 
English  army  was  to  be  supplied  with 
a  number  of  Belgian  police,  and  the 
necessary  interpreters  and  maps.  Prep- 
arations were  even  made  for  the  care 
of  the  English  wounded.  Dunkirk, 
Calais  and  Boulogne  were  designated 
as  points  of  embarkation  for  the  troops. 
From  there  they  were  to  be  transported 
by  the  French  railways.  The  intended 
disembarkation  in  French  harbors,  and 
the  transport  through  French  territory, 
showed  that  these  English-Belgian 
agreements  had  been  preceded  by  ar- 
rangements with  the  French  military 
staff.  The  three  powers  had  made 
definite  plans  for  the  co-operation  of 
the  "combined  armies,"  as  the  docu- 
ment reads.  This  is  also  made  evident 
By  the  fact  that  to  the  secret  papers 
a  map  of  the  French  plan  of  march  is 
joined.      The    above    mentioned    docu- 


ment  contains   some   material   of   par- 
ticular interest. 

In  one  place  we  read  that  Lieutenant 
Colonel   Bernardistou   has   stated   that 
the   support  of   Holland   could   not  be 
relied    upon.      He    also    communicated 
confidentially  that  the  English  govern- 
ment intended  to  transfer  to  Antwerp, 
the  basis   for  reinforcements,   as   soon 
as   the  North   Sea   was  cleared  of   all 
German   warships.     The   remainder  of 
the    article    consisted    of    suggestions 
made  by  the  English  Military  Attache, 
for  the  "establishment  of  a  Belgian  spy- 
ing agency  in  the  Rheiu  Provinces.   An 
imiwrtant"  complement  to  this  material 
was   furnished  by   the   discovery   of   a 
document  amongst   the  private   papers 
of  Baron  Greindl,  for  many  years  the 
Belgian  Minister  to  Berlin.     In  a  com- 
munication to  the  Belgian  Minister  of 
the  Exterior,  the  hidden  designs  which 
formed    the    foundation    for    England's 
offers    are   exposed   with    great   acute- 
ness.    The  Ambassador  points  out  here 
the    earnestness    of    the    situation    in 
which  Belgium  has  placed  herself,  by 
assuming  a    partial   attitude   in    favor 
of  the  powers  of  the  Entente.     In  the 
detailed  report  dated  Dec.  23,  1911,  the 
full  publication  of  which  is  withheld, 
Baron    Greindl   goes    to    say    that    the 
plans  of  the  Belgian  Military  Staff  for 
a    defense  of   Belgium's   neutrality,   in 
case   of   a    German-French    war,    touch 
only   uix)n   the  question   of   the   meas- 
ures  to   be   followed,   in   case   of   Ger- 
many's   infringement    upon    Belgium's 
neutrality.    The  hypothesis  of  a  French 
attack  upon  Germany  through  Belgium 
is  equally  probable.     The  Ambassador 
continues     as     follows:       "From     the 
French  side,  the  danger  threatens  not 
only  from  the  south  from  Luxembourg ; 
it   "threatens    upon    all    of   our   mutual 
boundary   lines.     This   statement    does 
not  rest  upon  surmises ;  we  have  posi- 
tive grounds  for  it."    The  thought  of  an 
encircling  from   the  North  doubtlessly 
originated  with  the  combination  of  the 
Entente  Cordiale.     Had  this  not  been 
the  case,  the  plan  to  fortify  Flushing 
would  not  have  caused  such  an  alarm 
in   Paris  and  London.     They  made  no 
secret   whatever   of   their   reasons    for 
the     Schelde    to     remain    undefended. 
They   expected   to  be  able  to   transfer 
without  hindrance  an  English  garrison 
to  Antwerp,  as  well  as  to  establish  a 
base  of  operations  for  the  oft'ensive,  in 
the  direction  of  the  lower  Rhein  and 
Westphalia,  and  in  this  way  to  be  able 
to   take  us   Germans   by   storm,   which 
would    not    have   been    difficult.      For, 
after  having  surrendered  our  national 
place   of    retreat,    and   having   allowed 
their  entrance,  we  would,  by  our  own 
fault,  have  deprived  ourselves  of  every 
possibility    of    offering    resistance    to 
their  exactions. 

At  the  time  of  the  founding  of  the 
Entente  Cordiale,  the  utterances  of  Col. 
Barnardiston,  which  were  as  naive  as 
they  were  perfidious,  showed  us  Ger- 
mans plainly  what  we  had  to  expect. 
As  it  became  evident  that  we  were 
not  intimidated  by  the  supposedly 
threatening  danger  of  the  closing 
of  the  Schelde,  the  plan  was,  to 
be  sure,  not  given  up,  but  changed, 
in  so  far  as  that  the  English  auxil- 
iary army  was  landed,  not  on  the 
Belgian  coast,  but  in  the  nearest  French 
harbors.  Evidence  of  this  is  also  found 
in  the  utterance  of  Capt.  Faber,  which 


were  denied  to  the  same  extent,  as  were 
the  reports  in  the  papers,  which  con- 
firmed and  completed  the  statements. 
The  English  troops  which  were  to  be 
landed  at  Calais  and  Dunkirk  were 
not  to  have  marched  along  the  borders 
to  Longwy,  in  order  to  reach  Germany ; 
they  were  to  force  their  way  directly 
into  the  country  from  the  northwest. 
This  would  give  them  the  advantage  of 
being  able  to  meet  the  Belgian  army  in 
a  region  where  we  Germans  would  have 
no  fortifications  upon  which  to  reply,  in 
case  we  risked  an  encounter.  It  would 
make  it  possible  for  them  to  occupy 
provinces  rich  in  all  resources,  and  in 
any  case  to  prevent  our  mobilization  or 
to  allow  it,  only  after  we  had  pledged 
ourselves  to  take  up  arms  with  Eng- 
land and  her  allies. 

It  is  earnestly  advised  to  draw  up  a 
plan  of  action  for  the  Belgian  army  in 
case  of  this  event.  This  is  necessary 
In  the  interest  of  our  military  defense, 
as  well  as  for  the  carrying  on  of  our 
foreign  policy,  in  case  of  a  war  be- 
tween Germany  and  France. 

These  utterances,  from  an  impartial 
point  of  view,  confirm  in  a  most  con- 
vincing manner  the  fact  that  England, 
the  same  England  which  is  now  play- 
ing  the  part   of   protector   of   Belgian 
neutrality,  had  advised  Belgium  to  as- 
sume a  partial  attitude  in  favor  of  the 
powers  of  the  Entente,  and  that  it  had 
even  planned  an  infringement  of  Hol- 
land's  neutrality.     For  the   rest,   it  is 
clear  that  the  Belgian  government,  by 
succumbing  to  the  enticements  of  Eng- 
land,    committed     a     serious     offense 
against  its  duties  as  a  neutral  power. 
The  fulfillment  of  these  duties  would 
have  required  that  the  Belgian  govern- 
ment  forsee  in  her  plans  for   the  de- 
fense,   the    possibility    of    an    infringe- 
ment of  her  neutrality  by  France,  and 
that  in  this  case,  she  would  have  made 
certain   agreements  with   Germany,   as 
well  as  with  France  and  England.    The 
discovered  papers  form  a  documentary 
proof  of  the  fact  of  the  Belgian  con- 
nivance  with    the   powers   of    the   En- 
tente,  which   fact   was   known   by   the 
German  authorities  before  the  outbreak 
of  war.     They  serve  as  a  justification 
for  German  military  action,   and  they 
confirm  the  information  which  the  Ger- 
man military  authorities  have  received 
regarding    France's    intentions.      May 
these  facts  serve  to  enlighten  the  Bel- 
gian   people,    as    to    whom    thanks    is 
due  for  the  catastrophe  which  has  over- 
taken    their     unfortunate     country ! — 
"Hamburger  Fremdenblatt." 


ENGLAND  THE  ARCH  CONSPIR- 
ATOR. 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 

Important  revelations  are  forcing 
their  way  into  publicity  in  spite  of 
widespread  prejudice,  and  gradually 
the  truth  concerning  those  who  in- 
spired the  European  war  is  coming 
to  be  understood. 

The  finger  of  guilt  is  pointing  at 
England  as  the  arch  conspirator. 

For  weeks  the  American  press  or- 
gans of  London  and  Paris  had  it  their 
own  way.  This  was  a  war  of  con- 
quest by  the  Kaiser,  a  dynastic  war, 
the  war  of  organized  militarism,  and 
an  unpardonable  breach  of  neutrality 


I 


BELGIAN  NEUTRALITY  A  MYTH  AND  A  SNARE 


65 


against  Belgium,  designed  to  over- 
whelm France  and  promote  the  ter- 
ritorial aggrandizement  of  Germany. 
To  England  was  assigned  the  role  of 
a  benevolent  power  forced  to  take 
up  arms  in  behalf  of  inoffensive  Bel- 
gium, just  as  Russia  was  forced  to 
take  up  arms  in  the  defense  of  little 
Servia,  threatened  with  national  ex- 
tinction  by   Austria-Hungary. 

It  was  useless  to  quote  from  the 
London  dispatches  to  the  New  York 
"Evening  Post"  that  England  had 
assembled  her  fleet  in  the  North  Sea, 
weeks  before  the  war,  in  order  to  be 
ready  to  carry  out  her  part  in  the 
preconcerted  attack  on  Germany.  It 
was  useless  to  point  out  that  the 
Paris  "Gil  Bias,"  a  year  before  the 
war,  announced  that  Maubeuge  had 
been  made  a  military  emporium  for 
British  ammunition  against  the  day 
when  Germany  was  to  be  assaulted 
through  Belgium,  or  that  the  Belgian 
forts  were  garrisoned  with  French 
troops,  the  French  officers  in  Ger- 
man uniforms  had  been  arrested 
at  the  German-Belgian  frontier 
before  a  single  German  soldier  had 
crossed  the  French  border,  and 
many  other  incidents  proving  that  but 
for  the  prompt  action  of  the  German 
Government  these  various  plans  of 
invasion  would  have  resulted  in  im- 
mediate disaster  for  the  German  na- 
tion. 

We  now  have  even  more  conclu- 
sive evidence  that  Belgium  was  not 
an  innocent  victim  of  a  land-hungry 
War  Lord,  but  a  designing  party  to  a 
preconcerted  conspiracy  to  crush  Ger- 
many. 

This  evidence  consists  of  important 
documents  discovered  by  the  German 
military  authorities  in  the  archives 
of  the  Belgian  General  Staff  at  Brus- 
sels, documents  found  in  a  portfolio 
inscribed:  "Intervention  Anglais-Bel- 
gique."  One  of  these  documents  is 
a  report  to  the  Belgian  Minister  of 
War,  dated  April  10,  1906,  which 
gives  the  result  of  detailed  negotia- 
tions between  the  Chief  of  the  Bel- 
gian General  Staff  and  the  British 
Military  Attache  at  Brussels,  Lieut. - 
Col.  Bernardiston. 

This  plan  is  of  English  origin  and 
was  sanctioned  by  Lieut. -Gen.  Sir 
James  M.  Grierson,  Chief  of  the  Brit- 
ish General  Staff.  It  sets  forth  the 
strength  and  formation,  and  desig- 
nates landing  places  for  an  expedi- 
tionary force  of  IfiO.OOO  men. 

Continuing,  it  (jive.s  the  dotnils  of 
a  plan  for  llic  Belsiiin  General  Staflf 
to  transport,  feed  and  find  quarters 
for  thosf  men  In  Itelttiuni,  and  pro- 
vides for  Ilel){lan  interpreters.  The 
Inndini;  idnces  designated  are  Dun- 
kirk,  Calais   and    liouloKne. 

Lieut. -Col.  Bernardiston  is  quoted 
as  having  remarked  that  for  the  pres- 
ent Holland  could  not  he  relied  upon. 
Another  cimfldentiHl  rommunira- 
tion  declares  that  the  Kritish  Govern- 
ment, after  the  destruction  of  the 
German  nav.v,  would  send  supplier 
and  provision.s  by  way  of  .Antwerp. 

There  is  also  the  suKeestion  from 
the  Kntflish  Military  .Attache  that  a 
RelRian  system  of  espionage  should 
he  oreanized  In  the  Prussian  llliine- 
land. 

A  second  document  Is  a  map  show- 
ing   the    strategical    positions   of    the 


French  army  and  demonstrating  the 
existence  of  a  Franco-Belgian  agree- 
ment, and  a  third  is  a  report  from 
Baron  Greindl,  the  Belgian  Minister 
at  Berlin,  to  the  Belgian  Foreign  Of- 
fice, dated  December  23,  1911.  Be 
it  said  to  the  credit  of  the  Belgian 
Minister,  Baron  Greindl,  at  Berlin, 
that  he  seriously  objected  to  the  fa- 
mous "Conversations."  (See  "Case 
of  Belgium.") — Editor. 


The  discovery  of  these  incriminat- 
ing documents  follows  within  six 
days  of  the  denial  made  by  the  Lon- 
don official  press  bureau — not  the 
foreign  office,  be  it  remembered — 
that  England  had  stored  ammunition 
at  Maubeuge  prior  to  the  outbreak 
of  the  war.  To  this  denial  was  added 
the  statement  that  "the  determina- 
tion to  dispatch  an  expeditionary 
force  to  the  Continent  was  not 
reached  until  Germany  had  violated 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium,  and  Bel- 
gium had  appealed  for  aid." 

There  is  further  evidence  of  Ger- 
many's honest  conduct  in  the  recent 
Russian  Orange  Book,  an  analysis  of 
which  appeared  in  the  London  "Econ- 
omist" of  September  12,  and  is  all 
the  more  curious  coming  as  it  does 
from  an  organ  of  Russia's  ally.  We 
quote  from  it  as  follows: 

"The  reason  for  the  Russian  mobil- 
ization is  somewhat  surprising.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Orange  Book,  the  gen- 
eral mobilization  orders  were  signed 
in  Austria  on  July  28,  whereas,  ac- 
cording to  Baron  de  Bunsen,  our  Am- 
ha.ssador  in  Vienna  (AA'hite  Paper  No. 
127),  general  mobilization  in  Austria 
was  ordered  on  August  1.  Since  the 
necessity  for  the  Russian  mobiliza- 
tion was  based  on  the  Austrian  mo- 
bilization, and  since  the  general  Rus- 
sian mobilization  was  the  direct  cause 
of  the  German  mobilization  .  .  .,  which 
made  war  inevitable,  it  would  seen 
to  be  important  that  this  point  should 
be  cleared  up.  A  further  telegram, 
in  the  Orange  Book,  from  Berlin, 
describing  the  issue  of  German  mo- 
bilization orders  some  time  before  it 
actually  took  place,  suggests  that  the 
Russian  envoys  were  occasionally 
mistaken  in  their  information." 

That  Germany  wanted  this  war  is 
BO  generally  accepted  that  it  is  in- 
teresting to  read  what  the  Belgian 
Charge  at  St.  Petersburg,  M.  De  L'Es- 
calle,  wrote  to  his  government  at 
Brussels  July  30th  in  an  exhaustive 
report  on  conditions  In  the  Russian 
Capital,  in  part  as  follows: 

"The  days  of  yesterday  and  today 
have  been  spent  in  the  waiting  for 
events  that  must  follow  the  declara- 
tion of  war  by  Austria-Hungary  upon 
Servia.  What  is  incontestable  is. 
that  Germany  has  striven  here,  a>j 
well  as  at  Vienna,  to  find  some  means 
of  av(>i<1ing  a  general  conflict. 

"This  morning  an  official  communl- 
dui''  to  the  newspapers  announces  that 
the  reserves  have  been  called  under 
arms  In  a  certain  number  of  govern- 
ments. Knowing  the  discreet  nature 
of  till'  official  communiquC'S,  one  can, 
without  fear,  assert  that  mobiliza- 
tion is  going  on  everywhere. 

"England  began  by  allowing  It  to 
be  understood  that  she  did  not  want 


to  be  drawn  into  a  conflict.  Sir 
George  Buchanan  (British  Ambassa- 
dor) said  that  openly,  today  one  is 
firmly  convinced  at  St.  Petersburg 
— one  has  even  the  assurance  of  it — 
that  England  will  support  France. 
This  support  is  of  enormous  weight, 
and  has  contributed  not  a  little  to 
give  the  upper  hand  to  the  war 
party." 

So  here  we  have  it  that  England 
would  support  France  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, whether  Belgian  neu- 
trality were  violated  or  not,  and  that 
this  attitude  of  England  was  "of 
enormous  weight  and  has  contributed 
not  a  little  to  give  the  upper  hand  to 
the  (Russian)  war  party." 

Germany,  then,  was  expected  to 
butt  its*  brains  against  the  Frenoh 
line  of  forts  while  England  secretly 
landed  her  160,000  men  at  Dunkirk 
or  Calais  and  with  her  French  ally 
attacked  the  German  forces  in  the 
flank  through  Belgium.  This,  too,  in 
shameful  disregard  of  Mr.  Gladstone's 
avowed  conviction  that  treaties  of 
neutrality  were  not  considered  bind- 
ing by  England  in  an  emergency  such 
as  confronted  Germany  in  this  in- 
stance. We  may  well  repeat  here  Mr. 
Gladstone's  utterances  in  1870  when 
the  Belgian  neutrality  treaty  was  un- 
der discussion: 

"There  is,  I  admit,  the  obligation 
of  the  treaty.  It  is  not  necessary,  nor 
would  time  permit  me,  to  enter  into 
the  complicated  question  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  obligation  under  that 
treaty.  But  I  am  not  able  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  doctrine  of  those  who 
li.ive  held  in  this  house,  what  plainly 
amounts  to  the  assertion,  that  the 
simple  fact  of  the  existence  of  a  guar- 
antee is  binding  to  every  party  to  it. 
irrespective  altogether  of  the  particu- 
lar position  in  which  it  may  find  it- 
self at  the  time,  when  the  occasion 
for  acting  on  the  question  arises.  The 
great  authorities  on  foreign  policy,  to 
whom  I  have  been  accustomed  to  lis- 
ten, such  as  Lord  Aberdeen  and  Lord 
Palmerston,  never,  to  my  knowledge, 
took  that  rigid,  and.  if  I  may  venture 
to  say  so,  that  impracticable  view  of 
the  guarantee." 

How  baseless  the  assertion,  so 
often  repeated,  that  Germany's  aim 
In  the  war  was  to  subdue  Belgium 
despite  her  statement  to  the  contrary 
on  .August  2  that  it  felt  obliged  to 
prevent  an  attack  from  Prance 
through  Belgium,  and  despite  her  of- 
fer to  respect  the  integrity  of  the 
kingdom  and  its  possession  in  return 
for  the  unobstructed  passage  of  Ger- 
man troops,  is  shown  In  a  new  light 
by  evidence  developed  since  the  fall 
of  LIcge.  After  that  catastrophe, 
which  should  have  satisfied  the  Bel- 
gian government  of  the  futility  of 
further  resistance  as  well  as  satisfied 
the  demands  of  national  honor  in 
fighting  for  a  principle,  Germany  ad- 
dressed to  the  King's  government  a 
further  note,  as  follows  (Belgian 
Gray  Book) : 

"The  fortress  of  Li^ge  has  been 
taken  by  assault  after  a  courageous 
defense.  The  German  Government 
regrets  that  such  bloody  encounters 
should  have  occurred.  It  is  only  by 
reason  of  the  military  measures  of 
France  that  it  has  been  forced  to 
take  the  grave   determination  of  en- 


66 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM" 


tering  Belgium  and  of  occupying 
Li^ge  as  a  base  for  her  further  mili- 
tary operations.  Now,  that  the  Bel- 
gian Army  has  in  heroic  resistance 
against  great  superiority  maintained 
the  honor  of  its  arms  in  the  most 
brilliant  fashion,  the  German  Gov- 
ernment prays  his  Majesty  the  King 
and  the  Belgian  Government  to  avert 
from  Belgium  the  further  horrors  of 
war.  The  German  Government  is 
ready  for  any  agreement  with  Bel- 
gium. Once  more  Germany  offers 
her  solemn  assurance,  that  she  has 
not  been  actuated  by  any  intention  to 
appropriate  Belgian  territory  and 
that  such  intention  is  far  from  her." 
From  these  official  statements  and 
documentary  evidence  it  requires  a 
peculiarly  warped  mental  attitude  to 
gather  the  conclusion  that  Belgium 
was  not  hand-in-glove  with  England 
and  France  in  a  colossal  conspiracy 
to  destroy  the  German  Empire.  The 
proof  of  a  military  plan  of  co-opera- 
tion is  in  the  hands  of  the  German 
Government;  Russia  in  her  Orange 
Book  deliberately  sets  back  the  date 
of  Austrian  mobilization  three  days  in 
order  to  make  it  appear  that  she  did 
not  mobilize  until  after  Austria;  the 
Belgian  Charge  bears  out  the  German 
White  Book  that  Germany  strove  "to 
find  some  means  of  avoiding  a  gen- 
eral conflict"  both  in  St.  Petersburg 
and  Vienna;  Mr.  Gladstone,  it  is 
shown,  would  not  have  respected  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium  under  circum- 
stances such  as  environed  Germany; 
England  would  have  gone  to  war 
upon  any  other  pretext,  since  she  had 
her  fleet  assembled  in  the  North  Sea 
for  the  intended  destruction  of  the 
German  navy  and  the  landing  of 
marines  at  Antwerp,  and  Winston 
Churchill  was  quoted  in  London  dis- 
patches to  New  York  papers  as  "de- 
lighted at  a  bare  prospect  of  demon- 
strating England's  naval  might  at 
Germany's  expense."  (New  York 
"World"  London  cable.)  And  fin- 
ally, so  desirous  of  sparing  Belgium 
was  Germany  that  she  sent  another 
note  to  the  Belgian  Government  after 
the  fall  of  Liege  and  In  the  moment 
of  an  unexampled  victory  offering  to 
make  peace  and  disavowing  all  de- 
sire to  appropriate  Belgian  territory. 
That,  in  brief,  is  the  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  this  oflicial  manifest  of  Ger- 
many's enemies. 


BELGIIT^I      NEUTRALITY 
SAYS  EMBASSY 


Von  Bernstorff  Say.s  Pocuments 
Prove  Compact  \Vith  England 


(Reprinted  from  the  "Milwaukee 
Free  Press,"   October  4,   1914.) 

Washington,  Oct.  13. — Count  von 
Bernstorff.  German  Ambassador,  to- 
day issued  a  statement  in  connec- 
tion with  a  telegram  from  Berlin  an- 
nouncing the  finding  in  the  archives 
of  the  Belgian  general  staff  at  Brus- 
sels by  the  German  military  author- 
ities of  documents  which,  it  was 
claimed  by  Berlin,  showed  that  de- 
tails of  the  plan  for  landing  an  ex- 
peditionary English  force  in  Belgium 
had  been  provided  for  long  before 
the  war.     The  statement  follows: 


"Neutrality  Did  Not  Exist." 

"The  German  ambassador  drew 
special  atteiftion  today  to  the  tele- 
gram which  came  from  German 
headquarters.  This  telegram  proves 
the  German  contention  that  the  allies 
did  not  intend  to  respect  Belgian 
neutrality.  It  even  proves  more — 
namely,  that  Belgian  neutrality  prac- 
tically did  not  exist  and  that  the 
Belgian  government  was  conspiring 
with  the  allies  against  Germany. 
Notwithstanding  the  denial  coming 
from  French  sources,  it  is  a  fact  that 
French  prisoners  were  taken  at  Li&ge 
and  at  Namur  who  acknowledged  that 
they  had  been  in  those  fortresses  be- 
fore the  German  troops  entered  Bel- 
glum. 

The  Chancellor's  Error. 

"On  the  French  side  it  has  been 
asserted  that  the  German  chancellor 
in  parliament  had  acknowledged  that 
Germany  was  doing  wrong  In  violat- 
ing Belgian  neutrality.*  It  must, 
however,  not  be  overlooked  that  the 
chancellor  further  said:  "We  know 
that  the  allies  do  not  intend  to  re- 
spect Belgian  neutrality,  and  Ger- 
many, in  the  position  she  is  in,  at- 
tacked from  three  sides,  cannot  wait, 
while  the  allies  can  wait.'  At  that 
time  the  Belgian  archives  were  not 
at  the  disposal  of  the  German  govern- 
ment." 

Chinese  Neutrality  Assailed. 

If  the  chancellor  had  known  at 
the  time  he  made  his  speech  that 
Belgium  was  not  neutral  he  would 
certainly  have  spoken  of  the  alleged 
Belgian  neutrality  in  a  different  way. 

"Germany  has  violated  the  fron- 
tiers of  no  really  neutral  country," 
the  statement  concludes,  while  the 
allies  are  on  record  for  disregarding 
all  obligations  toward  China. 


'We  quote  the  following  from  an 
editorial  entitled  "Belgium  the  Step- 
Child  of  England.  The  Myth  of  Bel- 
gian Neutrality,"  in  "The  Father- 
land" (New  York),  for  October  21, 
1914: 

The  "violation"  of  Belgian  terri- 
tory by  Germany  is  still  unforgiven 
by  those  who  have  failed  to  grasp 
the  full  significance  of  the  events 
leading  up  to  the  German  invasion. 
We  are  told  again  and  again  that  they 
admitted  that  Germany  was  commit- 
ting a  "wrons;"  in  trespassing  upon 
this  "neutral"  kingdom.  The  facts 
in  the  case  are  that  Bethmann-HoU- 
weg,  inspired  by  the  same  ethical 
spirit  in  international  Dolitics  which 
dominates  President  Wilson,  made 
an  honest  but  injudicious  admission. 
He  suspected  that  Belgium  was  no 
longer  neutral.  In  the  old  days  the 
suspicion  itself  would  have  justified 
the  German  raid.  England  would 
not  have  hesitated  a  minute  in  such 
a  case.  But,  Bethmann-Hollweg, 
German  Imperial  Chancellor,  over- 
scrupulous, made  no  accusation 
against  Belgium.  Even  if  his  evi- 
dence had  been  incontrovertible,  he 
woiild  still  have  maintained  his  pe- 
culiar point  of  view. 

The  Chancellor  of  the  German 
Empire  is  certainly  not  a  Nietz- 
schean.  Bernhardi  leaves  him  cold. 
He  does  not  lean  on  Treitschke.      In 


fact,  Bethmann-Hollweg  is  more  of  a 
moralist  than  a  diplomat.  To  his 
mind  two  wrongs  do  not  make  a 
right.  Belgium  wronged  Germany. 
Justice  demanded  a  reparation.  Ger- 
many's supreme  duty  of  self-pres- 
ervation made  such  a  reparation  im- 
perative. Nevertheless  the  Chancel- 
lor held  that  such  an  action  on  Ger- 
many's part,  even  If  practically  nec- 
essary and  entirely  defensible  from 
the  point  of  everyday  ethics,  was 
wrong  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
new  statesmanship  which  applies 
even  to  statecraft  the  tenets  of 
Christianity.  Belgium  smote  Ger- 
many on  the  left  cheek.  The  Chan- 
cellor realized  that  from  a  certain 
Idealistic  point  of  view  it  would  have 
been  noble  to  turn  the  right.  For 
practical  reasons,  Germany  decided 
otherwise,  and  hit  back.  Hitting 
back  may  not  be  ethical,  but  it  is 
Inevitable,  sometimes. 

An  English  statesman  in  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg's  place  would  have 
explained  that  it  was  Germany's 
"moral"  duty  to  invade  Belgium, 
but  the  German  temperament  de- 
spises hypocrisy.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  Chancellor  would  have  been 
justified  if  he  had  made  such  a  state- 
ment. It  WAS  the  moral  duty  of 
Germany  to  save  the  Belgian  people 
from  the  intrigues  of  her  ministers 
who  played  into  the  hand  of  the 
allies.  When  the  Germans  reached 
Belgium  and,  more  recently  in  Ant- 
werp, they  found  incontrovertible 
evidence,  cited  by  Dr.  Dernburg  and 
others,  that  Belgium  had  violated 
her  neutrality,  that  she  was  conspir- 
ing with  the  enemy,  that  she  was 
merely  England's  cat's  paw  in  the 
great  war  game. 

This  discovery  justified  any  act  of 
reprisal  on  the  part  of  Germany.  It 
it  had  not  been  for  the  flagrant 
breach  of  neutrality  on  the  part  of 
Belgium  and  the  sniping  of  German 
soldiers,  Germany  would  have  been 
even  more  lenient  in  her  treatment 
of  the  misguided  people.  As  it  was, 
after  the  fall  of  Liege,  and  before 
the  fall  of  Brussels,  Germany  again 
and  again  offered  Belgium  guaran- 
tees of  her  national  integrity  and 
compensation  for  her  losses,  if  she 
would  desist  from  her  unneutral 
policy  into  which  her  rulers,  hiding 
behind  a  somewhat  shadowy  treaty, 
had  plunged  her. 

The  neutrality  treaty  was  Invalid 
legally,  for  it  had  never  been  signed 
by  the  German  empire.  The  German 
empire  was  legally  no  more  respon- 
sible for  the  action  of  the  North  Ger- 
man Confederacy  than  the  United 
States  assumes  responsibility  for  the 
actions  of  states  before  their  Incorpo- 
ration into  the  Union.  Belgium's 
only  claim  was  a  moral  claim.  But 
even  that  was  forfeited  by  her  alli- 
ance with  the  enemies  of  Germany. 
In  view  of  her  unneutral  acts  the 
treaty,  already  antiquated,  was  in- 
deed a  mere  "scrap  of  paper." — 
From   "The   Fatherland." — Editor. 


America  has  two  things  to  be 
thankful  for  in  the  present  time  of 
armed  uproar.  One  is  the  Atlantic 
ocean  and  the  other  is  the  Pacific 
ocean. — From     "The     Daily     News." 


WHY  BELGU'M  WAS  NOT  PROTECTED 


67 


The  Heroic  Deed  of  Protecting  a  Neutrality  that  was  not 
Good  Will  and  Ability  to  Protect  Belgium  ! 


BERXARD    SHAW    SHOWS    IP 
E>fGU\ND'S    HYIHKKISV. 

London,  February  21. — The  "Xatiou" 
fiublishes  the  following  from  Bernard 
-Shaw : 

••Neutrality  is  nn  utter  humbug. 
That  is  my  position.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  breach  of  neutrality,  because 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  neutrality. 
I  hope  that  is  clear  enough. 

"The  importance  of  bringing  this 
simple  and  natural  fact  home  at  pres- 
ent arises  from  three  considerations: 

"1.  The  danger  of  obscuring  the 
real  issue  by  the  false  issue  of  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium. 

"2.  The  danger  that,  instead  of  real 
terms  of  peace,  fictitious  terms  in  the 
form  of  fresh  guarantees  of  neutrality 
may  be  accepted  as  valid. 

'•3.  The  general  oli.iection  to  throw- 
ing stones  when  you  live  in  glass  houses 
and  are  allied  to  Eastern  Powers, 
whose  whole  history  Is  a  huge  cucum- 
ber frame. 

Coinniitted     to     These     Propositions. 

'•Those  who  insist  that  neutrality  is 
real  and  sacred  are  committed  liy  the 
facts  to  the  following  propositions: 

"1.  Germany  has  not  violated  Bel- 
gian neutrality.  She  1ms  made  war  on 
Belgium,  which  her  guarantee  of  Bel- 
gium's neutrality  in  no  way  abrogated 
her  right  to  do:  and  her  guarantee  of 
Belgium's  neutrality  still  stands  in 
spite  of  the  war.  and  actually  entitles 
her  to  treat  the  violation  of  it  by  an- 
other I'ower  as  a  casus  liclli. 

"2.  France  and  Kngland  have  vio- 
lated the  neutrality  of  Belgium  by  in- 
vadinj.'  her  and  lighting  on  her  soil, 
though  they  do  not  war  uiion  her. 

"3.  Germany  offered  to  keep  the 
peace  with  Belgium  on  condition  of  that 
right  of  way  which  Gi'caf  Britain  was 
the  first  to  demand  and  enforce  by 
war  in  China. 

"4.  Great  Britain  and  I-^rance  re- 
fused to  respect  Belgian  neutrality  ex- 
cept on  a  condition  which  thoy  knew 
would  not  he  fulfilled,  and  which,  in 
any  case.  Belgium  could  not  control ; 
namely,  that  Germany  would  keep  peace 
with  Belgium. 

"~i.  Germany  offered  peace  in  Bel- 
gium. 

"0.  Great  Britain  ordercil  war  jier- 
eraptorily. 

Discredits   Helgian    Pretext   for  War. 

"I  defy  any  inlcrnaliniial  jurist  to 
put  a  creditable  rdmiilcxion  on  these 
propositions,  except  by  showing  that 
they  are  the  rrdiictio  (td  iihuurdum  of 
the  theory  of  neutnility.  and  by  admit- 
ting that  Belgium  might  as  well  have 
been  a  free  ccnintry  as  a  neutralized 
one,  for  all  the  use  that  the  guaran- 
tee proved.  And  it  is  liecause  1  am 
not  duiied  Ijy  that  theory  that  I  have 
set  myself  to  discredit  the  Belgian  jire- 
text  for  war,  and  to  induce  our  min- 
isters and  newspapers  to  drop  it. 

"I  di<l  so  even  bef(U-e  the  documents 
found  in  Brussels  by  the  Germans  left 
the  foreign  otiice  so  completely  bowled 
out  of  the  Belgian  point  by  the  Ger- 
man fbaiK-ellor  Ihiit  it  iiad  iiot  a  word 


to  .say.  and  was  reduced  to  hiring  a 
street  boy  to  jiut  out  his  tongue  at 
him.  That  was  what  came  of  not 
taking  my  advice  and  evacuating  an 
untenable  position. 

"I  pass  on  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
cited  as  the  supreme  modern  case  of 
neutralization.  The  Monroe  Doctrine 
is  balderdash.  It  is  not  a  doctrine  at 
all.  Its  validity  to  any  intelligent  per- 
son is  exactly  what  it  was  to  Cortez 
and  I'izarro  and  the  Mayflower  Pil- 
grims, to  Olive,  to  William  the  Con- 
queror, Caesar,  Napoleon,  Hengist  and 
llorsa,  Joshua  in  Canaan,  Henry  V.  in 
France.  Kitchener  in  the  Sudan,  Kruger 
and  Cecil  Rhodes  in  South  Africa, 
Strongbow  in  Ireland,  Edward  in  Scot- 
land, Russia  in  Sit)eria,  and  .Japan  in 
the  advantage  she  has  taken  of  the  war 
to  make  a  startling  Frederican  grab  in 
Mongolia  and  Manchuria,  which  has 
just  leaked  out  after  months  of  con- 
cealment by  our  Government. 

Will    Not    Notice    Monroe    Doctrine. 

"I  have  as  much  right  to  annex  and 
ravage  the  State  of  Colorado  as  Rocke- 
feller. If  the  British  Empire  ever  de- 
cides to  annex  the  United  States,  say, 
with  a  view  to  improving  the  local 
Government,  it  will  not  take  the  slight- 
est notice  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  nor 
will  the  public  opinion  of  the  world 
be  in  the  very  faintest  degree  biased 
by  it  by  the  breach  thereof. 

"If  the  I'nited  States  should  ever  de- 
cide to  annex  Canada  or  Alaska,  on  the 
ground  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
obviously  requires  the  extrusion  of 
(Jre.it  Britain  and  Russia  from  the 
North  American  Continent,  they  will 
have  to  take  exactly  the  same  steps 
as  if  the  Monroe  Doctrine  bad  never 
been  fornuilated  or  thought  of.  The 
Monroe  Doctrine  did  not  help  the  red- 
skins against  the  white  man,  and  it 
will  not  helj)  the  redskins'  conqueror 
wlicM  liis  turn  comes. 

"Why  is  it  that  the  European  mili- 
tarists who  annex  every  country  they 
can  conquer  are  not  at  all  likely  to 
annex  .\merica.  and  even  pretend  to 
respect  the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  an  e.x- 
cuse  for  not  trying  to?  Because  they 
are  afraid  of  the  army  and  navy  and 
peojile  of  the  Fnited  States. 

"Why  did  Germany  make  war  on 
Belgium?  Be<ause  she  was  afraid  to 
delay  the  rush  to  Paris  by  attacking 
France  through  Ix)rraine  and  Alsace. 

"Why  did  she  attack  France?  Be- 
cause she  was  terrified  by  Russian 
mobilization,  and  afraid  France  would 
strike  her  from  behind  when  she  was 
attacked  by  Russia. 

"Why  did  we  attack  Germany?  Be- 
caus(>  we  were  afraid  of  her  growing 
naval  strength,  and  believed  she  would 
be  irresistible  if  she  conquered  Russia 
and  France,  and  thus  left  us  without 
effective  allies. 

•'Frightened  animals  are  dangerous, 
and  man  is  no  exception.  We  in  the 
west  of  Europe  are  all  fighting  because 
we  were  afraid  not  to.  If  the  war  is 
to  be  concluded  on  ethical  principles 
of  any  sort,  then  the  settlement  will  be 
exactly  what  it  would  have  been  if 
there  had  been  no  war." — The  Cru- 
cible. 


GER.MANY   .\.\U   BELGHM. 


Editorial. 


The  Chicago  Triliuiie. 

The  German  defense  for  its  inva- 
sion of  Belgium  seems  to  be  as  mo- 
bile as  its  wonderful  army.  The 
most  loyal  pro-German  must  "move 
lively"  to  keep  up  with  it. 

As  we  have  understood  the  German 
position,  it  is  about  like  this:  In 
the  first  place,  Germany  invaded  Bel- 
gium because  necessity  knows  no 
law,  and,  regretting  the  wrong  done 
her  and  Luxembourg,  compensation 
would  later  be  given.  Second,  Ger- 
many invaded  Belgium  because  it  was 
certain  that  France  would  invade 
Belgium  to  attack  Germany.  Third, 
Germany  invaded  Belgium  because 
France  had  invaded  Belgium  first. 
Fourth,  and  latest,  Germany's  inva- 
sion of  Belgium  was  not  a  breach  of 
neutrality,  because  Belgium  was  not 
neutral,  but  had  entered  into  a  plot 
with  England  to  help  her  in  an  at- 
tack on  Germany. 

Doubtless  in  due  time  the  reason 
why  Germany  invaded  Belgium  will 
become  clear  and  settled,  even  in 
Germany."  In  the  meantime  the  world 
will  continue  to  sympathize  pro- 
foundly with  the  unhappy  Belgian 
people,  and  attempts  to  fix  upon  them 
or  even  their  government,  responsi- 
bility for  their  tragic  misfortunes 
will  have  to  be  sustained  by  the  most 
indubitable  of  proofs  if  they  are  not 
to  react  against  the  German  appeal 
to   the  world  conscience.' 


'If  the  hysterical  editorial  writer 
of  "The  Tribune,"  who  seems  to  take 
delight  in  sneering  at  Germany, 
would  shed  fewer  crocodile  tears 
for  "poor,  unhappy  little  Belgium," 
sympathize  in  less  high  sounding 
phrases,  and  would,  instead,  have 
told  his  audience  in  plain  English 
what  he  knew  about  the  sacredness 
of  Belgian  neutrality,  there  would 
not  have  been  any  necessity  for  his 
readers  to  be  in  doubt  as  to  the  Bel- 
gian neutrality  myth. 

"The  reason  why  Germany  invaded 
Belgium"  does  not  seem  "clear  and 
settled"  to  "The  Tribune's"  editorial 
writer  at  as  late  a  date  as  October 
15.  He  should  have  informed  him- 
self and  his  readers  by  availing  him- 
self of  Professor  Burgess's  article, 
"Belgian  Neutrality,  Its  Real  Mean- 
ing," which,  "The  Vital  Issue"  says, 
was  released  to  the  press  of  this 
country  the  latter  part  of  September, 
I.  e.,  some  three  weeks  before  "The 
Tribune's"  champion  of  "poor,  un- 
happy little  Belgium"  wrote  that  "at- 
tempts to  fix  upon  them  (the  Bel- 
gian people)  or  even  their  govern- 
ment, responsibility  for  their  tragic 
misfortunes  will  have  to  be  sustained 
by  the  most  indubitable  of  proofs  if 
they  are  not  to  react  against  the 
German  appeal  to  the  world  con- 
science." 

Facts  are  what  the  American  peo- 
ple want,  not  crocodile  tears  or  hys- 
terical  editorials.      Facts,   cold   facts. 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM' 


are  contained  in  Professor  Burgess's 
article  which  is  reprinted  in  this 
section. 

Why  did  not  the  editorial  writer 
of  "The  Tribune"  or,  as  far  as  that 
goes  any  other  Anglo-American  edi- 
torial writer  in  Chicago,  refer  to  Pro- 
fessor Burgess's  article  which  cer- 
tainly throws  the  true  light  on  "Bel- 
gian Neutrality?" 

Because  it  does  not  suit  their  pol- 
icy that  the  American  people  should 
know  the  whole  truth! 

But  all  of  the  American  people 
cannot  be  fooled  all  of  the  time. 

The  anti-German  editorial  propa- 
gandists are  finding  this  out. 

Apropos  these  sentiments,  in  Ger- 
many, "why  Germany  invaded  Bel- 
gium" has  always  been  entirely 
"clear  and  settled."  Any  doubt 
about  this  "existed"  only  in  the  per- 
verse minds  of  the  German-hating 
press  on  both  sides  of  the  water. — 
Editor. 

^We  reprint  below  the  first  part  of 
an  editorial  entitled  "Belgium  The 
Step  Child  of  England — The  Myth  of 
Belgian  Neutrality."  This  was  pub- 
lished by  "The  Fatherland"  (New 
York)  in  its  issue  for  October  21. 
This  may  counteract  in  a  measure 
the  effect  of  the  hysterical  editorials 
written  by  fanatical  writers,  such  as 
"The  Chicago  Tribune's"  editorial 
writer  and  others  of  his  ilk. 

"The  Fatherland"  says: 

"Antwerp  has  fallen  after  a  brave 
defense  by  the  Belgians  (and  fif- 
teen thousand  English).  Germany 
crushed  the  last  stronghold  of  Bel- 
gium. We  are  sorry  for  Belgium. 
But  Antwerp  was  one  of  the  strong- 
est fortresses  in  the  world,  second 
only  to  Paris.  The  'little'  Belgian 
nation  has  been  annihilated  by  the 
Germans.  But  as  far  as  numbers 
were  concerned  the  Belgians  and 
their  allies  outnumbered  the  Ger- 
mans. 'Little'  Belgium  stood  alone. 
Possibly.  But,  behind  her  in  battle 
array,  were  three  of  the  greatest  na- 
tions of  Europe.  To  compare  their 
defense  of  Antwerp  to  Thermopylae 
or  to  William  Tell's  defense  of 
Switzerland  is  silly.  The  Spartans 
at  Thermopylae  and  the  Swiss  under 
Tell  were  not  financed,  fed,  sup- 
ported on  land  and  sea  by  seven  war- 
ring countries.  The  Belgians  made 
a  valiant  defense  of  their  country, 
but  King  Albert  and  a  large  part  of 
his  army  fled  from  the  invader  un- 
like those  braves  of  Leonidas,  to 
whom  the  New  York  'Evening  Sun' 
lachrymosely  compares  them.  How 
far  more  glorious,  how  far  more 
heroic  is  the  defense  of  Kiauchau, 
that  lone  lost  German  fortress  in  the 
Far  East,  battling  without  hope  of 
relief,  far  from  home,  against  the 
combined  attacks  of  Japan.  England 
and  Russia.  Here  indeed  is  a  mod- 
ern parallel  with  Thermopylae  and 
all  the  valiant  deeds  of  history.  For 
the  little  German  garrison,  posted 
there,  is  defending  not  only  its  own 
existence  and  the  flag  of  its  country, 
but  civilization  itself. 

"We  do  not  know  what  sinister  ad- 
vices were  responsible  for  the  action 
of  Belgium.  Surely  it  would  have 
been  wiser,  and  no  less  compatible 
with  honor,  to  observe  a  benevolent 


neutrality,  granting  the  passage  of 
German  troops  through  Belgium, 
than  to  subject  the  country  to  the 
devastation  of  modern  warfare. 
When  Belgium  considers  her  situa- 
tion calmly  she  will  realize  that  she 
has  more  to  hope  from  Germany  than 
from  the  Allies  who  first  goaded  her 
into  war  and  then  thrice  betrayed 
her.  They  betrayed  her  when  their 
armies  fied  from  Belgium  for  'strat- 
egic' reasons,  leaving  the  little  coun- 
try to  her  fate  and  to  the  German 
siege  guns.  They  again  betrayed  her 
when  they  refused,  for  'strategic'  rea- 
sons, to  come  to  her  relief  when  Ant- 
werp was  threatened.  But  worst  of 
all  is  her  final  betrayal  by  England, 
who  would  rather  see  the  last  Bel- 
gian starve  than  one  German  sol- 
dier fed. 

"London  reports  that  Brussels  is 
fearing  a  famine.  Yet,  now  that  Bel- 
gium's usefulness  is  exhausted,  Eng- 
land refuses  to  send  food.  She  even 
refuses  to  permit  ships  carrying  food 
supplies  to  land,  unless  Germany 
gives  assurances  that  she  will  not 
supervise  the  division  of  the  food. 
Inasmuch  as  Belgium  is  at  present  a 
part  of  the  German  Empire,  Ger- 
many can  give  no  such  assurance. 
Hence  John  Bull  permits  four  hun- 
dred thousand  Belgian  women  and 
children  to  starve  to  death.  Not  that 
he  loves  Belgium  less,  but  that  he 
hates  Germany  more.  England  is  not 
the  foster-mother  but  the  step- 
mother of  Belgium.  Fortunately 
Belgium  can  look  to  Germany  for 
succor.  She  will  not  starve  as  long 
as  she  remains  under  German  rule, 
in  spite  of  reports  to  the  contrary. 
Betrayed,  forsaken,  bleeding.  Bel- 
gium begins  to  realize  her  mistake. 
She  will  see  that  Germany  holds  her 
promises  sacred,  even  if  she  calls 
them  'scraps  of  paper.'  England 
calls  them  by  all  sorts  of  holy  names, 
but  has  no  compunction  whatever  to 
violate  her  most  sacred  obligations, 
if  it  suits  her  convenience." 


TREATY  VIOLATIONS. 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 

It  is  funny  to  hear  England, 
France  and  Russia  express  their  in- 
dignation over  Germany's  violation  of 
written  guarantees.  Not  one  of 
these  countries  was  ever  known  to 
keep  a  promise  or  a  guarantee  it 
suited  her  to  break. 

The  late  Empress  Dowager  of 
China  issued  an  edict  against  the 
cultivation  and  use  of  opium  in  the 
Empire,  and  provided  for  its  com- 
plete extermination  within  ten  years. 
Many  Governments,  including  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
agreed  to  help  enforce  the  edict.  It 
seemed  that  the  day  of  deliverance 
had  come. 

But  Great  Britain  broke  faith  in 
the  matter,  as  she  has  done  many 
times  before.  The  Indian  government, 
which  receives  a  revenue  of  more 
than  $10,000,000  a  year  from  the 
opium  traffic,  is  not  willing  to  relin- 
quish that  advantage  and  opium  in 
enormous  quantities  is  still  being 
shipped  into  China  in  defiance  of  all 
protests. 


The  island  upon  which  Hongkong 
stands,  giving  British  foothold  in 
China,  was  exacted  as  indemnity  for 
several  shiploads  of  opium  that  were 
destroyed  by  the  Chinese  to  prevent 
their  accursed  cargoes  from  reach- 
ing the  people. 

Of  late  we  have  been  hearing  much 
of  the  Aland  Islands,  where  the  Ger- 
man ships  were  reported  to  have  de- 
feated a  Russian  squadron.  In  1907 
or  1908  the  Russia  Duma  appropri- 
ated a  large  sum  of  money  for  the 
fortification  of  the  Aland  Islands,  ly- 
ing off  the  coast  of  Finland  in  the 
Baltic  Sea.  As  these  islands  lie 
nearer  Sweden  than  Finland,  and  as 
Russia,  by  the  treaty  of  March,  1856, 
pledged  herself  not  to  fortify  them, 
representations  were  at  once  made 
to  the  St.  Petersburg  Government 
from  Stockholm  calling  Russia's  at- 
tention to  the  treaty  and  declaring 
that  Sweden's  defense  would  be  se- 
riously menaced  by  such  fortifica- 
tions. 

Sweden  did  not  feel  herself  strong 
enough  to  go  to  war  over  the  ques- 
tion, and  as  her  protests  were  dis- 
regarded, she  forthwith  appealed  to 
France  and  England,  who  were  also 
signatories  of  the  treaty  of  1856, 
which  specifically  declared  that  "the 
Aland  Island  shall  not  be  fortified 
and  no  naval  or  military  force  shall 
be  established  there."  The  appeal 
placed  both  England  and  France  in 
an  embarrassing  position.  Both 
countries  guaranteed  the  perpetual 
neutrality  of  Sweden,  but  both  were 
most  favorably  disposed  toward  Rus- 
sia; France  on  account  of  the  dual 
alliance  and  England  because  of  the 
Anglo-Russian  agreement.  And 
Stockholm  was  justified  in  her  fear 
that  neither  France  nor  England 
would  interfere,  especially  because 
the  fortification  by  Russia  of  the  is- 
lands in  question  served  to  diminish 
the  preponderance  of  German  influ- 
ence in  the  Baltic. 

Sweden  ceded  Finland,  with  the 
Aland  Islands,  to  Russia  in  1809. 
Twenty  years  later,  Russia  proceeded 
to  fortify  the  islands.  England  there- 
upon objected,  but  without  avail. 
During  the  Crimean  War,  Bomarsund 
was  built,  and  a  combined  French 
and  English  fleet  had  to  blow  Its 
forts   to   pieces. 

France  and  England  conveniently 
ignored  Sweden's  appeal,  and  per- 
mitted Russia  to  fortify  the  island 
against  the  day  when  they  would  be 
joined  in  war  against  Germany. 

When  Secretary  Hay  established 
"the  open  door  in  China"  as  a  prin- 
ciple of  American  policy,  the  only 
nation  that  supported  him  was  Ger- 
many. It  still  remains  in  active 
force.  In  total  disregard  of  the 
United  States,  Russia  seized  Port  Ar- 
thur and  Ta-Lien-Wan  and  other 
Chinese  possessions,  but  guaranteed 
to  observe  all  treaty  rights.  But  no 
sooner  had  she  taken  forcible  pos- 
session of  Manchuria  than  she 
showed  her  hand.  Instead  of  keep- 
ing the  door  at  Port  Arthur  open, 
the  Russian  Consul  at  Tien-Tsin  one 
morning  startled  his  colleagues  by 
announcing  that  foreigners  could  not 
be  allowed  at  Port  Arthur  or  at  Ta- 
Lien-Wan    without    passports    issued 


WHY  BELGIUM  WAS  NOT  PROTECTED 


by  him.  Both  Chinese  and  foreigners 
bitterly  complained,  but  no  heed  was 
paid  to  them.  That  was  one  reason 
why  the  United  States  strongly  sym- 
pathized with  Japan  in  her  war  with 
Russia. 

No  doubt  that  in  this  country,  a 
few  years  ago,  thousands  of  honest 
people  believed  that  Great  Britain's 
war  upon  the  Dutch  republic  in 
South  Africa  was  a  righteous  and 
high-minded  crusade.  One  heard  on 
all  hands  that  once  more  "dear  old 
England"  had  taken  up  the  banner 
of  civilization  and  consecrated  her- 
self to  the  salvation  of  mankind. 
The  Boers  were  obstacles  in  the  path- 
way of  human  progress.  Down  with 
them!  We  heard  it  in  the  clubs;  we 
read  it  in  the  administration  organs; 
we    saw    it    in    our     foreign     policy. 


NEUTR.MjITY  ^^OLATED  BY  E\G- 
LAXD    CITTIXG    C.^BLE. 


Tran.slation   of   Editorial   Which   .\p- 

poared  in  the  "Illinois  Staats. 

Zeitung,"  Chicago,  August 

8,  1914,  in  German. 

England  accuses  Germany  of  vio- 
lation of  neutrality  laws,  as  has  been 
previously  reported,  in  order  to  cloak 
the  definite  objects  and  well  formed 
plans  for  and  by  which  it  has  for 
scores  of  years  paved  the  way  for 
war  with  Germany.  At  the  same 
time  it  commits  a  more  important 
breach  of  the  laws  of  neutrality  by 
cutting  at  the  Azores  the  cable  which 
connected  Germany  with  America. 
Although  the  proposal  of  Cyrus  Field 
in  1872  to  place  all  transatlantic  ca- 
bles in  neutral  zones  during  wars 
•was  not  adopted  at  the  third  tele- 
graphic conference  in  Rome,  still  in 
Paris  in  1884  the  protocol  of  the 
convention  of  submarine  cables  was 
signed  by  thirty-eight  states,  among 
which  England  was  included;  which 
convention  established  not  only  the 
political  and  commercial  rights  of  the 
owners  of  submarine  cables  but  also 
recognized  the  demands  of  cultured 
nations  to  possess  rapid  means  of 
communication. 

The  cutting  of  the  German  cable 
by  the  English  warships  was  a  dis- 
graceful act,  and  it  shows  up  the 
English  hypocrisy  of  striving  for 
ideals  of  humanity,  in  its  own  mis- 
erableness. 

We  German-Americans  especially, 
but  really  the  entire  world  outside  of 
the  Triple  .Alliance,  are  thus  robbed 
of  the  possibility  to  obtain  a  true,  un- 
colored  picture  of  the  events  which 
are  taking  place  upon  the  European 
battlefields,  which  we  could  have 
hoped  to  obtain  only  via  the  German 
cable  Emden-Azores. 

The  last  possibility  is  now  re- 
moved. To  be  sure  the  wireless  sta- 
tion at  Nauen,  near  Berlin,  is  able  to 
send  messages  to  the  stations  at 
Tnckerton  and  Sayville  upon  the  At- 
lantic Ocean,  but  our  government 
seems  to  intend  to  stretch  its  per- 
fectly proper  stand  of  strict  neutral- 
ity to  such  an  extent  that  the  suc- 
cessful operation  of  these  stations 
will   be   stopped.* 

We  must  therefore  be  prepared  to 
learn  of  a  superabundance  of  vic- 
tories  won   by   the   English,    French, 


Russians,  Belgians,  Servians  and 
Montenegrins.  We  do  not  like  to 
make  bets,  but  we  will  bet  a  German 
battery  against  a  Russian  pocket  pis- 
tol that  such  reports  will  be  lies,  and 
intended  only  to  picture  Germany  as 
a  forlorn  loser.  One  feels  so  confi- 
dent that  these  barefaced  lies  cannot 
be  controverted  through  any  German 
corrections,  that  one  only  yesterday 
tried  to  convince  us  (Americans) 
that  two  German  cavalry  regiments 
attempted  to  capture  the  forts  at 
Li?ge  and  thereby  were  totally  anni- 
hilated. From  such  ridiculous  state- 
ments we  can  judge  how  much  cre- 
dence we  can  give  to  the  reports 
emanating  in  the  near  future  from 
English  sources. 


*Since  this  editorial  was  pub- 
lished, these  two  wireless  stations 
have  been  allowed  to  operate  under 
the  surveillance  of  U.  S.  Government 
officials  in  order  to  prevent  messages 
from  being  sent  to  German  warships 
at  sea.  This  act  would  constitute  a 
violation  of  U.  S.  neutrality.  How- 
ever, some  apparatus  of  the  powerful 
Tuckerton  station,  which  is  the  only 
one  that  can  send  as  well  as  receive 
messages  from  Germany,  has  broken 
down,  and  up  to  the  time  of  our  go- 
ing to  press  with  "War  Echoes"  it 
has  been  impossible  to  remedy  the 
accident.  We  understand  that  the 
Sayville  station  can  only  receive  mes- 
sages, as  its  apparatus  is  not  power- 
ful enough  to  send  them. — Editor. 

But  on  July  9th  the  station  was 
again  taken  over  by  the  United 
States  military  authorities,  evidently 
to  act  as  a  censor  on  the  messages 
sent.— Editor,  War  Echoes. 


HAS    GERMANY    VIOLATED    BEI;- 
GIAN  NEUTRALITY? 


Herman  Schoenfeld,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  I). 

I'rofessor  of  Germanics,  George 

Wasliiiigton    University. 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 

Of  all  the  insinuations  and  asper- 
sions against  Germany's  sinful  ag- 
gression none  remains  but  the  viola- 
tion of  Belgian  neutrality.  It  does 
not  suflSce  to  exonerate  Germany  by 
stating  even  the  true  facts  that  Ger- 
many never  guaranteed  Belgium  neu- 
trality, but  Prussia  did,  and  that 
Prussia's  guarantee  could  not  be 
binding  upon  the  other  twenty-four 
sovereign  states  of  (he  empire.  This 
would  stand  in  law,  but  would  not 
stand  in  ethics.  Nor  does  it  suffice 
to  prove  that  French  aviators  used 
Belgian  territory  in  all  its  breadth, 
without  protest,  to  enter  Germany 
and   drop  bombs  on   Cologne. 

Even  the  established  fact  that  Bel- 
gium has  for  years  leaned  strongly 
on  France,  even  if  there  did  not  exist 
a  formal  military  convention,  has  ac- 
cepted French  money  and  French  of- 
ficers and  engineers  for  building  of 
gigantic  fortifications  against  Ger- 
many, did  not  necessarily  vitiate  Bel- 
gian neutrality,  since  a  neutralized 
state  has  the  right  to  make  its  neu- 
trality respected.  It  Is  true  that  a 
question  arises  here  in  international 
law,  whether  a  permanently  neu- 
tralized state,  by  strong  fortification 
and  military  armament,  does  not  in- 


vite attack,  since  such  military  acts 
constitute  a  priori  a  contradiction  of 
neutrality,  and  may  be  rightfully  con- 
strued as  a  revocation  of  neutrality 
treaties  by  the  neutralized  state  it- 
self, especially  if  the  latter  racially, 
politically,  and  in  a  military  way  has 
for  years  veered  manifestly  towards 
powerful,  antagonistic  and  now  open- 
ly hostile  states,  like  France  and 
England. 

The  British  pretext  of  war  against 
Germany  on  the  score  of  the  viola- 
tion of  Belgian  neutrality  sounds 
false  and  rings  untrue  on  the  part  of 
England,  which  in  a  very  much 
slighter  emergency,  without  word  of 
warning,  steamed  into  the  port  of 
Copenhagen,  carried  away  the  unsus- 
pecting Danish  fleet  and  occupied  the 
«  port  herself  till  after  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  And  when  the  British  gov- 
ernment, upon  the  direct  question  of 
the  German  ambassador.  Prince  Lich- 
nowski,  absolutely  refused  to  bind  it- 
self to  respect  Belgian  neutrality  to 
the  end  of  this  war,  the  powerful  port 
of  Antwerp  in  the  hands  of  the  Brit- 
ish being  nothing  less  than  Hamburg 
in  the  hands  of  the  strongest  naval 
enemy,  it  would  have  been  absolute 
folly,"  on  the  part  of  Germany,  still 
further  to  consider  Belgium  a  neutral 
state. 

Even  more  hypocritical  than  the 
English  standpoint  towards  the  sa- 
credness  of  Belgian  neutrality,  has 
been  the  position  of  France  toward  it 
since  the  very  inception  of  the  ille- 
gitimate birth  of  that  state. 

In  an  essay.  "Theoretical  Perma- 
nent Neutrality  in  Political  Prac- 
tice" (Geo.  Washington  Univ.  Publi- 
cations, Politics  and  Diplomacy  Se- 
ries, vol.  1,  No.  3.  pp.  25-40,  January 
1906),  I  have  proven,  I  believe,  that 
Belgium  was  founded  as  a  neutral 
state  solely  to  save  her  from  the  cu- 
pidity of  France. 

The  declaration  of  Belgium  inde- 
pendence and  neutrality  in  London, 
November  15.  1831,  by  the  represen- 
tatives of  England,  Austria,  Belgium, 
France  and  Russia  (no  Prussian  rep- 
resentatives being  present)  was  con- 
sidered merely  the  lesser  evil ;  the 
other  alternative  was  absorption  by 
France.  The  Memoirs  of  Prince  Tal- 
leyrand reveal  unmistakably  the  fact 
that  the  French  government  fostered 
the  plan  of  the  partition  of  Belgium. 
The  .Austrian  envoy,  Weissenburg, 
reported  to  Vienna:  .  .  .  "France 
arms  from  head  to  foot  and  burns 
with  impatience  to  cross  the  frontier 
of  Belgium." 

But  this  may  seem  old  history. 
More  recent  events  will  be  more  con- 
vincing. In  my  work,  Bismarck's 
Speeches  and  Letters,  D.  Appleton  & 
Co..  New  York,  p.  314  ff.,  it  is  men- 
tioned that  the  revelation  of  secret 
state  documents  by  Bismarck  proves 
bevond  a  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  an 
alliance  with  Prussia  had  been  eag- 
erly sought  by  the  French  govern- 
ment for  the  entire  acquisition  or  the 
partitionment  of  Belgium.  These 
revelations,  conclusive  as  they  are, 
furnish  one  of  the  most  painful  chap- 
ters in  diplomatic  history,  with  re- 
gard to  the  French  greed  of  terri- 
torial expansion,  and  the  cruelty  with 
which  the  iron  chancellor  exposed  the 
unsatiety  of  French  appetite.  The 
condemnation      of      French      perfidy 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM' 


against  Belgium's  treaty  riglits  was 
universal,  and  the  purpose  of  her  in- 
tegrity was  attained. 

In  a  circular  dispatch  of  July  29th, 
Bismarck  revealed  the  existence  of 
several  draft  treaties  written  by 
Count  Benedetti  on  the  oflicial  paper 
of  the  French  embassy.  All  Europe 
was  amazed  when  the  London  Times 
printed  the  draft  treaty  of  the  au- 
tumn of  1866  which  promised  Prus- 
sia a  free  hand  to  deal  with  Germany 
as  she  pleased,  for  one  compensation 
— Belgium. 

"From  this  time  on,"  Bismarck 
writes,  "the  French  ambassador  never 
ceased  to  tempt  us  by  offers  at  the 
expense  of  Germany  or  Belgium.  The 
impossibility  of  accepting  any  offers 
of  that  kind  was  never  doubtful  to 
me;  but  I  deemed  it  useful  in  the  in- 
terest of  peace  to  leave  to  the  French 
statesmen  the  illusions  peculiar  to 
them,  as  long  as  this  would  be  possi- 
ble without  giving  them  any,  even 
oral  promises.  I  supposed  the  de- 
struction of  every  French  hope  would 
endanger  the  peace,  to  preserve  which 
was  to  the  interest  of  Germany  and 
of  Europe. 

"I  was  not  of  the  opinion  of  those 
statesmen  who  advised  not  to  try  to 
prevent  the  war  with  France,  because 
It  was  inevitable.  No  one  penetrates 
so  surely  the  purposes  of  divine 
providence  with  regard  to  the  future, 
and  I  consider  even  a  victorious  war 
per  se,  as  an  evil  which  a  wise  states- 
manship must  endeavor  to  spare  to 
the  nations.  I  had  no  right  to  cal- 
culate without  the  possibility  that  in 
the  constitution  and  politics  of 
France  changes  might  take  place 
which  might  have  led  the  two  great 
neighboring  peoples  above  the  neces- 
sity of  a  war — a  hope  which  was 
benefitted  by  every  delay  of  a  rup- 
ture. For  this  reason  I  was  silent 
concerning  the  suggestions  made, 
and  treated  them  in  a  dilatory  way 
without,  on  my  part,  ever  giving  as 
much  as  a  promise.  I  have  the  im- 
pression that  only  the  definite  convic- 
tion of  France's  inability  to  attain  an 
extension  of  her  boundaries  with  us, 
led  her  to  the  resolution  of  obtain- 
ing it  against  us.  I  have  even  good 
reasons  to  believe,  that,  if  the  pub- 
lication in  question  had  not  appeared, 
France  would  have  offered  to  us,  af- 
ter the  completion  of  her  own  and 
our  armaments,  to  carry  out  in  com- 
mon the  propositions  made  to  us  for- 
merly, as  against  unarmed  Europe, 
at  the  head  of  a  million  of  armed 
warriors,  namely,  to  conclude  a  peace 
after  or  before  the  first  battle,  on 
the  basis  of  Count  Benedetti's  prop- 
ositions, at  the  expense  of  Belgium. 

"After  the  negotiations  with  the 
king  of  the  Netherlands  concerning 
the  purchase  of  Luxumburg  had 
failed,  the  French  proposals  com- 
prising Belgium  were  constantly  re- 
peated. 

"At  this  juncture  occurred  the 
communication  of  the  Benedetti 
manuscript. 

"It  was  indicated  to  me  that  in  the 
case  of  a  French  occupation  of  Bel- 
glum  we  should  find  our  Belgium 
somewhere  else  ("nous  trouverions 
notre  Belgique  ailleurs"  ). 

"Concerning  the  text  of  these  pro- 
posals, I  remark  that  the  draft  in  our 


hands  is  written  from  beginning  to 
end  by  the  hand  of  Count  Benedetti, 
on  the  paper  of  the  French  Ambas- 
sador, and  that  the  ambassadors,  or 
envoys,  of  Austria,  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  Bavaria,  Belgium,  Hesse, 
Italy,  Saxony,  Turkey,  Wiirttemberg, 
who  have  seen  the  original,  recog- 
nized the  hand-writing." 

Bismarck's  revelations,  simulta- 
neously in  Berlin  and  in  London,  as 
afore-mentioned,  with  regard  to  the 
French  attempts  at  Belgian  indepen- 
dence, produced  a  profound  agita- 
tion in  Belgium  and  in  all  Europe. 

It  is  more  than  likely  that  a  differ- 
ent statesman  from  Bismarck  might 
have  succumbed  to  the  almost  irre- 
sistible temptaiton,  and  the  French 
plot  for  the  partitionment  of  Belgium 
would  have  succeeded  then  and  there. 
And  it  is  certain  that  against  such  a 
combination  of  force  as  France  and 
Prussia,  united  would  have  offered, 
any  protest  from  the  other  signatory 
powers  would  have  been  inefficient, 
especially  if  means  and  ways  had 
been  found  to  equalize  "the  balance 
of  power"  by  other  compensations. 

But  to  the  eternal  glory  and  honor 
of  Bismarck  and  Prussia  be  it  said, 
the  great  chancellor  built  the  German 
empire  without  sacrificing  any  Bel- 
gian territory  to  perfidious  France, 
saving  Belgium  and  frankly  warning 
her  of  her  danger.  Knowing  history 
and  knowing  the  hankering  of  France 
for  Belgium,  the  German  government 
in  the  extreme  hour  of  necessity 
pleaded  with  Belgium  for  a  right  of 
way,  vowing  every  possible  compen- 
sation and  security  and  territorial  in- 
tegrity, but  the  Belgian  king  and 
government,  with  that  blindness 
which  so  often  dooms — as  it  were, 
through  the  powers  of  darkness — 
those  who  are  ripe  for  a  fall,  pre- 
ferred to  throw  their  country  into  the 
arms  of  their  worst  enemies  and  de- 
stroyers. 

When  the  French  statesman,  Count 
Benedetti,  promised  Bismarck,  "You 
shall  find  your  Belgium  somewhere 
else,"  he  did  not  dream  that  the  no- 
ble kingdom,  which  was  industrially, 
culturally,  and  politically  one  of  the 
most  advanced  and  progressive  states 
in  Europe,  would  be  hurled  by  its 
own  demented  rulers  into  the  arms 
of  France,  its  destroyer  and  plotter, 
even  before  it  emerged  from  the 
womb  of  time.  There  lies  the  viola- 
tion of  Belgium  neutrality,  not  in 
Germany's  procedure,  to  whom  she 
owed  her  independent  existence,  and 
who  was  eager  and  determined  to 
guarantee  it  again  and  forever. 


GREAT  BRITAIN'S  CASE. 


Xew  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,   New 
York. 

Herman  Ridder. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  while 
our  cousins  across  the  water  are  at- 
tempting to  open  our  eyes  to  the 
German  propaganda,  they  are  allow- 
ing no  grass  to  grow  under  their  own 
feet.  There  is  little  to  be  gained 
now  by  saying  that  Germany  was  the 
first — as  she  was  not — to  seek  the 
moral  support  of  the  American  peo- 
ple by  such  means,  or  that  England 


was  the  first.  Both  nations  have 
stated  their  case,  each  from  its  own 
point  of  view,  for  our  benefit.  The 
appearance,  therefore,  of  "Great 
Britain's  Case,"  the  collaborated  ef- 
fort of  certain  members  of  the  Fac- 
ulty of  Modern  History  at  Oxford, 
has  no  external  significance  other 
than  that  England  now  confesses 
that  she  is  calling  upon  her  last  line 
of  reserves  to  carry  the  day.  We 
welcome  the  brochure,  not  that  we 
need  it,  but  as  additional  evidence  of 
the  terrible  sincerity  of  England's 
present  day  desire  to  chain  us  to  her 
chariot  wheels. 

As  yet  we  have  but  the  excerpts 
from  the  pamphlet  made  public  by 
the  British  Embassy  in  Washington. 
We  may  with  reasonable  justice, 
however,  assume  that  these  contain 
in  a  large  measure  the  cream  of  the 
pamphlet  itself.  And  among  these 
excerpts  there  Is  much  that  is  good 
history  and  much  that  is  not,  and 
less  that  is  good  argument.  My  eye 
was  caught  by  the  following  state- 
ment, in  particular:  "It  is  desirable 
to  point  out  that  Bismarck,  in  1870, 
made  full  use  of  the  Belgian  treaty 
to  prevent  England  from  supporting 
the  cause  of  France.  The  result  was 
that  Germany  and  France  entered 
into  an  identical  treaty  with  Great 
Britain  (August,  1870)  to  the  effect 
that  if  either  belligerent  violated 
Belgian  territory.  Great  Britain 
would  co-operate  with  the  other  for 
the  defense  of  it."  This  is  unques- 
tionable good  history.  So  let  us 
profit  by  it.  The  neutralization  of 
Belgium  was  accomplished  originally 
by  a  treaty,  concluded  in  1839,  to 
which  England,  Prussia,  Russia  and 
France  were  all  signatory.  By  the 
time  the  Franco-Prussian  war  came 
upon  the  tapis,  this  treaty  was  ad- 
mittedly of  little  value  for  the  par- 
ticular purpose  for  which  in  part  it 
was  written.  England,  with  an  eye 
ever  to  the  sustenance  of  Belgium  as 
an  independent  state  to  buffer  the 
English  coast,  used  the  threat  of  in- 
terference to  secure  from  both  of  the 
then  belligerent  nations  a  further 
guarantee  of  the  integrity  of  Bel- 
gium. If  we  but  apply  the  attitude 
of  Gladstone  to  the  conditions  which 
existed  immediately  prior  to  the  out- 
break of  the  present  war,  we  are 
forced  to  a  conclusion  which  absolves 
the  Belgian  question  from  any  con- 
nection, except  that  of  pretext,  with 
England's  motives  for  going  to  war 
with  Germany.  The  offer  made  by 
the  German  Emperor  on  August  1, 
1914,  through  the  Imperial  Chancel- 
lor and  the  Ambassador  at  London, 
of  the  unconditional  guarantee  of 
Belgian  neutrality  in  return  for  the 
neutrality  of  England,  was  in  no  es- 
sential sense  different  from  the  writ- 
ten agreement  entered  into  by  Bis- 
marck in  1870.  The  outcome  has 
proven  but  one  thing:  that  England, 
seeing  in  Germany  nothing  but  dan- 
ger to  her  own  ill-gotten  Empire, 
reading  in  Germany  nothing  but  the 
vaporings  of  the  "Prussian  School  of 
History,"  had  attired  her  attitude  on 
the  subject  of  Belgian  neutrality,  and 
no  longer  content  with  preserving 
the  integrity  of  Belgium  as  a  buffer 
state,  was  prepared  to  use  the  viola- 
tion of  Belgian  neutrality  as  an  ex- 
cuse to  be  in   "at  the  killing."      She 


WHY  BELGILM  WAS  NOT  PROTECTED 


had  the  same  offer  given  her  in  1914 
that  was  given  her  in  1870.  Can  her 
able  defenders  explain  why  she  did 
not  accept  it? 

Again,  in  a  very  unhlstorical  man- 
ner, these  historians  formulate  a 
journalistic  phrase  of  convenience: 
"The  war,  in  which  England  is  now 
engaged  with  Germany,  is  fundamen- 
tally that  of  raison  d'etat  (right  of 
the  state)  against  the  rule  of  the 
law.  One  nation  claims  a  preroga- 
tive to  act  outside  and  above  the 
public  law  of  Europe  in  order  to  se- 
cure the  'safety'  of  its  own  state, 
while  the  other  stands  for  the  rule  of 
public  law."  Apparently  the  Oxford 
professors  are  eager  to  prove  their 
introductory  assertion  that  "We  are 
not  politicians."  They  show  them- 
selves hopelessly  out  of  touch  with 
the  actualities  of  government;  as  we 
are  indebted  to  the  English,  not  to 
the  German,  Government,  for  the 
enlightening  expression  of  the  "Su- 
preme Duty  to  insure  National 
Safety."  The  British  Government 
has  certainly  acted  more  exclusively 
on  the  principle  of  "raison  d'etat" 
than  has  Germany,  which  has  been 
trying  to  make  the  sometimes  in- 
evitable clash  between  raison  d'etat 
and  the  rule  of  the  law  least  destruc- 
tive. It  is  necessary  only  to  recall 
the  conciliatory  notes  addressed  by 
Berlin  to  Brussels.  We  have  heard 
of  no  such  considerate  requests  be- 
ing addressed  by  London  to  Con- 
Btantinople  in  connection  with  the 
raison  d'etat  diplomatic  expulsions 
from  neutral  Egypt  or  of  such  con- 
ciliatory requests  being  addressed  by 
London  to  the  powers  which  neu- 
tralized the  Suez  Canal  in  connection 
with  the  raison  d'etat  use  of  the 
Suez  Canal  as  a  military  base.  We 
are  unaware  of  any  English  protest 
against  the  Japanese  raison  d'etat 
violation  of  Chinese  neutrality  or  of 
an  explanation  of  the  raison  d'i'tat 
sinking  by  the  English  of  the  Kaiser 
Wilhelm  der  Grosse  within  the  three 
mile  limit  of  a  neutral  country. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  England 
should  have  found  for  her  ultimate 
defense  men  apparently  so  little 
qualified  to  realize  hard  facts. 
It  is,  in  turn,  not  surprising  that 
Treitschke  and  Bernhardi  have  once 
more  been  brought  into  the  fray. 
Apparently  quite  a  number  of  Eng- 
lishmen, now  well  advanced  in 
years,  were  in  Berlin  when,  30  or  40 
years  ago,  Treitschke  was  at  the 
height  of  his  always  limited  popular- 
ity, based  chiefly,  as  I  said  the  other 
day,  on  his  brilliant,  but  very  nar- 
rowly limited  exposition  of  the 
forces  of  the  young  Empire.  As  to 
Bernhardi,  it  is  worth  while  to  re- 
peat, that  up  to  the  beginning  of 
this  year  six  editions  only  had  ap- 
peared of  his  work  on  "the  next 
war."  The  edition  of  a  semi-scien- 
tific volume  consists  usiially  of  about 
1,000  copies.  It  is  clear,  therefore, 
that  very  few  Germans  had,  before 
the  war,  read  Bernharrti's  book.  But 
enough  has  been  said  in  the  press  on 
this  point  to  make  the  outsider  real- 
ize that  neither  Treitschke  nor  Bern- 
hardi can  be  fastened  upon  the  Ger- 
man people  as  a  typical  representa- 
tive, any  more  than  H.  G.  Wells  and 
the    others   of    his    ilk    can    bo    made 


out   to   be   typical   representatives  of 
the  English  people. 

Another  item  of  important  news, 
with  reference  to  the  causes  of  the 
war,  is  the  discovery  in  Brussels  of 
certain  documents  which  clearly 
show  a  military  understanding  of 
some  age  between  England  and  Bel- 
gium. The  English  government,  in 
its  attempt  to  explain  away  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  discovery,  admits 
that  "some  notes  with  reference  to 
the  subject  may  exist  in  the  archives 
of  Brussels."  It  merely  deprecates 
their  importance  and  seeks  to  show 
that  they  were  of  a  defensive  and  not 
of  an  aggressive  character.  It  con- 
tends that  such  arrangements  with 
Belgium  were  justified  in  view  of 
the  provocation  of  France  by  Ger- 
many in  the  Morocco  imbroglio,  and 
of  the  construction  by  Germany  of 
military  railroads  to  the  Belgian 
frontier.  It  tries,  in  other  words,  to 
shift  the  blame  to  Germany.  It  con- 
siders its  action  as  one  brought  about 
purely  by  a  desire  to  oppose  German 
aggression.  The  action  of  Germany 
in  the  Morocco  trouble  was  caused 
directly  by  the  agreement  between 
If  ranee  and  England  allotting  Moroc- 
co to  the  French  sphere  of  influence 
and  Egypt  to  the  English  sphere  of 
influence.  .As  far  as  the  construction 
of  strategic  Railroads  is  concerned, 
such  railroads  as  exist  from  Germany 
into  Belgium  merely  serve  the  enor- 
mous interchange  of  peaceful  traffic 
which  has  been  growing  in  recent 
years  at  an  amazing  pace.  There 
are  no  railroad  lines  to  the  Belgian 
frontier  which  can  be  designated  as 
"strategic."  Only  a  railroad  which 
fails  to  maintain  itself  in  times  of 
peace  and  which  is  at  the  same  time 
of  paramount  value  in  times  of  war, 
may  be  called  a  strategic  line. 

The  notes  dealing  with  the  military 
arrangements  between  Great  Britain 
and  Belgium,  may,  when  fuller  re- 
ports become  available,  contain  other 
interesting  facts.  One  thing  is  already 
clear:  the  arrangements  for  the  pro- 
tection of  Belgian  neutrality  con- 
templated a  co-operation  with  France 
against  Germany,  but  not  one  with 
Germany  against  France.  Why  did 
the  cherisher  and  defender  of  small 
nations.  Great  Britain,  arrange  in  so 
one-sided  a  manner  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  integrity  of  Belgium? 
Why  did  Belgium  continue  such  a 
one-sided  arrangement  with  Great 
Britain,  when  Belgium's  own  Min- 
ister reported  on  the  "danger  of 
French  attack,  threatening  us  not 
only  near  Luxemburg,  but  on  the 
whole  length  of  the  common  fron- 
tier," and  impugned  the  motives  of 
the  French  and  English  in  volunteer- 
ing as  special  "protectors"  of  Bel- 
gium? All  that  Germany  has  ever 
contended  is  proved  by  that  part  of 
these  Brussels  dispatches  which  has 
been  accepted  by  England.  Germany 
has  maintained  only  that  she  had  the 
gravest  of  reasons  for  assuming  the 
existence  of  military  plana  prepared 
by  the  English  and  French  and  In- 
volving a  passage  through  Belgium. 
For  its  conchisions,  Germany  had  no 
other  mode  or  code  of  reasoning  than 
that  adopted  by  England  and  France. 
England  and  France  acted  as  soon  as 
they  thought  that  they  detected  Ger- 
man aggressiveness.     Germany  acted 


as  soon  as  she  thought  she  detected 
English  and  French  aggressiveness. 
The  General  Staff  ot  all  of  these 
countries  had  worked  out  plana 
against  attacks  by  the  others  through 
Belgium.  When  Germany's  repeated 
offers  of  neutrality  for  Belgium, 
France  and  England  were  rejected, 
she  had  no  other  choice  than  to  in- 
terpret the  Belgian,  English  and 
French  military  conventions  as  hos- 
tile rather  than  defensive.  So,  in  the 
light  of  these  latest  disclosures  and 
of  England's  comments  thereon,  all 
possible  favorable  allowances  for  the 
French  and  English  having  been 
made,  neither  the  action  of  Germany 
nor  that  of  England  can  be  arraigned 
without  the  arraignment  of  botb-. 


I'OVSOXBY'S  THIRTEEN  QUES- 
TIONS. 


Translation  of  Editorial. 
Illiiioi.s  Staats-Zeitung,   Chicago. 

The  I»ndon  government  Is  still 
pleased  to  adopt  a  loud  tone  when  the 
final  result  of  the  war  is  discussed  and 
displays  an  absurd  self-conceit  that  con- 
trasts strangely  with  the  successes  of 
Great  Brit.ain  in  this  war.  Facts  speak 
louder  and  clearer  than  all  assurances 
of  the  government  and  the  continual 
loss  of  British  ships  has  brought  the 
war  closer  to  the  minds  of  the  masses 
in  England.  The  evident  dissatisfac- 
tion and  mischief  brewing  among  these 
masses  has  reached  such  a  state  that  It 
was  considered  m^'essary  in  London  to 
divert  the  rage  of  the  mob.  which  was 
directed  against  the  government.  In 
consequence  of  this  policy  we  hear  to- 
day of  the  pillaging  of  all  business 
houses  in  London  that  belong  to  Ger- 
mans. 

People  who  can  think  for  themselyes 
are  not  affected  by  such  actions  and 
when  we  consider  the  rapidly  growing 
feeling  against  Britain's  war  policy  we 
feel  justified  in  asking  how  long  these 
fathers  of  the  war  will  continue  to  di- 
rect England's  pnlio.v.  The  most  severe 
criticism  of  England  by  an  English- 
man may  probably  be  found  In  the 
thirteen  questions  published  by  Mr. 
Ponsonliy,  a  member  of  parliament. 
"If  we."  Mr.  Ponsonby  says  in  his  ob- 
jections to  England's  partlcijiation  In 
the  war,  "who  think  that  many  fatal 
errors  have  been  made  would  remain 
silent  any  longer  these  errors  would 
never  become  known  to  the  public  and 
there  would  be  no  hope  for  enlight- 
enment in  the  future."  Ponsonby  then 
puts  the  questions  and  the  answers  Im- 
mediately following  the  questions  show 
his  views  as  well  as  those  of  his  parti- 
Bans. 

1.  Does  the  corresjvindence  contained 
In  our  White  Rook  show  that  we  had 
assumed  great  obligations  and  become 
entangled  in  a  net  we  had  prepared 
ourselves? — Yes.  2.  Is  it  just  or  even 
prudent  to  form  alliances  with  one  na- 
tion, without  informing  other  nations 
thereof? — No.  3.  lias  our  government 
emphatically  declared  It  was  under  no 
obligiitions  in  case  of  war? — Yea.  4. 
Would  wo  have  declared  war  on  France 
If  that  country  had  considered  It  neces- 
sary for  its  own  safety  to  send  an  army 
Into  Belgium? — No.  fi.  Was  Germany 
aware  that  we  had  bound  ourselves  to 
Riipiiort  France  and  did  Germany  want 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM" 


a  war? — No.  6.  Would  Germany's  at- 
titude not  have  been  entirely  different 
had  she  known  our  intentions  from 
the  start?— Yes.  7.  Was  it  not  above 
all  an  attack  by  a  Slavic  race,  that  is 
Russia,  that  Germany  feared? — Tes. 
S.  Is  our  support  of  Russia  not  equal 
to  the  strengthening  of  Russian  auto- 
cracy and  militarism  and  thereby  ob- 
structing the  development  of  the  Rus- 
sian people? — Yes.  9.  Would  not  Rus- 
sia's success  in  this  war  cause  her  to 
acquire  new  territory  and  would  this 
not  he  a  calamity? — Yes.  10.  Is  it 
possible  or  desirable  that  the  German 
Empire  be  overthrown  and  that  it  cease 
to  flourish? — No.  11.  Is  It  probable 
that  Germany  would  become  an  in- 
active and  subordinate  state  by  losing 
all  her  colonies? — No.  12.  Was  there 
any  ill  feeling  towards  the  Germans 
shown  by  the  British  people  at  the  out- 
break of  the  war? — No.  13.  Have  we 
any  reason  to  think  that  official  Eng- 
land was  pursuing  an  anti-German  pol- 
icy?— Yes. 

Ponsonby's  questions  and  answers 
cover  all  charges  directed  against  Eng- 
land by  the  Germans  and  these  objec- 
tions raised  by  an  Englishman  against 
the  actions  of  his  own  country  is  a 
great  mor.al  support  of  the  justice  of 
the  German  joint  of  view.  They  show 
no  more  and  no  less  than  that  England 
labored  continually  and  systematically 
to  bring  about  this  war  and  started  it 
by  a  false  pretext.  Germany  has  no 
occasion  to  parade  this  English  witness 
in  public  because  she  requires  no  rrf- 
erences  for  the  honesty  of  her  policy : 
neither  can  she  hope  to  gain  by  It,  for 
words  and  declarations  of  sympathy, 
even  though  they  come  from  the  camp 
of  the  enemy,  will  have  no  influence  on 
military  events.  But  as  an  evidence  of 
the  growing  feeling  in  England  these 
questions  and  answers  are  interesting 
and  even  of  historic  value  as  Mr.  Pon- 
sonby  has  for  the  past  six  years  been 
one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of 
the  liberal  party,  the  party  now  in 
power  and  his  utterances  are  all  the 
more  important  as  he,  in  his  capacity 
as  private  secretary  to  the  former  lib- 
eral leader  Campliell-Bannerman,  has 
considerable  influence. 


GREAT   BRTT.AIX'S   REAL   MOTIVE 
FOR   ENTERING   THE   WAR. 


New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,  New 

York. 

Herman  Ridder. 

The  veil  of  hypocritical  altruism 
which  the  British  Government  has 
hung  between  its  real  motives  for 
entering  the  present  war  and  the 
searching  eye  of  the  world,  torn 
asunder  by  the  cold,  crude  and,  in 
the  logic  of  Great  Britain,  condemna- 
tory fact  that  in  the  twenty-five 
years  from  1SS7  to  1912  the  exports 
"from  the  German  Empire  increased 
from  1734.000,000  to  $2,239,000,000 
while  British  exports  advanced  from 
$1,134,000,000  to  no  more  than 
$2,486,000,000.  Although  Great 
Britain  still  leads  in  total  value  of 
exports,  her  rate  of  increase  during 
these  years  has  been  so  insignificant 
In  comparison  with  Germany's  as  to 
give  cause  for  serious  alarm  not 
alone  to  the  British  merchant  but  to 
his     Government      as      well.        This 


steady  forging  ahead  by  Germany  in 
the  world's  markets,  unassisted  by 
extensive  colonies  such  as  Great  Bri- 
tain possesses,  has  been  for  years  in- 
terpreted in  every  conceivable  man- 
ner by  the  British  press.  The  phrase 
"Made  in  Germany"  was  coined  to 
kill  German  trade,  but  today  it  is 
the  coals  of  fire  which  are  returning 
to  burn  the  heads  of  those  who 
coined  it. 

That  this  is  no  unfounded  as- 
sertion may  be  read  in  the  British 
papers  which  have  come  to  us  since 
the  beginning  of  the  war  or  in  that 
element  of  the  American  press  which 
has  joined  in  the  campaign  to  sweep 
German  commerce  from  the  seas. 
The  leading  British  newspapers  find 
their  one  triumphant  note  in  the 
thought,  expressed  in  headline  after 
headline,  that  out  of  this  conflict  will 
come  the  recapture  of  the  fields  lost 
to  their  merchants  in  the  years  of 
Germany's  peaceful  expansion.  What 
she  could  not  do  by  the  fair  means 
of  commercial  competition,  Great 
Britain  has  set  about  to  do  by  war. 
Baffled  at  every  turn  by  German 
brains  and  enterprise,  it  was  the  only 
recourse  left  to  her. 

The  story  of  British  diplomacy 
during  the  last  years  coincident  with 
Germany's  tremendous  cutting  down 
of  Britain's  commercial  supremacy  is 
punctuated  with  every  conceivable 
form  of  possible  interference  with 
her  rival's  legitimate  line  of  trade 
expansion.  It  was  all  done  under  the 
cover  of  that  shibboleth  of  Downing 
Street  "the  status  quo."  but  like 
other  fabrics  stretched  to  cover  too 
much,  the  "status  quo"  became  at 
last  transparent.  When  that  point 
was  reached,  war  sooner  or  later  was 
inevitable. 

It  was  Edward  VII,  who  main- 
tained the  "status  quo"  in  northern 
Africa  by  bargaining  with  France  for 
Egypt  and  giving  in  return  a  free 
hand  to  the  French  in  Morocco,  and 
thus  closed  both  of  these  countries 
to  German  trade.  The  Treaty  of 
Algeciras  which  subsequently  "guar- 
anteed" the  open-door  in  Morocco 
was  never  intended  by  France  and 
Great  Britain  to  be  anything  but  a 
mantle  to  cover  the  insidious  work- 
ings of  French  subtlety.  Sir  Edward 
Grey,  with  the  same  "status  quo" 
ever  uppermost  in  his  mind,  divided 
Persia  between  Russia  and  Great 
Britain  and  closed  another  door  in 
the  face  of  German  expansion.  In 
China  the  same  objective  was 
aimed   at. 

There  was  not  one  field  beyond  her 
own  borders  in  which  Germany  was 
unopposed  not  simply  by  the  com- 
mercial competition  of  her  rival  but 
by  all  the  diplomatic  forces  that 
could  be  brought  to  bear  against  her. 
Germany  knew  this,  and  Great  Brit- 
ain knew  that  she  knew  it  and  that 
the  hour  of  reckoning  could  not  be 
long  postponed.  When  her  chain  of 
allies  had  been  completed.  Great 
Britain  needed  only  a  pretext. 

The  "White  Paper"  issued  by  the 
British  Foreign  Office  and  the  tele- 
grams exchanged  between  Downing 
Street  and  the  British  Embassy  in 
Washington  show  where  this  pretext 
was  found  and  throw  a  strong  light 
upon    the   principles   which    actuated 


Great  Britain  to  declare  war  on  Ger- 
many. The  excuse  given  by  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  for  the  declaration  of  war 
was  the  violation  of  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium,  hut  anyone  who  can  read 
will  see  for  himself  how  little  such 
altruistic  motives  moved  the  British 
Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  at  a 
time  when  it  was  in  his  power  to 
prevent  the  violation  of  Belgium  soil. 
The  following  statement  sent  by 
the  British  Foreign  Office  to  its  Em- 
bassy in  Washington  subsequent  to 
the  seizure  of  the  two  warships 
building  in  British  shipyards  for 
Turkey  enunciates  a  policy  which 
exactly  covers  Germany's  action  in 
Belgium. 

"In  accordance  with  the  recog- 
nized principle  of  the  right  and  su- 
preme duty  to  insure  national  safety 
in  time  of  war.  His  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment took  over  two  ships  which 
were  building  in  England  for  the 
Turkish  government,  but  had  not  yet 
been  delivered  to  them. 

"His  Majesty's  Government  has 
not  only  offered  to  pay  in  full  and 
return  the  ships  in  good  condition 
after  the  war,  or  supply  equivalent 
new  ones,  but  also  additional  and 
generous  compensation  for  the  use 
of  the  preempted  ships  during  the 
war." 

No  simpler  justifications  of  Ger- 
many's passage  through  Belgium 
could  be  supplied  than  this  state- 
ment by  the  British  Foreign  Office. 
How  much  in  harmony  it  is  with  the 
views  of  those  responsible  for  Great 
Britain's  policy  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, how  hypocritical  their  pro- 
fessed motives  of  highest  interna- 
tional morality  are,  is  best  shown  by 
quoting  verbatim  from  the  British 
"White  Paper."  These  quotations 
clearly  show  that  Great  Britain 
WANTED  to  go  to  war  and  was 
merely  looking,  as  usual,  for  the 
proverbial  sheep-skin,  in  which  to 
parade  before  an  applauding  audi- 
ence. 

Sir  Edward  Grey  to  Sir  P. 
Goschen.  London,  Foreign  Of- 
fice, Aug.   1st,   1914. 

Sir:  I  told  the  German  Am- 
bassador today  that  the  reply 
of  the  German  Government  with 
regard  to  the  neutrality  of  Bel- 
gium was  a  matter  of  very  great 
regret,  because  the  neutrality  of 
Belgium  affected  feeling  in  this 
country. 

He  asked  me  whether,  if  Ger- 
many gave  a  promise  not  to  vio- 
late Belgium  neutrality,  we 
could  engage  to  remain  neutral. 
I  replied  that  I  could  not  say 
that  •  our  hands  were  still  free. 
Tlie  Ambassador  pressed  me 
as  to  whether  I  could  not 
formulate  conditions  on  which 
we  would  remain  neutral.  HE 
EVEN  SUGGESTED  THAT  THE 
INTEGRITY  OF  FRANCE  AND 
HER  COLONIES  MIGHT  BE 
GUARANTEED. 

I  SAID  THAT  I  FELT 
OBLIGED  TO  REFUSE  DEF- 
INITELY ANY  PROMISE  TO 
REMAIN  NEUTRAL,  AND  I 
COULD  ONLY  SAY  THAT  WE 
MUST  KEEP  OUR  HANDS 
FREE." 


WHY  BELGIUM  WAS  NOT  PROTECTED 


Sir  Edward  Grey  to  Sir  F. 
Berite.      (Telegraphic.) 

London,  Foreign  Office,  Aug. 
2nd,   1914. 

After  the  Cabinet  Meeting 
this  morning  I  gave  M.  Cambon 
the  following  memorandum: 

"I  am  authorized  to  give  an 
assurance  that,  if  the  German 
fleet  comes  into  the  Channel  or 
through  the  North  Sea  to  under- 
take hostile  operations  against 
French  coasts  or  shipping,  the 
British  fleet  will  give  all  the 
protection  In  its  power. 

"This  assurance  must  not  be 
taken  as  binding  his  Majesty's 
Government  to  take  any  action 
until  the  above  contingency  of 
action  by  the  German  fleet  takes 
place." 

M.  CAMBON  ASKED  ME 
ABOUT  THE  VIOLATION  OF 
LUXEMBURG.  I  TOLD  HIM 
THE  DOCTRINE  ON  THAT 
POINT.  HE  ASKED  ME  WHAT 
WE  SHOULD  SAY  ABOUT 
THE  VIOLATION  OP  THE 
NEUTRALITY  OF  BELGIUM.  I 
SAID  WE  WERE  CONSIDER- 
ING WHETHER  WE  SHOULD 
DECLARE  VIOLATION  OP 
BELGIAN  NEUTRALITY  TO 
BE  CASUS  BELLI." 

There  appears  to  have  been 
neither  logic  nor  decisiveness  in  the 
attitude  of  Great  Britain  on  the 
question  of  Belgium's  neutrality.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  question  of  na- 
tional safety  is  clearly  expressed  and 
unmistakable.  Great  Britain  was 
ready  to  do  anything  to  insure  her 
national  safety.  Placed  In  a  posi- 
tion similar  to  Germany's  she  could 
not  but  have  announced  to  the 
world:  "In  accordance  with  the 
recognized  principle  of  the  right  and 
supreme  duty  to  Insure  national  safe- 
ty in  time  of  war,  His  Majesty's 
Government  was  obliged  to  enter 
Belgium. 

"His  Majesty's  Government  has 
not  only  offered  to  pay  in  full  and 
return  everything  in  good  condition 
but  also  additional  and  generous 
compensation  for  the  use  of  Belgian 
territory  during  the  war." 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  hypocrisy 
about  the  value  of  international 
agreements.  If  all  nations  respected 
their   treaties  and  conventions  there 


would  be  no  longer  cause  for  war. 
The  seizure  of  the  Turkish  ships  was 
a  necessity  to  England,  and  the  oc- 
cupation of  Belgium  a  necessity  to 
Germany.  Tbe  extenuation  of  the 
German  action  is  contained  in  these 
words  of  the  British  "White  Paper": 

"Germany  had  consequently  to  dis- 
regard Belgian  neutrality,  it  being 
for  her  a  question  of  life  or  death  to 
prevent  French  advance." 

When  we  have  discarded  the  non- 
essential, the  facts  that  stand  out 
boldly  are  that  Sir  Edward  Grey  still 
had  it  in  his  power  on  August  2nd  to 
determine  whether  Great  Britain 
"should  declare  violation  of  Belgian 
neutrality  to  be  casus  belli,"*  that  he 
refused  to  give  the  German  Ambassa- 
dor any  satisfaction  on  this  vital 
point,  and  that  when  the  time  was 
ripe  he  <ised  the  Ui't  accompli  of  the 
German  movement  through  Belgium, 
under  circumstances  warranted  by 
his  own  proniincinmrnto  in  the  case 
of  the  Turkish  war-ships,  as  the  pre- 
text so  long  sought  to  strike  at  Great 
Britain's  commercial  enemy. 


•Consult  the  INDEX  for  "An  Au- 
thority on  Neutrality"  on  this  subject. 
—The  Editor  of  War  Echoes. 


UNFAIR  .\XD  INSINCERE. 


Editorial  from  the  "Milwaukee  Free 
Press,"    October   13,    1914. 

Every  civilized  human  being  de- 
plores and  regrets  the  destruction 
wrought  by  this  European  war. 
Whether  it  be  the  home  of  a  peasant 
or  a  monument  of  ancient  architec- 
ture that  is  damaged,  the  sentiment 
of  mankind  responds  either  on  the 
human  or  on  the  aesthetic  side,  as 
the  case  may  be. 

Admitting  that  and  approving  it, 
why  should  American  publications 
generally  sound  this  note,  and  at  the 
same  time  either  charge  or  insinuate 
that  the  Germans  somehow  are  to 
blame  for  the  destruction  that  is  tak- 
ing place  in  Prance  and  Belgium? 

Pick  up  the  "Saturday  Evening 
Post,"  the  "Literary  Digest,"  "Col- 
lier's Weekly,"  in  fact  nine  out  of 
ten  American  publications  devoted  to 
current  events — to  say  nothing  of  the 
newspapers — and  we  see  articles  and 
pictures  emphasizing  the  destruction 
wrought  by  the  war  and  always  with 


this  implication  of  German  responsi- 
bility and  German  blame. 

We  cannot  help  but  wonder  what 
these  same  publications  would  be  do- 
ing if  the  French  and  English,  or 
the  Russians,  were  fighting  on  Ger- 
man soil,  if  they  were  besieging  and 
taking  German  cities.  The  same  de- 
struction that  is  now  visited  on  Ant- 
werp or  Rheims  would  then  be  the 
lot,  say,  of  Strassburg  or  Hamburg. 

But  would  the  lamentings  of  the 
American  press  be  quite  as  loud  as 
they  are  today? 

Let  us  hope  so.  And  yet,  when  we 
think  of  the  wide  publicity  given  to 
alleged  German  atrocities,  while  sim- 
ilar charges,  far  more  authentic, 
against  the  Belgians  and  Russians, 
have  been  passed  over  in  compara- 
tive silence,  we  become  a  little  doubt- 
ful. 

War  is  an  engine  of  destruction, 
and  the  soil  which  has  the  misfortune 
to  become  its  theater  must  bear  the 
consequences. 

Germany  did  not  Invite  this  war. 
It  was  forced  upon  her.  The  prime 
mover  was  Russia.  Had  France,  had 
England  thought  more  of  the  de- 
struction that  threatened  their  cities 
and  their  citizens,  than  they  thought 
of  inflicting  destruction  upon  Ger- 
many, they  would  not  have  been 
found  hand  in  glove  with  Russia's 
purpose. 

To  expect  Germany,  fighting  as  she 
is  against-a  world  of  enemies  and  for 
her  very  national  existence,  to  bom- 
bard threatening  cities  with  confetti 
and  spare  churches,  when  they  are 
used  by  the  enemy  for  military  pur- 
poses, is  to  expect  something  pathet- 
ically  absurd. 

She  is  doing  only  what  that  enemy 
would  be  doing  were  he  fighting  for 
advantage  on  German  soil.  If  the 
French  or  the  Belgians  think  more 
of  their  cities  than  they  do  of  their 
strategic  importance,  all  they  have 
to  do  is  surrender  them  before  the 
work  of  destruction  commences. 

The  horror  and  the  waste  of  war 
cannot  be  minimized,  but  it  is  no 
evidence  of  either  the  sanity  or  fair 
play  of  certain  numerous  American 
journals  when  they  emphasize  the 
havoc  wrought  by  the  triumphant 
German  arms  as  if  somehow  that  re- 
flected upon  the  character  of  their 
warfare  or  the  civilization  of  the  na- 
tion. 


GERMANY'S  GEOGRAPHIC  POSITION 
CONSEQUENTLY  HER  PLANS  OF  MILITARY  STRATEGY 


GERMANY'S  HONORABLE  PROPOSAL  TO  BELGIUM 
EVEN  AFTER  BELGIUM  HAD  BROKEN  FAITH  WITH  HER  NEIGHBOR 
And  Belgium  finally  Plotting  Secretly  against  Germany 
Evidence  of  Secret  Negotiations  with  France  and  England  to  this  End 


Colossal  Machinations  and  Intrigue  against  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire 
and  Consequently  Against  Germany 


KING  ALBERT'S  POLICY. 


By  the  Editor. 
The  Open  Ck)urt. 

It  is  strange  that  although  Bel- 
gium's policy  is  well  known  in  Eu- 
rope and  the  questionable  character 
of  Belgium's  neutrality  is  recognized 
by  Sir  Edward  Grey  himself,  yet  in 
this  country  Belgium  is  persistently 
made  the  main  reason  for  keeping  up 
a  propaganda  against  Germany  and 
condemning  her  as  the  most  faithless 
and  barbarous  of  nations.  Almost  all 
my  critics  fall  back  on  Belgium  and 
treat  the  discoveries  in  the  Brussels 
archives  either  as  inventions  or  as 
of  no  significance.  Nor  have  our 
daily  papers  been  sufficiently  unprej- 
udiced to  publish  the  facts  which 
speak   loudly   against   British   policy. 

One  of  the  most  important  docu- 
ments discovered  by  the  Germans  in 
the  Brussels  archives  is  a  letter  writ- 
ten by  Baron  Greindl,  Belgian  am- 
bassador at  the  court  of  Berlin,  who 
claims  that  in  planning  to  enter  into 
a  close  alliance  with  the  Triple  En- 
tente and  open  its  country  to  a  Brit- 
ish army  for  the  purpose  of  proceed- 
ing against  Germany,  the  Belgian 
government  has  violated  the  laws  of 
neutrality  and  has  thereby  exposed 
herself  to  the  danger  of  surrender- 
ing her  fortresses  to  her  foreign 
friends  whom  he  deems  not  less  dan- 
gerous than  the  Germans.  The  letter 
reads  in  part  as  follows: 

"From  the  French  side  danger  not 
only  threatens  us  in  the  south,  by 
way  of  Luxemburg,  hut  also  along 
our  whole  common  frontier.  This 
assertion  is  not  based  on  conjectures 
alone;  we  have  positive  support  for 
it.  An  encircling  movement  from  the 
north  forms  without  doubt  part  of  the 
solieme  of  the  entente  roriliaJc.  If  that 
were  not  the  case,  the  plan  to  fortify 
Flushing  would  not  have  raised  such 
a  hue  and  cry  in  Paris  and  London. 
There  the  reasons  have  by  no  means 
been  kept  secret,  why  it  was  desired 
that  the  Schelde  should  remain  with- 
out defense.  What  they  wished  was 
to  be  able  to  transport  English  troops 
to  Antwerp   without  hindrance,   i.  e.. 


Albert — Kin.sr   of   Belsriuir 


to  create  with  us  a  basis  of  opera- 
tion for  an  offensive  movement 
against  the  Lower  Rliine  and  West- 
phalia, and  then  to  compel  us  to  fall 
in  line,  a  thing  which  would  not  have 
been  difficult,  for  in  handing  over 
our  national  stronghold  we  should 
have  deprived  ourselves,  by  our  own 
foolhardiness,  of  every  possibility  of 
resisting  the  demands  of  our  ques- 
tionable protectors,  once  we  had  been 
so  unwise  as  to  let  them  in.  The 
overtures,  as  perfidious  as  naive,  of 
Colonel  Bernardiston  at  the  time  of 
the  conclusion  of  tlio  entente  eordinle 
have  shown  us  plainly  how  the  mat- 
ter really  stood.  When,  eventually, 
we  allowed  ourselves  to  be  intimi- 
dated by  the  pretended  danger  of  a 
closing  of  the  Schelde,  the  plan  in- 
deed was  not  given  up,  but  so  altered 
that  the  English  auxiliary  army  was 
not  to  be  landed  on  the  Belgian  coast 
but  at  the  nearest  French  ports.  For 
this  we  have  as  witness  the  disclos- 
ures   of    Captain    Faber    which    have 


been  contradicted  just  as  little  as 
the  reports  in  the  newspapers,  by 
which  they  were  confirmed  or  sup- 
plemented in  individual  points." 

We  will  not  here  condemn  Bel- 
gium for  breaking  her  neutrality, 
for  to  remain  absolutely  neutral  un- 
der such  circumstances  is  very  diffi- 
cult and  actually  prevents  the  self- 
assertion  of  a  small  nation.  Belgium 
had  been  intended  as  a  buffer  state. 
It  was  established  for  the  purpose  of 
separating  the  frontiers  between 
France  and  Germany  and  its  estab- 
lishment was  mainly  in  the  interest 
of  England,  whose  policy  is  well  de- 
scribed in  the  recent  article  of  Field 
Marshal  Earl  Roberts  in  the  "Hib- 
bert  Journal"  of  October,  1914.' 

England  naturally  has  an  interest 
in  the  coast  of  the  continent  facing 
her  own  shore  and  has  always  been 
anxious  that  it  be  retained  in  the 
hands  of  a  weak  nation.  An  invasion 
of  Belgium  is  felt  by  English  states- 
men as  an  invasion  of  English  ter- 
ritory, and  we  must  understand  that 
this  feeling  is  a  sort  of  Monroe  Doc- 
trine to  Great  Britain.  This  explains 
why  the  English  could  go  to  war  in 
defense  of  Belgium. 

Upon  the  whole  England  has  al- 
ways favored  the  smaller  countries 
on  the  continent  and  has  always 
been  the  enemy  of  whatever  power 
took  the  lead  in  continental  politics. 
Originally  the  neutrality  of  Belgium 
was  aimed  against  France,  but  since 
the  establishment  of  the  German  em- 
pire the  tables  turned  and  it  was 
intended  to  be  used  against  Ger- 
many. But  just  here  lies  the  equivo- 
cal nature  of  England's  attitude.  She 
wished  to  use  Belgian  neutrality 
against  either  France  or  Germany, 
hut  did  not  intend  to  respect  it  her- 
self; this  two-faced  policy  is  posi- 
tively proved  by  the  documents  found 
in  Brussels  and  is  plainly  indicated 
in  Baron  Greindl's  letter. 

King  Albert  is  apparently  an  am- 
bitious monarch.  King  Leopold,  his 
uncle,  had  a  keen  mind  and  enriched 
himself  as  well  as  enlarged  Belgium 
by  the   acquisition   of   African   terri- 


REASONS  FOR  GERMANY  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR 


75 


tory.  Experts  in  international  law 
have  considered  that  this  step  threw 
doubt  on  the  old  neutral  character 
of  Belgium  or  even  entirely  disposed 
of  it,  and  this  view  was  shared  by 
no  less  an  authority  than  Gladstone. 
King  Leopold's  policy  induced  Glad- 
stone to  establish  a  new  treaty  dur- 
ing the  war  of  1870-1871,  which  was 
to  last  for  one  year  after  the 
close  of  the  war.  A  correspondent 
of  mine  who  prefers  that  his  name 
be  omitted,  writes  to  me  as  follows: 

"It  has  often  occurred  to  me  that 
very  little  explanation  has  yet  been 
offered  as  to  the  real  reason  for 
Belgium's  siding  with  the  allies. 
They  must  have  had  more  motives 
than  just  plain  neutrality.  Is  there 
anything  in  the  fact  that  the  throne 
of  Belgium  personally  owns  such 
large  tracts  in  Africa  that,  had  the 
throne  been  neutral  in  spirit,  they 
would  have  been  endangered  by  the 
English  and  French?  Might  it  not 
be  a  purely  selfish  motive  which  in- 
duced the  king  of  Belgium  to  join 
with  the  Allies,  believing  that  he 
would  thereby  avoid  losing  his  estate, 
which  I  understand  is  the  largest  in 
the  world?" 

Of  whatever  value,  or  lack  of 
value,  the  old  treaty  concerning  Bel- 
gium's neutrality  may  be,  King  Al- 
bert has  certainly  not  respected  it. 
He  has  been  on  very  friendly  terms 
with  England,  and  this  in  itself  is 
certainly  commendable;  but  he  has 
also  shared  the  view  of  the  British 
government  which  regards  Germany 
as  the  main  foe  of  English  suprem- 
acy on  the  seas  and  is  expressed  in 
the  formula,  drnniitiia  est  dclvnda. 
He  did  not  doubt  that  Germany  could 
easily  be  crushed  between  Prance 
and  Russia.  He  seemed  fully  con- 
fident that  Belgian  forts  could  resist 
invaders  for  an  indefinite  length  of 
time  and  could  not  be  taken  except 
at  an  enormous  loss  of  life,  and  so 
he  saw  no  danger  in  joining  the  Al- 
lies. He  even  ventured  so  far  as  to 
extend  his  own  infiuence  over  the 
other  small  powers  by  proposing  to 
establish  an  alliance  among  them  of 
which  he  was  to  be  the  leading  spirit. 
This  in  itself  was  also  a  breach  of 
neutrality.  Like  the  English  he  re- 
garded the  neutrality  of  Belgium  as 
a  protective  measure  against  Ger- 
many; he  saw  in  it  a  privilege,  not 
a  duty. 

The  alliance  between  the  small 
states,  however,  fizzled  out  because 
Holland,  which  was  the  very  first  one 
approached,  became  suspicious  of  its 
purport  and  hesitated  to  join.  And 
since  Holland  was  more  important  to 
Belgium  than  Denmark.  Sweden  or 
Norway,  and  since  the  latter  were  in- 
fluenced by  Holland's  misgivings,  the 
whole  scheme   wns  abandoned. 


We  do  not  know  what  part  Albert 
will  play  in  the  future,  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  is  a  unique  character  not 
to  be  underrated.  His  wife,  too,  is 
a  distinguished  woman.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  that  Bavarian  Prince, 
Rupert,  who  studied  medicine  and 
practiced  among  the  poor  just  like 
any  other  physician  except  that  he 
would  not  take  fees.  He  lived  like 
a  civilian,  and,  among  his  children, 
the  present  Queen  of  Belgium  was 
brought  up  like  a  professor's  daugh- 
ter. 

We  will  repeat  in  extenuation  of 
King  Albert's  mistakes  that  it  is  by 
no  means  an  easy  matter  to  play  a 
truly  neutral  part;  and  while  his  am- 
bitious plans  for  an  alliance  of  the 
smaller  states  failed,  he  has  cut  a 
dashing  figure  in  recent  history,  and 
has  shown  sufficient  energy  to  over- 
come even  the  traditional  antipathy 
against  royalty  in  democratic  Bel- 
gium. He  has  never  been  so  popular 
as  now  in  times  of  war,  and  his  popu- 
larity has  spread  into  France  so  that 
in  the  present  dissatisfaction  with  the 
republican  government  isolated  voices 
have  been  heard  which  would  wel- 
come him  to  the  throne  of  France. 


.MORK  ENGLISH  FAITHLESSNESS. 


Trunslation   of  Editorial. 
Illinois  Staat.s-Zeituiig,   Chicago. 

,J\ist  now  Edward  Grey  is  indulg- 
ing in  filthy  remarks  about  German 
violations  of  treaties,  the  expiation  of 
which  England  must  make  a  task  of 
a  lifetime.  The  fairy  story  of  Bel- 
gian neutrality  has  already  become 
stale  and  lost  its  attraction.  All 
sorts  of  interesting  secrets  have 
reached  us  from  the  diplomatic 
world,  that  show  that  this  Belgian 
neutrality  was  two-sided. 

Among  the  papers  of  General  Bri- 
aillant,  the  constructor  of  the  forts 
at  Lirge  and  Namur,  was  found  a 
statement,  that  work  on  these  forts 
— Intended  to  check  a  probable  Ger- 
man invasion — was  not  begun  until 
King  Edward  urged  their  erection, 
(^olored  sheets,  showing  all  the  dif- 
ferent uniforms  worn  by  French  and 
English  troops,  were  found  in  pos- 
session of  Belgian  soldiers,  and  BeV- 
gian  prisoners  asserted,  that  they 
have  to  be  instructed  to  become  fa- 
miliar with  the  styles  of  these  uni- 
forms. And  finally  we  learn  from 
the  columns  of  Paris  papers  that  dur- 
ing the  months  of  May  and  June 
large  quantities  of  ammunition  for 
English  cannon  and  small  arms  had 
been  stored  at  Maubeuge — a  prepa- 
ration for  the  war  that  was  begun 
in  August,  which,  according  to  Grey, 
England  had  not  decided  upon,  until 


Germany  avowed  its  inability  to  re- 
spect Belgium's  neutrality.  History 
then  will  be  the  unbiased  judge  in 
this  case  of  breach  of  neutrality, 
violated  tenfold  in  the  grossest  man- 
ner by  the  other  party  with  a  view 
of  overthrowing  Germany. 

The  longer  England  parades  this 
ghost  of  neutrality,  the  less  the 
dread  of  it,  while  on  the  other  hand 
her  faithlessness  and  violations  are 
more  and  more  brought  to  light.  In 
East  Africa  for  instance,  the  English 
have  bombarded  Dar-es-Salaam,  cap- 
tured the  steamer  "Herman  Wiss- 
man"  on  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  and 
with  the  aid  of  native  troops  de- 
stroyed German  settlements.  These 
actions  of  England  are  serious  viola- 
tions of  international  treaties  that 
had  been  proposed  by  her.  Article 
11  of  the  Congo  Act  stipulates,  that 
colonies  lying  in  the  central  African 
free  trade  zone,  among  them  Ger- 
man East  Africa,  should  in  case  of 
war  betw-een  their  respective  mother 
countries  be  considered  neutral  and 
enjoy  all  the  rights  of  a  neutral  state. 
This  was  determined  upon  to  avoid 
endangering  European  authority  and 
as  a  show  of  regard  for  the  natives. 
It  equals  throwing  the  principles  of 
colonial  policy  to  the  winds  when 
colored  troops  are  brought  in  to  fight 
in  the  battles  of  the  white  races.  The 
h!story  of  the  Boer  war  could  have 
taught  Germany,  that  England  after 
having  proposed  such  precautionary 
measures  would  entirely  ignore  them 
should  it  be  to  her  momentary  ben- 
efit to  do  so,  but  this  present  war 
has  again  shown  that  Germany's 
worst  fault  is  her  strong  faith  in 
others. 

The  history  of  the  near  future 
will  prove  England  guilty  of  show- 
ing outrageous  disregard  for  her 
African  treaties.  If  she  teaches  the 
natives  of  her  colonies  to  use  their 
arms  against  white  people,  she  will 
not  be  spared  the  mortification  of 
seeing  the  negroes  make  no  distinc- 
tion between  Britons  and  Germans. 
For  the  present  the  Germans  will 
see  to  it,  that  England's  brigandish 
policy  will  affect  her  stomach.  After 
the  British  excesses,  the  weak  forces 
of  East  African  home  guards  crossed 
the  frontier,  took  Foweto,  levied 
contributions  and  destroyed  sections 
of  the  Uganda  railroad.  From  South- 
west Africa  German  troops  have  in- 
vaded Batshumland  and  their  ad- 
vance has  been  such  a  rapid  one, 
that  the  London  diamond  trust  is 
fearing  for  the  safety  of  its  Kimber- 
ley  mines.  No  doubt  this  advance 
of  the  Germans  was  undertaken  in 
the  hope  of  arousing  the  Boer 
element  of  South  Africa,  which  as 
yet  has  not  become  reconciled  to  the 
English  government.     •      *      » 


Official  Despatch  of  Belgian  Charge  d' Affaires  in  Petersburg  to  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  Brussels. 
The  semi-official  Norddeutsche  AUgemeine  Zeitung  of  September  12th  publishes  the  following  highly  interest- 
ing article: 

BELGL-VN  DIPLOMAT  ANENT  GERMANY'S  EFFORTS  FOR  THE  MAINTENANCE  OF  PEACE. 

On  July  31  a  letter  was  mailed  in  Berlin,  bearing  the   following  address: 

Madame  Costermans, 

107  Rue  Froissard, 

Bruxelles,  Belgique. 

Since  as  is  known,  a  state  of  threatening  danger  of  war  was  declared  on  the  same  day,  for  the  territory  of  the 
German  Empire,  on  account  of  which  the  transmission  of    private   mail    to    foreign    countries   was   suspended,    the 


76 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM" 


Le  30  juillet  1914. 


Belgian  Legation, 
St.  Petersburg. 
795/402. 


(TRANSLATION. 


The  political  situation. 


July  30,   1914. 


letter  in  question  was  returned  to  the  place  of  dispatch,  viz.,  Berlin.  There  the  letter  was  kept  in  the  Dead  Letter 
Department,  and  after  the  expiration  of  the  prescribed  term,  was  opened  by  the  competent  postal  authority  in  order 
to  ascertain' the  name  of  the  sender.  It  was  found  that  inside  the  envelope  there  was  a  second  envelope,  bearing  the 
following  address: 

"Son  Excellence  Monsieur  Davignon, 

Ministre  des  Affaires  Estrangeres." 

Since  this  envelope  did  not  bear  the  name  of  the  sender  any  more  than  the  outside  envelope,  the  letter  was  then 
opened  It  contained  an  official  dispatch  of  the  Royal  Belgian  Charge  d'Affaires  at  St.  Petersburg,  Mr.  B.  de 
I'Escaille,  concerning  the  political  situation  in  the  said  capital  on  July  3  0,  which,  in  view  of  its  political  importance, 
was  handed  over  to  the  German  Foreign  Office  by  the  postal  authorities. 

This  dispatch  reads: 

(ORIGINAL.) 
Legation  de  Belgique, 
a  St.  Pgtersbourg. 
795/402. 

Situation  politique. 

Monsieur  le  Ministre: 

Les  journfes  d'hier  et  d'avant-hier  se  sont  passSes  dans 
I'attente  d'6v§nement8  qui  devaicnt  suivre  la  declaration  de 
guerre  de  TAutriche-Hongrie  a  la  Serbie.  Les  nouvelles  les 
plus  contradictories  ont  circuit  sans  qu'il  soit  possible  de 
demeler  exactement  le  vrai  du  faux  toucbant  les  intentions  du 
Gouvernement  Imperial.  Ce  gui  est  incontestable  c'est  que 
VAllemagne  s'est  efforcce,  autant  ici  qu'A  Vienne,  de  trouver  un 
inoyen  quelconque  d'eviter  un  conflict  general,  mais  qu'lle  a 
rencontre  d'lm  c6t6  I'obstination  du  Cabinet  de  Vienne  a  ne  pas 
faire  un  pas  en  arrifere  et  de  I'autre  la  mefiance  du  Cabinet  de 
St.  Petersbourg  devant  les  assurances  de  I'Autriclie-Hongrie 
qu'elle  ne  songeait  qu'a  punir  la  Serbie  et  non  a  s'en  emparer. 

M.  Sazonow  a  declare  qu'il  etait  impossible  a  la  Russie  de 
ne  pas  se  tenir  prete  et  de  ne  pas  mobiliser,  mais  que  ees 
preparatifs  n'etaient  pas  diriges  contre  J'Allemagne.  Ce  matin 
un  communique  ofBciel  aux  journaux  annonce  que  "les  reser- 
vistes  ont  ete  appeles  sous  les  armes  dans  un  certain  nombre 
de  Gouvernements."  Connaisant  la  discretion  des  com- 
muniques officiels  russes,  on  peut  hardimcnt  pretendre  qu'on 
mohilisc  partout. 

L'Ambassadeur  d'Allemagne  a  declare  ce  matin  qu'il  etait 
a  bout  des  essais  de  conciliation  qu'il  n'a  cesse  de  faire  depuis 
samedi  et  qu'il  n'avait  plus  gu6re  d'espoir.  On  vient  de  me 
dire  que  I'Ambassadeur  d'Angleterre  s'etait  prononce  dans  le 
meme  sens.  La  Grande  Bretagne  a  propose  dernierement  un 
arbitrage,  M.  Sazonow  a  depondu:  "Nous  I'avons  propose 
nous  m&mes  a  I'Autriche-Hongrie,  elle  I'a  refuse."  A  la  pro- 
position du'me  Conference,  TAllemagne  a  repondu  par  la  pro- 
position d'une  entente  entre  cabinets.  On  peut  se  demander 
vraiment  si  tout  le  monde  ne  desire  pas  la  guerre,  et  tache 
seulement  d'en  retarder  un  peu  la  declaration  pour  gagner  du 
temps. 

L'Angleterre  a  commence  par  donner  a  entendre  qu'elle  ne 
voulait  pas  se  laisser  entrainer  dans  in  conflict.  Sir  George 
Buchanan  de  disait  ouvertement.  Aujourd'  hui  on  est  ferme- 
ment  convaieu  a  St.  Petersbourg,  on  en  a  m.6me  I'assurance, 
gue  I'Angleterre  soutiendra  la  France.  Cet  appui  est  d'un 
poids  enorme  et  n'a  pas  peu  contribue  a  donner  la  haute  main 
a/u  parti  de  la  guerre. 

Le  Gouvernement  Russe  a  laisse  dans  ces  derniers  jours 
libre  cours  a  toutes  les  manifestations  pro-Serbes  et  hostiles 
a  I'Autriche  et  n'a  aucunement  cherche  a  les  etouffer.  II 
s'est  encore  produit  des  divergences  de  vues  dans  le  sein  du 
Conseil  des  Ministres  qui  s'est  reuni  hier  matin;  on  a  retarde 
la  publication  de  la  mobilisation.  Mais  depuis  s'est  produit 
im  revirement,  le  parti  de  la  giierre  a  pris  le  dessus  et  ce  matin 
a  4  heures  cette  mobilisation  etait  publiee. 

L'armee  qui  se  sent  forte  est  pleine  d'enthousiasme  et  fondee 
de  grandes  esperances  sur  les  enormes  progr6s  realises  depuis 
la  guerre  japonaise.  La  marine  est  si  loin  d'avoir  realise  le 
programme  de  sa  reconstruction  et  de  sa  reorganisation  qu'elle 
ne  peut  vraiment  pas  entrer  en  ligne  de  compte.  C'est  bien 
la  le  motif  qui  donnait  tant  d'importance  i  I'assurance  de 
I'appui  de  I'Angleterre. 

Comme  j'ai  au  I'honneur  de  vous  le  telegrapher  aujourd'hui 
(T.  10)  tout  espoir  de  solution  pacifique  parait  ecarte.  C'est 
I'opinion  des  cercles  diplomatiques. 

Je  me  suis  servi  pour  mon  telegramme  de  la  voie  via  Stock- 
holm par  le  Nordisk  Cabel  comme  plus  sure  que  I'autre.  Je 
coniie  cette  depeche  a  un  courrier  privS  qui  la  mettra  a  la 
poste  en  Allemagne. 

Veuillez  agreer,  Monsieur  le  Ministre,  les  assurances  de 
mon  plus  profound  respect. 

(gez.)  B.  de  I'Escaille. 


Yesterday  and  the  day  before  have  passed  in  the  expecta- 
tion of  events  which  were  bound  to  follow  Austria-Hungary's 
declaration  of  war  against  Servia.  Such  conflicting  news  was 
circulated  that  it  was  not  possible  to  disentangle  the  true 
from  the  false  concerning  the  intentions  of  the  Imperial 
(Russian)  Government.  Only  one  thing  is  incontestable,  and 
that  is,  that  Germany  lia^  7nade  efforts,  here  as  well  as  in 
Vienna,  to,  find  some  means  of  avoiding  a  general  conflict,  and 
that  she  has  met,  on  the  one  hand,  with  the  Vienna  Cabinet's 
obstinacj-  not  to  yield  one  step,  on  the  other  hand,  with  the 
distrust  of  the  St.  Petersburg  Cabinet  toward  the  assurances 
of  Austria-Hungary  that  she  intended  only  to  punish  Servia 
and  not  to  seize  her  territory. 

Mr.  Sazonow  has  declared  that  it  was  impossible  for  Russia 
not  to  hold  herself  in  readiness  and  not  to  mobilize;  that, 
however,  these  preparations  were  not  directed  against  Ger- 
many. This  morning  an  official  communication  to  the  news- 
papers declares  that  "the  reserves  have  been  called  to  the 
colors  within  a  certain  number  of  provinces."  However, 
whosoever  knows  of  the  reticence  of  Russian  official  "com- 
muniques," can  boldly  assert  that  the  mobilization  is  general. 

The  German  Ambassador  declared  this  morning  that  he 
was  at  the  end  of  his  endeavors  at  conciliation,  which  he  has 
not  ceased  making  since  Saturday,  and  that  he  scarcely  enter- 
tained any  more  hope.  I  just  hear  that  the  British  Ambassa- 
dor has  expressed  himself  to  the  same  effect.  Great  Britain 
has  recently  proposed  arbitration.  Mr.  Sazonow  replied:  "We 
have  ourselves  made  such  a  proposition  to  Austria-Hungary, 
but  she  declined."  To  the  proposal  of  a  conference,  Germany 
answered  by  proposing  an  entente  between  the  Cabinets.  One 
can  really  ask  one's  self  whether  everybody  does  not  want  war 
and  is  only  trying  to  postpone  its  declaration  a  little  in  order 
to  gain  time. 

England  commenced  by  making  it  understood  that  she  would 
not  let  herself  be  drawn  into  a  conflict.  Sir  George  Bu- 
chanan said  this  openly.  Today,  however,  everybody  in  St. 
Petersburg  is  quite  convinced — one  has  actually  received  the 
assurance — tlnit  England  will  stand  by  France.  This  support 
is  of  enormous  iceight  and  ha^  contributed  largely  toward 
keeping  the  war-party  above  water. 

During  the  past  few  days  the  Russian  Government  has  left 
free  rein  to  all  pro-Servian  and  anti-Austrian  demonstrations, 
and  has  in  no  way  attempted  to  check  them.  However,  there 
were  still  differences  of  opinion  within  the  Council  of  Min- 
isters which  met  yesterday  morning;  the  publication  of  the 
order  of  mobilization  has,  therefore,  been  retarded.  But  since 
then  a  change  has  set  in,  the  war-party  has  obtained  the  upper 
hand,  and  at  4  o'clock  this  morning,  the  order  for  that  mobili- 
zation was  given  out. 

The  army  which  believes  itself  strong,  is  full  of  enthusiasm 
and  bases  great  hopes  upon  the  enormous  progress  that  has 
been  made  since  the  Japanese  war.  The  navy  is  still  so  far 
removed  from  the  realization  of  its  plans  of  renewal  and 
reorganization,  that  it  can  scarcely  be  counted  upon.  Just 
here  lies  the  reason  why  tlie  assurance  of  English  support 
is  of  such  great  moment. 

As  I  had  the  honor  to  telegraph  (T.  10)  to  you  today, 
every  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  seems  past.  That  is  the 
opinion  of  the  diplomatic  circles. 

For  my  telegram  I  used  the  route  via  Stockholm  over  the 
Nordick  cable,  because  this  is  safer  than  the  other.  This 
dispatch  I  am  entrusting  to  a  private  courier,  who  will  mail 
it  in  Germany. 

Please  accept,  sir,  the  assurance  of  my  most  profound  re- 
spect. B.  de  I'Escaille. 


REASONS  FOR  GERMANY  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR  77 

The  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung  comments  on  this  official  dispatch  in  the  following  manner: 
"Todav  our  enemies  declare  to  the  whole  world  deceitfully  and  with  most  practiced  reversal  of  the  true  facts  that 
the  powersof  the  triple  entente  had  worked  until  the  last  moment  toward  the  preservation  of  peace,  but  through  Ger- 
many's brusque  attitude,  which  made  every  agreement  impossible,  were  forced  to  war;  Germany  had,  forsooth,  in  her 
wild  lust  for  conquest,  wanted  the  war  under  all  circumstances.  In  comparison  to  this,  the  document  in  hand  is 
valuable  as  a  proof  that  even  on  July  30,  two  days  before  the  German  mobilization,  the  diplomatic  circles  in  St. 
Petersburg  were  convinced  that  Germany  had  made  the  greatest  effort,  both  in  Vienna  and  St.  Petersburg,  to  localize 
the  Austro-Servian  conflict  and  to  prevent  the  outbreak  of  a  world  war.  It  is,  furthermore,  valuable  as  a  proof  that 
these  same  circles  were  alreadv  at  that  time  convinced  that  England  had  strengthened  the  side  of  the  Russian  war 
party  and  hence  added  materially  to  the  calling  forth  of  the  war,  through  her  assurance  that,  in  case  of  war,  she 
would  not  remain  neutral,  but  would  support  France  against  Germany.  And,  finally,  this  document  is  also  of  interest 
to  us,  because  its  diplomatic  author  believed  that  he  should  report  to  his  government  that  he  considered  the  assur- 
ance of  Russia  that  troops  were  called  to  arms  in  only  a  few  provinces,  and  that  a  general  mobilization  would  not 
take  place,  a  fraud." — Reprinted  from  the  "News  of  the  War  in  Europe,"  supplied  by  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York. 


A  BOER'S  OPIMO.N. 


From    the    "Illinois    Staat-s-Zcituiij;," 
Chicago,  October  1,  li)l-4. 

Editor  "Illinois  Staats-Zeitung." 

Sir:  In  reply  to  the  German  Im- 
perial Chancellor,  Sir  Edward  Grey, 
British  Foreign  Secretary,  authorized 
this  statement: 

"The  Imperial  Chancellor  refers  to 
the  dealings  of  Great  Britain  with 
the  Boer  republics,  and  suggests  that 
she  has  been  false  therein  to  the 
cause  of  freedom.  Without  going  into 
controversies  now  happily  past  we 
may  recall  what  General  Botha  said 
in  the  South  African  Parliament  a 
few  days  ago  when  expressing  his 
conviction  of  the  righteousness  of 
Britain's  cause  and  explaining  the 
firm  resolve  of  the  South  African 
Union  to  aid  her  in  every  possible 
way."     He,  Botha,  used  these  words: 

"Great  Britain  had  given  them  a 
constitution  under  which  they  (the 
Boers)  could  create  a  great  nation- 
ality and  had  ever  since  regarded 
them  as  a  frep  people  and  as  a  sister 
state.  Although  there  might  be  many 
who  in  the  past  had  been  hostile 
towards  the  British  flag,  he  (Botha) 
could  vouch  for  it  that  they  would 
ten  times  rather  be  under  the  British 
flag  than  under  the  German  flag." 

This  talk  of  Botha  and  his  British 
boss,  Edward  Grey,  about  "constitu- 
tion" and  "great  nationality"  is  very 
much  like  the  bunk  which  the  Czar 
of  Russia  used  a  few  weeks  ago  in 
his  proclamation  to  the  Poles  in  or- 
der to  gain  their  loyalty. 

The  voice  of  Botha  is  not  the  voice 
of  the  Boer  people,  who  at  meetings 
all  over  South  Africa  under  the  lead- 
ership of  ex-President  Steyn,  General 
de  Wet,  General  Andries  Cronje  and 
General  Hertzog  unanimously  con- 
demned Botha. 

Boers  do  not  want  a  British  consti- 
tution which  compels  them  to  fight 
in  an  unjust  war  or  throw  down 
their  positions.  Nor  do  they  want 
the  German  flag  or  the  British  flag. 
What  they  want  is  the  free  constitu- 
tion of  the  late  South  African  Repub- 
lic and  a  BOER  FLAG  (the  vierkleur 
of  Transvaal)  which  freedom-loving 
Britain  ruthlessly  destroyed. 

Boers  also  want  full  compensation 
for  all  the  destruction  wrought  by 
British  troops,  and  will  never  be  sat- 
isfied with  the  British  sops  which  left 
many  of  them  virtual  paupers. 

The  so-called  "free"  British  South 
African  constitution  enables  Botha 
and  the  British  Governor  General. 
Lord  Buxton,  to  override  the  wishes 


Receiviiif;  the  (Mli< 


iviNc  .\i.i;i:i;t  l\  i;i:i;.man  i  xiform 

■crs  (it  tlie  Kefrinient.  whose  Chief  he  has  become  as  a  matter 
of  honor  in  peace  time  before  the  War 
(By   Courtesy   of   the    "Open    Court") 


of  the  Boer  people  and  follow  a 
megalomaniacal  policy  of  British  im- 
perialism and  British  navalism,  a 
navalism  which  has  been  a  ten  times 
greater  menace  to  the  nations  of  the 
earth  than  the  "awful"  German  mili- 
tarism. (Recently,  when  free  tolls 
for  American  ships  through  tlie  Pan- 
ama Canal  was  the  bone  of  conten- 
tion, it  was  so  menacing  that  even 
the  President  of  the  "mighty  Amer- 
ican nation"  had  to  beg  Congress  to 
ignominiously  hand-up  to  John  Bull, 
no  matter  whether  Uncle  Sam  was 
"right  or  wrong,"  rather  than  face 
and  fight  that  awful  big  British  navy 
and  its  faithful  Japanese  ally.) 

Under  this  free  British  constitu- 
tion. General  Hertzog  while  Minister 
of  Justice  and  member  of  Botha's 
cabinet  had  to  resign  his  position  and 
was  kicked  out  of  the  cabinet  because 
he  had  protested  against  South  Af- 
rican contributions  to  Britain's  big 
navy  and  against  the  Imperialism  of 
Botha,  who  a  few-  years  ago  said  that 
he  would  help  to  expand  the  British 
Empire,  which,  according  to  Sir  Wil- 
fred Laurier  (ex-premier  of  Canada, 
and  another  loyal  British  imperialist, 
who  no  doubt  has  caught  the  spirit 
of  the  song.  "Rule  Britannia,  Britan- 
nia   rule    the    waves"),    is    destined 


"ONE  DAY  TO  RIVAL  THE  ROMAN 
EMPIRE  IN  ALL  ITS  GLORY." 

What  is  so  wonderful  to  me  is  that 
British  liars,  with  the  help  of  Botha 
and  others,  in  the  face  of  the  fact 
that  Britain's  big  navy  bristles  with 
more  guns  and  other  engines  of  de- 
struction than  are  found  in  the  com- 
bined German  and  Austian  navies 
and  armies,  are  trying  to  intimidate 
Boers  with  German  flags  and  Ger- 
man militarism,  and  that  even  here 
in  America  they  are  trying  to  insult 
the  intelligence  and  frighten  the 
manhood  of  a  "mighty  nation"  by  ex- 
hibiting the  old  bogey,  German  flag 
and  militarism,  under  big  scare-heads 
in  the  pro-British  section  of  the 
American  press. 

There  are  no  Boer  papers  in  Amer- 
ica to  contradict  the  many  falsehoods 
and  misrepresentations  of  British 
statesmen  and  others  called  from 
South  Africa  and  England  about  the 
Boer  people,  so  I  trust  you  will  pub- 
lish this  letter  also,  hoping  it  will 
help  in  the  difficult  task  of  catching 
and  nailing  a  few  of  the  numerous 
British  lies. 

Thanking  you  in  anticipation,  I  re- 
main, Sir, 

Yours  truly, 
lOHAN  P.  A.  DEMPERS. 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM" 

A  Sketch  of  Belgian  History 
Belgium  Vicissitudes  for  a  Century — Neutrality  and  International  Law 


THE    NEW    BELGIAN   BANK    COMMISSION 

( By    Courtesy    of    the    "Chicago    Abendpost" ) 


WAR  HYPOCRISY  UNVEILED. 


An  Essay  on  the  AVorld  Conflict. 


By  Albert  E.  Henschel. 

(Another  point  of  view  as  to  Germany's 
cause  and  justice  in  the  war.  Published 
by  Mr.  P.  Hansen,  IVO  Chambers  Street, 
New  York  City.  Five  cents  per  copy. 
This  article  furnishes  most  reinarkable 
evidence  of  the  greatest  political  and  diplo- 
matic frame-up  against  Germany  In  his- 
tory.— Editor. ) 

In  these  rancorous  days  when  much 
is  heard  to  break  down  the  fair  Ger- 
man name  and  to  give  a  false  Idea  of 
German  national  ambitions,  when  this 
nation  is  depicted  as  a  horde  of  Huns 
and  Vandals,  delighting  in  destruction 
from  sheer  lust  and  malice ;  when  their 
military  system  is  held  up  to  oppro- 
brium— and  the  subtle  suggestion  is 
sought  to  be  instilled  that  if  they  are 
successful.  America  will  be  next  in 
turn  to  feel  the  lance  of  the  invading 
Uhlan — it  is  proper  that  we  settle 
down  to  some  sober  thinking  and  ask 
ourselves  whether  these  blood  and 
thunder  stories  are  not  part  of  the 
general  warfare  to  destroy  the  credit 
and  good  name  of  the  most  powerful 
antagonist  of  the  Allies. 

The  constant  reiteration  of  the  story 
of  the  violation  of  Belgian  neutrality ; 
of  German  militarism ;  of  the  Prussian- 
izing of  the  world;  of  tales  of  cruelty 
and  barbarism,  is  all  intended  to  have 
a  liattering  effect  upon  the  unbroken 
amity  that  has  characterized  the  his- 
torical relations  between  the  German 
and  American  people. 


The  cutting  of  the  German-American 
lable  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  left 
the  Germans  helpless  during  the  forma- 
tive period  of  American  public  opinion. 
The  English  had  the  monopoly  of  press 
news  and  drew  almost  exclusively  on 
their  imagination.  They  dreamed  of 
the  multiple  deaths  of  the  German 
Crown  Prince :  of  the  defeat  and  sui- 
cide of  Gen.  von  Emmich ;  of  the  Fall 
of  Allenstein  and  Kcinigsberg,  and  they 
were  not  slack  in  the  invention  of  Ger- 
man atrocities  and  vandalism.  It  was 
not  until  a  considerable  time  that 
-Vmericans  had  the  opportunity — which 
is  the  sine  qua  non  of  all  justice  and 
fair  play — of  "hearing  the  other  side." 
Then,  among  others,  such  distinguished 
.Vmericans  as  Professor  Burgess  and 
Professor  Sloane,  as  well  as  Dr.  Dern- 
burg.  who  is  almost  an  American  in 
spirit,  took  up  the  cudgels  for  "fair 
play"  to  a  nation  of  70  millions,  whose 
highest  moral  and  material  interests 
are  inextricably  interwoven  with  our 
own, 

A  False  and  Malignant  Analogy. 

P^very  tyjie  of  virulence  is  still  vying 
to  exhaustion  to  arouse  prejudice 
against  Germany  —  jn'ostituting  the 
highest  faculties  "to  make  the  worse 
appear  the  better  reason,"  One  of  the 
more  conspicuous  of  the  scon'ion- 
penned  baiters  of  Germany  had  the 
nonchalant  temerity  to  suggest  to  the 
American  public,  that,  on  the  same 
principle  that  Germany  deemed  herself 
forced  in  self-protection  to  invade  Bel- 
gium, she  would  be  justified,  after  hav- 
ing captured   Paris   and   invaded   Eng- 


land, in  hivading  the  United  States 
as  a  base  of  operations  for  the  con- 
quest of  Canada,  As  an  example  of 
the  absurd  methods  employed  to  in- 
flame American  feeling,  and  of  the  lit- 
tle respect  that  is  shown  to  American 
intelligence,  this  false  and  far-fetched 
analogy  is  quite  in  line  with  the  general 
concerted  attacks  upon  Germany. 

A  True  Analogy. 

In  place  of  this  most  unfair  analogy, 
let  us  suppose  that  your  house  was 
afire  with  the  only  means  of  escape 
over  your  neighbor's  roof.  Would  you 
dally  over  the  question  of  the  "neutral- 
ity" of  your  neighbor's  house — consid- 
ering that  his  home  is  his  castle? — iir 
would  you  simply  go  over  his  roof  and 
save  yourself  and  .your  family? 

But  what  did  the  Germans  do?  Did 
they  rush  helter-skelter  into  Belgium 
without  so  nnich  as  saying:  "By  your 
leave"  ? 

.Justice  to  Belgium. 

No.  To  the  honor  and  dignity  of 
Human  Nature  be  it  said,  that  in  that 
time  of  imminent  peril,  they  did  what 
no  other  nation  has  ever  done:  they 
delayed  suffioientl.v  —  when  every  mo- 
ment was  precious — to  ask  permission 
of  Belgium  and  to  give  assurance  that 
her  Integrity  and  independence  would 
be  protected  and  reparation  made  for 
all  losses.  The  future  historian  will 
refer  to  this  act  of  Germany  as  a  mani- 
festation of  a  sublime  sense  of  justice. 

When  this  offer  was  refused.  Ger- 
many did  what  any  other  European 
nation    would    have    done   in    the    first 


A  SKETCH  OF   RECENT  BELGIAN  HISTORY 


place.     She  went  into  Belgium  to  save 
herself  from  destruction. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Belgium  had 
the  right  to  refuse  permission  and  to 
resist  invasion.  But,  when  she  made 
her  choice,  which  Involved  war  with 
Germany,  she  cannot  complain  of  the 
■war  thus  invited.  When  she  took  her 
position  with  the  Allies  she  understood 
the  war  risks  she  was  taking.  If  she 
had  followed  the  example  of  Luxem- 
burg she  would  have  saved  herself  from 
calamity.  If  we  assume  that  Belgium 
was  loyal  to  her  neutrality  and  did  not 
conspire  with  France  and  England  to 
take  part  in  the  war,  it  would  bring 
home  to  us,  "That  the  real  tragedy  of 
history  is  not  the  struggle  of  right 
against  wrong,  but  the  conflict  of  right 
against  right." 

England's  Benevolence  Towards 

Egypt. 
Since  we  are  on  the  subject  of  anal- 
ogles,  let  us  select  one,  not  from  fiction 
but  from  fact.  Let  us  compare  "Ger- 
man's Crime  Against  Belgium"  with 
"Great  Britain's  Benevolence  Towards 
Egypt." 

In  July,  18S2,  England  invaded  Egypt 
because  that  country  thought  it  had 
the  right  to  improve  its  fortifications 
at  Alexandria.  On  the  6th  of  July 
Admiral  Seymour  demanded  instant 
cessation  of  the  work  on  the  forts, 
under  penalty  of  bombardment.  On 
the  10th  of  July  he  insisted  on  the 
surrender  of  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of 
the  harbor  as  a  material  guarantee. 
The  Egyptian  ministers  strove  to  nego- 
tiate, but  the  Admiral  was  firm  in  his 
resolution.  Early  on  the  morning  of 
the  11th,  eight  British  ironclads  and 
five  gunboats  fired  on  the  forts,  and  in 
a  few  hours  they  were  battered  down. 
The  other  powers  did  not  interfere, 
because  the  British  invasion  of  Egypt 
was  to  be  merely  temporary  and  "to 
secure  British  interests  and  restore 
order." 

Mr.  Bright,  one  of  England's  most 
noble  statesmen,  resigned  his  seat  in 
the  Cabinet  because  he  was  shocked 
by  such  lirutal  and  uncalled-for  viola- 
tion of  international  law,  and  because 
he  would  not  stand  for  goverinnental 
policies  of  sordid  graft  upon  weaker 
nations. 

On  July  17th  Mr.  Bright  entered  the 
House  of  Commons  and  stated  the  rea- 
sons that  impelled  him  to  resign.  His 
speech  was  punctuated  by  such  ap- 
plause as  showed  that  the  acts  of  the 
British  Coveniment  were  not  approved 
by  jiopular  .ludgment.  This  came  out 
ciearly  thereafter,  when  the  British 
Parliament  would  not  consent  to  re- 
ward .\dmiral  Seymour  with  either  a 
peerage  or  a  pension,  both  having  been 
proposed  by  Mr.  Gladstone. 

England  Violates  the  Moral  and  In- 
International  Law. 

Mr.    Bright,    in    part,    spoke   as   fol- 
lows : 
I  "I    have    endeavored    from    time    to 

'  time  to  teach  my  countrymen  an  opin- 
ion and  doctrine  which  1  hold,  which 
is  thai  the  moral  law  is  not  intended 
only  for  individual  life,  but  is  intended 
also  for  the  life  and  practice  of 
States.  I  think  in  the  present  case 
(here  has  been  a  manifest  violation  of 
international  law  and  of  the  moral  law, 
and   therefore  it   is   impossible  for   me 


to  give  any  support  to  it.  1  cannot 
repudiate  what  1  have  preached  and 
taught  during  the  period  of  a  rather 
long  political  life.  1  cannot  turn  my 
back  upon  my  belief  and  deny  all  that 
1  have  taught  to  many  thousands  of 
others  during  the  forty  years  I  have 
been  permitted  in  public  meetings  and 
in  this  house  to  address  my  country- 
men. One  word  only  more.  I  asked 
my  calm  judgment  and  my  conscience 
what  was  the  path  of  right  to  take. 
They  pointed  it  out  to  me  with  an  un- 
erring finger,  and  I  am  humbly  endeav- 
oring to  follow  it." 

A  nation  that,  through  her  Govern- 
ment, has  been  guilty  of  such  notori- 
ous violation  of  neutrality,  should  not 
be  taken  too  seriously  when  she  ap- 
points herself  as  Guardian-in-chief  of 
public  rights  and  Interpreter-General 
of  International  Law.  Furthermore, 
this  "Temporary  Possession  of  Egypt" 
was  made  Permanent  in  December, 
1914. 

German  Culture. 

The  English  seem  very  anxious  to 
free  the  German  people  from  the  mili- 
tary despotism  that  has  been  grinding 
them  into  the  greatest  commercial  and 
cultural  power  in  Europe.  A  great 
mysterious  fear  has  been  aroused  that 
the  Germans  are  going  to  impose  their 
culture  on  other  people.  What  is  called 
German  culture  is  really  the  eclectic 
product  of  all  the  culture  that  may  be 
found  anywhere.  It  is  merely  the  syn- 
thesis of  all  that  can  be,  and  ought 
to  be,  known  and  done,  within  the  lim- 
its of  present  civilization.  No  man 
is  more  modest  than  the  German  pro- 
fessor, who  seeks  the  light  of  the  lamp 
of  knowledge  in  the  most  obscure  cor- 
ners of  the  earth.  Instead  of  trying 
to  force  knowledge  on  the  rest  of  the 
world,  the  authorities  have  been  com- 
pelled to  restrict  the  pressure  of  for- 
eign students  in  order  that  their  home 
students  may  not  be  crowded  out. 

If  German  culture,  as  manifested  in 
German  life,  means  to  give  govern- 
mental aid  to  struggling  farmers, 
through  long-time  loans  at  low  inter- 
est— to  give  them  agricultural  instruc- 
tion by  which  poor  land  is  made  enor- 
mously productive  —  to  abolish  the 
slums  in  the  cities — to  bring  whole- 
some conditions  to  smile  upon  the 
abodes  of  the  laborer— to  banish  the 
vagrant  and  beggar  by  affording  every 
man  the  opporlmnty  to  work — to  re- 
ward the  toiler  with  a  reasonable  share 
of  the  values  he  helps  to  bring  forth — 
to  provide  insurance  against  the  shocks 
of  fate  and  misf(U'tune — to  encourage 
out-door  recreation  among  the  people — 
to  stimulate  the  sense  of  the  beautiful 
by  architecture  and  the  wise  planning 
of  cities — to  extend  facilities  for  the 
acfiuiromont  of  every  kind  of  ttseful 
knowledge — lo  infuse  respect  for  law 
and  order — to  discipline  the  young  to 
habits  of  thrift,  industry  and  useful- 
ness— lo  plant  in  their  hearts  the  seeds 
of  kindness,  courage,  honor  and  integ- 
rity— and  to  inspire  a  love  and  devo- 
tion to  their  country  that  makes  all 
Germans  one  family  ready  to  sacrifice 
all  that  is  near  and  dear  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Fatherland — then  we 
have  a  kind  of  culture  that  cannot  be 
imposed — which  springs  from  the  heart, 
the  genius,  the  virtues  of  a  people,  and 
cannot  be  attainecl  without  inward 
grace,  labor,  sacrilicc  and  struggle. 


(>ernian  Leaders  of  Liberty. 

It  has  been  intended  to  create  the 
impression  that  the  German  people  are 
ruled  by  a  military  autocracy  to  which 
they  supinely  yield  in  terror  of  the 
ruthless  fist  of  their  government.  Noth- 
ing could  be  farther  from  the  truth — 
the  suggestion  of  Tacitus  that  the  an- 
cient German  peoples  considered  the 
truth  as  the  noblest  of  their  virtues 
and  freedom  as  the  most  valuable  of 
their  possessions,  still  holds  good  among 
them.  The  union  of  German  thought 
and  aspiration  always  made  for  an 
advance  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  Dur- 
ing our  Civil  War  we  had  the  moral 
and  material  aid  of  Germany  in  fur- 
therance of  the  Union  and  of  the  lib- 
eration of  the  slaves.  Kant,  the  great 
leader  of  German  thought,  traced  the 
beginning  of  the  State  from  the  free- 
dom belonging  to  the  individual  as  his 
birthright,  lie  opposed  paternal  gov- 
ernment, the  impcrium  patcniale  and 
demanded  the  imperium  patnoticmn, 
where  everyone  sees  in  the  common- 
wealth the  Fatherland  whose  stability 
must  be  protected  by  laws  enacted  by 
their  collective  will.  He  demands 
equality  for  the  people  as  a  result  of 
the  liberty  that  is  born  with  them,  and 
emphasizes  the  right  of  free  speech 
as  the  palladium  of  liberty. 

Wilhelm  von  Humboldt  declares  that 
the  i)urpose  of  man  is  to  attain  the 
highest  and  most  proijortionate  devel- 
opment of  his  powers  as  a  whole,  and 
to  accomplish  this.  Freedom  is  the  first 
and  most  indispensable  requisite.  He 
also  was  a  firm  supporter  of  representa- 
tive government. 

Herder  demands  that  all  the  fac- 
ulties of  the  individual,  and  of  the 
people  as  a  whole,  be  brought  to  har- 
monious developiuent. 

Goethe  said : 
"To  this   thought   I   cling,   with   virtue 
rife. 
Wisdom's   last  fruit  profoundly   true. 
Freedom  alone  he  earns  as  well  as 

life, 
Who  day  by  day  must  conquer  them 

anew." 

Schiller: 

"Political  and  individual  freedom  re- 
main ever  and  eternally  the  holiest  of 
all  possessions,  the  worthiest  aim  of 
all  endeavor,  and  the  great  center  of 
all  culture." 

German  Forces  of  Democracy. 

These  writers,  and  others  like  'them, 
are  the  constant  forces  that  animate 
the  independent,  liberty  and  freedom- 
loving  Germanic  spirit. 

.\gainst  the  titanic  and  all  pervading 
influence  of  such  heroic  moulders  of 
(Jerman  character  and  tliought.  the 
writings  of  Treitschkc  and  Bernhardi 
are  but  feeble  and  ephemeral  manifes- 
tations— not  at  all  representative  of 
that  sturdy,  peace-loving  people. 

The  Ilanseatic  League  —  a  German 
institution  —  was  of  great  commercial 
and  civilizing  value — while  the  three 
free  cities.  Hamburg.  Bremen  and  LU- 
beck.  were  German  Republics.  In  fact, 
the  laws  and  free  institutions  of  Eng- 
land, upon  which  those  of  our  own 
land  are  based,  are  essentially  German 
in  origin,  for  it  was  the  German  stock 
that  came  over  into  England,  in  a  long- 
continued  inunigration  which  practi- 
cally drove  o>it  the  aboriginal  Briton. 
Mild   planted   the  [iluck  and  brawn  and 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM' 


hardihood  that  constitute  the  strength 
and  bigness  of  the  English  people. 

In  viewing  German  political  institu- 
tions, it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
a  countrj'  that  was  split  up  into  so 
many  kingdoms,  duchies  and  petty 
principalities,  could  not  readily  develop 
a  general  freedom.  It  is  only  since 
1S48  that  they  have  a  constitutional 
form  of  government.  Since  the  union 
of  their  Empire  they  have  made  giant 
strides  in  the  progress  of  political  lib- 
erty. The  Germans  appreciate  liberty 
and  freedom  as  much  as  any  other  na- 
tion. Schiller's  play  of  William  Tell, 
which  breathes  the  spirit  of  liberty,  is 
truly  typical  of  their  national  yearn- 
ing. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  "Yellow 
Book"'  of  France,  published  in  the 
"Times"  of  December  13,  1914  (sec- 
tion 9,  column  3,  page  1),  for  an  eluci- 
dation of  the  progress  of  popular  rule 
In  Germany.  The  document  tells  of 
the  state  of  German  public  opinion  In 
April,  1914.  It  speaks  of  "the  demo- 
cratization of  Germany  and  the  grow- 
ing force  of  the  Socialist  party."  It 
then  treats  of  the  nobility  as  follows : 

"Not  only  are  its  material  interests 
threatened  by  a  formidable  movement 
against  agrarian  protection,  but  Its  po- 
litical representation  diminished  In 
every  legislature.  In  the  Reichstag  of 
187S,  in  a  House  of  397  members,  162 
were  drawn  from  the  ranks  of  the 
nobility ;  in  the  Reichstag  of  1S9S  there 
were  S3 ;  in  that  of  1912,  57,  of  whom 
only  27  sat  on  the  right,  while  there 
were  but  14  in  the  center,  the  7  on  the 
left,  and  1  on  the   Socialist  benches." 

This  French  authority  indicates  fair- 
ly well  the  German  trend  towards 
democracy,  and  may  help  to  allay  any 
possible  fears  that  a  victorious  Ger- 
many is  going  to  overturn  the  general 
freedom  of  the  world. 

German    Militarism. 

The  militarism  of  Germany  has  never 
wrought  itself  into  such  a  pitch  of  ex- 
altation as  the  French  displayed  in  cast- 
ing anathema  upon  any  one  seeking  jus- 
tice in  the  Dreyfus  case.  A  whole  na- 
tion almost  gone  mad  in  behalf  of  a 
military  system  that  protected  a  traitor 
and  degraded  an  innocent  man.  After 
years  of  suffering  he  could  get  no  fair 
play  at  the  hands  of  the  military 
courts.  It  remained  for  the  civil  courts 
to  reinstate  him.  Do  we  hear  a  word 
against  French  militarism? 

It  is  a  patent  fact  that  the  mili- 
tarism of  Germany  has  neither  op- 
pressed their  people,  checked  their 
growth,  nor  in  any-wise  undermined 
their  prosperity.  What,  then,  becomes 
of  the  altruistic  argument  of  those  al- 
leged friends  of  the  Germans  who  say 
that  Germany  should  be  defeated  in 
order  to  save  the  good  German  people 
from  the  crushing  weight  of  their  mili- 
tarism ? 

Neither  the  alleged  evils  of  German 
militarism,  nor  the  cruelties  and  bar- 
barism now  so  well  advertised  to  a 
gullible  public — nor  any  of  their  other 
vices  improvised  for  the  occasion — have 
made  Germany  uninviting  to  the  large 
permanent  American  colonies  there, 
nor  to  the  vast  stream  of  American 
travelers  who  find  it  their  profit  and 
delight  to  visit  and  revisit  Germany 
on  every  available  occasion. 


Germany  the  Only  World  Power  That 

Has   Kept  the  Peace  for  a 

Generation. 

Were  it  not  for  the  German  military 
machine,  which,  by  the  way,  is  not 
disproportionate  to  the  wealth,  com- 
merce and  population  It  is  designed  to 
protect,  Germany's  independence  and 
commercial  expansion  would  be  at  the 
mercy  of  rival  nations.  The  army  and 
navy  establishments,  under  existing 
conditions,  are  just  as  necessary  to  the 
nations  as  safe-deposit  vaults  are  to 
banks  and  financiers,  for  protection. 
And  it  cannot  be  honestly  said  that 
Germany  has  used  her  military  strength 
for  any  but  strictly  defensive  purposes. 
If  we  sift  all  the  muck  and  mire  that 
has  been  cast  upon  Germany  we  can 
find  nothing  that  stands  out  against 
the  all-convincing  fact — that  Germany 
is  the  only  world-power  that  in  the  past 
generation  has  not  engaged  in  war. 
Our  own  President  Wilson  is  fond  of 
the  pertinent  expression,  "The  proof 
of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating." 

Baron  Steuben's  Militarism. 

If  the  militarism  of  Germany  is  of 
a  sort  that  keeps  that  country  at  peace 
for  44  years,  while  almost  all  others, 
without  that  pernicious  militarism, 
have  been  rampant  for  war,  conquest 
and  spoliation  of  weaker  territories,  I 
am  very  much  inclined  to  recommend 
the  German  brand  of  militarism  to  all 
countries  who  wish  peacefully  to  de- 
velop their  resources  and  reap  the  hon- 
est fruit  of  their  Industry  and  labor. 

Were  it  not  for  the  efficient  bit  of 
militarism  "made  in  Germany,"  that 
Baron  Steuben,  as  Adjutant-General, 
infused  into  Washington's  army,  and 
the  militarism  of  a  French  army  and 
navy,  together  with  the  potential  mili- 
tarism afforded  by  the  monetary  loans 
given  by  France  and  Holland,  It  is 
doubtful  whether  the  American  Colo- 
nies would  have  attained  their  Inde- 
pendence. Rev.  Dr.  Hillis  in  a  recent 
article  gives  an  illuminating  account 
of  what  German  militarism  has  done 
for  the  general  physical  and  moral  ef- 
ficiency of  Germany.  It  is  quite  evi- 
dent, from  the  general  conditions  of 
that  country,  that  its  militarism  has 
gone  hand  in  hand  with  universal  prog- 
ress and  development,  and  that  in  the 
matter  of  actual  happiness  and  con- 
tentment of  its  people  and  their  pros- 
perity, Germany  takes  a  front  rank 
among  the  nations. 

In  considering  the  future  of  German 
militarism  let  us  not  forget  that  much 
good  may  be  expected  of  a  people  who 
were  the  first  to  set  up  the  requirement 
that  a  soldier  must  be  a  gentleman. 
That  there  are  faults  in  the  military 
system  of  Germany,  as  in  all  other 
systems,  may  be  freely  admitted,  I 
hold  no  brief  for  military,  or  for  any 
other  kind  of  perfection.  We  must 
leave  it  to  the  intelligence  and  spirit 
of  the  German  people  to  work  out  their 
problems. 

It  strikes  me  as  absurd  to  ask 
American  approval  of  British  militar- 
ism on  the  sea  and  condemnation  of 
German  militarism  on  land.  England 
has  used  her  militarism  to  challenge 
every  weak  and  unprotected  spot  on 
earth,  while  Germany  has  been  con- 
tent to  use  hers  as  a  guardian  of  the 
general  peace  until   overwhelming  cir- 


cumstances forced  her  to  unsheath  the 
sword  in  self-protection. 

Policy  of  Justice  to  All  Nations. 

The  world-policy  which  controls  the 
German  Empire  was  thus  set  down  by 
its  diplomatic  founder  and  greatest 
statesman : 

"We  ought  to  take  trouble  and 
weaken  the  bad  feeling  which  had  been 
called  out  through  our  growth  to  the 
position  of  a  real  great  Power,  by  hon- 
orable and  peaceful  use  of  our  influ- 
ence, and  so  convince  the  world  that 
a  German  hegemony  in  Europe  is  more 
useful  and  less  partisan  and  also  less 
harmful  for  the  freedom  of  others  than 
a  French,  Russian  or  English.  That 
respect  for  the  rights  of  other  States 
in  which  France  especially  has  always 
been  so  wanting  at  the  time  of  its 
supremacy,  and  which  in  England  lasts 
only  so  long  as  English  interests  are 
not  touched,  is  made  easy  for  the  Ger- 
man Empire  and  its  policy,  on  one  side, 
owing  to  the  objectivity  of  the  German 
character,  on  the  other  by  the  fact 
(which  has  nothing  to  do  with  our 
deserts)  that  we  do  not  require  an  in- 
crease of  our  immediate  territory  and 
also  that  we  could  not  attain  it  with- 
out strengthening  the  centrifugal  ele- 
ments in  our  own  territory.  It  has 
always  been  my  ideal  aim,  after  we 
have  established  our  unity  within  the 
possible  limits,  to  win  the  confidence, 
not  only  of  the  smaller  European 
States,  but  also  of  the  great  Powers, 
and  to  convince  them  that  German  pol- 
icy will  be  just  and  peaceful,  now  that 
it  made  good  in  the  injuria  temporum, 
the  division  of  the  nation." 

The  Emperor  a  Ijover  of  Peace. 

This  fair  and  honorable  policy  to- 
wards other  nations  has  been  followed 
by  the  present  German  Emperor,  who 
frequently  went  out  of  his  way  to  pour 
oil  on  the  troubled  i>olitical  waters, 
and  to  preserve  peace  when  war  seemed 
inevitable. 

These  peaceful  proclivities  of  the  Em- 
peror, if  any  proof  were  needed,  are 
clearly  attested  in  several  of  the  con- 
fidential reports  published  In  the  "Yel- 
low Book"  of  France. 

The  subjoined  extracts  from  the  Em- 
peror's addresses  embody  the  national 
aspirations  of  the  German  people,  and 
are  in  line  with  his  consistent  efforts 
to  reach  an  amicable  understanding 
with  France  and  Great  Britain,  and 
to  preserve  friendly  relations  with  all 
other  countries. 

From  the  Emporer's  Addresses. 

"Germany  is  in  no  need  of  fresh 
military  glory,  nor  does  she  require 
any  new  conquests,  for  she  has  already 
obtained  once  for  all,  on  the  field  of 
battle,  the  right  to  exist  as  a  united 
and  independent  nation." 

"There  is  no  work  in  the  field  of 
modern  research  which  is  not  pub- 
lished in  our  tongue,  and  no  discov- 
ery in  science  which  we  are  not  the 
first  to  turn  to  account,  to  be  subse- 
quently adopted  by  other  nations. 
Such  is  the  World  Power  to  which  the 
German  Spirit  aspires." 

The  "Yellow  Book"  Versus  the  Neu- 
trality Issue. 

The  pretended  reason  given  by  Eng- 
land, with  such  flourish  of  trumpets, 
as   to   why   she  went  to   war,   namely. 


A  SKETCH  OF  RECENT  BELGIAN  HISTORY 


the  protection  of  the  inviolability  of 
treaties  anj  the  neutrality  of  a  small 
state,  receives  a  knockout  blow,'  when 
we  read  the  Yellow  Boolv  of  Prance. 

Document  06  shows  that  before  the 
Belgian  question  came  up.  Sir  Edward 
Grey  stated  that  if  Austria  invaded 
Servia  "A  European  question  would  be 
raised  and  a  war  -would  ensue,  in 
which  all  the  powers  would  take  part." 

Document  110 :  Sir  Edward  Grey 
said  "that  if  the  struggle  became  gen- 
eral England  could  not  remain  neu- 
tral." 

Document  14.S :  "If  the  German  fleet 
cross  the  Straits  or  go  North  in  the 
North  Sea  in  order  to  double  the  Brit- 
ish Isles,  with  a  view  to  attacking 
the  French  coasts  or  the  French  navy, 
or  to  disturbing  the  French  mercantile 
marine  •  •  *  from  that  moment  on 
England  and  Germany  would  be  in  a 
state  of  war." 

Annex  No.  123 :  Sir  Edward  Grey : 
"He  (the  German  Ambassador)  asked 
me  whether,  if  Germany  gave  the  prom- 
ise not  to  violate  Belgium's  neutrality, 
we  would  engage  to  remain  neutral. 
I  replied  that  I  could  not  say  that ; 
our  hands  ■were  still  free  and  we  were 
considering  what  our  own  attitude 
should  be." 

These  official  records  dispose  of  the 
pretense  that  Britain  went  to  war  in 
defense  of  the  cause  of  Belgium. 

The  Father  of  International  Law  on 
Neutrality. 

The  oft-repeated  misrepresentations 
of  Germany's  rights  and  duties  with 
regard  to  Belgian  neutrality  render  it 
desirable  that  the  controlling  princi- 
ples of  international  law,  as  well  as 
the  facts  to  which  they  apply,  should 
receive  careful  consideration. 

Was  Germany's  invasion  of  Belgium 
Justified? 

This  question  is  answered  in  the  af- 
firmative by  Grotius,  the  recognized 
Father  of  International  Law,  in  "Right 
of  War  and  Peace"  (Chapter  2,  Par.  7), 
who  quotes  Seneca  as  follows : 

"Necessity,  the  great  protectress  of 
human  Infirmity,  breaks  through  all 
human  laws,  and  all  those  made  in  the 
spirit  of  human  regulations." 

And  then  proceeds  (Par.  10)  : 

"Hence  it  may  be  inferred,  that,  in 
the  prosecution  of  a  just  war,  any 
power  lias  a  right  to  take  possession  of 
a  neutral  soil ;  if  there  be  real  grounds, 
and  not  imaginary  fears  for  supposing 
the  enemy  intends  to  make  liimself 
master  of  the  same,  especially  if  the 
enemy's  occupying  it  would  be  allended 
wilh  imminent  and  irreparable  mischief 
ti)  that  same  power." 

Belgium  Bellicose. 

It  will  be  expedient  to  pass  in  hasty 
review  the  historical  data  selected 
from  authentic  sources,  which  show 
the  march  of  events  that  finally  led  up 
to  the  Treaty  of  Neutralization.  The 
reader  should  distinguisli  between  the 
ordinary  neutrality,  that  is.  the  normal 
condition  of  every  country  not  at  war. 
and  the  extraordinary  state  of  neutral- 
ization imposed  upon  a  smaller  state 
by  the  great  powers  and  requiring  upon 
its  part  a  studious  and  conscientious 
observance  of  impjirliality  and  a  scru- 
pulous avoidance  of  war-like  operations. 
At  this  point  if  may  l)e  well  to  Inquire 
whetlier  Belgium  has  not  forsaken  the 
paths  of  neutrality  liy  sending.  In  18C5. 


a  body  of  trooi>s  to  Mexico  in  aid  of 
Emperor  Maximilian  against  President 
Juarez,  violating  the  Monroe  Doctrine; 
by  participating  in  the  war  on  China 
in  1900,  during  the  Boxer  Rebellion; 
and  by  acquiring  the  Congo  Colonies, 
where  the  practice  of  atrocities  upon 
the  natives  aroused  general  indignation 
and  led  to  international  friction. 

Points  in  Belgian  History. 

In  Roman  times  Belgium  was  part 
of  Gaul.  In  870  the  iwrtion  east  of 
the  river  Scheldt  was  made  part  of 
Germany,  the  western  division  part  of 
France."  In  1482  we  find  it  in  the  hands 
of  the  Hapsburgs;  in  1553  in  possession 
of  Philip  II  of  Spain,  who,  in  1598, 
ceded  it  to  his  daughter,  Isabella,  when 
it  became  an  independent  Kingdom. 
On  the  death  of  her  husband,  Albert, 
it  fell  back  to  Spain.  By  the  Treaty 
of  Utrecht,  1713.  it  was  given  to  Aus- 
tria. During  the  War  of  the  Austrian 
Succession,  almost  the  whole  of  it  fell 
into  the  hands  of  France,  but  was,  in 
1748.  peacefully  restored  to  Austria  by 
the  Treaty  of  Aix  La  Chapelle.  In 
1790  it  revolted,  declaring  independence. 
In  the  course  of  the  same  year  Austria 
succeeded  in  regaining  possession.  By 
the  War  of  the  French  Revolution 
peace  was  again  interrupted.  In  1794 
Belgium  was  conquered  and  subse- 
quently added  to  France.  After  the 
fall  of  Napoleon,  it  was  united  with 
Holland  and  its  boundaries  defined,  in 
1815,  by  the  Congress  of  Yienna. 

Without  being  consulted,  the  Bel- 
gians were  placed  under  the  sceptre  of 
the  King  of  Holland,  no  regard  being 
paid  to  national  history  or  ideals,  but 
merely  with  a  view  to  setting  up  a  bar- 
rier against  the  power  of  France.  This 
scheme  was  mainly  due  to  the  efforts 
of  British  statesmen,  working  in  con- 
junction with  the  Prince  of  Orange, 
who  was  settled  in  England.  Great 
Britain  received  as  her  reward  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Guiana  and  other 
colonies,  on  the  pretense  that  they  were 
being  held  in  pawn  for  a  liberated  Hol- 
land, while  Belgium  was  treated  as  a 
conquered  country  to  be  disposed  of 
by  the  great  I'owers  as  they  pleased. 

The  Belgians  and  the  Dutch  did  not 
[irove  to  be  good  yoke-fellows.  Dis- 
agreements between  them  finally  led  to 
riots  and  disturl)ances  in  1830,  as  the 
Belgians  complained  of  unequal  repre- 
sentation and  unfair  apportionment  of 
the  national  taxes  and  debt.  A  Na- 
tional Congress  of  Belgians  convened 
in  Brussels,  which  declared  their  inde- 
pendence of  Holland.  But  Belgium 
was  not  allowed  to  control  her  own 
affaii-s.  The  I'owers  assumed  a  guard- 
ianship over  the  destinies  of  Belgium. 
On  January  20,  1S31,  the  London  Con- 
ference decided  that  tlie  frontier  of 
Belgium  should  not  be  as  their  people 
desired,  but  should  be  that  of  1790; 
that  her  neutrality  slionld  be  guaran- 
teed:  that  the  navigation  of  her  rivers 
should  be  free,  and  that  the  imblic 
debt  should  be  divided  with  Holland. 
Luxemburg  was  given  to  Holland  as 
part  of  the  Germanic  Confederation. 
These  proceedings,  however,  did  not 
meet  with  the  approval  of  the  Brussels 
Congress,  which  protested  against 
them.  Holland  refused  to  accejit  the 
settlement  made  by  the  Powers  and  de- 
clared war  against  Belgium,  whose 
army  was  beaten.  Dumortler  In  his 
work.   "Belgium   and   the  24   Articles," 


page  3,  refers  to  this  Treaty  of  1S31 
as  being  arranged  by  the  Powers  solely 
with  reference  to  their  own  interests, 
"determined  to  dispose  of  Belgium,  not 
absolutely  w'ithout  her  consent,  but  at 
all  events,  in  a  manner  essentially  op- 
posed to  the  interests  and  wishes  of  tlie 
vast  majority  of  the  nation." 

It  was  not  until  March  14,  1838,  that 
the  Dutch  finally  accepted  the  condi- 
tions imposed  by  the  great  Powers. 
Then  followed  the  Treaty  of  19th  April, 
1839,  based  on  the  24  Articles  of  the 
Treaty  of  1831.  Article  VII  of  the 
1839  -treaty,  states  that  "Belgium, 
within  the  limits  specified  in  Articles 
1,  2  and  4,  shall  form  an  Independent 
and  perpetually  Neutral  State.  It  shall 
be  bound  to  observe  such  neutrality  to- 
wards all  other  States." 

At  this  point  arises  the  pertinent  in- 
(piiry.  whether  Belgium's  conduct  and 
attitude  towards  Germany  were  con- 
sistent with  her  duties  as  a  neutral. 

In  the  course  of  the  negotiations  be- 
tween the  great  Powers,  serious  dis- 
agreements arose,  during  which  an  Eng- 
lish fleet  blockaded  the  Dutch  ports 
and  a  French  army  besieged  and  took 
Antwerp. 

Queen  Victoria  on  Belgian  Neutrality. 

Queen  Victoria's  Letters,  Vol.  Ill, 
])ages  218,  219,  give  an  interesting 
statement   on   Belgian   Neutrality : 

"Belgiutn  was  declared  a  neutral 
State  in  order  to  make  it  impossible 
I'or  France  to  annex  the  country,  or 
obtain  any  power  in  it.  The  Belgians 
did  not,  themselves,  desire  to  have 
their  country  made  neutral,  or  put 
under  the  protection,  which  in  some 
ways  meant  the  tutelage  of  the  Pow- 
ers." 

Treaty    Conceived    in    Tyranny    and 
Born   in    Bloodshed. 

Thus  was  Belgium  unwillingly  sub- 
jected to  a  state  of  neutralization  by 
coercion  of  the  Powers  that  consulted 
only  their  own  interests.  From  what 
one  hears  about  this  treaty,  one  would 
be  led  to  believe  that  the  high  con- 
tracting parties  had  been  inspired  by 
some  noble,  altruistic  resolve,  that  war 
shall  be  no  more,  and  that  Belgium 
shall  be  perpetually  consecrated  to  the 
holy  cause  of  peace.  But  that  was  not 
the  motive  at  all.  Each  was  afraid 
that  the  other  might  seize  Belgium, 
so  It  was  agreed  that  none  shall  have 
it.  This  was  the  genesis  of  the  Treaty 
of  1839.  Now  all  the  guaranteeing 
powers  are  banded  in  groups  straining 
to  destroy  each  other.  And  this  is  the 
treaty,  conceived  iti  tynmny  atid  born 
in  bloodshed,  the  sanctity  of  which  Is 
to  be  vindicated — after  the  lapse  of 
generations  —  by  making  the  whole 
world  run  red  with  the  blood  of  Inno- 
cent peoples ! 

The  Germany  of  today  did  not  exist 
In  18.39.  but  Prussia,  now  a  part  of 
Germany,  signed  that  treaty.  Assum- 
ing that  the  German  Empire  took  over 
the  treaty  obligations  of  the  several 
states  fortning  the  union.  It  was  a 
blanket  adoption  of  such  foreign  obli- 
gations in  whatever  condition  of  valid- 
ity they  happened  to  be  at  the  time. 
Such  omnibus  adojition  cannot  be  con- 
strued as  slrengthening  or  confirming 
the  treaty  oliligatlons,  wliicli,  for  any 
cause,  had  bocume  modified  or  obso- 
lete. 


82 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF^BELGIUM" 


That  this  treaty  of  1839  had  in  fact 
become  obsolete  is  apparent  from  the 
conduct  of  the  parties  on  every  occa- 
sion when  the  subject  became  of  para- 
mount interest,  as,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  War  in  1870,  and 
again,  at  the  opening  of  the  present 
world-conflict.  It  is  to  be  noted  that, 
from  the  first.  England  was  the  power 
that  took  chief  interest  in  Belgian  neu- 
trality. 

British  Interest  in  Belgium. 

The  reason  for  this  is  well  explained 
by  Col.  C.  F.  R.  Henderson  in  his 
"Science  of  War."  He  refers  to  the 
constant  influence  of  Antwerp  on  the 
destinies  of  the  British  Isles  and 
quotes  from  Alison's  history,  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Nature  has  formed  the  Scheldt  to 
be  the  rival  of  the  Thames.  Flowing 
through  a  country  excelling  even  the 
midland  counties  of  England  in  wealth 
and  resources,  adjoining  cities  equal 
to  any  in  Europe  in  arts  and  com- 
merce"; the  artery  at  once  of  Flanders 
and  Holland,  of  Brabant  and  Luxem- 
burg, it  is  fltted  to  be  the  great  organ 
of  communication  between  the  fertile 
fields  and  rich  manufacturing  towns  of 
the  Low  Countries  and  other  maritime 
states  of  the  world.  Antwerp,  more- 
over, the  Key  of  the  great  estuary,  is 
eminently  adapted  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  vast  naval  arsenal,  such  as 
it  became  under  Philip  II  of  Spain 
and  again  under  the  First  Napoleon. 
It  is  the  point  from  which  in  every  age 
the  independence  of  these  Kingdoms 
has  been  seriously  menaced.  Sensible 
of  her  danger,  it  has  been  the  fixed 
policy  of  Great  Britain  for  centuries 
to  prevent  this  formidable  outwork 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  her  ene- 
mies, and  the  best  days  of  her  history 
are  chiefly  occupied  with  the  struggle 
to  ward  off  such  a  disaster." 

Col.  Henderson  then  shows  that  it 
was  to  protect  Antwerp  from  the 
French  that  Charles  II  sided  with  the 
Dutch  in  1070 ;  that  Anne  declared  war 
on  Louis  XIV  in  1704;  that  Chatham 
supported  Prussia  in  1742,  and  that 
Pitt  fifty  years  later,  took  up  arms 
against  the  French  Revolution. 

It  is  thus  easy  to  understand  why 
Great  Britain  does  not  want  Belgium 
or  Holland  to  fall  into  the  possession 
of  any  of  the  great  Powers  and  why 
British  statesmanship  is  just  now,  so 
deeply  solicitous  about  the  sanctity  of 
treaties  and  the  protection  of  small 
countries. 


UNDER  THE  PROTECTION  OF  THE 
POWERS  SINCE   1839. 

Practical  Interpretation  of  1839 
Treaty. 

The  way  the  old  neutrality  treaty 
was  regarded  in  1870  by  the  guarantee- 
ing powers  is  a  fair  criterion  of  its 
status  and  value  at  that  time.  When 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  Franco-Prussian 
War  it  was  generally  understood  that 
neither  France  nor  Prussia  would  re- 
gard the  old  treaty  as  having  any  bind- 
ing force,  what  did  the  guaranteeing 
powers  do?  Did  they  protest?  No. 
No  one  took  up  the  matter  except  Eng- 
land. Even  England  was  not  of  one 
mind ;  there  were  several  members  of 
the  Cabinet  who  did  not  favor  the  tak- 
ing of  any  action. 


On  August  4,  1870,  Gladstone  wrote 
the  following  to  John  Bright  In  rela- 
tion to  a  new  treaty  intended  to  secure 
Belgian  neutrality  during  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War : 

"The  recommendation  set  up  in  oppo- 
sition to  It  generally  is,  that  we  should 
simply  declare  we  will  defend  the  neu- 
trality of  Belgium  by  arms  in  case  it 
should  be  attacked.  Now  the  sole  or 
single-handed  defense  of  Belgium 
would  be  an  enterprise  which  we  in- 
cline to  think  Quixotic." 

This  again  shows  what  England 
thought  of  the  chance  of  getting  her 
co-guarantors  to  help  her  defend  Bel- 
gian neutrality  under  the  old  worn-out 
treaty. 

England  then  proposed  a  new  treaty 
to  Prussia  and  France,  providing  that 
If  the  armies  of  either  violated  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium,  Great  Britain 
would  co-operate  with  the  other  for  Its 
defense,  but  without  engaging  to  take 
part  In  the  general  operations  of  the 
war.  The  treaty  was  to  hold  good 
for  twelve  months  after  the  conclusion 
of  the  war.  A  saving  clause  was  added, 
that  thereafter  the  rights  of  each  shall 
continue  to  rest  upon  the  old  treaty. 
If  there  were  no  such  rights,  their 
reservation  was,  of  course,  only  of 
paper  value.  It  meant  merely  a  reser- 
vation of  any  rights  that  might  have 
existed  at  the  time.  That  clause  was 
an  obvious  formality,  as  is  frequently 
put  into  legal  documents,  not  to  Indi- 
cate the  existence  of  rights,  but  to  save 
rights  that  may  possibly  exist. 
If  Old  Treaty  Valid,  No  New  Treaty 
Necessary. 

If,  in  the  future,  Belgian  neutral- 
ity is  "to  continue  to  rest"  upon  the 
disclosed  virtues  of  the  old  treaty,  does 
it  not  mean  that  a  special  treaty  will 
have  to  be  made  every  time  such  neu- 
tralization is  to  be  assured? 

When  the  new  treaty  in  1870  was 
submitted  to  Bismarck  he  assented  at 
once,  but  France  hesitated.  After  the 
battle  of  Woerth  she  made  no  more  dif- 
ficulty and  the  treaty  was  signed  on 
August  9th. 

If  the  old  treaty  had  been  In  full 
force  and  effect,  why  did  England  in- 
sist on  a  new  treaty?  Is  it  not  clear 
that  if  the  guarantors  under  the  old 
treaty  stood  ready  to  enforce  the  guar- 
antee" that  it  would  have  been  super- 
erogation to  propose  a  new  one  to 
cover  the  identical  purpose  of  the  treaty 
of  1839.  the  neutralization  of  Belgium? 
Would  a  tenant  who  had  a  five  year^ 
lease  visit  his  landlord  after  the  first 
or  second  year  to  demand  a  new  lease 
covering  identical  premises,  terms  and 
conditions?  We  have  seen  that  when 
the  practical  test  of  the  old  treaty  came 
in  1870,  the  guarantors  failed  to  make 
good  their  guarantee.  A  treaty  of  guar- 
antee without  ready  and  willing  guar- 
antors, is  like  the  play  of  Hamlet  with 
Hamlet  left  out.  It  is  a  euphemism  to 
call  such  a  treaty  obsolete ;  "dead"  is 
the  proper  word. 

New  Treatv  of  1870  Does  Not  Revive 
Old  Treaty  of  1839. 

But  it  has  been  claimed  in  this  con- 
troversy that  the  new  treaty  of  1870. 
covering  the  war  and  only  twelve 
months  thereafter  confirmed  or  revived 
the  old  treaty  of  1S39.  This  claim  is 
untenable  because  a  recognition  of  the 
old  treaty  to  have  any  such  effect  would 


require  the  united  act  of  all  the  orig- 
inal parties.  Three  powers  cannot 
bind  five. 

The  same  objection  was  made  In  the 
British  Protest  of  23  Nov.,  1846,  against 
the  annexation  of  the  Free  State  of 
Cracow  (declared  neutral  and  inde- 
pendent by  treaty  May  3,  1815),  by 
Austria,  one  of  the  guarantors.  The 
Protest  declared:  "It  is  not  competent 
for  three  of  those  Powers,  by  their  own 
separate  authority  to  undo  that  which 
was  established  by  the  common  engage- 
ment of  the  whole." 

The  fact  that  all  of  the  original  par- 
ties did  not  see  fit  to  join  in  the  spe- 
cial treaty  of  1870,  or  to  insist  on  the 
enforcement  of  the  old  treaty,  thus 
making  a  new  one  necessary,  shows 
that  there  was  no  vitality  left  in  that 
old  treaty.  Certainly  it  was  not  of  a 
character  to  justify  England  In  enter- 
ing upon  a  world  warfare. 

A  few  days  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  present  war  we  find  England  again 
asking  Germany  what  she  is  about  to 
do  with  reference  to  Belgian  neutral- 
ity. Some  time  before  this  Belgium 
made  a  similar  inquiry  and  Germany 
then  replied  that  the  neutrality  would 
be  respected. 

The  chancelleries  of  Europe  must 
have  been  aware  for  some  time  that  the 
political  situation  was  approaching  a 
crisis,  and  that  an  explosion  might 
occur  at  any  time.  *  •  •  Germany 
knew  full  well  the  militant  preparations 
that  had  been  going  on  against  her  and 
realized  the  keen  meaning  and  object  of 
Belgium's  inquiry  at  that  particular 
time;  It  was  not  only  proper  but  neces- 
sary for  Germany  to  reserve  to  herself 
the  true  military  information  Involved 
in  the  Inquiry  as  to  her  future  inten- 
tions. Germany  was  not  bound  to  give 
points  to  her  enemies. 

France  Tries    to   Annex   Belglnm    in 
1866. 

A  brilliant  sidelight  upon  the  status 
of  this  neutrality  treaty  is  shed  by  the 
French  negotiations  in  1866,  when  Em- 
peror Napoleon  III  treated  with  two 
of  the  guarantors  themselves  for  the 
disposal  o,f  Belgium. 

Morley,  in  Gladstone's  Life,  Vol.  II, 
page  340,  comments  on  this  as  follows : 

"If  France  and  Prussia  agreed,  how 
could  we  help  Belgium,  unless  Indeed 
Europe  joined.  But  then  what  chance 
was  there  of  Russia  and  Austria  join- 
ing against  France  and  Prussia  for  the 
sake  of  Belgium,  in  which  neither  of 
them  had  any  direct  interest?" 

The  Powers  Plotting  Against 
Belgium. 

Mr.  J.  de  C.  MacDonnell.  a  distin- 
guished author  and  publicist,  in  his 
work,  "King  Leopold  II,"  page  80, 
speaks  of  the  neutrality  treaty  as  fol- 
lows : 

"It  must  be  remembered  that,  except 
in  so  far  as  it  rests  on  self-interest, 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium  is  without  a 
real  guarantee,  and  must  remain  so  as 
long  as  Belgium  remains  an  independ- 
ent State.  It  cannot  be  forgotten  that, 
from  the  moment  the  Great  Powers 
guaranteed  the  neutrality  of  Belgium, 
they  all  of  them — with  the  exception 
of  England — began  to  plot  with  one 
another  in  secret  for  her  occupation, 
her  overthrow,  or  her  partition  among 
themselves." 


A  SKETCH  OF  RECENT  BELGIAN  HISTORY 


83 


Enough  lias  been  shown  that  this  old 
treaty,  for  all  practical  purposes,  was 
dead. 

Neutralization  in  Practice. 

The  subject  of  neutralization  by 
treaty  is  a  comjjaratively  new  thing  in 
international  law.  It  has  been  tried 
in  only  a  few  cases,  and  in  these  has 
met  with  little  success.  By  the  treaty 
of  Amiens,  March.  1S02,  Malta  was 
neutralized  but  England  took  it  and 
now  holds  it.  The  neutrality  of  Switzer- 
land was  only  then  respected  when  she 
was  able  to  defend  it  by  force  of  arms. 
When  France,  in  ISCO.  took  Savoy, 
which  had  Ijeen  neutralized  when  it 
was  part  of  Sardinia,  the  guarantee 
vouchsafed  by  the  Vienna  and  I'aris 
treaties  was  violated  without  much 
ceremony,  and  not  one  of  the  guaran- 
tors did  aught  to  maintain  the  guar- 
antee. The  neutralization  by  the 
Vienna  Congress,  1815,  of  the  Free 
State  of  Cracow  was  violated  by  the 
elimination  of  its  neutrality  and  inde- 
pendence when  it  was  arbitrarily  an- 
nexed by  Austria. 

An  instructive  illustration  of  the 
practical  working  of  neutralization  is 
further  afforded  by  the  following: 

Russian  Note.  31st  Oct.,  1870,  de- 
nouncing the  stipulations  of  the  Gen- 
eral Treaty  of  30th  March.  1S56: 

"His  Imperial  Majesty  cannot  admit, 
do  facto,  that  the  security  of  Russia 
should  depend  on  a  fiction  which  has 
not  stood  the  test  of  time,  and  should 
be  imperiled  by  her  respect  for  engage- 
ments which  have  not  been  observed  in 
their  integrity." 

In  a  further  Russian  Note,  1st  Nov., 
1870,  denouncing  the  same  Treaty  of 
1851),  Russia  speaks  of  "the  facility 
with  which,  scarcely  10  years  after  its 
conclusion,  a  solemn  arrangement, 
cldlbod  with  an  European  Guarantee, 
has  been  infringed  both  in  letter  and 
spirit,  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  Pow- 
ers who  should  have  been  Its  guar- 
dians." 

Coming  down  to  the  present  we  have 
good  reason  to  doubt  whether  Eng- 
land will  observe  the  neutralization  of 
the  Suez  Canal,  for  she  has  threat- 
ened to  seize  her  enemies'  vessels  that 
were  stalled,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  in  this  guaranteed  neutral  water- 
way. 

Earl   Grey  Says  Belgitun  Mistrusted 
England  in  1913. 

.\n  interesting  contribution  to  the 
literature  of  Neutralization  was  made 
by  the  British  Foreign  Office  on  last 
liecenilior  Gth  with  reference  to  the 
statements  im|ilying  that  Great  Britain 
liad  ever  contemplated  the  violation  of 
r.elgian  neutrality.  A  record  is  given 
of  a  conversation  which  Sir  lOdward 
Grey,  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
had  with  the  Belgian  Minister  on  April 
7,  1913. 

In  reporting  the  conversation  to  the 
British  Minister  at  Brussels,  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  said  it  had  been  brought 
to  his  knowledge  that  there  was  appre- 
hension in  Belgium  that  England  would 
be  the  first  to  violate  Belgian  neutral- 
ity. Sir  Edward  Grey  denied  that  Eng- 
land would  be  the  first  to  do  such  a 
thing. 

There  must  have  been  considerable 
apprehension  in  Belgium  to  cause  it  to 
he  made  the  subject  of  diplomatic  dis- 
cussion.   This  is  another  sidelight  upon 


the  faith   Belgium   had  in   the  efficacy 
of  its  guaranteed  neutralization. 

England    Ready    to    Invade   Belgium 
During  Franco-Prussian  War. 

Perhaps  these  apprehensions  were 
aroused  by  a  knowledge  of  what  was 
going  on  behind  the  scenes.  The  late 
King  of  Belgium  was  never  over- 
trustful  of  England's  intentions.  That 
these  fears  of  Belgium  as  to  what  Eng- 
lish diplomacy  would  do,  were  not  en- 
tirely groundless  may  be  conjectured 
from  the  reading  of  a  passage  in  Vol.  II, 
page  33!)  of  Jonn  Morley's  extensive 
life  of  Gladstone.  On  July  10,  1S70, 
Gladstone  wrote  to  Cardwell  at  the 
War  Office: 

"What  I  should  like  is  to  study  the 
means  of  sending  20,000  men  to  Ant- 
werp with  as  much  promptitude  as  at 
the  Trent  affair  we  sent  10,000  to  Can- 
ada." 

England's  willingness  to  violate  Bel- 
gian neutrality  was  in  no  wise  nega- 
tived Ijy  Gladstone's  later  letter  say- 
ing: "It  is  only  a  far  outlook  which 
brings  into  view  as  a  possibility  the 
sending  of  a  force  to  Antwerp."  Con- 
ditions may  have  changed,  but  the 
cause  for  apprehension  was  not  re- 
moved. 

While  all  lovers  of  peace  would  wel- 
come the  success  of  the  neutralization 
idea,  it  seems  that  in  practice  it  will 
hold  good  only  so  long  as  it  does  not 
interfere  with  military  exigency  or  the 
good-will  and  convenience  of  the  guar- 
anteeing powers.  The  neutrality  of 
Switzerland  was  violated  by  French, 
Austrian  and  Russian  armies  during 
the  period  of  the  French  Revolution. 
Neutralized  Luxemburg  was  violated 
by  France  in  the  War  of  1870  when 
lier  fleeing  soldiers  sought  refuge  in 
Luxemburg  and  recrossed  into  France 
and  again  fought  with  the  French 
a  rmy. 

Treaties  Affected  by  Changed 
Conditions. 

Hannis  Taylor,  a  great  American 
authority  on  international  law,  says 
that  treaties  of  guarantee,  like  all  other 
obligations  of  suretyship,  are  strictly 
construed,  lie  shows  that  a  treaty  may 
become  voidable  through  subsequent 
events,  and  says  (Sec.  3M,  Int.  Public 
Law)  that  "so  unstable  are  the  condi- 
tions of  international  existence,  and  so 
ditlicult  is  it  to  enforce  a  contract  be- 
tween States  after  the  state  of  facts 
upon  which  it  was  founded  has  sub- 
stantially changed,  that  all  such  agree- 
ments are  necessarily  made  subject  to 
the  general  understanding  that  they 
shall  cease  to  be  obligatory  so  soon  as 
tlic  conditions  upon  which  they  were 
cxocutod  are  essentially  altered." 

Mr.  Taylor  (Sec.  305)  cites  Russia's 
contention  as  to  the  Treaty  of  Paris. 
He  says  that  in  1870,  when  Russia 
determined  to  repudiate  some  of  the 
vital  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris 
relating  to  the  nenlrality  of  the  Black 
Sea — by  which  she  had  been  fettered 
at  the  close  of  the  Crimean  War  and 
which  lier  sniisequent  develo|iment  had 
rendered  unbearable  —  she  rested  her 
case,  in  part  upon  the  ground  of  al- 
tered conditions,  asserting  that  "the 
treaty  of  1S5G  had  not  escaped  the 
modifications  to  which  most  European 
transactions  had  been  exposed  and  In 
(he  face  of  which  it  would  bo  difTicult 
to  maintain  that  Ihe  written  law  •  •  • 


retains  the  moral  validity  which  it  may 
have  possessed  at  other  times." 

Nothing  Perpetual  Except  Change  in 
Conditions. 

Professor  Pomeroy,  another  high 
American  authority,  after  fullest  con- 
sideration, supports  Mr.  Taylor  in  a 
way  that  must  carry  conviction.  No 
one  really  believes  there  can  be  such 
a  thing  as  a  perpetual  treaty.  There 
is  nothing  perpetual  in  mundane  af- 
fairs except  change.  Change  and  modi- 
fication make  the  music  that  beats  to 
the  march  of  time.  The  dead  will  not 
be  allowed  indefinitely  to  control  the 
destinies  of  the  living,  nor  to  fetter  the 
wings  of  progress  or  development.  The 
English  Statutes  of  Mortmain  were 
passed  to  do  away  with  the  dead  hand 
that  gripped  the  land  of  the  living. 
This  principle,  as  applied  to  treaties,  is 
thus  explained  in  Pomeroy's  Interna- 
tional Law,  at  page  352 : 

"It  should  be  remembered  that  the 
nature  of  treaties  bet\veen  nations  dis- 
closes to  us  features  which  ought  to 
distinguish  these  treaties  from  com- 
pacts between  individuals.  In  fact,  na- 
tions have  an  indefinite  existence.  All 
the  generations  to  come,  without  having 
consented  in  person,  find  themselves 
bound,  by  the  act  of  the  generation 
which  concluded  the  convention ;  the 
stipulations  of  the  treaty,  by  the  lapse 
of  years  or  by  subsequent  changes,  may 
become  so  opposed  to  the  manners,  to 
the  situation  of  the  respective  powers, 
to  the  state  of  their  industry,  of  their 
commerce,  of  their  forces  of  every  kind, 
that,  justly,  these  stipulations  should 
no  longer  be  maintained." 

In  summing  up  the  occasions  when  a 
treaty  ceases  to  have  binding  force  Mr. 
Pomeroy  cites  M.  Pinheiro-Ferreira, 
one  of  the  leading  modern  French 
writers  on  Public  and  International 
law,  as  follows : 

"I  speak  of  those  treaties  which  gov- 
ernments sometimes  make  with  the 
clause  that  they  are  and  shall  remain 
binding  forever,  or  at  least  until  both 
contracting  parties  agree  to  rescind  or 
to  modify  them.  Such  conventions  never 
have  been,  nor  should  they  be,  taken 
literally,  for  it  would  be  absurd  to 
suppose  that  the  present  generation 
could  have  the  right  to  bind  future 
generations  by  conventions,  good  or  bad 
at  the  time  of  their  inception,  that  the 
posterity  of  one  contracting  party 
ought  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  posterity 
of  the  other.  Treaties  bind  nations 
only  so  long  as  the  principle  upon 
which  their  validity  rests  continues  to 
exist." 

The  Right  of  Self-Preservation. 

But,  even,  if  it  be  granted  for  argu- 
ment's sake,  that  the  validity  of  the 
old  treaty  was  not  affected  by  changed 
conditions,  Germany  still  has  an  abso- 
lute and  incontrovertible  defense  in  the 
supreme  law  of  self-preservation.  The 
German  ultimatum  to  the  Belgian  gov- 
ernment, Aug.  2,  1914.  referring  to  the 
intended  French  Invasion  of  Germany 
through  Belgium,  declares,  "It  is  Ger- 
many's Imperative  duty  of  self-preser- 
vation to  forestall  this  attack  of  the 
enemy." 

Germany  invokes  this  rule,  which  is 
not  only  sanctioned  by  the  principles 
of  International  Ijiw.  but  which  is  dl- 
vinelv    fixed    In    the    instinct   of   every 


S4 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM" 


tbing   tliat  lives— the   impulse  of  self- 
protection  and  of  self-defense. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  following 
expressions  of  the  most  eminent  author- 
ities on  International  Law,  that  the 
right  of  self-preservation  precedes  and 
underlies  every  other  obligation.  All 
treaties  are  subordinated  and  subject 
to  this  basic  and  inherent  right.  It  is 
implied,  and  read  into,  every  treaty  and 
contract,  anvthing  to  the  contrary  said, 
notwithstanding.  This  primary  right 
of  existence  cannot  be  lost  or  bargained 
away.     It  is  unalienable. 

Cyrus  French  Wicker,  in  his  work 
"Neutralization,"  says,  at  page  49: 
•'French  enemies,  would  no  doubt  be 
iustihed  in  invading  Savoyard  territory, 
'even  though  rmitralixed,  if  it  became 
evident  that  France  were  utilizing  the 
resources  of  the  province  for  military 
purposes  and  there  were  any  advan- 
tages to  be  gained  from  the  attack.' 
British  Authorities  on  Law  of  Self- 
Preservation. 
1.  Phillimore,  Int.  Law,  Chap.  10 
(CCXI)  : 

'■The  Right  of  Self-Preservation  is 
the  first  law  of  nations,  as  it  is  of  in- 
dividuals. *  *  •  It  may  happen  that 
the  same  Eight  may  warrant  her  in 
extending  precautionary  measures  with- 
out these  limits,  and  even  in  trans- 
gressing the  borders  of  her  neighbors 
territory.  For  International  Law  con- 
siders the  Right  of  Self-Preservation 
as  prior  and  paramount  to  that  ot  ier- 
rilorial  Inviolability,  and,  where  they 
conflict,  justifies  the  maintenance  of 
the  former  at  the  expense  of  the  latter 
right." 
Twiss,  Int.  Law,  page  3 : 
"The  State  or  Nation  is  thus  under 
a  primary  obligation  to  preserve  itself ; 
in  other  words,  Self-Preservation  is  a 
primary  duty  of  National  Life." 
Page  4: 

"The  right  of  Self-Preservation  ac- 
cordingly gives  to  a  Nation  a  moral 
power  of  acting  in  regard  to  other  Na- 
tions in  such  a  manner  as  may  be  requi- 
site to  prevent  them  from  obstructing 
its  preservation  or  its  perfection.  (Vat- 
tel  L  II  C4  Sec.  49.)  This  Right  is 
a  perfect  Right,  since  it  is  given  to  sat- 
isfy a  natural  and  indispensable  duty." 
Hall,  Int.  Law,  4th  Edn.,  p.  281 : 
"In  the  last  resort  almost  the  whole 
of  the  duties  of  states  are  subordinated 
to  the  right  of  self-preservation." 

L  G.  C.  Laughton  (United  Service 
Mag.,  Vol.  29  (N.  S.),  1904,  page  226, 
in  a  very  interesting  article  on  "'Bel- 
ligerents and  Neutrals,"  says : 

"It  is  an  axiom  of  international  law 
that  a  State  has  the  right  to  take  meas- 
ures to  secure  its  existence." 
The  Right  of  Self-Protection  Nullifies 
Treaties. 
Pomeroy,  Int.  Law,  351,  cites  Mar- 
tens, Droit  des  Gens,  Vol.  II,  Ch.  II, 
Sec.  52: 

"*  *  *  Nevertheless,  the  right  of 
self-preservation  authorizes  a  nation  to 
recede  from  a  treaty  which  it  cannot 
fulfill  without  causing  its  own  destruc- 
tion;  and  this  faculty  is  even  a  tacit 
condition  in  all  treaties,  and  especially 
in  alliances." 

Ortolan  is  then  cited: 
"Nevertheless,   some   publicists   have 
observed  that  when  a  treaty  leads  di- 


rectly to  the  destruction  of  the  state, 
that  state  has  the  right  to  treat  it  as 
null.  This  is  an  evident  and  incon- 
testable fact,  based  upon  the  right  of 
self-preservation.  For  moral  beings,  as 
well  as  for  individuals,  there  can  be 
no  obligatory  promise  when  this  prom- 
ise is  of  suicide." 

Reasons  Justifying  Belgian  Invasion. 
We    shall    now    consider    the    facts 
upon  which  the  German  claim  of  self- 
preservation  is  based. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  well  to  recall 
that  Germany's  plea  of  self-defense  was 
frank,  direct,  immediate,  and  not  an 
afterthought.  The  German  Chancellor, 
in  his  speech  of  August  4th,  said : 

"We  knew  that  France  was  ready  to 
invade.  France  could  wait,  we  could 
not  A  French  attack  on  our  flank 
on  the  lower  Rhine  could  have  proven 
portentous  for  us.  *  *  *  Whoever  is 
threatened  as  we  are  and  battles  tor 
all  that  is  sacred  dare  only  consider 
how  he  will  hack  his  way  through. 
*  *  *  We  have  assured  the  English 
Government  that  as  long  as  England 
remains  neutral,  our  fleet  would  not 
attack  the  northern  coast  of  France  and 
that  we  would  not  interfere  with  the 
territorial  integrity  and  the  independ- 
ence of  Belgium.  *  *  *  We  battle  for 
the  fruits  of  our  peaceful  labor,  for 
the  inheritance  of  a  great  past,  for  our 
future."  .^     .. 

Let    us    now    consider   the   situation 
that  confronted  Germany  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  war.     Were  the  conditions 
such   as   to   justify   her   belief   that   it 
wE>s  necessary  for  her  to  use  Belgium 
for   the   transit   of  her   troops   against 
France?     If  the  German  Chancellor  is 
correct,  then  there  can  be  no  question 
that  it  was  necessary  to  pass  through 
Belgium  in  order  to  anticipate  an  at- 
tack  from   France   through   this   same 
territory.      Since    that    time,    however, 
authentic    plans    and    documents    have 
been  found  in  Brussels  proving  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  German  Chancellor's  in- 
formation.   Pursuant  to  a  secret  agree- 
ment  of   April   10,   190G,   entitled   "In- 
tervention Anglaise  en  Belgique,"*  Eng- 
land and  Belgium  agreed  to  a  "united 
operation  of  a  British  army  of  100.000 
men  with  the  Belgian  army  against  Ger- 
many."   The  plan  was  approved  by  the 
Chief    of    the    British    General    Staff, 
Major-General  Geierson.     But.  even  if 
we  assume  that  Germany's  information 
as  to  the  French  intent  was  not  posi- 
tive at  the  time,  it  was  by  all  means 
her    dutv    to    take    all    precautions    to 
defend  herself  from  this  peril.     It  was 
necessary  to  take  this  step,  as  a  meas- 
ure of  self-defense,  because  of  the  great 
delay    that   would   be   involved   in   the 
attempt    to   invade   France   across   the 
stronglv  fortified  French-German  fron- 
tier.    When  a  nation  finds  herself  on 
the  brink  of  a  contest  with  a  congeries 
of  nations  such  as  Germany  would  ex- 
pect to  confront,  immediate  and  quick 
action   is   the  essence  of  possible  suc- 
cess.    Any  delay,  any  hesitation  to  do 
everything  to  circumvent  her  enemies, 
wouid  have  been  tantamount  to  suicide 
or    insanity.      The    preponderance    in 
financial  resources,  material  wealth  and 
population  of  Germany's  enemies  must 
have  been  present  to  the  German  mind 
when  it  came  to  decide  upon  the  case 
of   Belgium.      Germany    could   not   af- 


•EngUsh  Intervention   in   Belgium. 


ford  to  make  any  mistake.  Such  er- 
rors as  may  be  committed  must  be  on 
the  side  of  safety.  The  allies  could 
expect,  by  the  freedom  of  the  seas, 
constantly  to  fill  the  gaps  that  their 
losses  or  errors  might  produce ;  while 
Germany,  to  have  a  reasonable  chance 
to  win  at  all,  must  be  on  the  right  and 
safe  side  practically  from  the  outset 
to  the  end.  It  would,  therefore,  have 
been  criminal  folly  to  omit  even  the 
slightest  precaution  or  advantage  that 
the  necessity  of  the  situation  imposed. 
I  believe  that,  under  the  circumstances 
of  a  country  hemmed  in  and  sur- 
rounded by  enemies  as  Germany  was, 
it  would  have  been  in  the  nature  of 
treason  for  the  German  staff  to  have 
respected  a  contract  with  the  very  ene- 
mies that  were  trying  to  get  at  her 
throat.  The  justice  of  Germany's  con- 
duct can  only  be  judged  by  her  motive. 
If  Germany  was  truly  persuaded  that 
her  national  existence  was  in  danger, 
she  is  absolutely  absolved  and  vindi- 
cated. 

Historical   Instances   of    the   Plea   of 
Self-Defense. 

When  the  British  invaded  the  United 
States  during  the  Canadian  Rebellion 
in  1S3S  and  boarded  the  steamer  Caro- 
lina and  sent  her  adrift  down  the 
Falls  of  Niagara,  the  excuse  was  self- 
defense.  Lord  Ashburton,  British 
Plenipotentiary,  wrote  on  this  matter 
to  Secretary  of  State  Webster,  July 
2S.  1842: 

"There  are  possible  cases  in  the  re- 
lations of  nations,  as  of  individuals, 
where  necessity,  which  controls  all 
other  laws,  may  be  pleaded." 

The  same  plea  of  self-defense  was 
made  by  Great  Britain,  when  in  1807 
she  denianded  that  Denmark,  a  neutral 
country,  shall  turn  over  to  her  the 
Danisli  fleet  for  use  against  France. 
When  Denmark  refused,  an  English 
army  landed  at  Copenhagen  and  laid 
siege  to  the  city  and  in  that  way  com- 
pelled the  Danish  government  to  sur- 
render its  entire  naval  force  as  the 
price  of  safety. 

The  government  of  the  United  States 
likewise  has  had  occasion  more  than 
once  to  appeal  to  the  right  of  self- 
preservation. 

Kant  for  Perpetual  Peace  and  Euro- 
pean Federation. 

As  to  the  imminence  of  the  danger 
to  Germany  there  can  be  no  question 
from  the  expressions  of  the  leaders  of 
public  opinion  among  the  great  powers 
now  at  war  with  Germany,  to  the  ef- 
fect that  Germany  must  be  destroyed. 
For  years  English,  French  and  Rus- 
sian newspapers  and  periodicals  were 
studiously  employed  in  breeding  hatred 
and  jealousy  against  Germany.  Of 
course,  the  German  press  retaliated, 
and  thus,  there  was  prepared  that  feel- 
ing of  hostility  which  culminated  In 
the  war.  The  declarations  of  various 
statesmen,  particularly  the  English, 
that  this  is  a  war  in  which  the  nations 
are  fighting  for  the  survival  of  the  fit- 
test, corroborate  the  German  conviction 
that  they  were  in  a  struggle  for  exist- 
ence. 

It  is  becoming  more  and  more  rec- 
ognized that  the  way  to  have  peace  is 
to  encourage  sentiments  of  kindness, 
justice  and  helpfulness  among  the  peo- 
ples of  the  world.  A  survey  of  history 
teaches  us  that  we  can  find  no  hopes 


A  SKETCH  OF  RECENT  BELGIAN  HISTORY 


85 


for  peace  iu  the  ijarchmeut  aud  seals 
of  treaties.  Even  the  plan  proposed 
by  the  great  German  philosopher,  Kant, 
who  sought  his  ideal  of  permanent 
peace  in  a  European  federation,  seems 
hardly  practicable,  though  its  desira- 
bility admits  of  little  question. 

Germany    in    Self-Defense. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  war  was 
the  refusal  of  Russia  to  demobilize  the 
troops  she  was  massing  against  the 
Austrian  and  German  borders.  Ger- 
many was  engaged  iu  the  effort  to  me- 
diate between  Russia  and  Austria  and 
had  made  some  progress,  when  Ger- 
many became  aware  that  the  time  she 
was  being  induced  to  consume  in  trying 
to  preserve  the  peace  of  Europe,  was 
taken  advantage  of  by  her  enemies  in 
warlike  preparations  against  her.  It 
has  been  claimed  that  mobilization  is 
not  a  cause  for  war,  but  an  absolute 
right  of  a  sovereign  state.  Neverthe- 
less, the  massing  of  troops  against  a 
neighbor's  boundary  has  ever  been  re- 
garded as  a  menace  calling  for  expla- 
nation. It  is  equivalent  to  what  would 
be  the  raising  of  a  club  by  one  indi- 
vidual against  another.  That  would  be 
an  assault.  The  attack  with  the  club 
would  be  the  battery.  Usually  assault 
and  battery  follow  in  quick  succession 
and  the  person  threatened  by  the  rais- 
ing of  the  club  is  not  required  to  wait 
until  he  is  struck  before  defending  him- 
self. Thus,  while  it  is  true,  that  Ger- 
many stands  before  the  world  ostensi- 
bly the  aggressor  by  declaring  war 
against  Russia,  the  fact  is  that  in  the 
forum  of  law  and  conscience,  the  blame 
for  the  starting  of  this  war  justly  falls 
upon  Russia  and  her  allies, 

Lieber,  Vol.  II,  page  447,  in  his  work 
on  "I'olitical  Ethics,"  says : 

"A  war  may  be  essentially  defensive, 
and  yet  we  may  begin  it:  for  instance, 
if  we  must  prevent  an  invasion  which 
is  under  preparation." 

Also  I'.eiilham  in  Vol.  X,  page  531, 
proclaims  the  same  principle. 

A  point  of  minor  imi>ortance,  but 
still  worthy  of  consideration,  is,  that 
the  occujiation  of  Belgium  was  neces- 
sary to  furnish  an  extended  area  for 
the  deployment  of  the  unprecedented 
number  of  troops  that  would  be  en- 
gaged, Germany  also  required  the  Bel- 
gian  railroad  connections  as  a   means 


of  transit  into  France  and  as  a  general 
base  of  operations.  Moltke,  in  his 
work  on  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  de- 
scribes the  ditficulty  of  the  mobilization 
of  the  French  troops  by  the  clogging 
up  of  their  roads.  In  1870  it  was  pos- 
sible for  Germany  to  carry  the  war 
directly  into  France;  since  then  a  for- 
tified barrier  has  been  created  by 
France  on  her  eastern  frontier,  which 
made  the  use  of  Belgium  by  Germany 
an  absolute  necessity  in  an  offensive 
camimign  against  France.  General  Pic- 
quart  of  the  French  Staff  years  ago 
prepared  plans  anticipating  this  situa- 
tion. England's  preparation  for  the 
landing  of  troops  in  Belgium  is  a  corol- 
lary to  this  proposition. 

Neutralized  State  Must  Be  Impartial 
and  Beyond  Suspicion. 

It  has  been  contended  that  the  re- 
cently published  documeuts  on  the  Brit- 
ish-Belgian compact,  do  not  violate 
Belgium's  neutralized  character,  be- 
cause they  are  to  be  effective  only  in 
case  Gernjany  invades  Belgium.  This 
argument  shows  a  total  lack  of  under- 
standing of  the  idea  of  neutralization. 

The  first  and  indispensable  prerequi- 
site for  a  neutralized  state  is,  that  its 
character  for  imiiartialitj/  must  not  be 
open  to  douht — it  must  be  beyond  all 
reproach  and  suspicion.  It  may  have 
no  favorites.  As  soon  as  it  confides,  as 
it  were,  the  combination  of  the  safe 
containing  its  military  secrets,  to  one 
or  more  of  the  guaranteeing  powers,  but 
not  to  all,  it  has  violated  the  faith 
that  it  owes  to  all,  and  becomes  recre- 
ant to  Its  neutral  obligations. 

Mo  rand  (R.  G.  I.  S.  522)  lays  down 
the  rule  of  strict  and  perfect  imj)ar- 
tiality  required  of  a  neutralized  state, 
as  follows : 

"La  politique  de  VEtat  neutre  doit  .?' 
inxpircr  d'uti  spirit  de  parfaite  impar- 
tinlitc."  ("The  cliaructrr  of  a  neutral 
state  must  a.tsurr  rreii  the  spirit  of 
impartiality." — Editor,  "War  Echoes.") 

The      British     Government     Wanted 
War — Not  the  Britisli  People. 

As  the  English,  the  Germans  and  the 
people  of  the  United  States  are  strongly 
inter-related  in  blood  and  In  the  com- 
mon aims  of  th(.>ir  culture  and  civiliza- 
tion it  is  our  special  duty  to  bring  out 
good  will  and  harmony  among  them. 


Let  us  hope  that  the  German  people 
— who  were  among  the  first  to  recognize 
the  merits  of  great  Englishmen  like 
Shakespeare.  I)arwin  and  a  galaxy  of 
others — shall  likewise  recognize  the 
full  worth  and  value  of  the  great  Eng- 
lish people,  and  realize  that  their  rank 
and  file  are  not  to  be  held  responsible 
for  the  British  precipitation  into  the 
war — that  those  members  of  the  British 
Cabinet,  in  closest  touch  with  the  Eng- 
lish people— not  only  did  not  want  the 
war,  but  resigned  their  seats  as  a  pro- 
test against  it. 

Germany  Had  No  Desire  for  War. 

The  German  people  are  entitled  to 
universal  admiration  for  the  way  in 
which  they  have  borne  themselves  in 
this,  the  supreme  trial  of  their  na- 
tional life.  They  stand  together  with 
a  singleness  of  si)irlt  that  has  rarely 
been  equalled. 

Their  unanimous  conviction  that 
they  are  engaged  in  a  purely  defensive 
war  thrust  upon  them  by  "the  machi- 
nations of  their  enemies  cannot  be  pred- 
icated upon  the  theory  that  they  are 
spell-bound  by  some  hypnotic  illusion. 
They  are  too  practical  a  people  to  chase 
after  military  glory  and  risk  the  assets 
at  hand.  No  prospect  could  have  been 
more  promising  or  satisfactory  than 
the  continued  peaceful  operations  that 
yielded  such  valuable  dividends  in 
everything  that  can  make  a  people 
prosperous  and  happy.  She  was  an 
acknowledged  cultural  center  of  the 
world.  Her  universities,  art  schools 
and  art  treasures  attracted  students 
from  everywhere.  Her  manufactures 
reached  every  part  of  the  globe,  and 
her  commerce,  iu  rate  of  progression, 
was  unsurpassed.  In  judging  whether 
Germany  was  desirous  of  putting  a 
quietus  upon  such  a  splendid  status  quo 
and  risking  the  loss  Involved  in  war 
with  the  great  world  powers,  we  should 
reason  upon  normal  probabilities  and 
give  such  a  people  credit  for  more  than 
a   modicum  of  common  sense. 

Such  rushing  into  war  against  a 
world  of  enemies,  except  for  self-de- 
fense, is  unthinkable.* 


•  A  final  topic  of  this  article  was  re- 
moved to  Chapter  V  of  ll'or  Echoes,  under 
Emerson  on  the  Philosophy  of  Victoni. 
Turn  to  the  Reference  now,  in  order  to 
get  the  complete  article. — Editor,  War 
Kchoes. 


Belgium's  New  Life  since  that  Nation's  Liberation  from  Holland  in  1839 
Neutrality  Guaranteed,  Treaties  Made  and  Broken 


A  niJK.\CH  OF  XEITRAMTV 
AM)    THE    WAR. 

This:  is  the  steoud  article  of  a-  series 
',11  THE  FJHOI'ISAX  WAR.  which  ap- 
inurcd  in  the  Oclnher  Xunihcr  of  THE 
ol'EX  COIJUT,  under  the  title  "A 
itreurh  of  Xcutralitii."  Kritten  hy  the 
I'ditor,  Dr.  Paul  Carus. 

Consult  the  INDEX  for  the  complete 
^iries,  and,  in  order  to  see  where,  in 
Ihr  various  Chapters  of  the  hook,  the 
ilifUrent  articles  of  this  treatise  mail 
hi-  found,  look  for  EUROPEAN  WAR 
(THE).  In  this  trail  the  reader  may 
read  the  entire  series  of  articles  in 
their  orifjinal  order,  if  he  chooses  to 
(to  so,  while  the  present  arranffcment 
still  gives  him  the  advantage  of  bring- 


inii  the  various  articles  under  their 
proper,  respective  Chapter-headings  of 
the  hook. 

This  is  a  series  of  exceptionally 
fine  articles  on.  the  subject  in  ques- 
tion, and  thcii  bear  a  unique  and  im- 
portant relation  to  each  otiier.  Be 
sure  to  read  them  also  in  their  original 
order. — Editor,  "War  Echoes." 

Germany's  breach  of  neutrality  In 
Belgium  was  England's  official  and 
ostensible  reason  for  war,  but  even  in 
England  the  feeling  prevails  that  this 
l8  a  mere  pretext,  not  the  real  and 
ultimate  motive,  for  England  herself 
has  too  often  broken  neutrality  in  her 
past  history,  to  take  a  breach  of  neu- 
trality seriously. 


Think  of  the  unjustifiable  bom- 
bardment of  Copenhagen  by  Nelson, 
of  the  annexation  of  Dutch  colonies, 
especially  the  seizure  of  Capetown 
and  other  unexpected  attacks  upon 
peaceful  nations.  Who  believes  that 
the  English  would  have  declared  war 
on  France,  if  soon  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war  the  French  had 
broken  through  Belgium  to  outflank 
the  German  army?  Did  Great  Brit- 
ain find  fault  with  Japan  for  dis- 
regarding the  neutrality  of  China? 
The  United  States  too  belongs  to  the 
signatory  friends  of  the  Chinese  em- 
pire, and  we  have  reason  to  dislike 
the  Japanese  policy,  but  we  have  pre- 
served our  attitude  of  "watchful 
waiting." 


86 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM' 


••BUSY    I'.KUl  HA" 

One  of  the  German  42  Cm.  Type  of  Mortar  Siese  Guns,  hiimnrousl.v  nicknamed,  "Busy  Bertha,"  the  name  of  the  heir  to 

the  coiossal   Krupp   Estate,   Bertha   Krupp. — Note   the   Mischief    "Bertha"    has    done   at   one   of    the    Belgian    Forts 


At  the  beginning  of  the  Boer  War, 
the  English  broke  the  neutrality  of 
the  Portuguese  colony,  the  state  of 
East  Africa,  by  landing  their  troops 
in  Delagoa  Bay  solely  because  the 
British  army  wanted  to  save  going 
the  roundabout  way  through  British 
territory.  There  was  no  other  ex- 
cuse, no  urgent  need,  no  threat  that 
the  Boers  had  conspired  with  the 
Portuguese,  or  could  break  neutral- 
ity later  on.  In  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica  (11th  ed.,  s.  v.  "Neutral- 
ity," Vol.  XXXI,  p.  131)  the  incident 
is  called  "an  important  precedent."* 

What  an  atrocity  of  Germany  not 
only  to  begin  hostilities  against 
France  at  once  as  soon  as  the  war 
was  plainly  in  sight,  but  even  to  tres- 
pass on  Belgian  territory  and  become 
guilty  of  a  terrible  breacli  of  neutral- 
ity! What  an  atrocity!  But  there 
is  one  advantage  for  tlie  English.  As 
a  result  they  were  furnished  with  an 
excuse  to  justify  their  declaration  of 
war,  and  the  Germans,  at  the  same 
time,  had  also  to  face  the  army  of 
Belgium. 

There  is  no  need  of  discussing  the 
atrocity  of  a  breach  of  neutrality,  be- 
cause it  is  an  acknowledged  principle 
that  in  case  of  war  the  natural  law 
of  self-preservation  demands  of  every 
power  the  completion  of  the  war  that 
has  arisen  or  is  about  to  arise,  with 
the  utmost  dispatch  and  by  the  easi- 
est method.  In  the  present  case  the 
Germans  have  carried  the  war 
through  Luxemburg  and  Belgium  be- 
cause that  was  to  them  the  straight- 
est  and  safest  way  of  attack.  They 
would  have  been  satisfied  to  have  the 
Belgians  assent  to  their  march 
though  the  country  and  would  have 
gladly  paid  every  penny  for  food 
and  forage  or  occasional  destruction 
of  property;  but  the  Belgians  re- 
fused and  joined  the  French. 

We  do  not  know  all  the  secret  oc- 
currences of  European  politics,  but 
the  probability  is   that  the  Belgians 


had  agreed  to  allow  the  French  to 
march  through  Belgium  without  any 
objection  at  whatever  moment  it 
would  suit  them;  and  that  the  Bel- 
gians intended  to  favor  the  French  is 
fully  proved  through  facts,  mainly 
through  tlie  presence  of  French  offi- 
cers, prior  to  the  declaration  of  war, 
in  Lit-'ge,  where  they  helped  their  Bel- 
gian neighbors  to  modernize  the  Bel- 
gian fortifications  and  acted  as  gen- 
eral advisers  for  the  approaching  hos- 
tilities. 

Under  the  consideration  that  Bel- 
gium would  be  drawn  into  the  war 
at  a  moment  when  it  would  suit  the 
French  best,  it  was  preferable  to  the 
Germans  to  anticipate  the  French 
move  and  take  Belgium  first,  and  it 
is  probable  that  the  Germans  were 
prepared  to  find  the  Belgians  abso- 
lutely on  tlie  side  of  the  French. 

The  neutrality  treaty  of  Belgium 
had  been  signed  by  England,  France 
and  Prussia,  not  Germany,  for  the 
present  German  empire  did  not  exist 
at  the  time.  But  since  Germany  has 
inherited  Prussia's  policy,  we  are  told 
that  it  was  very  objectionable  for 
Germany  to  become  guilty  of  this 
breach  of  neutrality. 

Indeed!  But  why  should  Germany 
keep  this  treaty  concerning  the  Bel- 
gian neutrality  under  conditions  so 
obviously  changed?  When  Germany 
recognized  this  treaty,  the  German 
authorities  believed  that  Belgium 
would  try  to  be  truly  neutral  and  the 
hostility  of  Belgium  seemed  to  be  ex- 
cluded. On  the  other  hand,  the  mere 
suspicion  of  a  Franco-Belgian  entente 
is  sufficient  to  attack  France  through 
the  territory  of  the  Belgian  frontier. 
There  is  no  diplomat  who  denies  the 
established  right  of  any  power  to 
break  all  peace  treaties  in  case  of 
war — especially  if  conditions  have 
changed  to  such  an  extent  that  to 
keep  them  would  be  dangerous.' 


•  The  author  of  the  article  is  Dr. 
Thomas  Barclay,  vice-president  of  the  In- 
ternational Law  Association. 


'  Note  here  Mr.  Roosevelt's  criticism  of 
peace  treaties  which  under  serious  condi- 
tions will  have  to  be  broken  or  might  be- 
come disastrous. 


The  duty  of  neutrality  toward  a 
buffer  state  like  Belgium  presupposes 
in  its  turn  also  the  duty  of  a  strict 
neutrality  on  the  part  of  Belgium. 
Belgium  has  not  maintained  a  rig- 
orous neutrality  but  concluded  a 
friendship  with  the  Triple  Entente, 
especially  with  France,  and  this  can- 
celed Germany's  obligations.  Never- 
theless, Germany  was  ready  even 
then  to  respect  Belgian  independ- 
ence, provided  Belgium  would  allow 
the  German  army  a  free  passage 
through  the  country  into  France.  If 
England  had  been  fair  and  if  she 
had  first  of  all  considered  the  welfare 
of  Belgium,  she  would  have  advised 
Belgium  to  abstain  from  war  under 
these  circumstances  and  to  be  satis- 
fied with  a  formal  protest.  The  atti- 
tude of  Belgium  during  the  war  has 
justified  German  suspicions. 

The  German  side  of  the  question  is 
set  forth  in  a  German  telegram  ad- 
dressed to  Prince  Lichnowsky,  the 
German  Ambassador  at  London.* 

"Please  impress  upon  Sir  E.  Grey 
that  the  German  army  could  not  be 
exposed  to  French  attack  across  Bel- 
.i;ium,  nhich  was  planned  aeeording 
to  atifiolutelii  vnimpeaehable  informa- 
tion.- Germany  had  consequently  to 
disregard  Belgian  neutrality,  it  being 
for  her  a  question  of  life  or  death  to 
prevent  Frencli  advance." 

Why,  when  Germany,  as  stated  in 
this  message,  claimed  to  know  that 
the  French  were  about  to  break  Bel- 
gian neutrality,  did  not  England  then 
guarantee  Belgian  neutrality?  Ger- 
many might  not  have  believed  Eng- 
land, but  it  would  have  been  worth 
proving  whether  England  was  serious 
on  this  point  of  preserving  the  inde- 
pendence of  Belgium.  However,  Eng- 
land gave  no  such  assurance  in 
time,  for  the  declaration  of  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  came  too  late. 

Afterwards  Sir  Edward  Grey  de- 
clared in  his  answer  to  the  German 
Chancellor     Bethmann-Hollweg    that 


A  SKETCH  OF  RECENT  BELGIAN  HISTORY 


87 


England  would  have  fought  France 
to  save  Belgium  but  even  Englishmen 
will  find  it  hard  to  believe  this  state- 
ment of  their  leading  statesman. 

Would  the  king  of  Belgium  be 
ready  to  deny  on  his  royal  word  of 
honor  the  fact  that  French  officers 
had  visited  Belgium  and  had  been  in 
collusion  with  Belgian  officers?  Facts 
are  becoming  known  which  indicate 
that  even  the  English  themselves 
have  broken  neutrality.  Dr.  David 
S.  Schaff  of  Allegheny,  Pa.,  one  of 
the  leaders  of  Protestantism  in  the 
United  States,  who  like  myself,  had 
been  a  friend  of  England,  writes  to 
"The  Independent"  (Sept.  21,  1914) 
as  follows: 

"On  August  1  the  British  ambas- 
sador was  asked  a  second  time 
whether  England  would  remain  neu- 
tral in  case  Germany  respected  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium  and  guaran- 
teed the  integrity  of  France  and  also 
her  colonies.  Here  England  again 
said  she  must  be  free  to  act. 

"And,  if  the  letter  of  the  staff  cor- 
respondent of  the  New  York  'Even- 
ing Post'  in  London  is  to  be  accepted 
for  the  statement  that  Lord  Kitchener 
was  in  Belgium  two  weeks  before  the 
war  began  'to  make  disposition  for 
English  troops' — w-as  not  Belgian 
neutrality  broken  in  principle? 

"An  American  student  just  re- 
turned tells  me  that  he  saw  two  trains 
of  prisoners  and  wounded  passing 
through  Marburg  the  first  days  of 
the  siege  of  LiCge  and  Frenchmen 
were  mingled  with  the  Belgians,  hav- 
ing been  there  before  the  declaration 
of  war. 

"I  was  intensely  adverse  to  Ger- 
many at  first,  threw  up  my  hat  when 
England  declared  war,  but  I  have 
changed  my  mind.  Mr.  Carnegie's 
second  dispatch  to  the  'London 
Times'  is  in  the  right  direction." 

Both  France  and  England  had 
broken  Belgian  neutrality  before  the 
Germans.  What  right  have  they  to 
complain  about  it? 

In  the  present  instance  the  Ger- 
mans did  not  do  the  English  govern- 
ment the  favor  of  being  beaten  as 
easily  as  was  expected  of  them,  and 
as  a  result  official  explanations  have 
been  proclaimed,  how  England  had 
"the  choice  only  between  war  or  dis- 
honor," and  "was  bound  to  fight  for 
Belgian  independence."  Sir  David 
Lloyd-George  in  a  reference  to  the 
case  of  Servia,  quoting  Czar  Nich- 
olas as  having  boasted  to  the  em- 
peror of  Austria,  "I  will  tear  your 
ramshackle  empire  limb  from  limb," 
and,  added  Sir  David,  "he  is  doing 
it."  These  are  the  ipsissima  verha 
of  Great  Britain's  chancellor  of  the 
exchequer! 

It  is  commonly  believed  that  Eng- 
land stirs  others  to  war  but  is  care- 
ful to  keep  out  of  it  herself. 

In  1864  the  English  encouraged 
Denmark  to  resist  Prussia  and  Aus- 
tria on  account  of  Schleswig-Holstein, 
and  the  Danes,  relying  on  English 
assurances  refused  any  compromise, 
the  result  being  that  they  lost  the 
duchies.  A  Danish  friend  of  mine 
expressed  himself  very  vigorously  in 
condemning  British  statescraft,  say- 
ing that  the  warfare  of  Prussia  was 
square  and  honest,  but  the  attitude 
of  England  was  unpardonable.  The 
English  did  not  want  Prussia  to  lay 


the  foundation  of  a  naval  power,  so 
they  proposed  to  protect  the  Danes, 
but  they  did  not  do  it.  If  the  Eng- 
lish, said  my  Danish  friend,  were 
not  willing  to  fulfill  their  promises 
they  ought  not  to  have  made  them. 

'The  British  "White  Book"  gives  us 
a  psychological  insight  into  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  Russian  minister  in- 
duced Sir  Edward  Grey  to  join  the 
French-Russian  alliance.  We  read 
there  that  according  to  Russian  opin- 
ion, the  Germans  would  never  be- 
lieve that  the  English  would  fight. 
The  English  had  supported  Servia  in 
diplomacy,  and  the  Russians  hinted 
that  after  all  the  English  would  not 
be  credited  with  making  good  by 
joining  the  fight,  and  it  seems  that 
the  Russian  suggestion  helped  to 
bring  the  English  into  line.  The 
Russians  remembered  that  the  Eng- 
lish had  encouraged  the  Japanese  to 
fight  Russia  but  the  English  kept 
out  of  the  fray. 

A  stray  notice  in  the  North  Ger- 
man Gazette  states  on  the  authority 
of  the  Belgian  ambassador  at  St. 
Petersburg  that  Russia  did  not  ven- 
ture into  the  war  against  Germany 
until  England  had  given  a  definite 
promise  to  take  an  active  part  in  it. 

This  time  the  English  meant  war 
and  were  ready  to  join  France  and 
Russia.  England's  intentions  can  not 
have  been  very  pacific,  for  accord- 
ing to  a  statement  published  in  the 
French  paper  "Gil  Bias"  of  February 
25,  1913,  England  had  stored  in  the 
fortress  of  Maubeuge  large  deposits 
of  ammunition  for  the  English  ar- 
tillery in  case  of  a  Continental  war. 
Maubeuge  is  situated  between  Paris 
and  the  Belgian  frontier,  and  what 
was  the  purpose  of  this  unusual  act? 

There  is  another  objection  hurled 
at  the  Germans;  it  is  this:  that  they 
should  not  have  started  the  war  and 
should  not  have  mobilized  their  army 
before  the  first  enemy  had  dared  to 
trespass  on  German  territory.  But 
such  criticism  can  be  made  only  by 
people  who  do  not  know  that  priority 
of  attack  may  decide  the  whole  war 
and  the  advantage  of  a  position  may 
save  the  lives  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands. If  the  Germans  had  waited 
until  the  French  had  joined  the  Bel- 
gians and  surprised  the  Germans  by 
a  sudden  and  unexpected  attack  on 
Treves  and  Cologne,  the  first  situa- 
tion of  the  war  would  have  presented 
greater  difficulties  to  the  general 
staff  of  the  Kaiser,  and  being  con- 
fronted by  other  foes  in  the  east 
might  easily  have  led  to  ultimate  de- 
feat. 

We  ought  to  add  here  that  later 
reports  announce  that  Russians  tres- 
passed upon  Prussian  territory  on 
the  day  before  the  declaration  of 
war:  and  how  did  they  behave?  One 
Russian  general,  now  a  prisoner  in 
German  hands,  had  the  whole  male 
population  of  a  Prussian  village 
slain,  and  some  Russian  ofiTicers  had 
adopted  the  custom  of  carrying  on 
their  persons  the  fingers  of  their  slain 
enemies,  both  male  and  female. 

It  has  become  apparent  that  the 
Germans  anticipated  the  French  plan 
of  campaign.  A  newspaper  clipping 
on  the  subject  reads  thus: 

"We  may  assume  that  the  French, 
just  as  did  the  Germans,  during  times 
of  peace  prepared  a  complete  plan  of 


campaign,  and'  when  hostilities  be- 
gan they  naturally  attempted  to  carry 
out  this  plan,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
fight  their  battles  on  territory  se- 
lected by  themselves,  which  always 
means  a  considerable  advantage  over 
the  adversary. 

"That  such  a  plan  was  in  existence 
is  certain,  and,  as  has  been  declared 
repeatedly  from  Berlin  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war,  the  German  gen- 
eral staff  has  proofs  that  this  plan 
not  only  included  a  march  through 
the  alleged  neutral  territory  of  Bel- 
gium, but  also  that  a  real  military 
convention  with  the  Belgian  gov- 
ernment was  in  existence  under 
which  Belgium  granted  free  passage 
through  her  country  to  the  French, 
but  was  going  to  resist  by  force  a 
passage  of  the  German  troops,  the 
French  promising  help  in  such  a  case. 
If  this  original  plan  of  the  French 
general  staff  had  been  realized,  Ger- 
many actually  would  have  been  in  a 
very  bad  position.  Progress  of  the 
French  to  the  Rhine  could  not  have 
been  prevented  and  the  German 
troops  certainly  would  have  been 
compelled  to  evacuate  Alsace-Lor- 
raine. 

"Contemporaneous  with  the  pas- 
sage of  the  French  forces  through 
Belgium  an  attack  upon  Alsace  and 
later  upon  Lorraine  had  also  been 
planned. 

"The  grand  success  of  the  German 
army  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  its 
leaders  succeeded  in  throwing  over 
the  whole  plan  of  campaign  so  splen- 
didly elaborated  by  the  French,  by 
appearing  first  on  the  place  where 
the  Frenchmen  intended  to  be  In  Bel- 
gium. The  French  mobilization 
probably  did  not  proceed  quite  as 
smoothly  as  the  German. 

"For,  instead  of  bringing  help  to 
their  hard  pressed  allies  in  Belgium, 
their  southern  neighbors  kept  back 
for  weeks  and  gave  suflRcient  time  to 
the  Germans  to  make  that  country 
the  base  of  their  operations.  The  ad- 
vance of  the  Germans  showed  itself 
as  so  strong  that  the  approaching 
French  armies  and  reinforcements 
were  not  able  to  withstand  the  at- 
tacks, but  were  pushed  back  step  by 
step. 

"The  knowledge  of  the  French 
plan  of  campaign  possessed  by  the 
German  general  staff,  the  prepared- 
ness of  the  German  army  and  the 
irresistible  momentum  of  the  Ger- 
man masses  put  into  the  field  sud- 
denly ended  the  hopes  of  the  French 
general  staff,  right  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  for  the  realization  of  their 
own  plans  and  indirectly  enforced 
very  soon  the  evacuation  of  Upper 
Alsace  by  the  French,  without  any 
larger  battles  at  that  point. 

"Notwithstanding  all  the  apologies 
for  the  facts,  as  they  have  been  of- 
fered by  the  French  commander-in- 
chief,  Gen.  Joffre,  the  French  have 
been  restricted  to  a  defensive  war 
policy  at  nearly  all  points  right  from 
the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  Ger- 
mans have  fought  their  battle3  ex- 
actly where  they  intended  to,  have 
driven  their  opponents  where  they 
wished  to  and  will  succeed  in  further 
driving  them  to  a  place  where  they 
can  defeat  them  in  the  easiest  man- 
ner. Upon  the  execution  of  this  plan 
the  splendid  success  of  the  German 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM' 


FORT  LOUCIN  OF  LIeGE 

It  is  uotUiiig  short  of  bewildering  to  try  to  thiuk  of  how  any  movable  instrument 

can  throw  a  missle  weighing  almost  a  ton  and  find  its  target  in  a  most  effective 

manner,  as  this  picture  clearly  shows.     This  is  only  one  of  many  similar  wrecks 

made  of  the  Forts  of  Germany's  Enemies. 

(By  Courtesy  of  the  "Koelnische  Zeitun^") 


army  Is  founded;  upon  the  inability 
of  the  adversary  to  see  beforehand 
the  moves  of  the  enemy  or  to  cross 
them,  the  reverses  ot  the  French  find 
their  explanation." 


A   Breach   of   Neutrality. 

And  here  is  Mr.  Jourdain's  reply  to 
the  Editor's  discussion  ot  this  subject. — 
Editor,  War  Echoes. 

The  E;ditor  claims  that  on  the  part 
of  England.  Germany's  breach  of  neu- 
trality on  Belgium  was  only  an  official 
pretext  for  the  war,  "not  the  real  and 
ultimate  motive."  This  certainly  does 
not  represent  the  attitude  of  England 
towards  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  or 
Holland.  Their  independence  had  been 
for  centuries  considered  as  one  of  the 
strongest  means  for  securing  peace  in 
Europe,  as  their  position  and  conforma- 
tion rendered  them  the  natural  battle- 
field of  Northern  Europe;  of  this  their 
troublous  history  is  sufficient  proof. 

"If  it  was  made  impossible  for  great 
powers  to  invade  them,  war  would  be- 
come increasingly  difficult  and  danger- 
ous. With  the  growth  of  the  idea  of  a 
fixed  system  of  international  law 
founded  on  treaties,  the  neutrality  of 
Belgium  had  been  devised  as  a  perma- 
nent safeguard  to  this  end.  As  such 
it  had  been  consecrated  by  two  inter- 


national treaties  signed  by  all  the  pow- 
ers, and  recognized  by  two  generations 
of  statesmen."'  As  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
says,  it  was  a  matter  of  common 
knowledge  in  England  that  one  event 
would  make  it  impossible  for  England 
to  remain  a  spectator  in  a  European 
war. — that  event  being  the  violation  of 
the  neutrality  of  Holland  or  Belgium.' 
There  was  never  any  secret  about  this 
and  it  was  well  known  to  many  peo- 
ple who  took  no  special  interest  in  for- 
eign politics.  The  stress  laid  upon  the 
importance  of  Belgian  neutrality  in 
speeches  by  Lord  Granville  in  the 
House  of  Lords  (August  8.  1870)  and 
Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons (August  10,  1S70)  is  emphasized 
again  in  Sir  Edward  Grey's  speech  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  August  3 
last." 

The  wrong  done  by  Germany  has  no 
parallel  in  the  instances  of  earlier 
breaches  of  neutrality  quoted  by  the 
Editor.'"  The  only  recent  instance 
quoted  is  the  landing  of  British  troops 
in  Delagoa  Bay  at  the  beginning  of  the 


'  "O.   B.   and  the  E.   C,"  p.  viii,« 

■  "Might  Is  Right."  Oxford  pamphlets, 
1914.  p.   6. 

•  "G.   B.  and  the  E.  C."  p.   93. 

■»"0.  C."  p.  601. 

•See  Jourdain  in  Index  for  complete  ref- 
erence.— Editor. 


Boer  war.  Portugal  is  an  old  ally  of 
England,  and  conceded  iiermission  to 
the  British  consul  at  Lorenzo  Marques 
to  search  for  contraband  of  war 
among  goods  Imported  there,  and  ac- 
corded free  passage  to  an  armed  force 
under  General  Carington  from  Beira 
through  Portuguese  territory  to  Rho- 
desia. 

"The  Portuguese  government  ex- 
fKJsed  itself  to  no  international  diffi- 
culty through  allowing  a  belligerent, 
whose  final  victory  was  certain  and  of 
necessity  entailed  total  suppression  of 
the  conquered  belligerent,  to  cross  its 
colonial  territory,'"  and  this  incident 
cannot  be  compared  with  Germany,  one 
of  the  guarantors  of  Belgian  neutrality, 
invading  Belgium  when  that  country, 
conscious  of  Its  duty,  was  "firmly  re- 
solved to  repel  aggression  by  all  pos- 
sible means." 

The  earlier  instances  of  breaches  of 
neutrality  instanced  are  the  seizure  of 
Capetown  and  the  annexation  of  Dutch 
colonies.  The  Dutch  colony  of  New  Ne- 
therland  was  seized  by  England  In  time 
of  peace,  in  160-1 — a  discreditable  action 
— but  this  and  other  political  measures 
of  the  seventeenth  century  are  no  prec- 
edents for  us  to-day.  Late  in  the  eight- 
eenth century,  when  the  organization 
of  the  united  Netherlands  was  abol- 
ished, and  they  were  transformed  into 
the  Batavian  republic,  in  close  alliance 
with  France,  the  Dutch  participation 
in  the  wars  of  the  Revolution  nat- 
urally brought  with  it  the  enmity  of 
England,  and  the  seizure  of  all  the 
Dutch  colonies  by  the  English. 

Further,  the  Editor  writes  that  there 
is  no  use  discussing  the  atrocity  of  a 
breach  of  neutrality  "because  it  is  an 
acknowledged  principle  that  in  case  of 
war  the  natural  law  of  self-preserva- 
tion demands  of  every  power  the  com- 
pletion of  the  war  that  has  arisen  or 
is  about  to  arise,  with  the  utmost  dis- 
patch and  by  the  easiest  method.  In 
the  present  case  the  Germans  have  car- 
ried the  war  through  Luxembourg  and 
Belgium  because  that  was  to  them  the 
stralghtest  and  safest  way  of  attack."' 
It  is  significant  to  recall  here  that  von 
Bethmann-Hollweg.  the  iGerman  Im- 
perial chancellor,  in  his  speech  to  the 
Reichstag  on  August  4,  while  laying 
stress  on  Germany's  "state  of  neces- 
sity," confesses  openly  that  the  Inva- 
sion of  Luxembourg  and  Belgium  is 
"contrary  to  the  dictates  of  Interna- 
tional law,"  a  wrong  committed. 

"It  is  true  that  the  French  govern- 
ment." he  said,  "has  declared  at  Brus- 
sels that  France  is  willing  to  respect 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium  as  long  as 
her  opponent  respects  it.  We  knew, 
however,  that  France  stood  ready  for 
the  Invasion.  France  could  wait,  but 
we  could  not  wait.  A  French  move- 
ment upon  our  flank  upon  the  Lower 
Rhine  might  have  been  disastrous.  So 
we  were  compelled  to  override  the  Just 
protests  of  the  Luxembourg  and  Bel- 
gian governments.  The  wrong— I  speak 
openly — that  we  are  committing  we 
will  endeavor  to  make  good  as  soon 
as  our  military  goal  has  been  reached. 
Anybody  who  is  threatened  as  we  are 
threatened,  and  is  fighting  for  his  high- 
est possessions,  can  have  only  one 
thought — how  he  is  to  hack  his  way 
through." 


'"Encyclopaedia     Brltannica."     11th    ed.. 
Vol.  XIX,  s.  V.  "Neutrality,"  p.  477. 
'"O.  C."  pp.  601-2. 


A  SKETCH  OF  RECENT  BELGIAN  HISTORY 


The  Imperial  Cbaiicellor  wiis.  we 
see.  unaware  of  this  "acknowledged 
Iirintiple"'  of  the  Editor's.  As  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  has  said,  "treaties  are 
the  currency  of  interna tioual  states- 
manship," and  it  is  obviously  to  the 
interest  of  each  country  to  see  that 
such  international  treaties  are  valid 
not  only  in  peace  (when  nobody  pro- 
poses to  break  them)  but  also  in  war. 
An  apology  advanced  by  the  Editor  is 
that  Prussia  and  Germany  had  signed 
the  neutrality  treaty  of  Belgium,  the 
present  (Iciinau  empire  not  then  e.vist- 
ing.  and  Germany  need  not  respect  the 
treaty  ''under  conditions  so  obviously 
changed."  Prince  Bismarck  in  1S70, 
when  there  was  war  between  B'rance 
and  Germany,  "confirming  his  verbal 
assurance,  gave  in  writing  a  declara- 
tion which  he  said  was  suijciftuous  in 
reference  to  the  treaty  in  exixtcnce — 
that  the  German  confederation  and  its 
allies  would  respect  the  neutrality  of 
Belgium."  Bismarck  here  sjjoaks  not 
of  I'russia  but  of  the  Gorman  confed- 
eration, representing  the  German  em- 
pire of  to-day.  The  present  conditions 
appear  closely  parallel  to  those  of  1S70, 
and  it  was  for  such  an  event  as  a 
Franco-German  war  that  the  neutral- 
ity of  Belgium  had  been  devised  as  a 
safeguard.  The  Editor  considers  an 
important  change  in  the  conditions  was 
ereate<l  liy  "the  suspicion,'"  the  "prob- 
ability" of  a  Franco-Belgian  entente. 
".Suspicion  in  the  German  mind  is  not 
sufficient  to  justify  such  a  breach  of 
interuiitlonal  law.  No  serious  evidence 
is  advanced  of  a  Franco-Belgian  eji- 
tcnte.  while,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
have  the  French  government's  assur- 
ance that  it  would  respect  the  neu- 
trality of  Belgium  in  answer  to  Sir 
Edward  Grey's  inquiry: 

"Tlie  French  government  is  resolved 
to  respect  the  neutrality  of  Belgium, 
and  it  would  only  be  in  the  event  of 
some  otlier  power  violating  that  neu- 
trality that  France  might  find  herself 
under  the  necessity,  in  order  to  assure 
the  defense  of  her  security,  to  act 
otherwise.  The  president  of  the  repub- 
lic spoke  of  it  to  the  king  of  the  Bel- 
gians, and  the  French  minister  at 
Brussels  has  spontaneously  renewed  the 
assurance  to  the  Belgian  minister  of 
foreign  affairs  to-day.'"  France  could 
have  no  object  In  alienating  the  sym- 
pathies of  England  by  violating  Bel- 
gian neutrality,  and  Belgium  on  her 
side  (August  1)  intended  to  maintain 
her  neutrality  to  the  utmost  of  her 
power."  On  August  3'  she  even  re- 
fu.scd  the  five  French  army  corps  of- 
fered her  through  the  French  military 
attachf-  for  protecting  her  neutrality 
against  the  Germans,  and  did  not  "pro- 
pose to  appeal  to  the  guarantee  of  the 
jiowers." 

In  the  face  of  these  facts  we  must  dis- 
count unsupported  stories  such  as  that 
French  officers  were  present  prior  to 
the  declaration  of  war,  in  Lifege,  that 

•  "Wc  do  not  know  all  the  pecrot  occur- 
rences of  Kiiropean  politics,  but  the  prob- 
nhility  Is  th.it  the  BclKians  had  apreed  to 
allow  the  French  to  march  thrnviKh  Rel- 
Kium .  .  .  .  A/prf!  suspicion  of  a  Franco-Bel- 
gian entente  Is  sufflclent  to  pttock  France 
through  the  Belgian  frontier."  "O.  C,"  p. 
•'.'^2.      The    Italics    here   usnd    for   emphasis 

•  !••  not  In  the  orlelnal.* 

•  "G.  B.  and  the  E.  C, "  pp.  rt3-!)4. 

•  "Ibid.."   p.   67. 
■  "Ibid.."  p.  75. 

•.See  Jourdaln  In  Inde.v  for  thr  complete 
I '  frrence. — Editor. 


"Lord  Kitchener  was  in  Belgium  two 
weeks  before  the  war  began,"'  if  the 
letter  of  the  staff  correspondent  of  the 
"New  York  Evening  Post"  in  Loudon  is 
to  be  accepted.  The  presence  of  Eng- 
lish and  French  officers  in  Belgium  be- 
fore the  Germans  invaded  that  coun- 
try has  been  officially  denied  by  the 
Belgian  government.  Assuming  that 
England  and  France  planned  how  they 
would  act  if  (iermauy  did  precisely 
what  she  has  done,  "to  say  that  it  was 
a  violation  of  neutrality  for  England 
and  France  to  plan  In  advance  how, 
if  necessary,  they  would  perform  the 
duties  put  upon  them  by  the  treaty  es- 
tablishing Belgian  neutrality  is  to  in- 
sult their  intelligence."  '  A  German  plan 
of  campaign  against  the  United  States 
of  America  has  recently  been  published, 
which  has  not  yet  caused  that  country 
to  attack  Germany  on  suspicion  of  hos- 
tile intentions. 

The  argument  that  it  was  "preferable 
to  the  Germans  to  anticipate  the  French 
move  and  take  Belgium  first"  errs  like 
the  German  manifesto  "To  the  Civil- 
ized World"  In  assuming  an  unproved 
and  improbable  French  violation  of  Bel- 
gian neutrality.  But  even  granted  that 
this  contention  were  true,  what  does  it 
amount  to?  That  Germany  hurried  to 
violate  a  law  before  some  one  else 
could  do  so ;  and  "if  anybody  was  go- 
ing to  murder  Belgian  neutrality  she 
was  going  to  be  first  at  the  job."* 

"A  stray  notice  In  the  'North  Ger- 
man Gazette.' "  "later  reports."  "a 
newspaper  clipping"  from  a  German 
paper,  cannot  be  considered  serious 
evidence.  Information  supplied  from 
these  doubtful  sources  is  on  its  face 
doubtful.  The  statement'  that  large 
dejmsits  of  ammunition  were  stored  by 
England  in  the  fortress  of  Maubeuge 
before  the  continental  war,  is  officially 
denied.  The  giving  of  wide  publicity 
to  absurd  stories  such  as  the  "later  re- 
ports" that  "some  Russian  officers  had 
adopted  the  custom  of  carrying  on  their 
persons  the  fingers  of  their  slain  en- 
emies, both  male  and  female"  is  to  be 
deprecated.  Stories  of  atrocities  are 
circulated  by  all  the  combatant  nations 
without  exception  :  and  it  is  impossible 
to  accept  any  without  a  careful  pre- 
liminary investigation. 

The  Editor  quotes  from  the  "Inde- 
pendent" (September  21,  ]!)14)  :  "On 
August  1  the  British  Ambassador  was 
asked  a  second  time  whether  England 
would  remain  neutral  in  case  Germany 
respected  the  integrity  of  France  and 
also  her  colonies.  Here  England  again 
said  she  must  be  free  to  act."  'This 
correctly  summarizes  Sir  Edward 
Grey's  earlier  comnuinication  (.Tuly  30) 
in  which  a  similar  proi)osaI "'  is  de- 
clared unacceptable.  "For  France, 
without  further  territory  in  Europe  be- 
ing taken  from  her.  could  he  so  crushed 
as  to  lose  her  position  as  a  great  power 
and  become  subordinate  to  Gorman 
policy."  ' 


It  is  difficult  to  see  where  the  Editor 
has  gained  "psychological  insight  into 
the  manner  in  which  the  Russian  min- 
ister induced  i<ir  Edward  Grey  to  join 
the  I'^rench-Russiaii  alliance.  The  Eng- 
lisli  had  supported  Servia  in  diplomacy, 
and  the  Itussians  hinted  that  after  all 
the  English  would  not  be  credited  with 
making  good  by  joining  the  fight,^  and 
it  seems  that  the  Russian  suggestion 
helped  to  bring  the  English  into  line."' 
The  suggestion  that  England  acted 
from  mere  pique  is  naive  and  unsup- 
ported. The  facts  are  that  on  July  24 
and  25  M.  Sazonoff,  the  Russian  min- 
ister for  foreign  affairs,  pressed  Great 
Britain  to  make  a  declaration  of  soli- 
darity with  Russia  and  France,  adding 
that  "unfortunately  Germany  was  con- 
vinced that  she  could  count  on  your 
neutrality."  On  July  29.  Sir  Edward 
Grey  outlined  to  Sir  F.  Bertie,  British 
ambassador  at  Paris,  a  conversation 
with  the  French  ambassador  in  Lon- 
don, in  which  he  says  clearly  in  what 
circumstances  England  would  not  inter- 
vene,' i.  e..  not  in  a  dispute  between 
Austria  and  Servia.  nor  in  a  dispute 
between  Russia.  Servia  and  Austria. 
Even  if  "Germany  became  involved 
and  France  became  involved,  we  had 
not  made  up  our  minds  what  we  should 
do ;  It  was  a  case  that  we  should  have 
to  consider.""  We  see  Sir  Edward 
Grey  moved  by  English  interests  and 
obligations. 


■  For  the  discussion  of  England's  atti- 
tude during  the  Schleswig-Holstein  com- 
plication ("O.  C,"  p.  604)  see  below  sec- 
tion on  the  "Foes  of  Germany." 

>"0.  C,"  p.  604. 

»"G.  B.  and  the  E.  C,"  pp.  9,  16. 

"  "Ibid.,"  p.   46. 


'  "O.  C,"  pp.  602  and  603. 

'"The  Nation"  (New  York),  October 
29.    11)14. 

•Mr.  .lonrdaln  seems  to  overlook  the 
fact  that  Germany  was  first  concerned  In 
saving  her  own  :  and  this  point  alone  la 
suftlclently  recognized  to  warrant  refrain- 
ing from  an  attempt  at  giving  further  rea- 
son for  the  time  being. — Editor,  War 
Echoe.s. 

» Published  in  "Gil  Bias,"  February  25. 
HI'.'! 

"Except  that  In  this  case  the  French 
colonies   were  not  safeguarded. 

■  "G.  B.  and  the  E.  C,"  p.  BB. 


By  James  O'Doiiiiell  Bennett. 

[War  Correspondent  of  The  Tribune.] 

AIX  LA  CHAPELLE,  Germany, 
Oct.  6. — After  spending  ten  days  in 
covering  the  great  triangle  of  farm- 
ing country,  forests,  cities,  and  vil- 
lages bounded  by  lines  reaching  from 
Ai.x  la  Chapelle  in  Germany  to  Laon 
in  France,  from  Laon  to  Brussels, 
and  from  Brussels  back  to  Aix  la 
Chapelle,  I  uiii  in  ii  position  to  expose 
a  few  more  of  the  lies  which  have 
}"iven  an  unprecedented  touch  of 
horror  to  (he  hostilities  now  convul- 
sing Europe.* 

"The  extent  of  my  right  to  speak 
with  conviction  may  be  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  I  have  for  the  second 
time  moved  day  and  night  within  the 
German  lines  and  often  have  talked 
with  French  prisoners  and  French 
villagers  while  no  German  officer  was 
standing  by. 

In  northern  France  many  of  the 
peasants  expressed  satisfaction  at  the 
coming  of  the  (lermans  because  they 
were  thus  relieved  of  the  i>rescnce  of 
the  French  colonial  Turcos,  whom 
they  dread  more  than  they  dread  the 
enemy.* 

French  Civilians  Peaceable. 

The  German  columns  which  are 
moving  like  iron  fingers  through 
northern  France  have  encountered 
practically  no  resi.wtance  from  the 
p<ipulation.  The  result  is  that  the 
punitive   measures   which  laid  waste 

'Emphasized  in  hold  type  by  the 
Publisher  of  "War  Echoes." 


90 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE-" THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM" 


many  Belgian  viUages,  where  franc- 
tireiirs  fired  upon  German  troops 
from  ceUars,  garrets,  hedges,  and 
church  towers,  have  not  been  neces- 
sary, and  you  may  see  more  destroyed 
houses  along  the  country  roads  east 
of  Louvain  in  lielgium  than  I  saw 
in  the  French  cities  lying  between 
the  Belgian  frontier  on  the  north 
and  Reims  on  the  south.  In  fact,  the 
bumed  dwelling  of  a  French  civilian 
was  the  rarest  of  sights  on  the 
French  countryside.* 

I  spent  hours  in  at  least  six  Ger- 
man military  hospitals  in  Belgium 
and  France  and  observed  that  Ger- 
man and  French  wounded  were 
treated  precisely  alike,  receiving  the 
same  food  and  the  same  attention. 
Of  the  signal  tenderness  of  a  Ger- 
man doctor  to  a  severely  wounded 
Frenchman  I  shall  give  details  in  an- 
other dispatch. 

Germans  Capture  Dumdum  Bullets. 
The  use  of  dumdum  bullets  has 
added  a  fresli  and  dreadful  element 
of  suffering  and  hatred  to  the  hos- 
tilities In  M:Hil>euge  I  saw  boxes 
contaiiung  60,000  dumdum  cart- 
ridoes.  One  of  these  boxes,  selected 
at  random.  I  helped  to  open  and 
photograph.  The  thirty-two  boxes 
bore  Frencli  labels  and  they  fell  into 
German  hands  when  the  forts  at 
Maubeuge   were   captured.* 

In  one  night  at  Maubeuge  a  Ger- 
man nurse  attended  sixty  Germans 
who  had  been  wounded  on  French 
soil  Of  these  cases  she  believed 
twentv  were  the  result  ot  dumdum 
bullets.  The  sister  was  careful  to 
add  that  the  next  night  she  received 
only  two  dumdum  cases.  Her  diag- 
nosis ot  the  wounds  as  having  been 
inflicted  by  dumdums  was  supported 
by  a  German  surgeon. 

In  Chimav,  Belgium,  I  assisted  at 
the  photographing  of  two  wounds  ap- 
parently inflicted  by  dumdums.  The 
nature  of  them  was  hideous  beyond 
description.  John  T.  McCutcheon, 
who  has  observed  the  effect  ot  duin- 
dum  bullets  on  African  game,  said 
that  it  was  his  conviction  that  the 
two  wounds,  which  he  also  assisted 
to  photograph,  were  inflicted  by  dum- 
dums. 

Reims  Cathedral  Not  Wrecked. 
Reports  of  the  destruction  of  the 
noble  cathedral  at  Reims  are  prema- 
ture by  what  seems  likely  to  he  an- 
other 500  years.  I  have  studied  the 
cathedral  through  field  glasses  while 
I  was  standing  on  heights  three  miles 
from  the  city. 

The  towers,  which,  it  has  been 
said,  the  Gennans  blew  down,  are 
standing  and  seemed  intact,  I'Ut  I 
thought  T  could  observe  that  the 
iiaraiiet  of  one  tower  was  a  little 
damaged.  The  rest  of  the  church 
stood  four  square  to  the  wide  plain 
as  it  has  for  so  many  centuries. 

A  German  officer  told  me  that  the 
roof  of  the  nave  had  been  bumed  as 
a  result  of  brands  flying  from  houses 
near  by.  These  brands  had  caught 
in  the  Wooden  scaffolding  erected  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  repairs 
and  had  ignited  the  roof.  The  houses 
had  caught  fire  from  the  explosion  of 
shells  from  German  batteries. 

♦Emphasized  by  the  Editor. 


German  officers  of  high  rank  said 
that  the  French  had  been  requested 
to  cease  using  signals  on  the  towers. 
Two  German  officers  sent  as  parle- 
mentaires  were  taken  prisoners.  As 
a  final  warning  the  Germans  blew 
down  a  smoke  stack  near  the  cathe- 
dral. Then  extra  thin  shrapnel  was 
fired  against  the  towers  so  as  to  in- 
jure them  as  little  as  possible,  but 
drive  away  the  men  who  were  sig- 
naling.* 


•Emphasizeil  by  the  Editor 


GER>L\NY'S  APPEAL  TO 
AMERICA. 


Chancellor    Von     Bethmann-Hollweg 
Asks  Impartial  Judgment. 

The  war  is  a  life  and  death  strug- 
gle between  Germany  and  the  Musco- 
vite races  ot  Russia,  and  was  due  to 
the  recent  royal  murders  at  Serajevo. 
We  warned  Russia  against  kind- 
ling this  world  war.  She  demanded 
the  humiliation  of  Austria,  and  while 
the  German  Emperor  continued  his 
work  in  the  cause  of  peace  and  the 
Czar  was  telegraphing  words  of 
friendship  to  him,  Russia  was  pre- 
paring for  war  against  Germany. 

Highly  civilized  France,  bound  by 
her  unnatural  alliance  with  Russia, 
was  compelled  to  prepare  by  strength 
of  arms  tor  an  attack  on  its  flank  on 
the  Franco-Belgian  frontier  in  case 
we  proceeded  against  the  French 
frontier  works.  England,  bound  to 
France  by  obligations  disowned  long 
ago,  stood  in  the  way  of  a  German 
attack  on  the  northern  coast  ot 
France. 

Necessity  forced  us  to  violate  the 
neutrality 'of  Belgium,  but  we  had 
promised  emphatically  to  compensate 
that  country  for  all  damage  Inflicted. 
Now  England  avails  herself  of  the 
long  awaited  opportunity  to  com- 
mence war  for  the  destruction  of 
commercially  prosperous  Germany. 
We  enter  into  that  war  with  our 
trust  in  God.  Our  eternal  race  has 
risen  in  the  fight  for  liberty,  as  It 
did  in   1813. 

It  is  with  a  heavy  heart  that  we 
see  England  ranged  among  our  op- 
ponents. 

Notwithstanding  the  blood  rela- 
tionship and  close  relationship  m 
spiritual  and  cultural  work  between 
the  two  countries,  England  has 
placed  herself  on  the  side  of  Russia, 
whose  instability  and  whose  bar- 
baric insolence  have  helped  this  war, 
the  origin  of  which  was  murder,  and 
the  purpose  ot  which  was  the  humili- 
ation and  suppression  of  the  German 
race  by  Russian  pan-Slavism. 

We  expect  that  the  sense  of  jus- 
tice of  the  American  people  will  en- 
able them  to  comprehend  our  situa- 
tion We  invite  their  opinion  as  to 
the  one-sided  English  representa- 
tions, and  ask  them  to  examine  our 
point  of  view  in  an  unprejudiced 
way. 

The  sympathy  of  the  American 
nation  will  then  lie  with  German  cul- 
ture and  civilization,  fighting  against 
a  halt  Asiatic  and  slightly  cultured 
barbarism.— From  •'The  Indepen- 
dent," New  York,   August   24,   1914. 


ASOnTH    SAYS    TALES    AGAINST 
GERMANS   LACK   CON- 
FIRMATION. 

Tales  of  alleged  German  atrocitleB 
are  announced  in  big  headlines  on 
the  front  page,  news  items  favorable 
to  the  Germans  are  relegated  to  the 
fourth  page  and  presented  in  small 
type.— F.ditor. 

Here  is  a  sample: 
From  the  "Chicago  Evening  Amer- 
ican," September  15,  1914. 
London,  Sept.  15.— Premier  As- 
quith  has  told  the  House  of  Com- 
mons that  no  official  information 
had  reached  the  Ministry  ot  War  con- 
cerning the  repeated  stories  that 
German  soldiers  had  abused  the  Red 
Cross  flag,  killed  and  maimed  the 
wounded  and  killed  women  and  chil- 
dren. 

He  added  that  this  subject  was 
under  consideration  and  that  an  in- 
quiry was  being  made.  He  assented 
to  the  suggestion  made  that,  with 
the  view  ot  obtaining  greater  cred- 
ence of  any  reports  on  the  subject 
which  the  British  government  might 
issue,  the  American  Embassy  and 
Consulate  would  be  communicated 
with  with  the  object  of  getting 
them  to  publish  the  full  facts. 


THE  "OUTLOOK"  .JUSTIFIED  GEB- 

MWYS  RETRIBUTIVE  ACTION 

IN  BELGIUM. 


From  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York, 
November  4,  1014. 

The  majority  of  newspapers  in  this 
country  have  so  far  denied  that  Ger- 
many's retributive  action  was  pro- 
voked by  the  Belgians  themselves. 
We  are  pleased  to  find  in  the  Out- 
look" ot  October  21st,  an  article  by 
Sasha  Kropotkin  which  fully  justifies 
the  punishment  meted  out  to  Lou- 
vain Mr.  Kropotkin  speaks  with  evi- 
dent admiration  of  the  "heroic"  act 
of  the  Belgian  women  "who  defended 
their  homes  against  the  German  in- 
vaders, resorting  to  boiling  water 
when  their  ammunition  gave  out. 
This  coupled  with  the  authenticated 
cases  ot  the  young  German  soldiers 
whose  eves  had  been  gouged  out 
after  thev  lay  wounded  and  helpless 
on  the  battlefield,  makes  one  wonder 
at  Germany's  moderation  in  the 
treatment  of  Belgian  "heroes." 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  CITY  GER- 
MANS. 


(Reprinted  from  "The  CTiicago  Trib- 
une," August  fl,  1914.) 

RESOLVED,  That  we,  German- 
American  citizens  of  Chicago,  assem- 
bled in  mass  meeting  and  represent- 
ing all  elements  of  the  great  German 
population  ot  this  city,  deplore  and 
abhor  from  the  depth  of  our  hearts 
the  fearful  war  which  has  broken 
out  in  Europe  and  which  threatens 
to  destroy  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
innocent  lives  and  the  riches  gained 
in  decades  of  peaceful  work  and  de- 
velopment, threatens  to  set  back  civ- 
ilization a  hundred  years. 


BELGIAN  NEUTRALITY 
HER  GUARANTORS  AND  NEIGHBORS 

Firmness  in  the  Position  of  the  Teutonic  as  against  the  Non-Teutonic  Nations 
Spain,  Bulgaria,  Greece,  Roumania — England  on  the  Wrong  Side 
The  United  States  and  the  War 


The  Teutonic  Nations  and  Belgium 
The  Deeper  Meaning  of  the  Alignment  of  Nations  in  the  War 


"THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM"  AXD 
THE  I'XITED  STATES. 


An  Analysis  of  the  "Proofs"  Sub- 
mitted to  I'resident  Wilson  by 
the  Belgian   Commission. 


By    M.    W.    B.    in    the   "Xeu    Voiker 
Staats-Zeitiuig." 

Keprinted    from    "The    Fatherland," 
Xew  York,  X'ovember   11,   1914. 

Of  the  120  octavo  pages  of  "The 
Case  of  Belgium  in  the  Present  War 
— An  Account  of  the  Violation  of 
the  Neutrality  of  Belgium  and  of 
the  Laws  of  War  in  Belgium  Ter- 
ritory,"t  not  more  than  sixty-three 
and  a  half  pages  are  devoted  to  the 
testimony  of  the  witnesses  examined 
by  the  official  Commission  at  eight 
sessions. 

Eighteen  witnesses — or  twenty- 
three  per  cent  of  the  whole  number 
— give  only  hearsay  testimony.  Two 
of  the  statements,  the  most  import- 
ant of  all,  are  anonymous;  two 
others  are  not  signed;  seven  are 
contained  in  letters  sent  the  Com- 
mission during  the  examination,  and 
two  in  manuscripts  containing  state- 
ments made  prior  to  the  examin- 
ation and  signed  by  the  Commission. 
Only  forty-eight  witnesses,  or  sixty 
per  cent,  have  affixed  their  bonafide 
signatures  to  their  statements  after 
the  same  had  been  carefully  ar- 
ranged and  edited  by  the  secretary 
of  the  Commission,  and  the  majority 
of  these  claim  to  have  received  their 
information  concerning  the  alleged 
atrocities  from  neighbors  and  rel- 
atives. 

Only  five  persons  were  examined 
in  regard  to  Louvain,  and  among 
these  is  a  witness  whose  name  is  not 
given  and  who  visited  the  city  after 
its  partial  destruction  for  only  a  few 
hours.  Of  the  witnesses  vouching 
for  the  reported  cruelties,  whose 
exact  address  is  frequently  given, 
not  one  testifies  in  person.  Re- 
peatedly the  statements  of  one  wit- 
ness were  read  to  the  next  witness 
and  by  him  signed  as  correct,  a  pro- 
ceeding not  likely  to  create  confi- 
dence in  the  accuracy  of  the  testi- 
mony, as  in  the  instance  of  a  Belgian 
colonel  who  vouches  for  the  testi- 
mony of  his  own  orderly. 


Let  us  analyze  in  detail  this  re- 
markable, translated  protocol,  which 
is  not  a  stenographic  record,  but  a 
carefully  edited  document.  To  dis- 
pose of  one  of  its  findings,  it  con- 
tains many  probably  unintentional 
admissions  that  the  German  troops 
acted  not  without  provocation:  Thus 
two  members  of  the  Commission  ad- 
mit, as  the  result  of  a  visit  to  a  hos- 
pital, that  the  treatment  of  prisoners 
by  the  Germans  evidenced  "no  char- 
acteristic breach  of  civilized  war- 
fare." Further  it  is  stated  (p.  57): 
"Some  neighbors  opened  their  doors, 
the  Germans  went  through  the 
houses  without  doing  any  harm." 
Page  .5  8:  "As  nothing  was  found  (in 
the  form  of  arms)  they  did  nothing 
to  the  house  and  did  not  commit 
any  violence."  Page  64:  "A  Ger- 
man soldier  told  me  that  they  were 
not  allowed  to  touch  the  women." 
(Testimony  of  a  girl  23  years  old 
from  Aerschot.)  Page  69:  "A  Ger- 
man non-commissioned  officer  said 
that  it  grieved  him  to  act  in  this 
way  (destroy  houses),  but  that  the 
Belgians  were  to  blame  as  they 
started  it."  Page  80:  "The  Germans, 
at  first,  behaved  properly  in  the 
town";  page  97:  "I  do  not  know  of 
any  deeds  of  violence  perpetrated  on 
w'omen ;  the  Germans  behaved  quite 
well  at  first."  (Until  fired  upon  by 
the  civilians.) 

The  first  hearing  covered  "the 
massacre  of  Aerschot."  The  first 
witness  (female)  testified  that  her 
house  was  searched  for  arms,  but 
does  not  mention  whether  any  were 
found.  Her  husband,  who  as  she 
herself  testifies,  acted  as  a  guard  at 
the  railway  station  (surely  not  with- 
out a  gun),  was  shot,  and  the  same 
fate  meted  out  to  four  others,  ac- 
cording to  her  statement  based  upon 
assertions  of  a  police  constable 
(page  51.)  The  police  constable 
names  six  (page  57.)  A  Command- 
ant Gilson  declares  that  during  the 
fight  between  Belgian  and  German 
soldiers,  four  women  and  their  chil- 
dren passed  along  the  street  which 
divided  the  opposing  forces  (the 
famous  case  covering  the  charge  that 
the  Germans  shielded  themselves  be- 
hind women  and  children.)  "Every- 
thing seems  to  indicate  that  they 
were   pushed    ahead    of    the    German 

01 


troops  to  prevent  the  Belgian  troops 
from  firing  upon  them"  (page  53.) 
Why  charge  this  against  the  Ger- 
mans?   W'hy  not  the  Belgians? 

A  priest  from  Aerschot  at  first 
testified  that  his  housekeeper  was 
outraged  in  Heresselt  and  afterwards 
drowned;  but  two  days  later  he  was 
compelled  to  admit  that  he  "can- 
not affirm  for  sure  that  this  has 
taken  place,  but  she  was  found 
drowned  the  next  day,"  the  mayor 
of  the  town  having  meanw'hile  testi- 
fied that  the  girl  had  committed  sui- 
cide in  a  panic  of  fear  by  leaping 
into  a  well  (page  72.)  Witnesses 
who  fled  to  their  cellars  and  hid 
themselves  at  the  approach  of  the 
Germans  testify  circumstantially  to 
things  going  on  at  a  hundred  differ- 
ent places  in  other  parts  of  the  town. 
One  testifies  that  tlie  mayor  had 
ordered  all  weapons  to  be  turned  In 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Germans. 
Another  declares  (page  59);  "The 
mayor  then  told  us  (after  the  as- 
sault on  the  German  troops  and  the 
consequent  arrest  of  many  citizens) 
that  we  might  return  home,  subject 
to  depositing  our  arms.  »  •  • 
N'othing  was  found  on  me  and  they 
lii'inu  unable  to  testify  to  any  outrages 
by  till'  (Jernians.  left  me  alone." 

The  station  master  was  "unable 
to  testify  against  OormaMS."  llis  .'issis- 
tant  "knows  nothing  of  what  h:iiii>oned 
at  Aorsclint."  but  "was  told"  that  his  sis- 
tor  had  boon  burned  alivo  in  her  house 
while  hiding  in  the  cellar  with  her 
husband  and  child;  but  that  her 
husband  and  child  had  escaped. 
(Strangely,  this  hero  who  left  his 
wife  to  perish  in  the  flames,  was 
not  examined  to  verify  the  truth  of 
this  report.) 

The  number  of  dead  varies  with 
each  witness.  The  statements  as  to 
the  time  of  certain  occurrences  also 
conflict,  which  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  seeing  that  in  many  cases  two 
and  three  weeks  elapsed  between 
what  happened  and  the  date  of  the 
examination.  On  every  page  state- 
inonls  are  ropcilod.  such  as:  "I 
was  told,"  "Neighbors  informed 
me,"  "Citizens  said,"  but  nowhere 
were  the  original  witnesses  cited  be- 
fore the  Commission  or  judicially  ex- 
amined, presumably  because  it  was 
feared   that   otherwise   the  inconsist- 


92 


THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE— "THE  CASE  OF  BELGIUM' 


ency  of  the  rumors  would  be  too  ap- 
parent. 

One  Vicar  affirms  that  they  de- 
stroyed all  the  furniture  of  one  of 
the  members  of  his  cloth  (who  is 
not  examined),  that  it  was  soaked 
in  paraffine  and  that  they  tried  in 
this  way,  to  set  fire  to  the  church, 
failing  five  times  in  the  attempt.  At 
the  same  time  another  witness 
speaks  of  hose  filled  with  chemicals 
which  the  German  troops  were  car- 
rying with  them,  the  flames  of 
which  no  amount  of  water  was  able 
to  extinguish. 

Every  witness  declared  that  it  was 
untrue  that  the  German  troops  had 
been  fired  upon  by  civilians,  either 
having  no  knowledge  of  it,  or  be- 
cause the  mayor  had  previously 
given  orders  not  to  do  so.  But  a 
wine  merchant  from  Aerschot  ad- 
mits (page  77):  "A  Belgian  soldier, 
living  Rue  de  Malines,  dressed  him- 
self in  citizens  clothes  in  a  house 
and  went  on  shooting."  Rev.  Van 
Roye  denies  that  the  German  troops 
entering  the  town  were  shot  at  from 
the  church;  but  on  page  8  0,  Rev.  M. 
Meens,  dean  of  Aerschot,  affirms  that 
"some  Belgian  soldiers  fired  from 
•the  tower  of  my  church." 

German  reports  positively  affirm 
that  a  higher  officer  was  shot  down 
in  the  house  of  the  mayor  of  Aer- 
schot by  the  latter's  son.  The  im- 
mediate execution  of  the  guilty  ones 
is  described  by  a  witness  on  page 
92:  "An  officer  of  high  rank  ap- 
proached the  burgomaster  and  ac- 
cused him  of  being  responsible  for 
all  that  was  happening.  Mr.  Tiele- 
man  protested,  taking  his  fellow  citi- 
zens as  witnesses  of  hi^  perfect  in- 
nocence. Some  of  them  confirmed 
his  words."  So  even  where  their 
word  might  eventually  have  saved 
two  lives  the  majority  of  the  citizens 
hesitated  to  substantiate  the  execu- 
tive head  of  their  community. 

These  are  the  "proofs"  of  the 
atrocities  of  the  German  troops  in 
Aerschot,  fired  upon  in  violation  of 
the  laws  of  war  from  the  church 
tower  and  by  a  Belgian  soldier  dis- 
guised as  a  civilian. 

But  let  us  examine  the  "proofs" 
in  the  case  of  Louvain,  where — quite 
apart  from  the  unanimous  testimony 
of  wounded  German  soldiers  and 
officers  invalided,  .at  home — the  investi- 
gation of  an  English  correspondent 
in  the  London  "Daily  Mail"  of  Sep- 
tember 13,  surely  not  influenced  by 
friendship  for  Germany,  resulted  in 
establishing  the  fact  that  citizens 
under  the  burgomaster  and  Belgian 
officers  on  the  evening  of  August  25 
opened  a  cannonade  from  machine 
guns  on  the  German  soldiers  in  the 
streets  and  used  the  Church  of  St. 
Pierre  as  a  veritable  fortress. 

As  mentioned  above,  the  total 
number  of  witnesses  from  Louvain 
were  just  five.  Aside  from  this,  the 
name  of  the  principal  witness  is 
withheld  for  reasons  of  policy.  His 
testimony,  however,  is  regarded  of 
such  importance  that  it  is  printed 
twice  in  different  parts  of  the 
pamphlet,  and  in  the  form  of  con- 
tradictory translations,  indicating 
crass  negligence,  to  say  the  least,  if 
not  actual  forgery  on  the  part  of  the 
Commission.  In  support  of  the  lat- 
ter theory  it  may  be  mentioned  that 


GERMAX.S  DISTRIBUTING  FOOD  TO  THE  BEI.(;iA.\.s 

(By  Courtesy  of  the   "Open   Court") 


special  emphasis  is  laid  in  the  gen- 
eral summing  up  of  the  report  on 
the  testimony  of  this  witness  (page 
4.5),  but  an  eye-witness  is  mentioned 
who  is  said  to  have  left  Louvain 
only  on  August  3  0.  But  according 
to  his  own  statement  (page  113), 
he  did  not  go  to  Louvain  until 
August  3  0  at  the  solicitation  of  the 
Countess  Bethune  and  left  it  the 
same  day,  so  that  he  could  not  have 
spent  more  than  six  or  eight  hours 
in  the  city,  which  according  to  his 
testimony  was  still  burning,  con- 
trary to  the  statements  of  the 
others. 

The  second  witness  from  Louvain 
reports  an  outrage  committed  upon 
a  young  girl  in  a  vacant  house 
(hence  without  substantiating  wit- 
nesses), and  a  subsequent  public  as- 
sault upon  his  own  niece  by  five  or 
six  German  soldiers.  In  both  cases 
the  parents  of  the  victims,  as  well  as 
a  priest  are  named  as  witnesses  of 
the  outrage;  but  the  Official  Com- 
mission did  not  consider  it  necessary 
to  summon  any  one  of  them  to  es- 
tablisli  the  truth  of  this  terrible 
assertion.  The  third  and  fourth 
witness  contradict  one  another.  Ac- 
cording to  the  first  (page  90),  the 
German  train  came  in  wild  flight  into 
Louvain  from  the  direction  of 
Malines,  whereupon  a  fierce  fusilade 
begun  in  the  streets  (in  which  the 
Germans  are  alleged  to  have  fired 
upon  their  own  light  gray  troops 
without  being  able  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  dark  blue  uniformed 
soldiers  of  the  Belgians!)  According 
to  the  other,  the  train  had  been  in 
the  city  for  some  time  and  bolted  as 
a  consequence  of  the  fright  of  the 
horses  when  the  attack  began. 

For  the  truth  of  the  German 
bestialities,  witness  No.  4  cites  two 
priests,  including  an  American,  but 
prudently,  perhaps,  without  mention- 
ing names.  Witness  No.  5,  finally, 
pays  a  high  tribute  of  praise  to  the 
German  aviator  squadron,  the  first 
to  arrive  in  the  city.  He  places  the 
date    of    the   fight  with    the   civilian 


population,  which  the  others  fix  as 
Tuesday.  August  2.5,  at  Thursday  the 
2  7th.  He  is  the  only  one  to  testify 
to  seeing  the  dead  bodies  of  German 
soldiers  in  the  streets,  and  his  con- 
clusions are  very  interesting.  Held 
as  a  hostage  and  warned  that  he 
would  be  shot  at  the  next  attack  of 
the  population,  he  declared  when  told 
by  his  guard  that  the  firing  was  con- 
tinuing incessantly  from  the  burning 
houses:  "The  reports  we  heard  were 
only  those  of  the  cartridges  exploid- 
ing  in  the  fire"  (page  107),  omitting 
to  explain  why  and  wherefore  these 
cartridges  were  in  the  houses  of 
peaceable  citizens. 

In  Sempst  was  found  the  half- 
charred  body  of  a  man  who,  accord- 
ing to  the  affirmation  of  one  witness 
(page  77)  had  both  legs  cut  off,  and 
according  to  another  (page  98)  had 
both  legs  still  intact.  Regarding  the 
fighting  around  Linsmeau  one  wit- 
ness (page  79)  testified  that  the 
dead  German  officer,  on  whose  ac- 
count the  Germans  instituted  retal- 
iatory measures,  had  been  killed  by 
soldiers  of  the  Liege  Civil  Guard 
passing  in  a  motor  car,  which  the 
Germans  did  not  see.  On  the  next 
page  the  commander  of  a  mounted 
corps  of  Civil  Guards  declares  that 
his  men  shot  down  the  officer  in  full 
sight  of  the  Germans. 

At  Vise  and  Lixhe,  the  same  wit- 
ness reports  hearing  firing  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Meuse.  "which  was 
not  due  to  war  weapons,"  an  unin- 
tentional and  interesting  confirm- 
ation of  the  German  assertion  that 
the  civilians  had  taken  part  in  the 
fighting  (page  80).  A  similar 
lapsus  lingua  happens  to  a  witness 
from  Herent,  who  declares  that  he 
was  forced  "to  bring  up  all  the  arms 
which  had  been  deposited  in  the  cel- 
lars of  the  Town  Hall  behind  cases," 
and  this  after  all  weapons  were  al- 
leged to  have  been  delivered  up 
(page  94)  ;  and  again  when  a  Bel- 
gian captain  admits  that  he  fired  at 
a  German  field  hospital  flying  the 
Red  Cross  flag  and  destroyed  it,  be- 


THE  TEUTON— HIS  ALLIES  AND  HIS  NEIGHBORS 


93 


cause  a  patrol  had  seen  German 
soldiers  with  a  machine  gun  near  the 
house  (page  99).  At  Boischot  the 
Germans  did  not  resort  to  reprisals 
until,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
the  burgomaster  of  the  place,  the 
fourth  Uhlan  had  been  shot  dead. 
And  the  servant  of  the  mayor,  con- 
fesses: "I  heard  people  say  that  this 
one  had  been  killed  by  a  civilian  hid- 
den  in   the  mill"    (page   107)! 

This  is  the  sort  of  evidence  filling 
the  sixty-three  pages  of  testimony. 
Page  after  page  of  stories  based  on 
hearsay  evidence  carried  from  one 
to  another,  and  colored  to  suit  the 
fancy,  contradictions  and  unguarded 
admissions.  This  is  the  Belgian  evi- 
dence trumped  up  to  support  the 
charges  of  German  atrocities!  It  is 
not  intended  to  charge  all  the  wit- 
nesses with  perjury.  Many  perhaps 
told  their  tales  of  horror  in  good 
faith;  but  any  one  at  all  familiar 
with  judicial  proceedings  knows  to 
what  extent  surmises  become  firm 
convictions,  rumors  become  facts, 
and  hills  mountains;  how  diverse 
impressions  become  blended;  how 
the  fancy  exaggerates  momentary 
impressions,  and  how  even  a  simple 
fact  recited  by  twenty  witnesses 
takes  on  twenty  different  forms, 
especially  when  considerable  time 
elapses  between  an  event  and  the 
trial. 

This  does  not  apply  to  the  Com- 
mission, which  in  its  introduction 
and  various  "findings"  deliberately 
twists  the  terms  of  the  Hague  Con- 
vention, makes  it  appear  that  an 
undefended  and  a  fortified  city  are 
one  and  the  same  thing,  and  re- 
peats the  proven  falsehood  that  all 
the  art  objects  in  Louvain  Cathedral 
were  destroyed,  whereas  the  truth  is 
that  German  officers  personally  re- 
moved them  during  the  fire  from  the 
endangered  church  to  the  security  of 
the  City  Hall.  It  defends  the  guer- 
illa warfare  of  the  civilians,  provided 
arms  are  carried  openly.  It  regal- 
vanizes  the  exploded  lie  that  the 
bombs  thrown  by  a  Zeppelin  balloon 
at  Antwerp  were  aimed  at  the  royal 
family;  it  publishes  four  pages  of 
"official  findings"  concerning  the  al- 
leged atrocities  of  Linsmeau  and 
Orsmael,  but  nowhere  in  the  minutes 
does  the  examination  itself  appear 
with  the  signatures  of  the  witnesses, 
as  it  has  done  in  other  cases,  even  in 
the  edited  form. 

In  short,  the  Commission  employs 
every  expedient  of  deceit  and  cun- 
ning. These  are  the  proofs  which 
they  had  the  audacity  to  submit  to 
our  President,  "proofs"  whose  fal- 
sity and  perversion  of  facts  in  all 
their  ramifications  are  a  positive 
insult  to  the  intelligence  of  neutral 
America.  True,  pictures  of  de- 
stroyed Belgian  cities  have  been 
shown,  but  even  these  pictures,  as 
recently  demonstrated,  regarding 
the  discovery  of  fraud  in  Termonde,* 
are  deceptive. 

The  only  thing  that  is  not  fraud- 
ulent, and  that  which  the  whole  Bel- 

•lU'.id:  "Journalistic  'Duni-Dums,' " 
reprinted  in  this  book,  with  pictures 
which  prove  a  deliberate  "fake"  of 
"The  N'ew  York  Times,"  the  Gerniiin 
liiier  with  the  proud  motto  "All  the 
news  that's  fit  to  print." — Editor. 


gian  Commission  is  unable  to  lie  out 
of  existence,  is  the  fact  that  Belgian 
men  and  women  committed  inde- 
scribable atrocities  upon  helpless 
German  wounded,  cases  authorita- 
tively investigated  by  the  German 
government  and  I  hope  to  be  pub- 
lished with  photographic  represen- 
tations of  the  deplorable  victims. 
Then  the  world  will  be  staggered,  as 
in  the  Congo  revelations,  by  the 
evidence  of  bestial  cruelty  unex- 
ample  since  the  days  of  Attila  and 
his  Huns. 


THR    SUPREME    COURT    OF    THE 

UMTEP      STATES      IThoLDS 

GER.MAXY'S    ACTION    IN 

BELGIOI. 

If  "Collier's  Weekly"  vents  its  spite 
on  (Jormany,  we  are  not  surprised,  for 
"Collier's  Weekly"  is  essentially  pro- 
vincial in  its  mental  complexion.  The 
editor  of  "Collier's  Weekly"  may  know 
a  good  deal  about  Congressional  poli- 
tics, but  in  the  field  of  international 
politics,  he  loses  his  bearings.  We  had, 
however,  expected  a  degree  of  fairness 
in  the  "Outlook."  Its  editors  are  much 
traveled  men,  and  their  long  associa- 
tion with  Colonel  Roosevelt  should  not 
have  terminated  without  profit  to  thfem. 

Yet  we  find  in  the  "Outlook"  an  arti- 
cle on  Prussia  as  opposed  to  Germany 
that  is  so  childish  that,  at  any  other 
time,  the  ignorance  of  the  author  would 
merely  arouse  a  smile  of  derision.  In 
a  time  like  the  present  articles  of  this 
type  are,  however,  distinctly  mis- 
chievous. What  makes  matters  worse 
is  that  article  merely  accentuates  the 
aiitl-Oernian  policy  of  the  "Outlook," 
which  a  few  spasmodic  attempts  every 
now  and  then  to  present  the  German 
view  can  only  feebly  disguise. 

Recently  both  Dr.  Bernhard  Dern- 
burg  and  the  German  Ambassador  offi- 
cially disclaimed  any  intention  on  the 
I)art  of  Germany  to  violate  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  "In  view  of  the  way  in 
which  Germany  regjirds  its  treaty  ob- 
ligations when  they  appear  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  its  own  interests."  the 
"Outlook"  comments  on  this  frank  dis- 
avowal, "such  statements  as  these  by 
Dr.  Dernburg  and  Count  von  Bern- 
storff  are  naturally  not  regarded  as 
restraining  Germany  from  taking  any 
action  which  she  has  the  power  to  take. 
Tlir  xiijniflrnrwc  of  tlirsr  uttcrnnces  i.<i 
to  he  foiiiid  in  the  fart  that  Oennans 
nf  hifjh  Ktation  reqarit  an  a  poftxilnlit;/ 
iroftln/  nf  nerions  dixrvxnioti  the  ac- 
quiri'mrnt  hi/  Grrmanu  of  power  to  take 
territor;/  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  if 
s-hr  Irish  en  it." 

The  "Outlook"  sees  a  sinister  signifi- 
cance in  Coimt  von  BernstorfT's  denial 
of  Germany's  intentions.  If  Count  von 
RernstorIT  hnd  said  nothing  on  the  sub- 
ject at  all.  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it 
has  bopii  widely  discussed,  especially  In 
the  West,  the  "Outlook"  would  have 
found  an  e<iually  sinister  significance  In 
his  silence. 

While  the  majority  of  American 
newspapers  have  come  to  the  point 
where  they  are  willing  to  grant  fair 
play  to  Germany,  the  "Outlook,"  in 
spite  of  Its  air  of  moral  superiority,  re- 
fuses to  grant  her  a  hearing.  The 
"Outlook"  cannot  see  the  German  point 
of  view,  because  it  does  not  wish  to  see 
it.  because  It  is  mentally  and  morally 
ol]ll(iue   wluM-e   Germany   Is   concerned. 


(Jerinany  is  the  blind  spot  in  the  "Out- 
look's" field  of  vision. 

Germany  has  never  heen  accused  of 
breaking  any  treaty,  except  in  the  case 
of  lieli/iiim.  We  deny  that  a  treaty 
existed ;  if  it  existed  it  was  of  the  most 
shadowy  substance.  But  even  if  it  had 
l)een  iron-bound,  the  conspiracy  between 
Belgium,  England  and  France  utterly 
destroyed  its  validity.  We  will  go  even 
further  than  that.  Granted  that  it 
did  exist,  and  that  it  was  not  broken 
by  I'.elgium,  it  teas,  nevertheless,  Ger- 
manii's  solemn  duty  to  tear  it  like  a 
scrap  of  paper.  If  the  editor  of  the 
"Outlook"  saw  three  burglars  attack 
his  venerable  father  at  some  distance 
from  his  house,  he  certainly  would  come 
to  his  rescue  hy  the  shortest  route,  even 
if  the  road  should  lead  over  a  neigh- 
bor's field  where  trespassing  was  for- 
bidden. Germany  made  the  dash 
through  Belgium  in  order  to  save,  not 
one  venerable  man,  but  a  thousand. 
Her  action  protected  the  lives  of  a  hun- 
dred million  people  dwelling  in  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Dual  Alliance.  • 

The  present  generation  of  Germans 
refused  to  sacrifice  the  blood  of  their 
wives  and  their  children  to  shadowy 
agreements  made  by  dead  men.  They 
struck  at  the  dead  hand  of  the  past 
to  .save  the  living  present.  In  doing 
so,  Germany  has  the  approval  of  our 
own  legal  tradition.  We  call  the  atten- 
tion of  the  editors  of  the  "Outlook" 
to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
found  on  pages  ,581-611,  volume  130, 
of  United  States  Reports,  recently 
quoted  by  von  Briesen.* 

In  this  famous  decision  the  Supreme 
Court  held  that  it  was  lawful  and  just 
of  Congress  to  pass  a  law  that  nullified 
a  solemn  treaty  entered  into  between 
the  United  States  and  China.  The  re- 
sult of  the  Supreme  Court's  ruling  was 
to  deprive  Chinese  subjects  of  the  right 
to  visit  and  to  reside  in  this  country. 
Of  course,  the  great  question  involved 
was  whether  we  could  violate  a  treaty 
wliicli  we  had  made  in  good  faith  with 
another  nation.  The  exact  wording  of 
the  decision  makes  interesting  reading 
today  when  we  hear  so  much  about  the 
sacredness  of  treaties.  On  page  600 
appear  these  very  pertinent  facts: 

"The  effect  of  legislation  upon  con- 
flicting treaty  stipulations  was  elab- 
orately considered  in  (lie  Head  Money 
Cases,  and  it  was  there  'adjudged' 
that  so  far  as  a  treaty  made  by  the 
Ignited  Slates  with  any  foreign  na- 
tion can  become  the  sub.ject  of  judi- 
cial cognizance  in  the  courts  of  this 
country,  it  Is  subject  to  such  acts  as 
(\>ugress  may  pass  for  its  enforre- 
nient,  niodiflcation.  or  repeal."  ]  12 
V.  S.  .->80,  r>00,  "This  doctrine  was 
aflirnied  and  followed  in  ^^^litnev  v. 
Robertson.  121  V.  S.  190,  1 !).-..  It  will 
not  be  presumed  that  Ihe  legislative 
department  of  the  government  will 
lightly  pa^>^  laws  which  are  in  conflict 
with  (he  treaties  of  the  country;  but 
(hat  <'iri'iiins(ances  may  arise  which 
would  not  only  justify  the  Govern- 
nienl  in  disregarding  their  stipula- 
tions, l>u(  demand  in  the  interests  of 
the  coim(ry  that  it  should  <lo  so. 
there  can  ho  no  question.  Unexjiected 
events  may  call  for  a  change  in  the 
policy  of  (he  coHn(ry."* 


•Compare  wltli  a  similar  .st.atemcnt 
hy  Gl.Tdstono  in  repard  to  treaties  In 
ecneral,  .-inrt  In  particul.ir  the  Prussian 
treaty   with   Belgium. — Kdltor. 


THIRD  CHAPTER 

THE  BIG   HUMAN  FAMILY 

GROUPED  INTO  MANY  LARGE,  VITAL  NATIONAL  FAMILIES 
VITAL  SELFTNTERESTS— VITAL  INTER-RELATIONS 


THE  BELLIGERENT  NATIONS 
INTER-RELATION  OF  BELLIGERENT  NATIONS 

Their  Ambitions,  Ideas,  Ideals,  Mutual  Interests  and  Welfare 
Life:     Competition — Grow  or  Die 

GREAT  BRITAIN,  THE  "TRIPLE"  ENTENTE,  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 

England,  France,  Russia — Belgium,  Japan,  Portugal 

The  Irish  Cause,  Egypt,  The  Boers 


GERMANY,  THE  "TRIPLE"  ALLIANCE,  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 
GERMANY,  AUSTRIA,  ITALY 

Turkey  in  the  War  on  her  own  Account— A  Bone  of  Contention:   The  Dardanelles 
The  Central  Empires  and  the  Neutrals 


THE  NEUTR-AL  NATIONS— THEIR  INTERESTS  AND  RIGHTS 
THE  EUROPEAN  TEUTONIC  NATIONS  LOYALLY  NEUTR.AL— ENGLAND 

EXCEPTED 

The  European  Non-Teutonic  Nations  generally  not  firm  in  their  Neutrality 
Some  Laudable  Exceptions — Spain,  Greece,  Bulgaria 
The  Official  and  Popular  Neutrality  of  the  United  States — Uncle  Sam  and  his  Children 


OX  THE  FENCE 
NATIONS  WITH  \I:RY  \1TAL  INTERESTS 

In  relation  to  the  German-Austrian-Italian  Alliance — Turkey,  Bulgaria,  Italy 
In  regard  to  the  English-French-Russian  Alliances — Japan,  Portugal,  Roumania 


Tin;  IIORI/ON  DARKENS 

HOSTILE  ACTS  BEFORE  A  DECLARATION  OF  WAR 

The  European  Situation  has  come  to  a  Crisis 

Germany  in  the  Crisis — The  Kaiser's  Speeches 


THE  BELLIGERENT  NATIONS 
THEIR  INTER-RELATION 

Their  Ambitions,  Ideas,  Ideals,  Common  Interests,  and  Welfare 


GREAT  BRITAIN,  THE  "TRIPLE"  ENTENTE,  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 

En^dand,  France,  Russia— Belgium,  Japan,  Portugal 
The  Irish  Cause,  Egypt,  the  Boers 


WHY  WE  ARE  AT  WAR 

The  rnderlying  Vital  Causes  of  England's  Participation  in  the  Conflict 
England's  Domestic  Troubles  and  Outlook 

INTRODUCTION 

J.  RAMSAY  Mcdonald 


WHY   WE   ARE  AT  WAR. 


(li.v   Courlesy   of   Tlir  Open  Court.) 
By  J.   Ramsay  Macdonald. 

[The  labor  parties  of  the  world  have 
been  growing  almost  from  year  to  year 
not  only  in  numbers  but  also  in  political 
inlluence,  and  they  sive  fair  promise  of 
becomlnt,'  an  international  power  which 
will  make  for  peace  in  the  world. 

The  labor  party  in  Germany  is  demo- 
cratic and  socialistic.  It  is  a  strong  peace 
party,  and  its  leaders  were  in  favor  of 
supporting  the  peace  movement  with  all 
their  strength.  But  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  after  an  investigation  of  the  case, 
the  German  labor  leaders  saw  clearly  that 
the  present  war  was  forced  upon  Ger- 
many with  the  obvious  intention  of  crush- 
ing her  for  the  benefit  of  her  rivals,  and 
they  stood  by  the  government  and  voted 
In  favor  of  the  subsidies  for  war.  They 
stated  their  reasons  In  speeches  and  pub- 
lished articles,  and  there  can  be  no  better 
argument  for  the  justice  of  Germany's 
cause. 

The  Labor  party  in  England  was  brand- 
ed as  unpatriotic,  and  Mr.  John  Burns  re- 
signed his  position  in  the  cabinet,  while 
the  leader  of  the  advocates  of  peace  in  the 
French  labor  party  was  even  more  quickly 
and  directly  disposed  of  by  being  shot,  the 
murder  being  acquiesced  in  by  the  public 
to  the  extent  of  letting  the  assassin  es- 
cape punishment.  There  was  not  even  a 
serious  attempt  made  at  investigating  the 
crime  or  prosecuting  the  criminal. 

The  laborers  of  different  countries  have 
formed  an  alliance  which  is  called  "the  In- 
ternational," and  if  it  had  been  only  a 
little  stronger  It  might  have  been  able  to 
prevent  the  present  war :  but  Germany 
was  the  only  country  in  which  the  labor 
party  was  well  organized,  and  there  they 
did  not  veto  the  war  because  they  saw 
that  for  Geniiany  It  was  but  a  war  of 
self-defense. 

We  here  republish  from  "The  Continen- 
tal Times."  of  December  4,  19!  t.  a  short 
article  by  J.  Ramsay  Macdonald,  M.  P., 
leader  of  the  English  labor  party  and  a 
man  well  conversant  with  the  inside  of 
English  politics.  The  article  is  little 
known,  almost  unknown,  even  in  England. 
So  far  as  I  know  it  has  never  been  printed 
In  the  United  States,  and  yet  It  ought  to 
be  read.  Mr.  Macdonald  knows  whereof 
he  speaks.  lie  states  facts,  and  In  the 
light  of  these  facts  he  places  the  respon- 
sibility for  the  war. — Editor  of  "The  Open 
Court."] 


On  that  fatal  Sunday,  the  second 
of  August,  I  met  in  Whitehall  a 
member  of  the  Cabinet  and  he  told 
me  of  the  messages  and  conversations 
between  foreign  secretaries  and  am- 
bassadors which  were  to  be  published 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  we 
strove  for  peace  and  how  Germany 
immovably  went  to  war.  "It  will 
have  a  great  effect  on  public  opinion," 
he  said,  and  he  was  right.  It  is 
called  "Correspondence  respecting 
the  European  Crisis,"  but  is  generally 
referred  to  as  "The  White  Paper." 
I  wish  to  comment  upon  it  for  the 
purpose  of  explaining  its  significance. 

It  begins  with  a  conversation  be- 
tween Sir  Edward  Grey  and  the  Ger- 
man ambassador  on  July  2  0  regard- 
ing the  Austrian  threat  to  punish 
Servia,  and  finishes  with  the  delivery 
of  our  ultimatum  to  Germany  on 
August  4.  From  it  certain  conclu- 
sions appear  to  be  justified,  the  fol- 
lowing in  particular: 

1.  Sir  Edward  Grey  strove  to  the 
last  to  prevent  a  European  war. 

2.  Germany  did  next  to  nothing 
for  peace,  but  it  is  not  clear  whether 
she  actually  encouraged  Austria  to 
pursue  her  Servian  policy. 

3.  The  mobilization  of  Russia 
drove  Germany  to  war. 

4.  Russia  and  France  strove, 
from  the  very  beginning,  both  by 
open  pressure  and  by  wiles,  to  get  us 
to  commit  oiirselves  to  support  them 
in  the  event  of  war. 

.">.  Though  Sir  Edward  Grey 
would  not  give  them  a  pledge  he 
made  the  German  ambassador  under- 
stand that  we  might  not  keep  out  of 
the  conflict. 

6.  During  the  negotiations  Ger- 
many   tried    to    meet   our    wishes   on 

07 


certain  points  so  as  to  secure  our 
neutrality.  Sometimes  her  proposals 
were  brusque,  but  no  attempt  was 
made  by  us  to  negotiate  diplomat- 
ically to  improve  them.  They  were 
all  summarily  rejected  by  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey.  Finally,  so  anxious  was 
Germany  to  confine  the  limits  of  the 
war,  the  German  ambassador  asked 
Sir  Edward  Grey  to  propose  his  own 
conditions  of  neutrality,  and  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  declined  to  discuss  the 
matter.  This  fact  was  suppressed  by 
Sir  Edward  Grey  and  Mr.  Asquith  in 
their  speeches  in  Parliament. 

7.  When  Sir  Edward  Grey  failed 
to  secure  peace  between  Germany  and 
Russia,  he  worked  deliberately  to  in- 
volve us  in  the  war,  using  Belgium 
as  his  chief  excuse. 

That  is  the  gist  of  the  White  Paper. 
It  proves  quite  conclusively  that  those 
who  were  in  favor  of  neutrality  be- 
fore the  second  of  August  ought  to 
have  remained  in  favor  of  it  after 
the  White  Paper  was  published. 

That  Sir  Edward  Grey  should  have 
striven  for  European  peace  and  then, 
w^hen  he  failed,  that  he  should  have 
striven  with  equal  determination  to 
embroil  Great  Britain,  seems  contra- 
dictory. But  it  is  not,  and  the  expla- 
nation of  why  it  is  not  is  the  justi- 
fication of  those  of  us  who  for  the 
last  eight  years  have  regarded  Sir 
Edward  Grey  as  a  menace  to  the 
peace  of  Europe  and  his  policy  as  a 
misfortune  to  our  country.  What  is 
the  explanation? 

Great  Britain  in  Europe  can  pursue 
one  of  two  policies.  It  can  keep  on 
terms  of  general  friendship  with  the 
European  nations,  treating  with  each 
separately  when  necessary  and  co- 
operating with  all  on  matters  of  com- 


98 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


nion  interest.  To  do  this  effectively 
it  has  to  keep  its  hands  clean.  It 
has  to  make  its  position  clear,  and  its 
sympathy  has  to  be  boldly  given  to 
every  movement  for  liberty.  This  is 
a  policy  which  requires  great  faith, 
great  patience,  and  great  courage. 
Its  foundations  are  being  built  by 
our  own  International  policies,  and  if 
our  Liberal  Government  had  only  fol- 
lowed it  since  1905  it  would  by  this 
time  have  smashed  the  military  au- 
tocracies which  have  brought  us  into 
war. 

But  there  is  a  more  alluring  pol- 
icy • —  apparently  easier,  apparently 
safer,  apparently  more  direct,  but  in 
reality  more  difficult,  more  danger- 
ous, and  less  calculable.  That  is  the 
policy  of  the  balance  of  power 
through  alliance.  Weak  and  short- 
sighted ministers  have  always  re- 
sorted to  this  because  it  is  the  policy 
of  the  instincts  rather  than  of  the 
reason.  It  formed  groups  of  powers 
on  the  continent.  It  divided  Europe 
into  two  great  hostile  camps — Ger- 
many, Austria  and  Italy  on  the  one 
hand:  Russia,  France  and  ourselves 
on  the  other.  The  progeny  of  this 
policy  is  suspicion  and  armaments; 
its  end  is  war  and  the  smashing  up 
of  the  very  balance  which  it  is  de- 
signed to  maintain.  When  war  comes 
it  is  then  bound  to  be  universal. 
Every  nation  is  on  one  rope  or  an- 
other and  when  one  slips  it  drags 
its  allies  with  it. 

As  a  matter  of  practical  experience 
the  very  worst  form  of  alliance  is 
the  entente.  An  alliance  is  definite. 
Every  one  knows  his  responsibilities 
under  it.  The  entente  deceives  the 
people.  When  Mr.  Asquith  and  Sir 
Edward  Grey  kept  assuring  the  House 
of  Commons  that  we  had  contracted 
no  oblifratii>ns  by  our  entente  with 
France  they  said  what  was  literally 
true  but  substantially  untrue.  That 
is  why  stupid  or  dishonest  statesmen 
prefer  the  entente  to  the  alliance: 
it  permits  them  to  see  hard  facts 
through  a  veil  of  sentimental  vague- 
ness. Had  we  had  a  definite  alliance 
with  France  and  Russia  the  only  dif- 
ference would  have  been  that  we  and 
everybody  else  should  have  known 
what  we  had  let  ourselves  in  tor,  and 
that  might  have  averted  the  war. 
Italy  could  keep  out  of  the  turmoil 
because  its  membership  in  the  al- 
liance imposed  only  definite  obliga- 
tions upon  it;  we  were  dragged  in 
because  our  entente  Involved  us  in 
an  indefinite  maze  of  honorable  com- 
mitments. 

It  is  interesting  to  gather  from  Sir 
Edward  Grey's  speech  of  August  3 
and  the  White  Paper  how  com- 
pletely the  entente  entangled  him. 
There  were  first  of  all  the  "conver- 
sations" between  French  and  British 
naval  and  army  experts  from  1906 
onwards.  These  produced  plans  of 
naval  and  military  operations  which 
France  and  we  were  to  take  jointly 
together.  It  was  in  accordance  with 
these  schemes  that  the  northern 
coasts  of  France  were  left  unprotected 
by  the  French  navy.  When  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  evoked  our  sympathy  on 
the  ground  that  the  French  northern 
coasts  were  unprotected,  he  did  not 
tell  us  that  he  had  agreed  that  they 
should  be   unprotected   and   that   the 


French   fleet  should   be   concentrated 
in  the  Mediterranean. 

These  "conversations"  were  car- 
ried on  for  about  six  years  without 
the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  Cab- 
inet. The  military  plans  were  sent 
to  St.  Petersburg  and  a  Grand  Duke 
(so  well-informed  authorities  say) 
connected  with  the  German  party  in 
Russia  sent  them  to  Berlin.  Germany 
has  known  for  years  that  there  were 
military  arrangements  between 
France  and  ourselves,  and  that  Rus- 
sia would  fit  her  operations  into  these 
plans. 

We  had  so  mixed  ourselves  up  in 
the  Franco-Russian  alliance  that  Sir 
Edward  Grey  had  to  tell  us  on  Aug- 
ust 3  that  though  our  hands  were 
free  our  honor  was  pledged!  The 
additional  mix-up  for  Grey,  through 
secret  "Conversations  with  Belgium" 
would  make  us  appreciate  better  his 
dilemma,  since  he  has  yet  to  appear 
as  Belgium's  Guardian! 

The  country  had  been  so  helplessly 
committed  to  fight  for  France  and 
Russia  that  Sir  Edward  Grey  had  to 
refuse  point  blank  every  overture 
made  by  Germany  to  keep  us  out  of 
the  conflict.  That  is  why,  when  re- 
porting the  negotiations  to  the  House 
of  Commons,  he  found  it  impossible 
to  tell  the  whole  truth  and  to  put 
impartially  what  he  chose  to  tell  us. 
He  scoffed  at  the  German  guarantee 
to  Belgium  on  the  ground  that  it  only 
secured  the  "integrity"  of  the  coun- 
try but  not  its  independence;  when 
the  actual  documents  appeared  it  was 
found  that  its  independence  was  se- 
cured as  well.  And  that  is  not  the 
worst.  The  White  Paper  contains 
several  offers  which  were  made  to  us 
by  Germany  aimed  at  securing  our 
neutrality.  None  were  quite  satisfac- 
tory in  their  form  and  Sir  Edward 
Grey  left  the  impression  that  these 
unsatisfactory  proposals  were  all  that 
Germany  made.  Later  on  the  Prime 
Minister  did  the  same.  Both  with- 
held the  full  truth  from  us.  The 
German  ambassador  saw  Sir  Edward 
Grey,  according  to  the  White  Paper, 
on  August  1 — and  this  is  our  foreign 
minister's   note   of   the   conversation: 

"The  Ambassador  pressed  me  as 
to  whether  I  could  not  formulate 
conditions  upon  which  we  could  re- 
main neutral.  He  even  suggested 
that  the  integrity  of  France  and  her 
colonies  might  be  guaranteed." 

Sir  Edward  Grey  declined  to  con- 
sider neutrality  on  any  conditions 
and  refrained  from  reporting  this 
conversation  to  the  House.  Why?  It 
was  the  most  important  proposal  that 
Germany  made.  Had  this  been  told 
us  by  Sir  Edward  Grey  his  speech 
could  not  have  worked  up  a  war  sen- 
timent. The  hard,  immovable  fact  is 
that  Sir  Edward  Grey  had  so  pledged 
the  country's  honor  w-ithout  the  coun- 
try's knowledge  to  fight  for  France 
or  Russia,  that  he  was  not  in  a  posi- 
tion even  to  discuss  neutrality.  That 
was  the  state  of  affairs  on  July  2  0 
and  did  not  arise  from  anything  Ger- 
many  did  or  did  not  do  after  that 
date. 

Now,  the  apparent  contradiction 
that  the  man  who  had  worked  for 
European  peace  was  at  the  same  time 
the  leader  of  the  war  party  in  the 
Cabinet  can  be  explained.  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  strove  to  undo  the  result 


of  his  policy  and  keep  Europe  at 
peace  but,  when  he  failed,  he  found 
himself  committed  to  dragging  his 
country  into  war. 

The  justifications  offered  are  noth- 
ing but  the  excuses  which  ministers 
can  always  produce  for  mistakes.  Let 
me  take  the  case  of  Belgium.  It 
has  been  known  for  years  that,  in  the 
event  of  a  war  between  Russia  and 
France  on  the  one  hand  and  Ger- 
many on  the  other,  the  only  possible 
military  tactics  for  Germany  to  pur- 
sue were  to  attack  France  hot  foot 
through  Belgium,  and  then  return  to 
meet  the  Russians.  The  plans  were 
in  our  war  office.  They  were  dis- 
cussed quite  openly  during  the  Agadir 
trouble,  and  were  the  subject  of  some 
magazine  articles,  particularly  one  by 
Mr.  Belloc. 

Mr.  Gladstone  made  it  clear  In 
1870  that  in  a  general  conflict  formal 
neutrality  might  be  violated.  He 
said  in  the  House  of  Conmions  in 
Augu.st,  1870:  "I  am  not  able  to 
subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  those  who 
have  held  in  this  House  what  plainl.v 
amounts  to  an  assertion  that  the  sim- 
ple facts  of  the  existence  of  a  guar- 
antee is  bincUng  on  every  party  to  it, 
irrespective  altogether  of  the  partic- 
ular position  in  which  it  may  find 
itself  at  the  time  when  the  occasion 
for  acting  on  the  guarantee  arises."  * 

Germany's  guarantees  to  Belgium 
would  have  been  accepted  by  Mr. 
Gladstone.  It  France  had  decided  to 
attack  Germany  through  Belgium  Sir 
Edward  Grey  would  not  have  ob- 
jected, but  would  have  justified  him- 
self by  Mr.  Gladstone's  opinions. 

We  knew  Germany's  military 
plans.  We  obtained  them  through 
the  usual  channels  of  spies  and  se- 
cret service.  We  knew  that  the  road 
through  Belgium  was  an  essential 
part  of  them.  That  was  our  oppor- 
tunity to  find  a  "disinterested"  mo- 
tive apart  from  the  obligations  of 
the  entente.  It  is  well  knowTi  that 
a  nation  will  not  fight  except  for  a 
cause  in  which  idealism  is  mingled. 
The  "Daily  Mail"  supplied  the  ideal- 
ism for  the  South  African  war  by  tell- 
ing lies  about  the  flogging  of  British 
women  and  children;  our  govern- 
ment supplied  the  idealism  for  this 
war  by  telling  us  that  the  independ- 
ence of  Belgium  had  to  be  vindicated 
by  us.*  Before  it  addressed  its  in- 
quiries to  France  and  Germany  upon 
this  point,  knowing  the  military  exi- 
gencies of  both  countries,,  it  knew 
that  France  could  reply  suitably 
whilst  Germany  could  not  do  so.  It 
was  a  pretty  little  game  in  hypocrisy 
which  the  magnificent  valor  of  the 
Belgians  will  enable  the  government 
to  hide  up  for  the  time  being. 

Such  are  the  facts  of  the  case.  It 
is  a  diplomatist's  war,  made  by  about 
half  a  dozen  men.  Up  to  the  mo- 
ment that  ambassadors  were  with- 
drawn the  peoples  were  at  peace. 
They  had  no  quarrel  with  each  other; 
they  bore  each  other  no  ill-will. 
Half  a  dozen  men  brought  Europe 
to  the  brink  of  a  precipice  and 
Klurope  fell  over  it  because  it  could 
not  help  itself.  Today  our  happy 
industrial  prospects  of  a  fortnight 
ago    are    darkened.       Suffering    has 

•Kmplia.sized   by   the   Editor. 


REASONS  FOR  GREAT  BRITAIN'   IX  THE  WAR 


99 


come  to  be  with  us.  Ruin  stares 
many  of  us  in  the  face.  Little  com- 
fortable businesses  are  wrecked,  tiny 
incomes  have  vanished.  Want  is  in 
our  midst,  and  Death  walks  with 
Want.  And  when  we  sit  down  and 
ask  ourselves  with  fullness  of  knowl- 
edge: "Why  has  this  evil  hap- 
pened?" the  only  answer  we  can  give 


is,  because  Sir  Edward  Grey  has 
guided  our  foreign  policy  during  the 
past  eight  years.  His  short-sighted- 
ness and  his  blunders  have  brought 
all  this  upon  us. 

I  have  been  reminded  of  one  of 
those  sombre  judgments  which  the 
prophet  who  lived  in  evil  times  ut- 
tered against  Israel:      "A  wonderful 


and  horrible  thing  is  committed  in 
the  land:  The  prophets  prophesy 
falsely,  and  the  priests  bear  rule  by 
their  means,  and  my  people  love  to 
have  it  so;  and  what  will  ye  do  in 
the  end  thereof?" 

Aye,    what   will   ye   do  In   the  end 
thereof? 


England's  Domestic  Troubles  and  Outlook 


CHICAGO      UtISH      LEADEKS      DE- 

NOCNCE  RECRUITIXCi   IX 

IRELAND. 


Miss  Anna  Nolan,  a  Representative  of 
the  Irisli. American  of  New  York, 
Interviews  Several  of  the  Irishmen 
of  I'roniinence  in  Cliicago  in  Order 
to  Gauge  the  Depth  of  Feeling  and 
to  Get  Their  \ie\vs  on  the  Political 
Situation  in  Ireland — As  the  Re- 
sult of  Several  Interviews,  She 
<Jave  Expression  to  the  Following 
For  Her  I'aper  and  the  Irish  \'oice. 

The  Irish  Voice,  March  4,   1915. 

As  she  has  always  done  in  other 
matters,  Chicago  is  taking  a  decided 
and  clear-seeing  view  of  the  Irish  situ- 
ation. Naturally  the  men  who  have 
consistently  been  carrying  on  the  cam- 
paign for  complete  national  freedom 
of  Ireland  have  lined  themselves  up 
as  ijro-Cernian  in  their  sympathies. 
Not  that  they  are  looking  for  better 
government  from  Germany,  should 
Germany  by  the  fortunes  of  war  take 
a  goodly  grasj)  of  the  British  Isles, 
for  these  men  have  no  intention  of 
letting  any  foreign  power  govern 
tlu'in.  hut  because  their  hatred  of  Eng- 
land has  lost  none  of  its  freshness 
after  years  and  even  generations  of 
residence  in  this  country.  They  find  It 
ditliiuK  to  comprehend  the  situation 
wherein  a  leader  of  any  Irish  party, 
forgflling  the  past  centuries  of  coiir- 
cion.  and  treachery  on  the  part  of 
England  towards  Ireland,  could  enthu- 
siastically head  a  campaign  to  enlist 
till-  young  blood  of  Ireland  for  the 
spilling  of  it  on  foreign  battlefields  to- 
wards the  advancement  of  their  ancient 
enemy  who  now  is  fighting  the  supreme 
tight  of  her  life. 

Uut'the  group  of  Irishmen  who  have 
hillierto  iiointed  with  pride  to  their 
leader  .lohn  Redmond  are  the  most 
patlielic  figures  in  this  great  disor- 
ganization of  Irish  matters.  Loyally, 
in  si)ite  of  the  mutilated  thing  called 
the  Irish  Home  Rule  Bill,  have  they 
not  stood  for  .Tohn  Redmond  against 
the  critics  who  censured  him?  For 
years  they  have  been  giving  up  their 
money  for  the  cause  of  Home  Rule. 
'I'hey  believed  in  Home  Rule  and  they 
had  full  faith  in  the  men  who  were 
engineering  the  bill  through  the  House 
of  Conmions.  With  what  heartfelt  .loy 
they  had  shouted  for  Jf>hn  Redmond 
nn(l  his  "full  steam  ahead"  for  Home 
Rule  but  a  year  ago  when  the  bill 
seemed  to  be  nearing  the  port.  Pos- 
sibly these  men  lieg-an  to  restli/.e  the 
astuteness  of  their  enemies  and  the 
actual  facts  of  the  case  when  the  offi- 
cers of  the  British  army  refused  to 
coi^rce  I'lster.     But  whether  they  were 


prepared  or  not,  it  was  a  hard  pill  for 
them  to  swallow,  when  our  morning 
Ijapers  told  the  story  of  John  Red- 
mond's sudden  blossoming  into  a  re- 
cruiting officer  for  the  army  that  would 
not  take  orders  from  Parliament  and 
light  the  breed  of  covenanters  up  in 
Ulster. 

To  their  credit  be  it  said  that  these 
men  needed  no  command,  no  counsel, 
no  "doped-out  policy"  of  their  organi- 
zation but  took  their  stand  according 
to  the  dictates  of  their  Irish  hearts. 
Peculiarly  Irish  was  this  sudden  tran- 
sition from  the  compromising  parlia- 
mentarian into  the  original  Irish 
"rebel."  the  radical  who  will  not  be 
hoodwinked  by  opponent  or  leader,  the 
inilividnalistic   man   of   the  Gael. 

For  the  Irish  in  America  this  up- 
heaval in  the  affairs  of  Ireland  means 
something  that  is  gradually  showing 
itself — the  binding  together  of  all 
Irishmen  without  respect  to  political 
organization.  Here  in  Chicago  we  may 
witness  the  friendly  meetings  of  the 
Clansmen  with  men  of  the  United 
Irish  .*<()cieties.  Old  animosities  are 
buried  in  the  earnest  desire  for  Ire- 
land's welfare.  They  have  at  last 
found  a  common  ground,  and  one  and 
all  they  stand  united  against  the  sac- 
rifice of  Ireland's  youth  for  the  sake  of 
saving  England  from  a  well-merited 
drnlibing. 

For  some  of  these  Irishmen  it  is 
hard  to  refuse  aid  to  France  and  the 
brave  little  Belgians,  but  after  all  is 
said  and  done,  the  crushing  of  Bel- 
gium and  the  sacrifice  of  France  would 
really  be  satisfactory  to  England  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  the.se  nations 
have  been  her  .saving  buffer  against 
German  invasion.  .\nd  if  we  believe 
what  the  records  of  the  battles  tell  us 
France  might  have  gotten  along  as 
well  without  England's  barbarians  and 
Englaiiil's  incoin|)etent  army  officers. 
The  fight  is  between  (Jermany  and  Eng- 
land for  commercial  supremacy.  This 
fact  must  be  kept  apart  from  the  senti- 
mental features  of  the  war  that  has 
cost  a  brave  little  country  so  dearly 
and  fh;it  is  changing  the  ver.v  soul  of 
France.  The  gigantic  struggle  has  not 
really  begun.  England  is  still  behind 
the  skirts  of  the  French  and  the  Bel- 
gians. Meanwhile  she  is  preparing  for 
what  her  statesmen  believe  to  be  the 
inevitable  invasion.  She  wants  to  use 
what  is  left  of  Ireland's  men  for  gun- 
fodder. 

By  stupid  economic  management, 
she  who  h;is  constantly  cried  out  that 
Ireland  is  not  fit  to  govern  herself, 
finds  now  that  her  own  citizens  are 
neither  willing  nor  physicsilly  fit  for 
army  purj)Oses.  On  December  21st 
there  were  three  football  games  held 
In  London.    These  games  attmcted  an 


attendance  of  35,000  young  men  of 
military  age.  Recruiting  agents  and 
members  of  iiarliameut  harangued  these 
35,000  British  hopefuls,  pleading  with 
them  to  enlist  and  crying  opt  that  the 
"life  of  the  empire  was  at  stake."  Ac- 
cording to  the  London  correspondent  of 
the  Chicago  Evening  Post,  just  one 
English  patriot  enlisted — one  recruit 
out  of  a  mob  of  35,000!  Surely  the 
Boer  War  has  taught  the  British  public 
the  value  of  a  good  job  on  an  under 
clerk's  high  stool  or  behind  the  counter 
In  comparison  with  a  glorious  death 
for  the  Empire! 

Whether  Redmond  has  sold  his  coun- 
try, or  whether  he  has  done  the  best 
he  could,  or  whether  he  is  suffering 
from  that  affliction  which  often  comes 
suddenly  upon  leaders,  "cold  feet,"  is 
a  matter  to  be  decided  at  closer  range. 
But  Mr.  Redmond  is,  according  to  his 
former  friends  here  in  Chicago, 
stretching  the  point  a  bit  t  o  far  when 
he  shouts  enthusiastically  for  the  en- 
listment of  O'Briens  and  O'Donnells 
and  O'Neills  and  all  the  other  O's  and 
Mac's  whose  ancestors  and  clansmen 
were  wont  to  get  enraged  at  the  sight 
of  a  redcoat.  It  is  just  this  feature 
of  the  Irish  situation  which  has  flab- 
bergasted the  Irish  of  Chicago.  How 
a  regiment  composed  of  Irish  boys 
whose  grandfathers  and  greatgrand- 
fathers once  found  joy  in  the  killing 
of  a  hated  redcoat  now  go  forth  to 
fight  under  the  Union  Jack  in  the  same 
redcoat  and  shouting  God  Save  the  King 
is  hard  for  the  men  with  the  tradi- 
tional Irish  spirit  to  understand.  One 
might  call  it  Ireland's  nightmare. 


ENGLAND'S     TREASON     TO     THE 
WHITE   RACE. 


Hindus,  Sikhs,  Turros,  Mongols, 
Khirgise,  Fiji  Islanders  and  Rep- 
resentatives of  Other  Colored 
Races  Fighting  in  the  English 
]{anks — Tlie  Danger  of  Arming 
and  Drilling  Savages  to  Fight 
Europeans — A  Menace  to  the  Vn- 
ture  of  Christian  Civilization — A 
Country  That  Hires  Savage  Mer- 
cenaries to  do  Her  Fighting  Should 
Not  he  Called  a  Civilized  Power — 
Imperilling  the  Supremacy  of 
While  Race. 


(From  the  Continental  Times,  a  Jour- 
nal for  Americans  in  Europe.) 

There  has  appeared  of  late  a  ten- 
dency in  a  limited  section  of  the  pa- 
pers, published  in  America  and  Eng- 
land, to  excuse  and  apologize  for  the 
introduction  of  the  hordes  of  bar- 
barians    which     Great     Britain    has 


THE   i:\Ti:XTK   AND  OTHKR   ALLIES 


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LORD  ROBEItTS  INSI'I':CTING  UECIUUTS   IN  LANIJI.LY   I'AKK,   I:N(;I>ANI) 
(By    Courtesy    of   the    "Open   Couit") 


pressed  into  service  in  her  effort  to 
destroy  the  Christian  civilization  of 
Germany. 

Public  opinion,  in  the  neutral 
states,  is  also  beginning  to  criticize 
and  condemn  the  conduct  of  the  Brit- 
ish officers  in  pushing  these  unfor- 
tunate Asiatics  and  Africans  in  the 
front  of  the  battle  line.  The  truth 
of  this  has  been  vouched  for  by 
American  correspondents,  who  have 
also  corroborated  the  official  German 
statements  to  the  same  effect.  More- 
over, the  appalling  losses  among  the 
black  troops  in  northern  France  and 
Flanders,  as  compared  with  those  of 
the  supporting  English,  give  substan- 
tial evidence  that  John  Bull  is  true 
to  his  old  traditions  in  utilizing  other 
races  to  do  his  hard  fighting. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  war  the 
Irish  and  Scotch  regiments  were  al- 
ways in  the  posts  of  danger  and  led 
the  attack.  But  they  have  been  prac- 
tically annihilated  so  that  now  the 
exotic  nations  of  Africa  and  Asia  are 
pushed  to  the  front  to  bear  the  brunt 
of  the  German  attack. 

Some  English  papers  contend  that 
England  is  justified  in  importing 
these  barbarians  because  Turkey  has 
joined  in  the  war  on  behalf  of  Ger- 
many and  Austria.  This  argument 
is  neither  reasonable  nor  logical.  In 
the  first  place  Turkey  did  not  com- 
mence hostilities  until  several  months 
after  outbreak  of  the  war  and  then 
only  after  an  attack  upon  her  fleet  by 
Russia  and  after  England  had  seized 
two  of  her  warships,  for  which  she 
had  paid  In  full. 

Some  of  the  Deviltries  of  England's 
Black  Soldiers. 

In  the  second  place  Turkey  has 
been  in  Europe  for  over  500  years, 
her  Ambassadors  have  been  received 
on  an  equality  in  all  Christian  courts 
and  she  has  been  a  valuable  and  re- 
spected ally  of  England,  also  against 
Russia.  If  Germany  should  import 
Mohammedan  tribes  from  the  jungles 


and  deserts  of  Asia  and  Africa  and 
introduce  them  on  the  Continent  to 
defend  her  cause,  there  would  be 
some  merit  in  England's  argument. 
But  Germany  is  too  noble  a  jiower 
to  invoke  the  aid  of  savases  and 
heatliens  in  lier  war.s  and  does  not 
l)elleve  in  imperiling;  the  supremacy 
of  the  white  race. 

American  correspondents  have  in- 
formed the  public  as  to  the  fiendish 
practices  and  barbaric  cruelties  of 
these  heathen  mercenaries  of  Eng- 
land. They  have  told  us  that  they 
delight  in  hacking  the  wounded  with 
their  knives  and  gouging  out  their 
eyes,  and  that  they  cut  off  the  ears 
and  noses  of  tlieir  victims,  whicli 
they  treasure  as  keepsakes.  The 
correspondents  have  also  warned 
Americans  as  to  the  danger  involved 
in  the  introduction  by  these  savages 
of  Asiatic  and  African  diseases  into 
Europe  through  their  filthy  habits 
and  their  entire  ignorance  of  the 
elementary  ideas  of  hygiene. 

Cannibals  Don  the  English  Uniform. 

Some  200,000  of  these  heathens 
have  already  been  imported  into  Eu- 
rope. The  illustrated  London  news- 
papers have  recentl.v  displayed,  actu- 
ally with  pride  and  jubilation,  pic- 
tures of  Fi.ji  Island  cannibals,  under 
the  training  of  British  officers,  who, 
they  stated,  have  volunteered  for  the 
front  and  have  been  accepted  by  Mr. 
Harcourt,  the  .\ssistant  Secretary  of 
War.  As  a  concession  to  public  opin- 
ion they  announced  that  they  had 
abandoned  their  cannibalistic  prac- 
tices and  become  methodists. 

A  country  which  will  call  to  its 
aid  such  mercenaries  to  bolster  up 
her  fighting  forces  is  unfit  to  be 
classed  as  a  civilized  power  and  mer- 
its the  unmeasured  derision  of  hu- 
manity. These  refined  English  gen- 
tlemen absolutely  refuse  to  travel  in 
the  same  railway  car  with  a  colored 
person  and  treat  that  entire  race 
with    unutterable    contempt.      Never- 


theless they  are  glad  to  make  use  of 
tliem  to  protect  their  own  precious 
bodies  from  their  white  enemy.  How- 
ever, we  must  not  forget  that  it  is 
only  100  years  since  the  same  English 
hired  the  red  Indians  to  scalp  the 
American  colonists. 

How  low  has  the  mighty  British 
Empire  fallen!  Is  not  King  George 
the  ally  and  friend  of  the  regicide 
and  assassin  Peter  of  Servia? 

Civilization  at  Stake. 

Ah,  Civilization,  how  thy  name  has 
been  polluted!  In  the  name  of  civil- 
ization, the  Allies  have,  so  far, 
brought  into  the  field  to  fight  against 
Christian  white  races,  such  types  of 
uncivilized  mercenaries,  as  savage 
Senegalese,  negroes  of  various  wild 
types,  callous,  heartless  Hindus, 
Sikhs,  Turcos,  Mongols,  Khirgise  and 
other  colored  and  untutored  people, 
not  even  omitting  the  Fiji  Islanders, 
notorious  for  their  partiality  for  hu- 
man flesh,  as  food.  This  introduc- 
tion of  barbarians  into  European 
wars  would  seem  worthy  of  the  at- 
tention of  the  civilized  nations  at  the 
next  Hague  Conference.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  the  yellow  races 
alone,  have  a  population  three  times 
the  number  of  that  of  Europe,  that 
they  multiply  at  the  rate  of  one  hun- 
dred per  cent  every  twenty  years, 
whereas  the  white  races  only  double 
in  number  every  eighty  years.  Arm 
those  colored  people,  teach  them  the 
art  of  modern  warfare,  how  to  kill 
the  white  men,  and,  it  is  easy  to 
realize  how  quickly  they  will  begin 
.to  act  upon  their  own  initiative,  rise 
en  masse  and  exterminate  the  hated 
Giaour. 


Note. — It  is  important,  here,  also, 
to  understand  that  Turkey  is  in  the 
war,  not  as  an  ally  of  Germany  and 
Austria,  but  on  her  own  account,  to 
defend   her   rights. — Editor. 


EXTR.\CTS     FROM     THE      CRIME 
AGAINST  IRELAND. 


The  Crucible. 


By  Sir  Roger  Casement. 

(Written  in  September,  1912.) 

Who  can  doubt  that  the  greater 
patriotism  and  stronger  purpose  must 
inspire  the  man  who  fights  for  light, 
air  and  freedom,  the  right  to  walk 
abroad,  to  learn,  to  teach,  aye,  and  to 
inspire  others,  rather  than  him  whose 
chief  concern  it  is  to  see  that  no 
one  but  himself  enjoys  those  oppor- 
tunities? The  means,  moreover,  that 
each  combatant  will  bring  to  the  con- 
flict, are  in  the  end,  on  the  side  of 
Germany.  Much  the  same  dispropor- 
tion of  resources  exists  as  lay  be- 
tween Rome  and  Carthage. 

England  relies  on  money,  Germany 
on  men.  And  just  as  Roman  men 
beat  Carthagian  mercenaries,  so  must 
German  manhood,  in  the  end,  tri- 
umph over  British  finance.  Just  as 
Carthage  in  the  hours  of  final  shock, 
placing  her  gold  where  the  Romans 
put  their  gods,  and  never  with  a  soul 
above  her  ships,  fell  before  the  peo- 
ple of  united  Italy,  so  shall  the 
mightier  Carthage  of  the  North  Seas, 


REASONS  FOR  GREAT  BRITAIN   IN  THE  WAR 


in  spite  of  trade,  shipping,  colonies, 
the  power  of  purse  and  the  hired 
valor  of  the  foreigner  (Irish,  Indian, 
African),  go  down  before  the  men  of 
united  Germany." 

I  read  but  yesterday,  "Few  people 
realize  that  the  trade  of  Ireland  with 
Great  Britain  is  equal  to  that  of  our 
trade  with  India,  is  £13,000,000 
greater  than  the  whole  of  our  trade 
with  the  United  States."  How  com- 
pletely England  has  laid  hands  on  all 
Irish  resources  is  made  clear  from  a 
recent  publication  that  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain's "Tariff  Commission"  issued  to- 
wards the  end  of  1912. 

This  document,  entitled  "The  Eco- 
nomic Position  of  Ireland  and  Its  Re- 
lation to  Tariff  Reform,"  constitutes, 
in  fact,  a  manifesto  calling  for  the 
release  of  Ireland  from  the  exclusive 
grip  of  Great  Britain.  Thus,  for  in 
stance,  in  the  section  "External  Trade 
of  Ireland,"  we  learn  that  Ireland  ex- 
ported in  1910.  ce,'!, 400, 0(10  worth  of 
Irish  produce.  Of  this  Great  Britain 
took  .t:."i2,G00,000  worth,  while  some 
CIO, 800, 000  went  either  to  foreign 
countries,  or  to  British  colonies,  over 
C4, 000, 000  going  to  the  I'nited 
States.  Of  these  €11,000,000  worth 
of  Irish  produce  sent  to  distant  coun- 
tries, only  1:700,000  was  shipped  di- 
rect from  Irish  ports. 

The  remainder,  more  than  £10,- 
000,000,  although  the  markets  it  was 
seeking  lay  chiefly  to  the  West,  had 
to  be  shipped  East  into  Great  Brit- 
ain and  to  pay  a  heavy  transit  toll 
to  that  country  for  discharge,  han- 
dling, agency,  commission,  and  re- 
loading on  British  vessels  in  British 
ports  to  steam  back  past  the  shores 
of  Ireland  it  had  just  left.  While 
Ireland,  indeed,  lies  in  the  "line  of 
trade,"  between  all  Northern  Europe 
and  the  great  world  markets,  she  has 
been  robbed  of  her  trade  and  arti- 
ficially deprived  of  the  very  position 
assigned  to  her  by  nature  in  the  great 
tides   of    commercial    intercourse. 

A  .victorious  Germany,  in  addition 
to  such  terms  aS  she  may  find  it  well 
to  impose  in  her  own  immediate  fin- 
ancial or  territorial  interests,  must 
so  draft  her  .peace  conditions  as  to 
preclude  her  great  antagonist  from 
ever  again  seriously  imperiling  the 
freedom  of  the  seas.  I  know  of  no 
way  save  iino  to  make  sure  of  the  oiicn 
seas.  Ireland,  in  the  name  i>f  I'.u- 
rope,  and  in  the  exercise  of  European 
right  to  free  the  seas  from  the  over- 
lordship  of  one  European  island  must 
he  resolutely  withdrawn  from  British 
custody.  A  second  Berlin  conference, 
an  international  congress  must  de- 
bate, and  clearly  must  debate,  with 
growing  unanimity  the  German  pro- 
posal to  restore  Ireland  to  Europe. 

The  arguments  in  favor  of  that 
proposal  would  soon  become  so  clear 
from  the  general  European  stand- 
point that,  save  England  and  her  de- 
feated allies,  no  power  would  oppose 
it. 

Considerations  of  expediency  no 
less  than  naval,  mercantile,  and  mor. 
al  claims  would  range  themselves 
on  the  side  of  Germany  and  a  free 
Ireland.  For  a  free  Ireland,  not 
owned  or  exploited  by  England,  but 
appertaining  to  Europe  at  large,  its 
ports  available  in  a  sense  they  never 
can   be   while   under   British   control. 


for  purposes  of  general  navigation 
and  overseas  intercourse,  would  soon 
become  of  such  first  rank  importance 
in  continental  affairs  as  to  leave  men 
stupefied  by  the  thought  that  for  five 
hundred  years  they  had  allowed  one 
sole  member  of  their  community  the 
exclusive  use  and  selfish  misappro- 
priation of  this,  the  most  favored  of 
European  islands. 

Ireland  would  be  freed,  not  because 
she  deserved  or  asked  for  freedom, 
not  because  English  rule  has  been  a 
tyranny,  a  moral  failure,  a  stupidity 
and  a  sin  against  the  light,  not  be- 
cause Germany  cared  for  Ireland,  but 
because  the  withdrawal  of  Ireland 
from  English  control  appeared  to  be 
a  very  necessary  step  in  international 
welfare  and  one  very  needful  to  the 
progress  of  German  and  European 
expansion. 

.^n  Ireland  released  from  the  jail 
in  which  England  had  confined  her 
would  soon  become  a  populous  state 
of  possibly  10,000,000  to  12,000,000 
people,  a  commercial  asset  to  Europe 
in  the  Atlantic  of  the  utmost  general 
value,  one  holding  a  unique  position 
between  the  old  and  new  worlds,  and 
possibly  an  intellectual  and  moral  as- 
set of  no  mean  importance.  This, 
and  more  a  sovereign  Ireland  means 
to  Europe.  Above  all  it  means  secu- 
rity of  transit,  equalizing  of  oppor- 
tunity, freedom  of  the  seas — an  as- 
surance that  the  great  waterways 
of  the  ocean  should  no  longer  be  at 
the  absolute  mercy  of  one  member  of 
the  European  family,  and  that  one 
the  least  interested  in  general  Euro- 
pean welfare. 

The  stronger  a  free  Ireland  grew 
the  surer  would  be  the  guarantee  that 
the  role  of  England  "consciously  as- 
sumed for  many  years  past,  to  be  an 
absolute  and  wholly  arbitrary  judge 
of  war  and  peace",  had  gone  forever. 
and  that  at  last  the  "balance  of  the 
power"  was  kept  by  fair  weight  and 
fair  measure  and  not  with  loaded 
scales. 


IICISH  CRIMIXAI.  (XASSKS  MAj  l.\ 
THE   I5IUTISH   ARMV. 

The  Right  Hon.  the  Recorder,  ad- 
dressing the  Grand  Jury  at  the  ad- 
journed Dublin  City  Sessions,  paid 
the  following  tribute  to  the  almost 
crimeless  state  of  the  city: 

"In  the  record  of  Grand  Juries  in 
Dublin  I  think  the  smallest  number 
of  cases  ever  presented  to  a  Grand 
•lury  will  be  presented  to  you,  namely. 
Certainly  in  the  memory  of  any 
living  man  it  is  the  smallest.  It  is  a 
great  credit  to  the  city  that  crime 
has  almost  reached  a  vanishing  point 
in   our  midst." 

Reviewing  the  cases  to  go  to  the 
Grand  Jury,  his  lordship  said  they 
were:  Larceny,  2;  false  pretenses. 
2;  assault,  1;  malicious  damage,  1. 

Some  time  ago,  the  Presiding  Judge 
at  the  Belfast  Assizes  said  that  the 
records  showed  that  all  the  Irish 
criminals  must  have  transferred  the 
scene  of  their  operations  to  the  Con- 
tinent and  were  house-breaking  in 
France  or  Belgium  instead  of  In  Ire- 
land. 


If  it  is  the  Intel. (Ion  of  (lio  allies 
1(1  lure  Germnny  on.  Iliey  are  cerlainly 
succeeding. 


COST    OF    RIDDING    IRELAM>    OF 
LANDIiOKDl.S.M. 

.\  question  having  been  put  in  the 
House  of  Commons  in  regard  to  the 
financing  of  the  Irish  Land  Purchase 
Acts,  Mr.  Birrell,  Secretary  for  Ire- 
land, gave  the  following  Interesting 
statistics: 

The  total  amount  advanced  under 
the  Irish  Land  Purchase  Acts,  1870- 
1909  up  to  the  1st  of  January,  1915. 
was  £91,768,450  ($458,842,250),  and 
a  sum  of  £1,584,516  ($7,922,580) 
was  lodged  in  cash  by  the  purchasing 
tenants,  making  the  total  purchase 
money  .€93,352,966  ($466,764,830), 
the  sum  advanced  during  the  year 
ended  January  1st  last,  being  €5,764,- 
412  ($28,822,060).  The  estimated 
purchase  money  of  lands  for  the  sale 
of  which  proceedings  had  been  insti- 
tuted and  were  pending  on  that  date, 
including  lands  for  the  purchase  of 
which  the  Congested  Districts  Board 
were  in  negotiation  but  had  not  yet 
acquired,  was  £30,137,120  ($150.- 
6  8  5,600).  The  total  amount  advanced 
under  the  Act  of  1909,  up  to  the  1st 
of  January  last,  was  £5,132,033 
($25,660,165),  and  the  estimated 
purchase  money  of  lands  pending  for 
sale  under  the  Act  on  that  date,  in- 
cluding pending  Congested  Districts 
Board  sales,  was  £8,037,929  ($40,- 
189,645).  The  figures  as  to  purchase 
annuities  and  interest  in  lieu  of  rent 
collectible  by  the  Land  Commis- 
sion under  these  Acts  and  the 
arrears  are  not  classified  and  ab- 
stracted up  to  the  date  mentioned  in 
the  question;  but  it  will  be  seen 
from  the  annual  report  of  the  Land 
Commission  for  the  year  ended  31st 
March,  1914,  that  during  thai  vear 
a  sum  of  £2,658,550  ($13,292,750) 
was  collectible  in  purchase  annuities, 
and  £1,212,591  ($0,062,95.")  as  in- 
terest in  lieu  of  rent  in  pending  sales, 
and  that  the  arrears  on  1st  July  last 
in  respect  of  these  sums  was  onlv 
£12,499  ($62,495)  and  £11,638 
($58,190)  respectively.  These  ar- 
rears have  since  been  considerably 
reduced  as  the  result  of  legal  pro- 
ceedings instituted. 

Tlie  .Average  Xiiniber  of  Years   Pur- 
clinse. 

The  average  number  of  years  pur- 
chase of  all  classes  of  rents  (includ- 
ing Judicial,  Non-Judicial,  Leasehold, 
etc.),  of  holdings  vested  by  the  Es- 
tates Commissioners  in  direct  sales 
under  the  Acts  of  1903  and  1909.  is 
22.4  and  20.3,  respectively.  Detailed 
particulars  as  regards  the  number  of 
years  purchase  under  the  Acts  prior 
to  1903  are  given  in  Parliamentary 
Paper  90  of  1903.  The  rental  of  the 
lands  sold  is  not  available  in  all  cases, 
but  such  particulars  as  are  available 
are  given  in  the  tables  relating  to 
the  various  classes  of  sales  appended 
to  the  annual  reports  of  the  Irish 
Land  Commissioners.  On  the  basis 
of  the  estimate  submitted  In  Parlia- 
mentary Paper  6930  of  1913  the  pur- 
chase money  of  lands  which  have  not 
yet  hut  which  may  become  the  sub- 
ject of  proceedings  for  sale  under  the 
Land  Purchase  Acts,  may  be  esti- 
mated at  a  sum  not  exceeding  60  mil- 
lions   ($300,000,000). 


102 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


ENGLAND  AND   HER  DEAR 
IRELAND. 

England's  action  in  urging  little 
Belgium  to  the  formation  of  secret 
treaties  and  then  leaving  her  in  the 
lurch,  is  not  the  first  proof  we  have 
had  that  Albion's  highest  duty  consists 
of  fighting  for  the  welfare  and  inde- 
pendence of  smaller  countries. 

England  had  performed  this  hon- 
orable duty  for  centuries  past  iu  Ire- 
land, although  the  latter  has  shown 
the  determination  rather  to  die  Irish 
than  to  live  in  corruption  as  English. 
But  that  Ireland  is  going  to  ruin,  and 
most  hopelessly,  if  some  power  does 
not  come  to  her  assistance,  may  be 
shown  by  citing  a  few  of  the  most 
disgraceful  events  in  British  colonial 
history. 

Since  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  has  continued  unin- 
termi'ttedly  in  Ireland.  Sir  Carson  and 
the  men  of  Ulster,  descendants  of 
CromW'ell's  soldiers,  who  never  were 
Irishmen  but  English  colonists,  have 
nothing  to  offer  iu  opposition  to  Home 
Rule,  but  the  continuation  of  this 
frightful  struggle  has  fortunately 
ceased  for  the  rest  of  Europe. 

England's  attempts  at  "rendering 
Ireland  happy"  began  with  the  famous 
"Statute  of  Kilkenny,"  which  con- 
tained the  pleasant  legal  principle  that 
any  Englishman  might  slay  any  Irish- 
man to  be  found  in  Dublin,  the  capital 
of  Ireland.  This  proved,  however,  not 
to  be  so  simple  in  the  execution,  so 
the  English  had  to  be  satisfied  until 
1873  with  a  law  prohibiting  Catholics 
(in  other  words,  Irish)  from  talking 
any  academic  examinations. 

This  talented  race  was  held  down 
and  kept  in  ignorance,  at  a  time  when 
the  rank  and  file  of  other  lands  were 
enjoying  their  rights.  Two  hundred 
years  previous  to  this  time,  the  cot- 
ton laws  were  enforced,  a  less  choice 
method  of  destruction.  In  order  to  do 
away  with  the  Irish  aristocracy,  at 
that  time  the  natural  leaders  of  the 
peoi)le.  John  Bull  conceived  the  prac- 
tical idea  of  confiscating  all  genea- 
logical history  and  family  trees,  so 
that  soon  no  one  knew  who  his 
grandfather  was.  An  equally  simple 
method  was  found  for  destroying  the 
more  important  gentlemen  merchants 
amongst  whom  the  textile  industry  had 
become  flourishing  and  who  became 
dangerous  competitors.  A  law  was 
made  forbidding  the  manufacture  of 
Irish  wool  or  the  export  of  raw  wool 
to  any  other  country  than  England, 
where  only  the  very  lowest  prices  were 
paid.  When  the  Irish,  as  a  last  al- 
ternative took  up  the  manufacture  of 
linen,  this  was  also  forbidden  and  the 
life  of  agriculture  was  crushed  by  an 
enormous  export  tax.  Thus  from  the 
days  of  Cromwell's  brutal  butchery 
down  .to  the  modern  sub.iugation,  by 
means  of  a  sanguinary  industrial  pol- 
icy, Ireland  has  been  brought  to  ruin 
and  her  resources  exhausted,  often 
under  the  hypocritical  mask  of  benevo- 
lence, but  oftener  with  direct  brutality 
and  no  attempt  at  palliation.  The  re- 
sult is  that  today  two-thirds  of  Ire- 
land consists  of  the  domains  of  English 
Lords  and  one-third  of  territory  inhab- 
ited  by   poverty-stricken   Irish. 

The  families  of  40,000  Irish  farmers 
were  from  1849  to  ISfiT  driven  from 
house  and  home  by  the  English  aristoc- 


ENGLAND'S  FALL. 


By  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  England. 

Oh!    who  that  has  not  wandered  far 
From  where  he  first  drew  vital  air, 
Can   tell   how  bright  the  visions  are 
Which    still     surround     his    fancy 
there? 
For,  oh!    'tis  sweet  'round  memory's 
throne. 
When   time  and   distance   gild   the 
way. 
To    cite    the    scenes    that    long    have 
flown 
And   view   them   o'er   on   Patrick's 
Day. 

Though     distant     from     our     native 
shore, 

And  bound  by  Fortune's  stern  de- 
cree 
To    tread    our   native   land   no   more, 

Still,  Erin,  we  must  think  on  thee. 
Is  there  a  heart  of  Irish  mould 

That  does  not  own  the  magic  sway 
That  tempts  the  generous  patriot  soul 

To  celebrate  our  Patrick's  Day? 

No  nation  e'er  at  Freedom's  shrine 

Has  sacrificed  more  rights  than  we; 
Our  blood  has  flown  in  every  clime 

That  raised  the  shout  of  liberty. 
But,  oh!  will  Freedom  never  smile 

Nor  shed  one  bright,  one  cheering 
ray 
To  cheer  our  own  lov'd  native  isle. 

And   raise   our  hopes   on   Patrick's 
Day? 

Thy  gallant  sons  have  nobly  bought 

Columbia's  gratitude  for  thee; 
In      Freedom's      cause     they      nobly 
fought. 
And  shed  their  blood  for  Liberty. 
Then  sing,  my  Harp!   and  speak,  my 
soul! 
Let  tyrants  grumble  as  they  may; 
The  wish  we'll  speak  is — "England's 
Fall," 
And   Erin's  joy   on   Patrick's   Day. 


racy,  because  the  "Irish  laws"  allowed 
the  eviction  of  the  tenant  should  he 
once  fail  to  pay  the  abnormally  high 
rent.  Within  sixty  years,  four  and 
one-half  millions  of  Irish  left  their 
Fatherland,  but  the  culminating  point 
of  hypocrisy  was  reached  in  1909  when 
England  appropriated  125  million 
pounds  sterling,  in  order  to  give  to 
the  Irish  tenants  the  ownership  of  the 
land  which  was  cultivated  by  them. 
It  was,  of  course,  impossible  for  the 
Irish,  after  centuries  of  subjugation, 
to  be  iu  a  position  to  take  up  agricul- 
ture in  a  day.  Beside  this,  the  most 
arable  land  had  been  reserved  by  the 
English  aristocracy  for  their  parks, 
therefore  the  appropriated  money  will 
gradually  sift  back  into  the  city's 
pockets.  The  Irishman  resumes  his 
position  as  tenant  without  rights  and 
England  will  have  perpetrated  her 
master  stroke.  She  has  played  the 
part  of  benevolence  and  at  the  same 
time  has  reaped  the  profit.  One  thing 
England  has  evidently  not  considered 
is.  that  this  system  of  oppression  would 
only  serve  to  unite  a  nniltitude  of  Irish 
in  North  America,  who,  hating  Eng- 
land with  a  passionate  hatred,  will 
surely  revenge  the  Emerald  Isle  some 
day,  if  England's  bloody  account  is 
not  settled  during  the  present  world 
war. 


.AFTER  THE  WAR — WHAT? 

The  German  hatred  of  England,  bom 
by  the  latter's  perfidious  policy  and 
her  cruel  treatment  of  civilian  prison- 
ers, is  the  most  dreadful  fruit  which 
any  war  has  ever  brought  forth,  and 
it  is  also  the  one  great  obstacle  to  a 
sensible  adjustment  of  the  questions 
of  the  future,  questions  greater  than 
any  involved  in  the  present  war. 

As  Professor  Burgess  said  iu  1907 : 

"The  present  and  future  civilization 
of  the  world  politically  lies  in  the 
hands  of  the  three  great  Teutonic 
States  of  the  world,  Germany,  England 
and  the  United  States,  and  the  wel- 
fare of  the  world  requires  that  these 
three  shall  move  and  work  in  harmony. 
The  w'elfare  and  progress  of  the  world 
can  be  substantially  and  permanently 
promoted  in  no  other  way.  All  the  in- 
ternational congresses  and  conferences 
which  can  be  assembled  will  remain 
practically  barren  and  worthless  un- 
less these  three  great  Teutonic  States 
stand  together." 

We  believe  that  the  German  hatred 
is  not  directed  against  individual  Eng- 
lishmen, but  against  the  government 
and  its  foolish  and  wicked  policy,  do- 
mestic as  well  as  foreign.  Common 
sense  tells  us  that  a  policy  which  is 
based  on  unfairness  and  deceit  must 
sooner  or  later  lead  the  country,  where 
it  prevails,  to  moral  and  political  bank- 
ruptcy. Unfortunately  such  has  been 
the  policy  of  England— with  honorable 
interruptions — ever  since  Elizabeth  the 
Fickle  bestowed  honors  on  her  liucca- 
neering  and  pirate  captains  because 
they  filled  her  treasure  chambers ; 
Elizabeth  who  gave  with  one  hand  only 
to  take  away  with  the  other  and  who 
was  constitutionally  unable  to  keep  her 
word  or  know  her  own  mind. 

The  English  domestic  policy  has  been 
a  lamentable  failure  and  its  results 
have  kept  hack  true  civilization  all 
over  the  world  because  in  only  too 
many  countries — even  in  America — it 
has  served  as  a  pattern.  As  our  great 
novelist,  David  Graham  Phillips,  re- 
cently said :  "We  have  inherited  a  lit- 
tle from  France ;  unfortunately,  more 
from  England." 

England  considers  herself  and  is  con- 
sidered by  most  observers  a  democracy. 
To  the  students  of  history  and  social 
economy,  however,  she  is  no  more  a 
democracy  than  a  mirrored  image  is 
a  reality,  or  a  man's  reputation  is 
his  character. 

A  democracy  is  a  government  by  the 
people  (all  the  people)  for  the  people 
(all  the  people)  and  if  this  definition 
is  correct,  England's  claim  of  being  a 
democracy  cannot  be  allowed. 

As  Frank  Harris,  former  editor  of 
the  London  "Saturday  Review,"  re- 
cently said,  there  are  49  per  cent,  of 
the  workmen  of  England  disfranchised, 
and  the  whole  spirit  of  the  English 
Government  is  to  still  further  increase 
inequality.  Can  that  bo  called  govern- 
ment by  the  people,   all   the  people? 

"You  have  one-eighth  of  the  popu- 
lation enormously  rich,"  Mr.  Harris 
continues,  "one-third  in  the  gutter,  too 
poor  to  lead  human  lives  and  a  small 
middle  class  in  between.  England  has 
no  right  to  stand  for  any  ideal  free- 
dom today.  The  person  who  says  so 
is  either  a  fool  or  a  Jiar."  Can  that 
be  called  a  government  for  the  people, 
all  the  people? 


REASONS  FOR  C.REAT   BRITAIN    IN   THE  WAR 


111  (icniiiiiiy  U  Luis  beeu  recognized, 
(inil  ui-lcninilcdgcd  that  ci'ery  citizen 
in  ii  deiiioenicy  is  part  of  the  govera- 
uient,  that  the  whole  has  its  duties  to 
every  part,  just  as  even/  part  has  its 
duties  to  the  whole,  and  that  for  the 
whole  to  be  strong  and  healthy  every 
part  must  be  strong  and  healthy.  This 
has  been  accepted  as  a  principle  and 
in  recognition  of  it  Germany  has  en- 
acted laws  for  compulsory  insurance 
against  sickness,  accident,  invalidism, 
old  age,  for  pensioning  widows  and 
orphans  and  for  the  safeguarding  of 
her  workmen.  "In  the  last  twenty 
years,"  as  Mr.  Harris  says,  "Germany 
has  done  more  for  humanity  than  any 
other  nation  on  earth."* 

.\s  long  as  legislation  favors  the 
wealthy,  and  deprives  numberless  units 
of  her  population  of  the  right  of  deter- 
mining their  fate,  as  it  does  in  Eng- 
land, it  is  absurd  to  speak  of  a  de- 
mocracy, and  just  so  long  will  it  be 
a  tyranny  to  o  part  of  the  population. 
The  slums  of  London.  Liverpool  and 
oilier  large  cities  in  England  are  not 
(inly  a  denial  of  her  claims  to  democ- 
racy, but  also  a  constant  reproach  to 
her  ruling  classes,  a  blot  on  England's 
escutcheon,  and  a  disgrace  to  the  body 
jiolitic  which  in  the  end  must  bring 
aliDiit  its  complete  decay — if  not 
treated  and  cure<l  in  time. 

.Sitting  thus  uneasily  on  a  volcano 
which  may  become  active  at  any  time, 
England  has  shown  no  more  fair  deal- 
ing and  real  understanding  of  the  prob- 
lems which  are  confronting  her  in  her 
foreign  than  in  her  domestic  policy. 
I>iving.  like  a  wastrel,  from  hand  to 
mouth,  she  has,  it  is  true,  had  a  pol- 
icy which  has  run  through  the  cen- 
turies and  connected  over  a  shameful 
past  lo  a  present  which  was  vainly 
struggling  to  break  the  bonds  with 
which  this  |M)licy  enchained  it.  This 
policy  was  determined  by  her  insatiable 
desire  for  an  increase  of  material  ad- 
vantages, and  has  unceasingly  over- 
shadowed her  longing  for  moral  ad- 
vancement. Her  greed  for  riches  made 
her  land-hungry  and  as  she  was  too 
penurious  to  be  willing  to  pay  for  large 
armies  she — and  that  has  for  cen- 
turies been  her  policy — has  ever  allied 
herself  with  some  other  power  whom 
she  knew  how  to  inflame  and  do  the 
work  for  her,  she  herself  getting  all 
the  net  profits. 

lOngland's  century  old  desire — riches, 
and  ever  more  riches :  England's  cen- 
tury old  policy — to  stir  up  strife,  to 
be  able  to  umpire  the  game  and  to  ac- 
cord itself  the  spoils  of  the  war. 

So  she  has  done  now!  Germany 
growing  too  strong  as  a  competitor  in 
the  world's  markets,  she  has  incited 
I'rnnce  and  Russia  to  fear  and  hatred 
of  her  and  hung  prizes  before  their 
passion-dimmod  eyes  which  their  souls 
could  not  resist.  Indifferent  to  moral 
considerations  as  well  as  to  the  ties  of 
blood,  blinded  by  her  greed  to  the  ulti- 
mate consequences  of  her  act.  she  al- 
lied herself  with  three  nations,  for- 
eign to  her  and  two  of  thom  her  heredi- 
tary foes,  France,  the  I.alin.  Russia, 
the  f'ossack,  and  Japan,  the  Mongol. 

Was  there  ever  such  a  combination: 
Mongols,  Muscovites.  Latins  and  Teu- 
tons of  the  British  sideline?  With  In- 
terests only  temporarily  alike  In  one 
direction,  but  as  a  rule  diametrically 
oiiposile.    Iiow    long    will    the    glue    of 


hatred  and  envy  hold  such  a  combina- 
tion together'/  Already  one  of  the  part- 
ners has  turned  the  necessities  of  the 
rest  to  his  advantage — .Tapau,  seizing 
the  opjiortunity  when  neither  England 
nor  Russia  was  in  a  position  ett'ec- 
tually  to  oppose  her,  has  tightened  her 
grasp  on  China  with  a  jiu-jitsu  stran- 
gle hold.  Already  a  storm  is  brewing 
where  the  Dardanelles  forts  are  de- 
fending Constantinople  from  the  half- 
hearted attacks  of  the  English  and 
French  fleets,  for  the  disposition  of  the 
Turkish  cajiital,  in  the  improbable 
event  of  its  capture,  forms  the  most 
puzzling  problem  of  the  many  puzzling 
problems  of  this  most  stupid  of  all 
wars.  Russia,  more  than  anything  else, 
wants  Constantinople,  England  wants 
it  nearly  as  badly,  Greece  wants  it  quite 
as  badly,  Bulgaria  wants  it  badly,  and 
not  one  of  them  nor  Fmnce  wants  any 
other  to  have  it.  The  seeds  of  future 
wars  lie  in  the  capture  of  the  city  of 
the  Golden  Horn  and  recognizing  this 
the  efforts  of  the  I'nglish  and  French 
fleets  are  but  half-hearted,  just  suffi- 
cient to  satisfy  the  Russian  demands 
for  a  determined  sea  campaign  against 
Turkey,  and  just  not  sufficient  to  make 
the  Greek  demands  for  the  possession 
of  Constantinople  acute.  The  Turkish 
Empire  as  mistress  of  the  Dardanelles 
is  no  great  danger  to  Rouniania.  Bul- 
garia or  Greece:  with  Russia  in  pos- 
session of  this  key  to  the  Black  Sea 
the   independence   of   these  three   king- 


AFTKR  THE  WAR:     A  FORECAST. 


Extracts    from    an   Editorial    in    "The 

Independent,"    \ew    York, 

Auigust  21,  1014. 

•  *  •  .So  Austria  and  (Jermany 
are  likely  to  have  no  partners ;  the  rest 
of  Europe  is  against  them — Russia, 
France.  Great  Britain,  and  all  the 
minor  powers,  Belgium,  Holland,  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  Norway.  Switzerland 
in  sentiment  solid  against  two  nations 
that  have  darcvl  to  open  the  most  tre- 
mendous and  momentous  war  the  world 
has  ever  known.  It  is  practically  all 
Europe  against  Germany  and  Austria  ; 
and  not  all  Europe  alone,  but  all  the 
British  dependencies  of  .\sia.  .Vfrica. 
.\ustralia.  and  America  as  well,  not  to 
speak  of  those  of  France,  which  more 
than  balance  those  of  Germany. 

"On  the  face  of  it.  considering  pop- 
tilation  and  wealth  and  armies  and 
navies,  the  heavier  battalions  ought  to 
win.  But  in  favor  of  the  nations  is 
the  fame  of  the  German  army.  It  is 
said  to  be  the  most  admirable,  the  best 
trained  aixl  equipped  fighting  machine 
in  the  world.  It  Is  not  forgotten  how 
like  a  tornado  it  swept  to  Paris  in  1S70. 
and  carried  back  with  It  two  French 
provinces.  But  the  German  generals 
and  soldiers  are  not  gods:  they  are 
men.  They  have  the  advantage  of  con- 
fidence, Imt  perlinps  tliey  are  too 
mechanical ;  and  perhaps  there  will 
Imi  more  passion,  more  dasli,  more 
vengeance  widi  the  l'"rench  soldiers. 
For  forty  years  tlie  children  in 
Fri'ncli  scliools  have  been  taught 
never  to  forget  .\lsiice  and  Lor- 
ruinc.t      »      •      • 


doms  would  be  of  short  duration,  for 
the  Bear's  paw  is  reeking  with  the 
blood  of  smaller  adversaries  and  his 
maw   is   insatiable. 

And  that  is  exactly  why  Sir  Edward 
Grey's  policy  has  been  not  only  small 
and  contemptible,  but — a  much  worse 
crime — short-sighted,  that  he  did  not 
recognize  that  the  true  salvation  of 
England  lay  in  a  close  alliance  Avith 
Germany  and  the  United  States,  in- 
stead of  with  Russia  and  Japan.  Po- 
litically England  Iiad  from  Germany 
and  the  United  States  nothing,  from 
Russia  and  Japan  everything  to  fear, 
and  the  strengthening  of  the  latter  two 
countries  politically  would  also 
strengthen  them  immeasurably  com- 
mercially. The  only  points  of  conten- 
tion between  England  on  one.  and  the 
United  States  and  Germany  on  the 
other  side  are  the  struggle  for  commer- 
cial and  industrial  supremacy,  and  Eng- 
land should  have  been  wise  and  great 
enough  to  bring  them  to  an  issue  with- 
out the  crude  means  of  a  world-war. 

After  the  war— what?  Peace,  yes, 
but  what  kind  of  a  peace?  A  peace 
based  on  violence,  written  in  blood  and 
tears,  and  voicing  the  hatred  of  un- 
told millions  of  human  beings?  A  peace 
which  can  but  be  the  starting  point 
of  another  and  more  bitter  struggle 
which  will  throw  us  back  still  further 
towards  the  dark  ages?  God  forbid ! 
such  peace  would  be  worse  than  ab- 
solute annihilation  and  therefore  we 
hope  for  the  victory  of  Germany  be- 
cause she.  with  her  ally,  is  the  only 
nation  ijrcat-hcarted  and  large-minded 
enough  to  strive  for  a  peace  which  will 
not  further  estrange  the  warring  coun- 
tries, but  bring  them  together  for  a 
better  understanding,  for  a  wider  view- 
piiiiit.  for  honor.-ilile  endeavors,  for  a 
policy  of  friendshiii  and  mutual  respect, 
for  aims  of  the  welfare  of  all  human 
kind. — From  "The  Crucible."  April  10, 
1915. 


•See  the  Index  for  a  complete  article 
from  Mr.  Harris,  especially  sent  by 
htm  for  this  book. — Editor. 


K.VGLAXD    THREATENED    BY 
STRIKES. 


tEmphasizcd    in    bold    type    by    the 
PubllBher  of  "War  Echoes." 


Special  Cable  Despatch  to  the  ".Sun." 

London  —  The  London  "Times" 
gives  prominence  to  the  threatened 
labor  troubles  in  the  British  coal 
fields. 

The  Miners'  Federation  meets  on 
March  17th  to  consider  the  reports 
compiled  by  local  agents  in  the  field 
on  the  question  of  immediate  action 
to  obtain  an  increase  in  wages  in 
view  of  the  high  price  of  coal. 

If  a  satisfactory  agreement  is  not 
reached  with  the  coal  mine  owners 
the  most  dangerous  situation  pos- 
sible will  develop.  The  Times  else- 
where in  its  columns  refers  to  labor 
difficulties  as  now  hampering  the  effi- 
cient prosecution  of  the  war  more 
seriously  than  most  people  are  aware. 

It  prints  a  despatch  from  Berne 
to  the  effect  that  Germany  is  flooding 
neutral  countries  with  reports  of  seri- 
ous strikes  in  Great  Britain,  pointing 
to  British  degeneracy  in  contrast  to 
the  unity  of  Germany. 


104 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


British  Policy  and  Its  Character  in  the  Making 


WHO  PROVOKED  THE  WAR'; 


Incidents  Showing  Historical  Prog- 
ress  of  Events   Toward  In- 
evitable Clasii. 


The  Fatherland,  Xew  York. 
Frederick  E.  Schrader. 

On  December  1,  1913,  Vienna 
was  made  acquainted  with  the  rev- 
elations touching  Russia's  treaty 
with  the  Balkan  states,  prior  to  the 
war  with  Turkey,  and  the  publica- 
tions created  the  most  profound 
excitement.  For  it  furnished  the 
evidence  that  almost  all  the  arrange- 
ments, without  exception,  among  the 
contracting  parties  were  directed 
against  Austria-Hungary.  These  ar- 
rangements covered  the  precise  num- 
ber of  troops  which  each  state  was 
to  furnish  as  well  as  the  precise 
time  when  the  warlike  operations 
were  to  begin.  According  to  these 
revelations,  supported  by  authentic 
documentary  evidence,  Russia  obli- 
gated herself  to  supply  the  war  ma- 
terial and  all  obtainable  information 
regarding  the  plans  of  Austria-Hun- 
gary. Besides  this,  she  undertook 
to  support  the  Balkan  states  by  guar- 
anteeing to  protect  their  war  against 
Turkey    and    Roumania. 

Antedating  this,  when  in  1911 
England  unaccountably  projected 
herself  into  the  Morocco  muddle,  the 
war  fever  in  London  reached  fever 
heat.  In  Germany  this  interference 
was  regarded  as  a  provocation  for 
war,  and  the  London  dispatches 
quoted  "one  of  the  wealthiest  men 
in  Berlin,  closely  associated  with  the 
foreign  office  and  high  in  the  em- 
peror's confidence": 

"No  matter  where  we  seek  to  ad- 
vance, we  find  England  blocking  our 
progress.  It  is  a  case  of  an  irresis- 
tible force  coming  in  contact  with 
an  immovable  object,  and  the  only 
possible  result  of  such  a  collision  is 
chaos — that  is,  war." 

In  London,  at  the  Naval  and  Mili- 
tary club  and  the  L'nited  Service  club, 
"officers,  old  and  young,  look  upon 
war  as  a  practical  certainty  in  the 
near  future."  In  the  September  be- 
fore— this  was  in  December — "every 
naval  ofl5cer  on  leave  was  recalled 
by  telegram  and  even  the  able  sea- 
men at  Portsmouth  and  Plymouth 
were  prepared  for  the  worst."  (Lon- 
don  dispatch,   Dec.    1.) 

France  was  tranquil.  Foreign 
Minister  de  Selves  delivered  France's 
contribution  to  the  German-British 
debate  and  made  some  additions  to 
the  revelations  commencing  the 
Moroccan  crisis,  before  a  crowded 
house  in  the  chamber  of  deputies. 
He  said  among  other  things  (Paris 
dispatch,  Dec.  14)  that  "there  had 
been  a  moment  of  tension  due  to  the 
excessive  demands  of  Germany.  Rea- 
sonable negotiations  ensued  upon 
this,  and  he  denied  that  Germany 
had  become  irritable  and  had  tried 
to  start  a  conflict.  On  the  contrary, 
he  said,  her  attitude  had  been  con- 
ciliatory." 


July  13.  1912,  there  appeared  in 
the  New  York  World  a  London  cable 
dispatch,  as  follows: 

"The  first  lord  of  the  admiralty. 
(Winston  Churchill)  according  to 
his  political  confidants,  will  not  take 
the  offensive,  but  the  radicals  fear 
he  may  seize  any  German  provoca- 
tion to  plunge  England  into  war.  He 
is  said  to  be  obsessed  with  a  feeling 
of  Britain's  naval  might  and  is  de- 
lighted at  a  bare  prospect  of  dem 
onstrating  that  might  at  Germany's 
expense." 

Germany  did  not  give  the  provo- 
cation, and  matters  drifted  on.  Eng- 
land and  Russia  had  divided  Persia 
between  them.  The  czar  was  already 
directing  the  policy  which  England 
was  to  follow  in  her  blind  hatred  of 
Germany.  When  you  are  in  Rome 
you  must  do  as  the  Romans  do.  Eng- 
land stood  by  in  silence  while  Russia 
was  inaugurating  a  reign  of  terror  in 
her  sphere  of  Persia. 

The  dissident  Liberals  opened  a 
campaign  against  Sir  Edward  Grey's 
foreign  policy.  But  Grey  was  of  one 
mind  with  Churchill  as  to  war  with 
Germany,  and  showed  no  signs  of 
checking  Russia.  He  was  attacked 
by  the  infiuential  "Nation,"  which 
showed  "our  allies  in  Persia  assist- 
ing in  deeds  which  roused  all  Eng- 
land when  the  Bashi-Bazouks,  .in- 
stead of  Cossacks  were  their  auth- 
ors." Photographs  of  the  inhuman 
outrages  were  printed.  Some  were 
unprintable.  "It  remains  to  be  seen," 
said  the  correspondent  of  the  New 
York  Times  under  date  of  Sept.  14, 
1912,  "whether  a  McGahan  or  a 
Gladstone  will  arise  to  arouse  the 
country  to  flame,  such  as  that  which 
followed  the  Bulgarian  atrocities  and 
altered  the  map  of  southeastern  Eu- 
rope." 

The  McGahan  developed  In  the  per- 
son of  G.  T.  Turner,  "who  sent  to 
the  Manchester  Guardian  an  article, 
charging  the  Russian  troops  with 
the  indiscriminate  shooting  of  men, 
women  and  children  in  Tabriz,  as  well 
as  with  unspeakable  atrocities  by 
their  Persian  governor,  including 
beating  men  to  death,  sewing  up  the 
mouths  of  Constitutionalists,  nail- 
ing horseshoes  to  men's  feet,  and 
driving  them  through  the  bazaars, 
and  with  a  general  hanging  vendetta 
against  all  who  were  even  supposed 
to  favor  the  new  Persian  constitu- 
tion. 

"Prof.  Browne  also  wrote  to  the 
Manchester  Guardian,  stating  that 
he  had  obtained  photographs  which 
left  no  doubt  of  the  horrible  charac- 
ter of  the  atrocities  perpetrated  in 
Tabriz.  Two  of  these  photographs 
are  so  dreadful  that  publication  is 
impossible. 

"A  correspondent  of  the  "Nation" 
wrote,  demanding  their  publication, 
so  that  Englishmen  might  under- 
stand the  price,  paid  in  blood  and 
national  honor,  for  the  Anglo-Rus- 
sian alliance." — (Cable  New  York 
Times,  Sept.  14,  1912.) 

Even  the  Daily  News  of  London, 
usually  a  whole  hogger  as  far  as  the 


present  administration  of  Mr.  As- 
quith  is  concerned,  could  not  swal- 
low the  vile  imperialistic  dose  and 
spoke  out  as  follows: 

"No  man  who  believes  that  the 
honor  of  his  country  as  an  asset 
worth  preserving  or  who  is  con- 
cerned for  the  security  of  our  Indian 
empire  can  be  indifferent  to  the  pol- 
icy by  which  Russia,  without  con- 
sent, is  obliterating  a  free  people 
whose  independence  we  have  agreed 
to  protect,  and  is  preparing  to  ad- 
vance her  frontiers  to  those  of  our 
Indian  empire.  There  is  no  one  in 
any  party  in  this  country  today  who 
does  not  deplore  the  attack  on  Per- 
sian freedom,  who  does  not  admit 
that  it  is  a  deliberate  breach  of  the 
covenant  of  1907,  and  who  does  not 
know  that  it  is  profoundly  prejudicial 
to  our  business  and  imperial  inter- 
ests. To  the  plain  man  the  fact  that 
these  things  should  be  happening 
with  our  sanction  is  unintelligible. 
They  are  unintelligible  until  we 
realize  that  the  sacrifice  of  Persia  is 
only  an  incident  in  a  scheme  of  pol- 
icy which  includes,  among  its  other 
manifestations,  the  Moroccan  crisis, 
Mongolia,  Tripoli,  and  the  general 
breakdown  of  the  moral  law  of  Eu- 
rope. 

"We  have  turned  treaties  into 
waste  paper,  we  have  deserted  the  lit- 
tle peoples  who  looked  to  us  at  least 
to  keep  our  word,  we  have  endan- 
gered the  future  of  our  most  vital 
interests,  and  we  have  involved  our- 
selves in  an  expenditure  on  arma- 
ments without  parallel  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  And  the  result  is 
that  Europe  is  seething  with  unrest 
and  that  the  air  is  thick  with  ru- 
mors of  impending  disaster,  the  rea- 
son for  which  no  man  can  specify. 
This  is  the  situation  to  which  Sir 
Edward  Grey's  policy  was  brought 
this   country   and   Europe." 

Sir  Edward  Grey,  however,  was 
content  to  see  England  accused  of 
every  violation  of  solemn  treaty  ob- 
ligations, and  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
evidence  of  inhuman  cruelty  for  the 
sake  of  holding  Russia  for  the  even- 
tual blow  against  the  German  em- 
pire. 

Distinguished  Englishmen  spoke 
their  minds  freely  on  the  subject  of 
friction  with  Germany,  and  severely 
rebuked  Sir  Edward  for  his  persis- 
tent policy  of  nagging  and  thwarting 
the  German  striving  for  expansion. 
R.  B.  Cunningham-Graham,  repre- 
senting, as  the  New  York  Times  ad- 
mitted, "a  rapidly  growing  opinion  in 
England,"  a  former  member  of  par- 
liament, said,  February  10,  1912: 

"I  am  in  favor  of  an  entente  cor- 
diale  with  Germany.  I  advocated  it 
In  parliament  and  publicly  after  the 
Fashoda  incident,  when  it  was  un- 
popular with  the  British  public.  I 
am  in  favor  of  an  entente  with  the 
great  or  small  in  Europe  and  America, 
although  I  confess  that  when  I  think 
of  the  178,000  political  prisoners  now 
destined  in  Russia  and  Siberia,  there 
is  one  international  entente  that  has, 
perhaps,   been  a  little  premature. 


BRITISH  CHARACTER   IN  THE   MAKING 


105 


ENGLAND'S  DECLARATION. 


Illinois  Staats-Zeltung,    Chicago. 
Editorial,  H.  L.  Brand,  Chicago. 

England  declared  war  upon  Ger- 
many ostensibly  because  of  the  vio- 
lation of  Belgian  neutrality.'  The 
later  reason  as  given  out  by  England 
is,  that  militarism  as  exemplified  by 
the  German  army  must  be  forever 
annihilated.  Back  of  this  declaration 
from  England  lies — in  plain  view — 
the  third  and  probably  the  all  im- 
portant, although  not  publically  ac- 
knowledged reason,  namely:  the  de- 
sire to  destroy  Germany's  fleet  of 
warships  and  of   merchant-ships. 

This  article  concerns  itself  only 
with  England's  declaration  that  mili- 
tarism must  be  destroyed  in  the  in- 
terest of  peace  and   humanity. 

Let  us,  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  view  this  declaration  unbi- 
asedly.    , 

Germany's  vast  army — or  war-ma- 
chine, as  it  is  called — was  built  up 
as  a  sequence  to  the  Franco-Prussian 
war.  Since  then  it  was  a  dreaded 
power  and  a  powerful  factor  in  main- 
taining or  destroying  the  peace  of 
Europe.  Up  to  the  month  of  July, 
it  was  used  only  to  maintain  the 
peace  of  Europe.  But  it  existedr-^a 
dreadful  menace  in  the  eyes  of  other 
nations. 

Why  did  it  exist? 
In  the  control  of  treacherous, 
scheming  or  warlike  men  it  might 
have  been  used,  many  times  prior  to 
July,  1914,  to  plunge  Europe  into 
war.  But  Europe  remained  at  peace. 
Does  this  not  prove  that  the  German 
government  used  its  powerful  war- 
machine  to  maintain  peace  instead 
of  for  the  purpose  of  warring  upon 
other  nations? 

Why,  then,  have  this  huge  war- 
machine? 

Geographically,  Germany  lies  be- 
tween two  powerful  countries — Rus- 
sia and  France.  France  has  the 
wealth  and  Russia  the  men.  France 
cherishes  hopes  of  revenge  and  Rus- 
sia cherishes  dreams  of  expansion 
and  conquests.  France  formed  an 
alliance  with  Russia.  Both  will  gain 
by  reducing  Germany's  importance 
and  power.  France  will  wipe  ovit  an 
old  score  and  perhaps  get  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  back.  Russia  will  advance 
the  sphere  of  influence  of  Slavism 
and  perhaps  gain  some  territory. 
Thus,  Germany  lies  uneasy  between 
two  foes  who  are  moreover  banded 
together  by  an  alliance.  Should  Ger- 
many have  looked  quietly  on  while 
French  money  and  genius  was  not 
only  developing  a  superior  army  of 
Frenchmen  but  was  also  building  a 
most  formidable  war  machine  In 
Russia? 

Let  us  ask  calmly:  What  would 
the  United  States  have  done  in  a 
similar  case? 

Let  us  take  the  hypothetical  case 
of  Canada  and  Mexico.  The  Mexi- 
cans do  not  like  us  any  too  well. 
England,  in  the  past,  has  been  our 
greatest  enemy.  England  is  allied 
with  the  Japs.  Suppose  they  receive 
English  money  and  English  genius 
and  then  the  Japs  start  the  Mexicans 


on  the  path  of  building  up  an  im- 
mense war-machine:  Suppose,  fur- 
ther, that  Mexico's  population  was 
more  than  half  as  large  as  ours  (as 
is  the  proportion  between  the  popula- 
tion of  France  and  Germany).  Would 
we  need  any  other  factors  in  order 
to  start  the  building  of  a  United 
States    war-machine? 

But   another    factor    exists   in    the 
case  of  Germany.     And  it  is  the  most 


Seorge  V— King  of  Great  Britain 


SAYS  CAP  FITS  BRITISH. 


( From   "The   Chicago   Tribune,"   Oc- 
tober 15,   1014.) 

Chicago,  Oct.  10. —  [Editor  of  "The 
Tribune."] — The  statement  by  fa- 
mous British  authors  is  character- 
istically British.  They  accuse  other 
nations  of  daring  to  do  the  very 
things  which  they  are  doing,  and  say 
that  other  nations  have  no  rights. 

These  famous  British  authors  ac- 
cuse Germany  of  holding  that  "Ger- 
man culture  and  civilization  are  so 
superior  to  those  of  other  nations 
that  the  ordinary  rules  of 
morality  do  not  hold  in  her  case." 
This  is  just  exactly  the  way  the  Eng- 
lish feel  and  act;  and  then  the  au- 
thors say  rightfully:  "The  views  in- 
culcated upon  the  present  genera- 
tion of  Germans  by  many  celebrated 
historians  and  teachers  seem  to  us 
both  dangerous  and  insane."  Could 
not  the  English  people  apply  this  to 
themselves? 

And  where  can  you  find  displayed 
more  brazen  audacity  than  when 
these  authors  state:  "We  cannot 
admit  that  any  nation  has  the  right 
by  brute  force  to  impose  its  culture 
upon  other  nations." 

Why  do  not  the  English  apply  this 
to  their  own  government?  How 
about  the  Boers,  the  Egyptians,  the 
Hindoos,  the  Zulus,  and  lastly  the 
Irish  in  Ireland? 

EUGENE  F.  O'RIORDAN,  M.  A.. 


important    factor.       It    is    the    slav- 
power  of  Russia. 

Let  us  suppose  that  Canada  was 
settled  by  a  race  alien  to  ours.  By 
Slavs,  for  instance.  Canada  is  larger 
than  the  United  States,  just  as  Russia 
is  larger  than  Germany — but  Russia 
can  carve  twenty  Germanys  out  of 
its  domains,  while  Canada  is  not  even 
twice  the  size  of  the  United  Statee. 
Still  another  factor! 
Russia's  population  is  many  times 
as  large  as  Germany's,  while  Can- 
ada's is  but  one-tenth  as  great  as 
ours. 

And  another  factor! 
Russia  has  wonderful  natural   un- 
touched  wealth,   vastly  greater   than 
Germany's.     Canada's  natural  wealth 
is  greatly  inferior  to  ours. 

Therefore,  to  state  a  parallel  case, 
we  must  bless  Canada  with  several 
million  people  and  untold  natural, 
untouched    wealth. 

This  formidable  sleeping  giant  on 
our  north  receives  English  gold  and 
English  genius  with  which  to  build 
vip  a  monster  war-machine.  (It  is 
proven  that  French  gold  and  French 
genius,  for  years  previous  to  the  last 
French  loan  of  $500,000,000  per 
year  for  5  years  was  given  Russia, 
has  been  poured  into  Russia  for  the 
purpose  of  making  it  a  dangerous 
neighbor  for  Germany  and  a  valu- 
able aid  to  France  when  all  was 
ready  to  strike  down  the  conqueror 
of    1870). 

In  this  hypothetical  case,  what 
would  this  nation  of  ours  do? 

But  we  forget  another  factor. 
France  and  Russia  are  allied  for  de- 
fensive and  offensive  actions. 

Therefore,  we  must  further  assume 
that  Canada  and  Mexico  have  formed 
a  defensive  and  offensive  alliance. 
What  then? 

Would  the  United  States  idly  look 
on  while  all  the  cards  were  being 
stacked   against   her? 

Or  would  the  United  States  (like 
Germany)  look  with  distrustful  eyes 
upon  the  friendship  between  Canada 
and  Mexico:  with  fearful  heart  upon 
the  growing  army  in  Canada  and  the 
increasing  wealth   of  Mexico? 

And  would  not  the  United  States 
(as  Germany  did)  strain  every 
muscle  to  build  up  a  gigantic  war- 
machine  so  as  to  prevent  a  successful 
invasion  from  north  and  south? 

We  are  Americans.  Let  us  be  fair. 
Let  us  not  condemn  Germany  be- 
cause of  its  war-machine  but  only 
because  of  the  possible  use  of  it  in 
starting  war.  It  is  conceded  bv  fair- 
minded  men  generally,  that  Germany 
did  not  use  its  war-machine  to  start 
war,  but  rather  to  compel  peace. 

Let  us  be  fair.  Let  us  not  join  In 
England's  cry  that  England's  cause 
is  a  holy  one  because  militarism 
must  be  destroyed.  Let  us  look 
deeper  and  discover  why  militarism 
in  Germany  exists  today  and  then 
decide  if  England's  declaration  Is  sin- 
cere,  justifiable  and   humane. 


•Read  also,  "Has  Germany  Vio- 
lated Rcl^'i.in  Neutrality?"  reprinted 
elsewhere  in  this  hook.  Consult  also 
the  liulrx  and  the  Table  of  Contents  on. 
Militarism. — Editor. 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


HAL,L  CAINE'S  APPEAL  TO 

NEW  YORK  IX  THE 

GREAT  WAR. 

(The  following  opening  para- 
graphs of  Mr.  Hall  Caine's  appeal  to 
the  United  States  are  reprinted  from 
the  first  page  of  the  "Chicago  Exam- 
iner" of  Sunday,  September  20,  1914. 
The  appeal  continued  for  several  col- 
umns on  Page  Seven.  The  second 
part  of  this  firebrand  appeal  to  the 
United  States  to  help  take  the  chest- 
nuts out  of  the  fire  for  outraged 
England  who  is  trying  so  hard  to 
civilize  the  "German  barbarians"  oc- 
cupied three  columns  in  the  "Exam- 
iner" of  September  21.  At  the  end 
of  this  precious  article  the  "Exam- 
iner" said:  "Hall  Caine's  next  article 
will  discuss  w-hat  America  should  do. 
It  will  be  published  tomorrow." 

Did  you  read  it?  We  saved  our 
penny! — The  Publisher  of  "War 
Echoes." 

By  Hall  Caine. 

(The  Famous  English  Novelist  and 
Publicist.) 

We  in  England  hear  of  women  go- 
ing in  procession  in  New  York  under 
the  symbol  of  the  white  flag,  and  we 
are  not  surprised. 

We  hear  of  powerful  leading  arti- 
cles, powerful  sermons  and  powerful 
speeches  in  America  denouncing  the 
theory  of  war  as  a  means  of  set- 
tling international  disputes  in  gen- 
eral, and  of  our  present  dispute  in 
particular,  and  we  are  neither  aston- 
ished nor  offended. 

It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  the 
United  States,  sitting  in  its  geograph- 
ical aloofness  across  3,000  miles  of 
ocean,  should  not  feel  that  the  spec- 
tacle it  is  now  called  upon  to  wit- 
ness in  the  theater  of  Europe — the 
spectacle  of  two  groups  of  highly  civ- 
ilized nations  tearing  themselves  to 
pieces  by  all  the  devilish  arts  of  me- 
chanical warfare,  involving  the  lim- 
itless outpouring  of  blood,  the  mur- 
dering of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
men,  the  destruction  of  villages,  the 
burning  of  historic  cities,  the  impov- 
erishment of  the  well-to-do  classes, 
the  starvation  of  the  poor,  the  desti- 
tution of  women  with  child  and  the 
outraging  of  young  girls — is  a  spec- 
tacle of  deeper  and  cruder  irony  than 
any  other  of  which  the  history  of 
man  in  this  world  has  record. 

liimitless    Self-Deception     or     Abject 
aiid    Degrading   Hypocrisy. 

It  would  be  still  more  astonishing 
if  America,  with  its  ever-conscious 
religiosity,  should  not  feel  that  the 
fact  that  these  two  groups  of  nations 
should  claim  to  be  Christian  nations 
and  should  be  praying  at  the  same 
time  to  the  same  God  for  the  success 
of  their  opposing  armies,  ringing 
their  church  bells  to  celebrate  their 
victories  or  to  lament  their  defeats, 
singing  on  the  one  hand  their  Te 
Deum  and  on  the  other  their  Mis- 
erere, and  all  in  the  name  of  Him 
who  said  "Resist  not  evil,"  is  proof 
beyond  dispute  that  man  is  a  crea- 
ture capable  either  of  limitless  self- 
deception  or  of  the  most  abject  and 
degrading  hypocrisy. 

And,  feeling  like  thlSy  it  is  per- 
haps that  you  in  America  should  do 


your  best  to  persuade  yourselves  that 
you  have  neither  part  nor  lot  in  the 
hideous  European  saturnalia,  and 
that  your  President  has  done  wisely 
in  recommending  to  you  an  attitude 
of  personal  as  well  as  national  neu- 
trality. 

Inhuman  and  Wrong  for  America  to 
Remain    Neutral,    Author    Argues. 

But  is  your  neutrality  possible?  Is 
it  human?  Is  it  right?  In  the  face 
of  the  appalling  spectacle  of  a  great 
part  of  the  family  of  man  in  the 
death  throes  of  a  struggle  which 
must  surely  affect  for  good  or  ill  the 
verv  foundation  of  human  society,  is 
it  conceivable  that  90,000,000  en- 
lightened people  in  the  United  States 
bound  to  the  belligerents  by  the 
closest  ties  of  blood,  intellectual  in- 
terest, religious  sympathy  and  mate- 
rial welfare,  can  sit  at  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  say  to  each 
other:  "This  bloody  business  is  none 
of  ours;  so.  for  God's  sake,  let  us 
keep  out  of  it?" 

It  is  because  I  think  it  is  not  pos- 
sible, not  human  and  not  right  for 
America  to  adopt  even  pa.ssively  an 
attitude  of  neutrality,  that  I  am  mak- 
ing the  present  appeal  to  you — an 
appeal  that  is  intended  to  assert  with 
whatever  power  I  possess,  your  re- 
sponsibility under  the  -moral  law  for 
the  present  state,  the  continuance 
and  ultimate  outcome  of  this  fright- 
ful European  struggle.! 

Does  this  strike  you  as  an  auda- 
cious aim,'  seeing  that  you  in  Amer- 
ica had  nothing  on  earth  to  do  Vfith 
the  making  of  the  accursed  war?t 

Have  patience  with  me  and  I  think 
I  may  be  able  to  show  that  neither 
had  we  in  England  anytliing  to  do 
with  the  making  of  the  war;  and  yet 
we  are  in  it  and  were  compelled  to 
be  in  it  by  every  clause  of  the  moral 
code  which  regulates  the  relation 
of  nation  to  nation  or  yet  man  to 
nian.t      *      *      • 


President,  rallies  to  the  support  of 
his  plans  for  mediation.*  The  Amer- 
ican people  are  united,  irrespective 
of  racial  sympathies  and  political 
differences  of  opinion,  in  their  desire 
tor  peace.  But  our  pacific  demon- 
strations lose  the  ring  of  sincerity, 
if  we  sell  powder  and  rifles  to  the 
belligerents  by  the  back  door  while 
we  shout  for  peace  from  the  house 
tops. 

In  spite  of  the  President's  procla- 
mation, a  number  of  American  firms 
are  selling  even  now  huge  war  sup- 
plies to  the  Allies. 

Japan  buys  field  guns  and  ammu- 
nition through  Mitsui  and  Company. 
Japan,  moreover,  purchases  dyna- 
mite from  the  Hercules  and  from 
the  Giant  Powder  Company  in  all 
available  quantities. 

The  Winchester  Arms  Manufac- 
turing Company  has  furnished  since 
August  5th,  500,000  rifles  to  a  Lon- 
don Armory. 

Russia  has  bought  from  the  Pow- 
der Trust  (Dupont  Company)  1,000 
tons  of  cannon  powder  and  1,000 
tons  of  gun  powder,  delivered  by  way 
of  San  Francisco. 

No  wonder  the  Allies  are  unwill- 
ing to  discuss  peace  terms.  Every 
rifle  in  their  hands  means  a  pro- 
longation of  the  war.  Every  ton 
of  powder  means  new  sacrifices  of 
life   and   property. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  de- 
cided stand  taken  by  Americans  of 
foreign  extraction  for  the  countries 
of  their  affiliation  has  handicapped 
the  President's  efforts.  Nothing  that 
has  been  said  or  done  by  any  Amer- 
ican of  foreign  extraction  weighs  as 
heavily  in  the  balance  against  peace 
as  one  pound  of  powder  or  dynamite 
furnished  by  American  concerns  to 
any  of  the  belligerents.  How  long 
will  the  Government  permit  the 
greed  for  profit  on  the  part  of  a  few 
traffickers  in  ammunition  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  the  noble  endeavor  of 
the  President  and  the  fervent  wish 
of  the  entire  nation  for  peace? 


*We  wonder  whether  this  appeal 
struck  President  Wilson  "as  an  au- 
dacious aim"  and  whether  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  this  strictly  neutral 
country  appreciates  the  way  in 
which  the  Hon.  William  Randolph 
Hearst  is  trying  to  live  up  to  the 
President's  appeal  for  STRICT  NEU- 
TRALITY.— The  Publisher  of  "War 
Echoes." 

tEmphasized  in  bold  type  by  the 
Editor. 


THWARTING     THE     PRESTOENT'S 
PEACE  PLANS. 


(From      "The      Fatherland,"       New^ 
York,  September  30,  1914.) 

If  President  Wilson  can  bring 
about  peace  in  Europe,  he  will  shed 
lustre  upon  his  administration  and 
add  to  the  undying  glory  of  the 
United  States.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that,  both  for  ethical  and  for 
practical  reasons,  the  people  of  the 
United  States  would  like  to  see  the 
end  of  fratricide  in  Europe.  Even 
Mr.  William  Randolph  Hearst,  the 
most    unrelenting   antagonist   of    the 


*If  interested  to  know  how  the 
Hon.  William  Randolph  Hearst 
rallies  to  the  support  of  the  Presi- 
dent's plans  for  mediation,  consult 
index  for  "Sit  Down  On  Hearst." — 
Kditor. 


FAIR    PLAY    WAS    DENIED     THE 
RUSSLiN   EMPIRE. 


What  Might  Have  Occurred  Had  Jus- 
tice Been  .Accorded  the  Muscovite. 


Britain's  Tardy  Y'ielding. 


Momentous  Utterances  Made  by  Sir 
Edward  Grey  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. 


From    "Cliicago    Daily    News,"    Feb., 
1915. 

The  "eastern  question"  that  for 
nearly  a  century  has  unsettled  the 
politics  of  all  Europe  is  reaching  final 
dissolution — not  solution,  but  disso- 
lution. 

The  millions  of  money  and  thou- 
sands of  lives  that  Great  Britain  has 
sacrificed  during  the  past  fifty  years 
to    keep    tottering   Turkey    upon    the 


BRITISH   CHARACTER  IN  THE   MAKING 


107 


map  of  Europe  have  been  worse  than 
thrown  away.  Had  Russia  been  al- 
lowed to  go  to  Stamboul,  instead  of 
being  attacked  on  the  Crimea,  a 
series  of  wars  that  have  distracted 
central  Europe  never  would  have  oc- 
curred. Had  she  been  permitted  to 
remain  at  the  Bosporus  in  1878,  when 
her  soldiers  had  fought  their  way 
thither,  the  Russo-Japanese  and  Bal- 
kan wars  would  not  have  taken  place. 
Russia  would  have  expanded 
toward  the  warm  waters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean instead  of  toward  the  frigid 
shores  of  Kamtchatka;  Mancliuria 
never  would  have  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  her  statesmen;  Japan  would 
have  lived  in  peace  with  all  the 
world  except  China;  every  citizen 
of  the  Russian  empire,  poor  or  rich, 
would  have  stood  higher  in  the  so- 
cial scale;  Germany  would  have  been 
content  to  absorb  Austria  and  pos- 
sessed two  fine  ports  in  the  Adriatic 
almost  as  near  to  the  United  States 
and  much  more  serviceable  for  her 
colonization  schemes  in  Africa  and 
the  far  east. 

Hud  Russia  Received  Justice. 

In  short,  Fulton  Chambers  writes 
in  the  "Brooklyn  Eagle,"  had  Russia 
been  accorded  the  fair  play  to  which 
she  was  entitled  all  the  world  would 
be  different! 

Sir  Edward  Grey,  British  secretary 
of  foreign  affairs,  rose  in  the  house  of 
commons  the  other  day  and  an- 
nounced formally  that  Great  Britain 
is  now  "entirely  in  sympathy  with  the 
aspirations  of  Russia  to  go  to  Con- 
stantinople"! He  declined  to  admit 
that  Russia's  foreign  minister,  M. 
Sazanoff,  had  declared  the  czar's  in- 
tention to  permanently  occupy  the 
city  at  the  Golden  Horn,  but  said,  in 
so  many  words,  England  would  no 
longer  oppose  objections  thereto. 
How  momentous! 

Although  fully  expected,  this  Is 
great  news  for  humanity.  It  means 
the  ultimate  amalgamation  of  Rou- 
mania  and  the  Balkan  states  into  a 
great  kingdom,  of  which  Hungary 
will  ultimately  become  a  part. 

Russia  will  sweep  over  Armenia 
and  Anatolia — satisfied  to  allow  the 
Bulgarians  to  repossess  Adrianople. 
She  will  be  content  with  Turkish  ter- 
ritory as  far  west  as  the  Tchataldje 
lines  of  defense,  the  Gallipoli  penin- 
sula, which  safeguards  the  Darda- 
nelles, and  complete  dismantling  of 
the  present  forts  on  the  Asiatic  side 
of  that  waterway. 

War's  Most  Iiiii>ortant  Outcome. 

Brusa  has  practically  reassumed 
the  aspect  of  the  Turkish  capital. 
Thither  the  oflicial  records  and  con- 
tents of  the  treasury,  much  or  little, 
have  been  removed  from  Stamboul. 

Russia  will  absorb  all  ports  along 
the  Asiatic  coast  of  the  Black  sea. 
Turks  given  to  agriculture  must  seek 
the  rich  soil  of  Mesopotamia  or  re- 
turn to  the  undefined  but  arid  wastes 
east  of  the  Caspian  sea.  from  whence 
they  originally  emerged  to  blight  all 
eastern   Europe  for  700   years! 

Nobody  in  all  this  earth  cares 
where  the  Turks  go,  if  they  keep 
away  from  the  habitations  of  civilized 
mankind.  Eight  bells  have  rung  for 
Turkey! 

Realization  of  Russian  ambition  to 


have  unrestricted  access  to  the  sea 
through  the  Bosporus  is  far  and  away 
the  most  important  outcome  of  the 
tremendous  struggle  now  convulsing 
Europe.  And  the  curious  feature 
about  its  concession  is  that  it  de- 
velops naturally  out  of  the  fortunes 
of  war! 

Whether  or  not  Germany  holds 
Russia  safe  on  the  frontier  of  East 
Prussia  matters  little  to  her  now  as- 
sured  destiny! 

All  things  are  possible  for  her  now! 
She  will  cease  wasting  her  energies 
on  conquests  in  Central  .\sia.  Pro- 
jected irrigation  of  the  vast  Kizil  and 
Kaa  deserts  lying  east  and  south  of 
the  Aral  sea  will  be  deferred  indefin- 
itely. 

(ilorious  Prospects  for  Russia. 

The  Black  sea,  classic  Propontus, 
will  be  converted  into  a  Russian  lake. 
It  never  freezes  and  nothing  stands 
to  prevent  Russia  from  becoming  one 
of  the  maritime  nations  of  the  globe. 

Situation  matters  little  if  a  nation's 
ports  have  behind  them  a  hinterland 
capable  of  supplying  cargoes  for  their 
argosies!  Venice  was  the  mightiest 
of  sailor  nations  for  nearly  two  cen- 
turies, although  the  location  of  her 
chief  port  was  as  wretched  as  could 
possibly  be  imagined. 

It  is  a  safe  prediction  that  Russia's 
capital  will  be  removed  to  Moscow 
and  that  Petrograd  will  become  a  port 
of  little  more  importance  to  the  em- 
pire than  -Archangel,  Odessa,  Sebas- 
topol  and  other  Black  Sea  cities  of 
less  importance  will  welcome  mer- 
chant steamers  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.     •*      *      * 


BEARDS     BRITISH     MOX     IX     HIS 
DEX. 


George    I{affulovich    Dares    to   Write 

for  London    X'ew   .Vge  of 

Hypocrisies. 


From  the  "Xew  Age,"  London. 
(By  Cieorge  Raffalovieli.) 

Let  me  make  one  more  attempt  to 
bring  before  your  readers  the  reality 
of  the  tragedy  of  the  Ukraine.  One 
does  not  expect  much  from  Mr.  T.  P. 
O'Connor,  but  his  last  dictum,  that  we 
are  fighting  the  cause  of  the  small  na- 
tionalities, makes  sad  reading  to  me. 
It  is  so  utterly  untrue.  While  we  are 
fighting,  two  nations  at  least  are  be- 
ing crushed  to  death  by  Russia.  Fin- 
land is  moribund  and  the  Ukraine 
movement  loses  its  Piedmont.  I  am 
only  concerned  with  the  latter  case 
because  of  the  tremendous  spiritual 
and  intellectual  possibilities  I  believe 
to  lie  in  a  free  Ukraine. 

Dr.  Dillon,  in  the  Telegraph,  as- 
sured us  that  the  Ruthenians  were 
Russians  at  heart.  I  know  that  is  con- 
trary to  the  truth.  It  is  so  much 
easier  to  take  the  work  of  Russian 
Nationalist  journalists. 

It  is  useless  to  say  that  the  Little 
Russians  are  Russians,  unless  you 
concede  at  the  same  time  that  the 
Russians  are  not  Russians.  Let  me 
explain.  The  word  Rusj  was  used 
centuries  ago  to  describe  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  Ukraine.  Muscovy  ab- 
sorbed them  later  on,  and  the  name 
of  Muscovy  was  dropped  and  that  of 
Rossia,  a  very  similar  one,  adopted 
for  the  whole.     If  you  ask  a  Ukrain- 


ian what  he  is,  he  will  use  the  word 
Rusiky  to  describe  his  language  and 
Rossiysky  for  that  of  the  Great  Rus- 
sian. 

Another  argument  is  that  the  Uk- 
rainians are  as  happy  as  they  are. 
Yes,  so  did  the  seventeenth  century 
landlords  say  that  the  peasants  of 
France  were  pleased  to  be  treated  as 
cattle.  But  they  were  not  cattle  and 
proved  it.  That  is  the  great  trouble 
of  the  Ukraine.  It  is  a  criminal  of- 
fense in  the  Russian  Ukraine  to  teach 
the  Ukrainian  language.  Letters  ad- 
dressed in  Ukrainian  are  not  deliv- 
ered. 

Only  the  worst  and  least  moral  of 
Ukrainians  will  engage  to  teach  Rus- 
sian to  their  pupils,  and  the  whole 
population  is  thus  gradually  demoral- 
ized. But  the  great-little  Wellses  go 
to  Russia,  others  of  the  same  stripe  go 
to  Galicia;  they  question,  being 
strangers,  the  only  people  they  can 
(juestion,  an  ambitious  priest,  a  dis- 
satisfied ofiicial,  a  land  owner  of 
Polish  or  Jewish  or  Muscovite  race, 
or  a  few  peasants,  carefully  selected 
by  their  guide,  in  carefully  selected 
districts. 

I  do  not  imagine  them;  I  know 
them,  and  after  months  of  hard,  and 
I  can  assure  you,  wholly  disinterested 
work  on  their  behalf,  I  have  been  able 
to  reach  the  heart  of  those  Ukrain- 
ians of  Russia  who  dared  to  speak. 
1  have  spoken  with  scores  of  them, 
poor  and  rich. 

The  truth  is  that  the  people  of  Eng- 
land do  not  believe  in  their  hearts  in 
the  rights  of  small  nationalities. 

Take  the  Belgian  case.  The  viola- 
tion of  Belgium  as  an  argument  used 
against  Germany  is  weak.  We  know 
very  well  that  Prussia  will  not  retain 
Belgium  after  the  war,  even  though 
Sir  Roger  Casement  and  the  Alba- 
nians are  said  to  have  sided  with  the 
Kaiser.  We  have  had  a  good  deal  of 
evidence  showing  that  the  Belgian 
government  and  ours  knew  long  ago 
that  Germany  had  altered  her  war 
plans  to  fit  in  with  the  Franco-Rus- 
sian alliance  and  meant  to  pass 
through  Belgium  willy-nilly. 

Let  us  forever  drop  this  silly  prat- 
tle about  helping  small  nations.  We 
allow  Russia,  our  ally,  who  depends 
today  on  our  staff  officers  for  the 
brains  of  her  army  and  on  our  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer  and  our  Ger- 
man-Jewish financiers  for  several  mil- 
lion pounds  monthly,  to  establish  her 
government  (save  the  mark!)  over 
Europeans  who  are  not  Russians. 

Our  ears  will  be  closed,  our  eyes 
will  be  shut.  What  the  Ukrainians 
need  is  a  friendly  statesman  with  two 
million  bayonets  behind  him.  This 
they  will  never  get  from  England  un- 
til it  suits  England's  book.  Cease 
then  to  rave  about  chivalry.  Do  not 
insult  our  intelligence  by  prating 
about  the  sacred  cause  of  smaller  na- 
tionalities. Or  else  help  them  all 
alike! 


It's  about  time  somebody  were  sit- 
ting down  on  Hearst,  and  sitting 
down   hard. 

Only  a  few  weeks  ago  he  was  using 
his  newspapers  to  attempt  to  force 
this  country  into  war  with  Mexico 
and  brutally  cartooning  President 
Wilson  and  Secretary  Bryan. 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


THE    "BARBARIAX"    HALLUCINA- 
TIOX. 


The   General   Suggestion   About  Ger- 
many the   War-Seeker. 

Hy   L.   Xiessen-Deiters,   lionn. 

Motto:  "Hier  tut  sich  das  Entsetz- 
liche  au£:  Die  Liige  wirlit  genau  so 
stark  wie  die  Wahrheit,  denn  sie 
wird  geglaubt!"  "Here  the  mon- 
strous fact  becomes  evident;  a  lie 
has  the  same  power  as  the  truth,  for 
it  is  believed."  (War  Essays  by 
Houston  Stewart  Chamberlain; 
Bruckmann,  Munich.) 

On  a  previous  occasion  there  has 
been  a  general  suggestion  which 
spread  from  one  country  to  another 
like  an  infectious  disease,  raging 
most  wildly  in  the  name  of  Culture 
just  against  the  most  progressive  ele- 
ments. The  civilized  humanity  of 
today  looks  back  upon  it  with  a  pain- 
ful feeling  of  shame,  and  even  the 
poorest  scavenger  shrugs  his  shoul- 
ders in  disgust  at  people  who  were 
once  capable  of  believing  such  non- 
sense. And  yet,  at  one  time  states- 
man and  beggar  took  up  friendly 
party  for  this  shameful  absurdity; 
for  this  hallucination  of  the  witches. 
Today,  in  this  enlightened  twen- 
tieth century,  we  have  something 
new.  A  new  general  suggestion:  — 
the  barbarian  hallucination. 

Can  there  be  anything  more  gro- 
tesque or  stupid  than  to  stamp  one 
of  the  most  progressive  nations  of 
the  world,  with  printer's  ink.  as  dan- 
gerous barbarians  who  must  be  killed 
In  the  name  of  Culture?  Can  there 
be  anything  more  absurd  than  this; 
the  only  country  that  has  nothing  to 
gain  by  a  war,  but  has  all  the  fruits 
of  forty-three  years'  labor  to  lose, 
just  this  country  is  said  to  have 
caused  the  war?  And  yet,  statesman 
and  beggar  are  again  taking  up 
friendly  party  for  this  new  shameful 
absurdity — for  this  barbarian  hallu- 
cination! 

But  this  new  madness  is  something 
more  than  merely  shameful;  it  is 
malicious.  Though  its  supports  are, 
as  on  the  previous  occasion,  lack  of 
knowledge  and  fear,  still  its  origin 
is  different;  it  has  been  bred  in  full 
consciousness  in  a  criminal  manner, 
and  it  is  being  criminally  nourished 
in  full  consciousness.  What  they  de- 
serve is  told  us  with  refreshing 
clearness  by  the  author  of  the  above 
motto:  "Liars  who  destroy  the 
peace  of  Europe  ought  to  be  hanged!  " 
Houston  Stewart  Chamberlain,  an 
Englishman,  says  so  as  the  result  of 
a  cutting  criticism  of  the  English 
Harmsworth  Press,  that  newspaper 
trust,  the  most  widely  read  paper 
of  which  everybody  knows  is  the 
"Times."  In  France  and  Russia  they 
could  erect  gallows  with  an  equal 
right. 

Even  during  the  darkest  period  of 
the  belief  in  witches  there  were  a 
few  independent  minds  that  kept 
aloof  from  this  general  suggestion 
of  the  barbarian  hallucination.  Hous- 
ton Stewart  Chamberlain,  the  histo- 
rian and  ethnologist  who  wrote  "The 
Rudiments  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury," is  one  of  them.     A  short  time 


ago  he  published  six  "War  Essays," 
all  independent  of  each  other  and 
treating  on  six  different  subjects. 
But  through  all  six  runs  like  a  red 
streak  the  parrying  off  of  the  barba- 
rian hallucination  and  the  very  clear 
knowledge  as  to  who,  though  mod- 
estly and  in  secret,  has  not  only  pre- 
pared and  fanned  into  flame  the  bar- 
barian hallucination,  but  in  reality 
the  whole  w^ar  as  well.  On  the  very 
second  page  of  his  book  he  says  quite 
openly,  "From  the  very  start  Eng- 
land has  been  the  moving  power. 
England  wanted  .  the  war  and  has 
brought  it  about;  England  has  ef- 
fected the  estrangement  of  Russia 
from  Germany;  England  has  been 
constantly  inciting  France."  We 
must  agree,  however,  that  it  is  not 
the  English  people,  who  have  been 
disgracefully  deceived  both  by  their 
famous  Harmsworth  Press  and  by 
their  ministers,  not  the  English  peo- 
ple who  cold-bloodedly  decided  upon 
this  course  some  years  ago  in  fur- 
therance of  material  interests,  but  a 
mere  handful  of  men. 

True  enough,  the  incitement  of  the 
English  has  been  very  successful; 
just  as  successful  as  the  incitement 
of  the  whole  world.  On  this  sub- 
ject Chamberlain  says:  "On  my  last 
visits  to  England,  in  1907  and  1908, 
I  found  everywhere  a  startlingly 
blind  hatred  towards  Germany,  and 
the  impatient  expectation  of  a  war 
of  destruction."  On  the  other  hand, 
he  gives  proofs,  based  on  his  forty- 
five  years'  thorough  knowledge  of 
Germany,  that  nowhere  in  the  whole 
of  Germany  during  all  this  time  he 
has  found  any  inclination  whatever 
for  war:  "In  the  whole  of  Germany 
there  has  not  lived  a  single  man  dur- 
ing the  past  forty-three  years  who 
has  wanted  the  war;  no!  not  one! 
Anyone  who  declares  the  contrary 
lies,  either  knowingly  or  unwit- 
tingly!" 

Still  (as  every  child  knows),  it 
gradually  became  more  and  more 
difficult  for  Germany  to  preserve  the 
peace  that  was  so  necessary  and  for 
which  she  so  much  longed.  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  the  Englishman,  cred- 
its the  Emperor  with  having  most 
persistently  preserved  it  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances:  "Wher- 
ever during  the  last  ten  years  the 
situation  became  incompatible  with 
Germany's  honor — and  England  took 
care  of  this  possibility — he  it  was, 
the  Emperor,  who  invariably  main- 
tained peace." 

Political  Germany — the  post-Bis- 
marck one — is  sharply  criticized  in 
one  of  the  six  essays.  By  the  way, 
it  is  a  criticism  which  every  real  pa- 
triot ought  to  read  attentively.  Seen 
from  the  standpoint  of  "barbarian 
hallucination"  even  this  severe  criti- 
cism almost  becomes  a  compliment. 
It  proves  that  Germany — that  peace- 
destroying  and  all-threatening  Ger- 
many— has  not  known  how  to  bring 
forth  men  who  were  a  match  for  the 
warlike  intrigues  of  a  Grey,  an  Iswol- 
sky  or  a  Delcasst''.  And  this  is  a  fact 
much  to  be  regretted.  In  a  previous 
article  I  have  already  said,  "It  was 
a  master  stroke  of  English  politics 
to  push  onto  Germany,  that  had 
struggled  for  peace  up  to  the  very 
last   moment,  to  all  outward  appear- 


ances the  hated  role  of  the  attacker." 
Amongst  people  who  are  incapable 
of  forming  an  opinion  of  their  own, 
this  one  fact  will  long  be  nourish- 
ment for  the  barbarian  hallucination: 
He  who  declares  the  war  begins  it; 
Germany  issued  the  first  declaration 
— consequently  Germany  caused  the 
war!  Witches  have  red  eyes — that 
man  over  there  has  red  eyes — conse- 
quently he  is  a  sorcerer!  The  logic 
of  the  two  is  about  on  an  equal  level; 
but  when  was  there  logic  in  general 
suggestion?  The  logic  of  a  fanatical 
crowd  has  always  been:  "Crucify 
him!" 

Chamberlain  fully  believes  Ger- 
many, that  stands  so  much  in  need 
of  political  reform,  to  be  quite  capa- 
ble of  carrying  out  these  reforms, 
but  when  speaking  of  German  cul- 
ture and  German  liberty  his  tone  in- 
creases to  admiration.  As  regards 
the  latter  quality,  in  particular,  he 
expresses  himself  in  a  manner  consti- 
tuting the  biggest  possible  contrast 
to  all  the  catchwords  now  being 
bawled  into  our  ears;  he  attacks 
most  energetically  one  special  type 
of  barbarian  hallucination — the  mad- 
ness about  the  German  bondage. 

Well!  The  disciple  of  Kant  goes 
deeper  and  more  thoroughly  into  the 
idea  of  "freedom"  than  on,  the  half- 
mouldy  commons  of  Hf/alitc  and  Fra- 
teniitc,  or  the  permission  to  walk  on 
the  lawns  in  public  gardens.  To  him 
freedom,  the  sum  in  inn  honiim  of  cul- 
ture, is  not  a  political  phrase  handed 
down  to  us  by  our  forefathers,  but 
an  idea.  He  looks  for  freedom  in  the 
inner  truth,  not  in  the  outward 
slackening  of  the  reins;  freedom  is 
not  free  will,  but  truth!  And  he 
finds  it  not  in  the  street,  but  in  that 
internal  freedom  of  thought  common 
to  great  reformers  and  to  the  great- 
est thinkers.  "A  non-German  free- 
dom is  no  freedom!"  is  therefore  his 
watchword.  And  now  compare  this 
with  a  few  examples  of  the  freedom 
so  clamorously  eulogized  nowadays. 
"There  is  no  need  to  talk  about  the 
freedom  Russia  can  give;  what  free- 
dom poor  misguided  and  dissipated 
Prance — that  land  of  political  cor- 
ruption and  hollow  phrases — can  of- 
fer us,  needs  just  as  little  explana- 
tion. But  the  English  idea  of  free- 
dom is  the  right  of  might,  and  this 
for  herself  alone;  in  the  whole  of 
England's  vast  colonial  empire  not 
a  single  spark  of  intellectual  life  can 
be  pointed  to;  there  is  nothing  but 
cattle-dealers,  slave-holders,  storers 
of  goods,  mining  exploiters,  and 
everywhere  we  find  that  uncondi- 
tional despotism  and  brutality  hold- 
ing sway  which  crop  up  everywhere 
where  the  culture  of  mind  does  not 
permanently  banish  them."  As  re- 
gards the  English  "culture  of  the 
mind"  he  sarcastically  quotes  the 
words  of  the  Swedish  writer  Stef- 
fens:  among  the  English  there  was 
"a  superstitious  fear  of  the  mind 
taking  any  part  in  the  working  out 
of  human  affairs." 

He,  the  Englishman,  cannot  be  de- 
ceived like  the  foreigner  by  that  tiny 
clique  of  highly  intellectual  and  in- 
dependent men  of  letters,  nor  by  that 
equally  tiny  clique  of  political  and 
financial    giants    that    rule    over   and 


BRITISH   CHARACTER   IN   TIIK   MAKINC, 


109 


push  into  the  background  all  the  rest 
of  the  people.  He,  the  Englishman, 
has  his  own  opinions  about  the  ever- 
repeated  phrase  about  English  free- 
dom. He  inquires:  "Where  is  the 
fieedom  of  a  people  that  is  under 
tlie  absolute  control  of  such  a  tiny 
minority?  Where  is  there  freedom 
in  this  oppressive  uniformity  of  pub- 
lic life?"  All  of  the  same  stampl 
The  same  pants,  the  same  hat,  the 
same  scarf,  the  same  craze  for  sport, 
the  same  false  reading  matter,  the 
same  political  opinion — the  last- 
named  after  the  motto:  "If  you 
won't  be  my  brother  I'll  crack  your 
skull  for  you!"  Chamberlain  relates 
how,  on  an  occasion,  he  was  the  only 
one  to  wear  liberal  colors,  which  re- 
sulted in  his  getting  a  good  thrashing 
for  it  at  the  hands  of  a  paid  gang. 
He  adds,  not  without  a  certain  sense 
of  humor:  "On  that  day  I  learned 
more  about  English  constitution  and 
English  ideas  of  freedom  than  I  ever 
learned  later  on  from  the  books  of 
Hallam  and  Gneist." 

In  the  German  idea  of  freedom  he 
sees,  on  the  other  hand,  an  intellec- 
tual possession  that  has  been  ac- 
quired little  by  little  during  centuries 
of  hard  fighting,  both  with  the  in- 
tellect and  with  the  sword — charac- 
terized by  the  conscious  subordina- 
tion of  quite  unique  and  independent 
individuals  to  the  welfare  of  the 
whole.  This  conscious  and  inten- 
tional action  in  place  of  the  mechan- 
ical repetition  of  the  village  greens, 
a  repetition  which  often  enough 
proves  to  be  of  the  darkest  possible 
origin — as  in  the  case  of  the  barba- 
rian nonsense — this  is  "freedom"  to 
him.  And  in  this  sense  "the  sur- 
vival and  further  development  of 
freedom  on  earth  depend  on  the  vic- 
tory of  the  German  arms  and  also 
on  Germany's  remaining  true  to  her- 
self after  the  victory." 

Chamberlain,  who  is  proud  of  be- 
ing an  Englishman,  has  not  arrived 
unthinkingly  at  this  condemnation  of 
his  native  country.  He  gives  his  rea- 
sons for  it  in  a  historical  study  of 
the  career  of  the  present  political 
England,  which  he  significantly  in- 
troduces with  the  following  quota- 
tion from  Ruskin:  "The  English- 
man no  longer  avows,  'I  believe  in 
God  the  Almighty  Father  and  Cre- 
ator of  Heaven  and  Earth,'  but,  'I 
believe  in  the  Father  Dollar,  the  all- 
powerful.'  "  From  the  conquest  of 
Anglo-Sa.xon  England  by  the  Nor- 
mans and  the  consequent  breaking 
up  of  the  people  into  two  classes,  by 
way  of  the  great  "turning-point 
which,  from  about  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury onward,  made  merry  agricultu- 
ral England  into  a  sea-taring,  impe- 
rious trading  England — by  way  of 
Lord  Bolingbroke's  policy,  which  is 
ui)held  to  this  day.  according  to 
which,  on  the  one  hand  England  is 
to  have  a  strong  fleet,  whereas  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  in  the  interests 
of  England  to  let  the  continental 
powers  figlit  against  each  other  with- 
out having  to  support  an  army  her- 
self, by  way  of  England's  develop- 
ment into  a  state,  uncommonly  like 
the  present-day  one,  which  carries 
on  the  cruel  slave  trade  as  long  as 
it  is  profitable  to  her,  but  which  dis- 
covers it   to   be   her   duty   to  enter  a 


moral  protest  as  soon  as  she  has 
need  of  the  unfortunate  negroes  her- 
self"— by  way  of  this  slow  transfor- 
mation of  the  national  character  he 
at  last  comes  to  what  he  calls  "a  day 
on  whidi  history  and  character  cut 
each  other  "  and  we  suddenly  get  a 
peep  into  its  innermost  depths. 

Such  a  day  was  the  one  on  which 
Warren  Hastings  was  acquitted  by 
the  House  of  Lords. 

Warren  Hastings,  the  man  who 
nearly  doubled  the  income  of  the 
East  India  Company,  who  started  the 
opium  trade,  never  committed  a 
crime  himself.  But  he  attained  his 
ends  by  permitting  and  provoking 
horrible  and  inhuman  deeds  the  likes 
of  whicli  were  never  since  heard  of 
till — as  Chamberlain  says  —  "the 
charming  Belgians  occupied  the  Con- 
go Territory."  Against  this  mon- 
strous immorality  for  the  sake  of 
enrichment  to  England,  the  honest 
and  respectable  part  of  the  country 
once  more  raised  objection  in  the 
person  of  Burke.  For  ten  years  all 
manner  of  tricks  were  employed  to 
prolong  the  trial  of  Hastings.  For 
six  whole  days  Burke  spoke  on  be- 
half of  England's  honor.  "My 
Lords,"  said  he,  "if  you  close  your 
eyes  to  these  horrors  you  will  con- 
vert England  into  a  nation  of  receiv- 
ers of  stolen  goods,  a  nation  of  hypo- 
crites, a  nation  of  liars,  a  nation  of 
sharpers!"  It  was  of  no  avail! 
Hastings  was  acquitted — Burke  lost; 
England's  honor  was  lighter  than  her 
moneybags. 

Alongside  the  new  England  stood 
on  that  day  the  modern  statesman, 
the  man  of  irreproachable  character 
in  private  life,  but  who  tor  the  sake 
of  England's  moneybags  is  capable  of 
any  lie,  any  treason,  any  perjury — 
capable  of  tolerating  any  crime  and 
every  meanness.  Chamberlain  adds, 
"Just  such  a  man  is  Sir  Edward 
Grey." 

That  is  the  political  England  and 
these  are  the  men  who,  in  consid- 
eration of  the  carefully  prepared 
war  of  destruction  against  Germany, 
have  for  years  been  preparing  and 
supporting  this  general  suggestion 
of  barbarian  hallucination!  These 
are  the  men  who  for  several  years 
have  shunned  no  lie,  no  perjury,  no 
treachery  to  poison  the  public  opin- 
ion against  Germany,  who  supported 
behind  the  scenes  any  anti-German 
tendency,  who  were  never  tired  of 
secretly  inciting,  provoking,  encour- 
aging— who  publicly  occupied  the 
chair  at  the  peace  conferences  so 
that,  as  Chamberlain  says,  "the  war 
might  be  sure  not  to  be  avoided," 
the  war  that  was  to  give  back  to 
England  all  those  rich  markets 
which  an  intelligent  and  industrious 
brother-tribe  had   beg\in   to  conquer. 

Warren  Hastings  has  found  many 
disciples,  but  those  of  Burke  have 
died  out.  For  even  Chamberlain, 
that  Englishman  who  has  the  cour- 
age today  to  stand  up  for  the  truth, 
no  longer  believes  in  the  honor  and 
truthfulness  of  his  native  country. 
He  has  so  little  faith  in  it  that  he 
openly  expresses  his  fears  lest  Ger- 
many, political  Germany,  should  one 
day  again  permit  herself  to  be  mis- 
led by  England.  "This  might  be  dis- 
astrous.     Therefore    I.    an    English- 


man, must  have  the  courage  to  speak 
the  truth.  Nothing  can  rescue  us 
all,  but  a  powerful,  victorious  and 
wise  Germany." 

It  is  out  of  conviction  that  Cham- 
berlain, an  Englishman,  most  se- 
verely attacks  that  nonsense  about 
barbarian  hallucination.  "Where," 
he  asks,  "is  the  country  of  which 
even  a  Napoleon  could  say  he  had 
devastated  and  impoverished  it  by 
taxation;  that  he  had  not  lost  in 
Germany  in  all  those  years  a  single 
soldier  by  murder,  i.  e.,  by  francti- 
reurs?  Where  is  the  army  that  takes 
with  it  expert  artists  to  see  to  the 
preservation  of  works  of  art  even  in 
the  enemy's  country?"  Where  have 
the  German  soldiers — the  "only  ones 
that  are  reliably  disciplined"  — 
wrought  havoc  like  barbarians?  The 
American  reporters  said  "in  the  next 
village."  The  family  that  had  suf- 
fered, that  complained  on  its  own 
behalf,  has  never  been  found.  "Yes. 
we!  We  were  lucky,  we  had  good 
people  but  at  this  place  or  at  that 
one  it  must  have  been  awful!"  Al- 
ways rumors,  never  facts!  And  yet 
the  ineradicable  belief  in  Heaven 
knows  what  sort  of  horrors!  Cham- 
berlain says  of  this,  "We  may  see 
how  true  it  is  that  human  fancy  leads 
human  reason  by  the  nose!"  And 
under  the  conditions  of  the  present 
day  press  one  can  only  add,  "espe- 
cially when  human  fancy  is  led  by 
the  nose  itself." 

The  disciple  of  Kant  treats  with 
biting  irony  the  reviling  "cultured," 
=oniething  after  the  style  of  Jacques 
Dalcroze  (or  is  he  called  Jacob 
Dalkes?).  "It  is  always  an  advan- 
tage to  know  that  about  which  we 
are  to  form  an  opinion,"  says  he. 
"Most  probably,  for  instance,  Jacques 
Dalcroze  does  not  know  much  more 
about  Germany  than  that  she  has  a 
liberal  purse,  and  supposes  in  all 
earnest  that  with  his  musical  gym- 
nastics he  has  taught  the  first 
elements  of  culture  to  the  coun- 
try of  Diirer,  Bach,  Kant  and 
Goethe."  And  he  compares  this  man 
of  hue  and  cry  with  his  fellow-coun- 
tryman Carlyle  who,  just  because  he 
had  thoroughly  investigated  not  only 
the  intellectual  life,  but  also  the  ca- 
reer of  the  German  nation,  loved 
Germany  from  the  bottom  of  his 
heart,  the  whole  of  Germany,  includ- 
ing both  Prussia  and  the  army. 
Chamberlain  says,  "Today  the  army 
is,  and  deserves  to  be,  the  backbone 
of  the  German  nation;  the  German 
army  is  today  the  most  important 
moral  school  in  the  world."  Includ- 
ing "militarism" — and  I  should  like 
to  wager  that  not  one  in  a  thousand 
foreigners  is  capable  of  forming  any- 
thing like  a  positive  idea  of  what 
this  word  really  means.  The  whole 
of  Germany,  right  down  from  Goethe 
to  the  General  Staff — not  that  neb- 
ular Germany  of  Messrs.  Haldane  & 
Co.  "A  single  Carlyle  outweighs  a 
thousand  confused  Haldanes,"  ex- 
claims Chamberlain,  "not  to  mention 
every  leader-writer  in  the  world! 
How  stupid  envy  and  hate  make  men! 
Three  great  nations  have  been  equip- 
ping themselves  for  years  and  form- 
ing a  criminal  plot  to  invade  and  de- 
stroy Germany,  that  peace-loving  and 
hard-working  country   which   threat- 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


ened  nobody.  And  now,  because 
Germany,  the  wise,  smart  and  brave 
Germany,  defends  herself,  and  that 
with  a  giant  strength  that  had  never 
been  suspected,  she  is  affronted  with 
being  the  den  of  a  supposed  mili- 
tarism and  recommended  to  the  ha- 
tred of  all.  It  is  just  the  same  as 
if  burglars  were  to  complain  because 
the  police  were  baffled  in  their  well- 
laid  plans  and  to  become  morally  dis- 
gusted in  consequence.  Sometimes 
it  strikes  us  as  if  we  were  dealing 
with  stupid  youngsters  who  had  not 
yet  had  practice  enough  to  make  two 
ideas  fit  into  each  other." 

Here  Mr.  Chamberlain  makes  a 
mistake!  There  are  a  few  young- 
sters among  them  who  are  generally 
quite  smart,  but  they  have  neither 
the  courage  nor  the  strength  to  rid 
themselves  of  this  general  sugges- 
tion— at  present  they  are  hopelessly 
under  the  spell  of  this  great  nonsense 
— this  barbarian  hallucination. 

Chamberlain  goes  a  step  farther 
and  says,  "The  foreigner  who  does 
not  love  Germany  does  not  know  the 
nation."     And  the  causes  of  this  lack 


of  knowledge  seem  to  be  such  as  the 
present  "defenders  of  culture"  will 
least  care  to  hear.  "About  ancient 
Germany  they  knew  nothing,"  says 
he,  "and  for  modem  Germany  they 
themselves  are  too  ancient^ — let  us 
employ  their  favorite  word  in  the 
right  sense  for  once: — tliey  are  too 
barbarian  to  be  able  to  under.stand 
it.*  For  these  quarrelsome  gray- 
beards,  who  w-alk  about  on  rotten 
crutches  of  abstract  'freedom'  and 
•equality,'  cannot  comprehend  that 
freedom  is  only  to  be  obtained  by 
sacrificing  their  own  personal  des- 
potism, and  equality  only  by  a  gen- 
eral subordination  of  all  to  one  com- 
mon head,  and  not  by  promoting 
every  soldier  to  the  rank  of  Field- 
Marshal,  as  is  done  on  the  Island 
of  Hayti." 

Will  there  come  a  time  when  this 
general  suggestion  dies  away?  Will 
the  time  come  when  people  look  back 
upon  the  craziness  of  this  artiflcially- 
Dred  barbarian  hallucination  with 
feelings  similar  to  those  with  which 
they  look  down  upon  that  nonsense 
about  witches? 


We  Germans  do  not  know.  We 
have  to  put  up  with  this  humbug 
and  work  on  unswervingly  —  at 
that  culture  for  which  people  were 
formerly  burnt  at  the  stake,  and  for 
which  nowadays  others  would  like  to 
kill  them — at  that  serious,  stern,  en- 
lightened and  sacred  culture  of  in- 
tellect which  idler  nations  find  too 
troublesome  and   too   uncomfortable. 

Chamberlain  carries  his  hopes 
much  further.  He  prophesies,  not 
only  the  day  on  which  this  halluci- 
nation about  barbarianism  will  be 
shaken  off — on  the  strength  of  his 
own  feelings  he  believes  in  a  good 
deal  more.  He  believes  there  will 
be  great  change  and  says: 

"The  present  generation  will  no 
longer  live  to  see  this  great  trans- 
formation from  hatred  to  love.  But 
the  day  will  come.  I,  as  a  foreigner, 
predict  it  out  of  the  depths  of  a  uni- 
versal, well-founded  and  imperturb- 
able conviction." — Hamburger  Frem- 
denblatt. 


•The  Editor  of  "War  Echoes"  empha- 
sizes  these  phrases. 


British  Principles  and  Character  in  Action 


WHO  IS  AMERICA'S  ENEMY? 


Translation   of  Editorial. 
Illinois  Staats-Zeitung,  Chicago. 

We  are  bound  to  turn  once  more 
to  the  editorial  of  the  London  Times 
we  were  dealing  with  yesterday. 

True  enough  it  is  bestowing  too 
much  honor  upon  the  London  Times, 
but  we  feel  obliged  not  as  Germans, 
but  chiefly  as  citizens  of  this  coun- 
try, to  save  our  fellow  citizens  from 
drinking  out  of  the  public  wells  which 
are  poisoned  by  the  London  Times 
day  by  day. 

We  appreciate  fully  that  the  Lon- 
don Times  is  not  In  love  with  that 
Germany  which  since  1S70  with  ref- 
erence to  industry,  to  commerce  and 
especially  with  reference  to  her  ex- 
port trade  became  a  rival  to  England 
to  be  reckoned  with.  And  we  do  not 
blame  the  London  Times  for  having 
some  ill  feeling  because  Germany  suc- 
ceeded in  building  up  a  mighty  navy  to 
safeguard  her  commerce.  And  if  the 
London  Times  deemed  it  proper  to 
sound  eternally  war  against  Germany 
civilized  mankind  will  regret  the  actual 
outbreak  of  the  war,  but  will  admit,  as 
we  readily  admit,  that  it  is  quite  com- 
prehensible, viewed  from  the  stand- 
point of  English  national  and  com- 
mercial policy,  that  England  is  anxious 
to  shove  aside  a  progressive  and, 
therefore,  the  more  disagreeable  com- 
petitor. 

But  what  has  that  war  to  do  with  the 
United  States?  Why  does  the  London 
Times  turn  constantly  to  this  country, 
which  measures  the  situation  from  the 
height  of  a  solemn  neutrality?  Why 
does  the  London  Times  try  and  try 
again  to  stir  the  people  of  America 
against  Germany?  Why  does  the  Lon- 
don Times  waste  an  ocean  of  ink  In 
the  vain  effort  (let  us  hope)   to  con- 


vert Americans  to  the  belief  that  a 
victorious  Germany  is  going  to  crush 
the  United  States  as  a  world  power? 

Where  are  the  moral,  where  the 
economic  motives,  that  ever  could  or 
would  induce  Germany  to  throw  the 
war  glove  into  the  face  of  this  West- 
ern giant.  It  seems  as  if  the  suspicion 
that  the  London  Times  endeavors  to 
arouse  feeling  against  Germany  is  to  be 
converted  to  the  proverbial  "stop  thief' 
of  the  thief. 

Not  a  victorious  Germany,  but  a 
victorious  England  whose  supremacy 
on  the  waves  will  be  confirmed  in  case 
of  victory,  is  liable  to  constitute  a 
danger  for  the  United  States. 

Let  England  first  become  the  sole  and 
omnipotent  ruler  of  the  waves  and  she 
will  use  her  ix)wer  Immediately  to  re- 
vive a  past  that  she  never  has  buried. 
She  will  lie  seized  by  the  insane  ambi- 
tion to  become  once  more  ruler  of 
the  world,  which  was  ruled  by  her 
once. 

Just  100  years  ago  England  was 
forced  by  the  United  States  to  a  peace 
treaty.  It  means  that  England  was 
in  war  with  this  country.  We  were 
forced  by  England  to  shed  blood  first 
for  our  political  and  later  for  our  com- 
mercial independence.  And  England 
never  cea.sed  to  plot  against  the  United 
States.  Then  the  Indians  were  stirred 
against  us,  then  England  put  her 
finger  in  the  pie  of  the  civil  war  in  the 
hope  to  see  her  Interests  furthered. 
.\nd  in  the  still  unsettled  Mexican  ques- 
tion It  was  once  more  England  who 
Joined  the  opponents  of  this  govern- 
ment.    •     •     • 


WHEN    WASHINGTON    WAS    CAP- 
TURED ONE  HUNDRED 
YEARS  AGO. 


"There,"  said  a  famous  German 
diplomat,  pointing  to  a  box  marked 
Made  in  Germany,  "is  the  Briton's 
grievance  against  us.  Too  many 
things  are  made  in  Germany." — - 
From  "The  World's  Work,"  Septem- 
ber. 1914. 


Capital  Was  Burned  by  British  Naval 
and  Military  Forces  Under  Gen- 
eral Ross,  in  War  of  1813. 


(From  "The  Boston  Herald,"  .\u)Oist 
23,  1914.) 

Fly,   Monroe,   fly!      Run,  Armstrong, 

run! 
Were  the  last  words  of  Madison. 

One  hundred  years  ago  a  news- 
paper, alluding  with  grim  humor  to 
some  of  the  ridiculous  scenes  which 
attended  the  capture  and  burning  of 
Washington  by  the  British,  remarked 
that  if  within  the  next  century  some 
eminent  poet  should  see  fit  to  write 
an  epic  on  the  battle  which  produced 
panic  in  the  capital  of  the  United 
States,  he  might  fittingly  conclude  his 
lines  with  the  above  couplet. 

It  will  be  just  100  years  ago  to- 
morrow, August  24,  that  the  capital 
of  this  country  was  ignominiously 
captured  and  ruthlessly  sacked  by  a 
force  of  British  soldiers  and  sailors 
under  the  command  of  Gen.  Robert 
Ross  and  Admiral  George  Cockburn. 
In  many  respects  it  was  one  of  the 
most  spectacular  events  of  the  war 
of  1812,  the  last  military  struggle  in 
which  two  English-speaking  nations 
have  been  engaged. 

The  treaty  of  Utrecht,  which  closed 
that  half-hearted  conflict,  was  signed 
in  December,  1814,  but,  as  cable  and 
wireless  were  then  lacking,  news  of 
the  peace  treaty  did  not  reach  Amer- 
ica until  February,  181.5.  The  peace 
celebration  program,  planned  for  dif- 
ferent localities,  has  been  suddenly 
disarranged  by  the  unlooked-for  Eu- 


BRITISH   CHARACTER   IN   ACTION 


ropean  war,  which  has  involved  Eng- 
land, but  the  committee  has  an- 
nounced that  it  intends  to  carry  out 
so  much  of  tlie  original  program  as 
circumstances  will  permit. 

The  uncomplimentary  lines  on 
President  Madison  suggested  by  the 
editor  for  the  use  of  some  future  poet 
had  some  basis  in  fact.  In  the  more 
politely  worded  records  of  that  affair 
it  is  stated  that  when  Madison,  with 
his  secretary  of  State,  James  Mon- 
roe, who  became  the  next  President, 
and  his  secretary  of  war,  John  Arm- 
strong, rode  out  to  the  field  of  Bla- 
densburg,  where  the  battle  was 
fought  which  decided  the  fate  of 
Washington,  he  found  things  so  hope- 
lessly confused  that  he  turned  to  his 
cabinet  aids  and  said: 

"I  think  It  is  best  to  let  the  mili- 
tary commanders  attend  to  this 
thing,  and  we  had  better  retire  to 
the  rear.     *     *     »  " 

I-eaving  the  Capitol  in  flames,  Ross 
and  Cockliuni  went  to  llie  WhiteJIouse. 
They  found  nothing  of  value  o.\(ei)t  the 
notes  sent  to  Mrs.  Madison  by  her  hus- 
band, which  had  been  left  in  a  desk 
drawer,  anil  the  British  officers  car- 
ried I  hem  away  in  great  glee.  The  sol- 
diers did  I  ho  rest,  smashing  the  furni- 
ture and  I  lien  setting  lire  to  it. 

The  treasury  building  was  next  set 
on  fire,  and  to  these  conflagrations 
was  added  that  of  the  navy  yard,  Ig- 
nited liy  one  of  the  American  officers. 
1)11  the  ne.vt  ihiy  the  buildings  occu- 
pied by  the  dep:irtiiients  of  state  and 
war  w-ere  burned,  in  addition  to  two 
or  three  jirivate  houses.  The  only 
p\ililic  liuildings  that  escaped  the  fury 
of  the  invaders  was  the  wooden  struc- 
ture used  for  the  postoffice  and  patent 
olllce. 


INDIA  PACATA 

By  Verestchagin 

(By   Courtesy   of   the    "Open    Court") 

Late  in  the  afternoon  one  of  the 
severest  storms  in  the  history  of  Wash- 
ington broke  over  the  city.  Trees  were 
torn  up  by  the  roots,  roofs  ripped  off 
houses  and  other  damage  done.  After 
the  storm  was  over,  Ross  and  Cock- 
burn  decided  to  depart,  and  by  night- 
fall   were   well    on   their   way    toward 


KXGLAND'S  F.\L,SE  STEPS. 


Ki-oni  the  N.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

"The  course  projiosed  is  without 
sanction  in  International  law.  How 
is  it  justified?  By  the  conduct  of 
our  adversary." 

This  is  an  extract  from  a  London 
iiews]iaper.  It  is  c(UiiiiioiiIiiig  upon  an 
action,  not  of  the  Geriiiaii  (Jovcriunont. 
but  of  the  British.  Yet  it  will  he  noted 
that  it  goes  over  iireciscly  to  the  (ier- 
iiian  position.  What  is  international 
law  compared  with  "iieecssity V"  Any- 
thing is  warranted  which  you  must 
do  in  order  to  smash  an  adversary 
before  he  smashes  you.  Mr.  Asquith 
declared  in  Parliament  that  England 
was  not  going  to  be  prevented  from 
working  her  will  on  her  enemy  in 
"judicial  niceties."  This  is  in  line 
with  the  comment  of  the  London 
Morning  Post,  that  Great  Britain  is 
now  throwing  into  the  sea  "the  whole 
strangling  web"  of  "judicial  net- 
work." There  can  be  no  doubt  what 
this  means.  The  judicial  niceties  are 
the  accepted  principles  of  interna- 
tional law.  The  judicial  network  is 
a  solemn  International  agreement — 
the  Declaration  of  Paris — to  which 
England  set  her  hand  and  seal,  but 
which  she  now  proposes  coolly  to  vio- 
late.    •      •      • 


their  ships.  They  set  lire  to  the  long 
wooden  liridge  across  the  Potomac  as 
they  left. 

'J"he  British  army  was  in  the  capital 
less  than  24  hours,  but  during  that 
time  they  destroyed  the  best  buildings 
in  Washington,  consigned  thousands  of 
dollars'  worth  of  property  to  the 
flames,  put  the  President,  his  wife,  all 
of  the  cabinet  and,  from  contemporary 
acc-ounts.  more  than  half  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  city,  to  flight,  and  gave  an 
opportunity  for  the  heaping  of  violent 
invectives  upon  the  heads  of  the  Pres- 
ident and  his  advisers  for  the  weak- 
ness of  their  war  preparations  and 
management.  This  opiX)rtunity  viras 
not  lost.  Mrs.  Madison  spoke  truth- 
fully when,  in  the  letter  to  her  sister, 
she  mentioned  having  heard  of  much 
hostility  toward  the  President. 

The  utter  incapacity  of  every  one  in 
authority  is  something  which  histo- 
rians have  been  unable  to  explain  satis- 
factorily. One  of  the  British  officers, 
in  writing  of  the  afTair,  said  that  the 
capture  of  Washington  was  owing  more 
to  the  faults  of  the  Americans  them- 
selves than  to  any  other  cause.  The 
secretary  of  war,  John  Armstrong,  had 
merited  the  contempt  of  a  large  part 
of  the  population,  owing  to  the  in- 
capacity he  showed  in  managing  the 
Canadian  campaign  in  preceding  years. 
Now.  with  Washington  in  ruins,  the 
demand  that  he  be  retired  was  so  well 
justified  that,  on  September  3,  at  the 
reipiest  of  the  President,  Armstrong 
resigned  and  spent  part  of  his  latter 
years  in  writing  a  history  of  the  war. 


England's  only  objection  to  the 
bear  that  walks  like  a  man  is  that 
he  doesn't  walk  fast  enough. — From 
the    "New   York   American." 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


BUTTRESSING  OP  ENGLAND'S 
•   CASE. 


New   Yorker   Staats-Zeitung, 

New  York. 

Herman  Ridder. 

The  buttressing  of  England's  case 
before  the  world  goes  merrily  on. 
Another  White  Paper  has  appeared 
and,  like  its  predecessors,  throws  the 
whole  blame  for  the  war  on  the 
German  Emperor.  Sir  Arthur  Conan 
Doyle  arises  from  a  sick  bed  to  read 
Nietzsche  and  Treltschke  and  dis- 
covers that  Germany  has  produced 
nothing  In  the  last  forty  years  but 
"the  literature  of  the  devil,"  and 
that  Nietzsche  and  Treitschke  "with 
their  magic  flutes  led  the  whole, 
blind,  foolish,  conceited  nation  down 
that  easy,  pleasant  path  which  ends 
in  this  abyss."  A  galaxy  of  English 
writers  have  syndicated  their  mental 
efforts  and  published  a  "round-rob- 
in," impressive  in  verbiage  but  of 
no  great  value  except  in  so  far  as  it 
shows  that  England,  true  to  nothing 
else,  is  faithful  still  to  her  historic 
love  of  fighting  with  the  pen  in  pref- 
erence to  the  sword.  If  pen-wielding 
could  win  battles  England  would 
rule  the  world. 

England  has  cleverly  avoided  the 
discussion  of  her  mongrel  allies.  We 
hear  but  little  of  Russia,  of  Servia 
and  of  Japan.  A  glance  at  the  bom- 
bastic war  literature  of  England  and 
the  speeches  of  Mr.  Asquith  and 
Winston  Churchill  leads  to  the  ques- 
tion: "Is  England  ashamed  of  her 
Allies?"  An  occasional  reference  to 
the  "rape  of  Alsace"  which  the  Brit- 
ish government  condoned  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war  of  1870,  and  the 
Times  of  London  characterized  as 
pure  business  sense,  is  about  all  we 
hear  or  see  today  on  anything  but 
England.  Even  the  violation  of  Bel- 
gium's neutrality,  against  which  Sir 
Edward  Grey  was  once  so  loud  in 
his  protest,  has  ceased  to  be  able  to 
keep  Belgium  in  the  English  mind. 
The  "unfortunate  companionship," 
to  borrow  a  phrase  of  Col.  Watter- 
Bon,  with  Russia  cost  Great  Britain 
two  of  her  ablest  cabinet  members 
and  I  presume  the  less  said  about 
It  the  better  pleased  the  British  Gov- 
ernment is.  Servia,  too,  is  a  silent 
partner.  With  all  their  faults  Eng- 
lishmen do  not  like  to  mix  with  regi- 
cides, unless  they  have  something  to 
gain  by  It,  and  then  they  prefer  not 
to  have  too  much  publicity  given  to 
the  fact.  The  Russians  and  Servians 
and  Japanese  are  good  enough  to 
flght  England's  battles  for  her  but 
for  little  else.  When  John  Morley 
and  John  Burns  resigned  from  the 
British  Government  as  a  protest 
against  the  alliance  with  Russia  to 
crush  Germany  the  fact  was  probably 
deleted  from  the  despatches  to  St. 
Petersburg.  The  Indian  immigrant 
to  South  Africa  can  be  treated  with 
impunity  and  even  the  Japanese,  told 
by  Canada  and  Australia  they  are 
not  wanted  there,  are  mollified  by 
their  British  ally.  But  it  is  scarcely 
to  be  expected  that  England  would 
attempt  the  same  patronizing  tactics 
with  Russia.  It  speaks  more  than 
volumes  for  the  hopeless  inconsist- 
ency of  Great  Britain  in  this  "war  of 


freedom  against  militarism,"  that 
among  the  allies  which  she  has  sum- 
moned to  her  colors  to  serve  her  ends 
are  some  of  whom  she  blushes  to 
speak.  No  nation  has  been  subject  of 
British  vilification  in  the  past  to  a 
greater  extent  than  Russia,  no  nation 
more  deserving  of  the  just  castiga- 
tion  of  true  Englishmen.  And,  yet, 
today  we  find  this  same  Russia  and 
this  same  England  fighting  shoulder 
to  shoulder  and  sharing  each  other's 
bread  and  salt. 

The  one  thing  the  British  Govern- 
ment should  do  before  all  others  is 
to  make  it  clear  to  a  candid  world 
on  what  it  bases  its  present  attitude 
toward  Russia  and  the  consequent 
abandonment  of  its  historical  hatred. 
Is  it  simply  the  hope  of  crushing 
Germany?  Then  let  the  British  Gov- 
ernment say  so  and  in  so  many 
words.  And  if  this  is  the  basis  of 
the  Russian  entente  it  should  make 
it  clear  at  the  same  time  what  it  is 
going  to  do  with  Russia  when  Ger- 
many has  been  crushed.  Is  the  Brit- 
ish Government  so  imbued  with  its 
own  self-importance  that  it  can  de- 
lude itself  into  thinking  that  the 
world  will  not  judge  its  words  by 
its  actions?  If  this  is  a  war  of  free- 
dom against  despotism,  and  only 
England  claims  it  is,  are  we  to  be 
asked  to  believe  that  the  substitution 
of  Russia  for  Germany  as  the  domi- 
nant power  in  central  Europe  would 
promote  its  purpose?  A  nation  that 
has  always  stood  in  the  minds  of 
Englishmen  as  the  last  expression  of 
all  that  was  autocratic  and  despotic, 
anachronic  and  barbarous,  cannot 
consistently  be  brought  forward  by 
England  at  this  eleventh  hour  as  a 
sanctuary  of  enlightment.  But  that 
is  what  England  would  have  us  be- 
lieve. Or,  perhaps,  when  the  war  Is 
over  she  will  kiss  the  Little  Father 
on  both  cheeks,  in  true  Russian  fash- 
ion, and  send  him  and  his  knout- 
driven  hordes  back  to  Petrograd. 
One  might  almost  forgive  England 
her  sins  if  such  were  her  intentions. 
But  they  are  not.  The  cossack  may 
not  be  good  enough  to  welcome  In 
London,  the  Englishman  may  blush 
at  his  name,  but  he,  and  for  that 
matter  anyone,  is  good  enough  to  as- 
sist into  Berlin — and  once  there  it 
is  more  than  likely  that  he  will  not 
fold  his  tents  and  move  away  at  the 
bidding  of  Georgie  or  of  Georgie's 
Government. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  England 
blushes  at  her  own  perfidy.  When 
prominent  men  from  one  end  of  the 
British  Empire  to  the  other  are  pro- 
testing in  no  weak  and  unmeaning 
words  against  this  unnatural  alli- 
ance, with  its  hypocritical  object,  the 
whole  Empire  should  blush  tor  her. 
The  action  of  Morley  and  Burns  is 
a  by  no  means  isolated  case.  The 
Irish  people  have  given  the  world  to 
understand  that  they  are  thoroughly 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  war.  A 
committee  of  prominent  Hindoos 
have  placed  themselves  on  record  in 
the  same  sense.  And  even  in  the 
Union  of  South  Africa,  that  often  ad- 
vanced example  of  British  political 
sagacity,  a  general  resigns  rather 
than  go  into  a  war  and  speaks  his 
mind. 

This  is  what  General  Beyers  says: 
"I  have  only  to  indicate  how  the 


independence  of  the  South  African 
Republic  and  of  the  Orange  Free 
State  was  violated  and  of  what 
weight  the  Sand-River  Convention 
was. 

"It  is  said  this  war  is  being  waged 
against  the  barbarity  of  the  Germans, 
I  have  forgiven,  but  not  forgotten, 
all  the  barbarities  perpetrated  on  our 
country  during  the  South  African 
war.  With  very  few  exceptions  all 
the  farms,  not  to  mention  many 
towns,  were  so  many  of  the  LouvainS 
of  which  we  now  hear  so  much." 


ENGLAND  TO  FIGHT  ON  IF 
ALLIES   QUIT. 


Winston   Churchill   Says   Navy   Pres- 
sure on  Germany  Will  Be  Unre- 
lenting. 


'GRIP     NOTHING     CAN     RESIST." 


'For   t^st   Time   in   History   Sea   Is 

Free  to  Us,"   Admiralty   Lord 

Tells  French  Editor. 


(The  Daily  News,  Feb.  2,  1915.) 

[By  the  Associated  Press.] 

I'aris,  France,  Feb.  2.— "For  the  first 
time  lu  history  Englaud  can  say  "The 
sea  is  free,' "  said  Winston  Spencer 
Churchill,  Great  Britain's  first  lord  of 
the  admiralty,  in  an  interview  with 
Hughes  Leroux,  editor  of  the  Matin. 
"In  the  days  when  you  and  we  fought 
each  other,"  he  coutinued,  "our  most 
important  victories  never  brought  us 
security  comparable  with  that  which 
we  enjoy  today.  Even  after  Trafalgar 
we  knew  nothing  like  it. 

".Supposing  Germany  has  friendships 
and  relationships  in  South  America, 
how  can  help  reach  her  from  them 
now?  There  remains  the  United 
States.  Public  opinion  there  hesitated, 
perhaps,  in  bestowing  its  sympathies, 
but  at  the  present  moment  it  is  fully 
unified.  We  shall  arrange  to  take  pre- 
cautions fully  compatible  with  the 
rights  of  belligerents  and  the  respect 
due   to   neutrals. 

Complete  Blockade  a  Chimera. 

"Our  adversary  perhaps  can  obtain 
a  few  supplies  from  Turkey  and  Asia 
Minor.  I  cherish  no  illusions,  for  as 
long  as  there  are  neutrals  a  complete 
blockade  must  be  a  chimera.  Germany 
will  continue  to  receive  a  small  quan- 
tity of  that  whereof  she  has  consider- 
able need  while  you  and  we  breathe 
freely,  thanks  to  the  sea  we  have  kept 
and  can  keep  open. 

"Germany  is  like  a  man  throttled 
with  a  heavy  gag.  Tou  know  the  effect 
of  such  a  gag  when  action  is  neces- 
sary. The  effort  wears  out  the  heart 
and  Germany  knows  it.  This  pressure 
shall  not  be  relaxed  until  she  gives 
in  unconditionally,  for  even  if  you  of 
France  and  if  our  ally  Russia  should 
decide  to  withdraw  from  the  struggle, 
which  is  inconceivable,  we  English 
would  carry  on  the  war  to  the  bitter 
end. 

Action  of  Navy  Unrelenting. 

"The  action  of  a  navy  necessarily  is 
slow,  but  the  pressure  it  exercises  on 
an  adversary  is  unrelenting.  Compare 
it  to  the  forces  of  nature,  to  the  inex- 
orable grip  of  winter,  and  remember 
that  it  is  a  stress  nothing  can  resist." 


i 


mrriSH  character  i.\  action 


113 


ONE  ANGLOMANIAC  TO  ANOTHER. 


A  Letter  in  Which  Are  Set  Forth  a 
Few  Arguments  DesiKned  to  Teach 
a  Lesson  to  Those  Whose  "Teu- 
tophobia"    Destroys    All   Sym- 
pathy for  Great  Britain. 

Milwaukee  Free  Press. 

To  An  Anglomaniac:  Good  for  you, 
Mr.  Bayliss!  I  like  to  see  a  man  like 
you— a  mau  with  the  courage  of  his 
convictions!  Just  read  your  letter  in 
today's  Free  Press,  but  had  not  seen 
your  previous  letter  until  now,  after 
reading  a  number  of  comments  by  other 
letter  writers.  But  from  these  com- 
ments I  saw  that  your  letter  must  have 
been  a  hot  one.  And  it  is!  I  know 
it,  I  just  read  it.  The  letter  is  e.xcel- 
lent,  quite  English.  It  is  brutal,  of 
course,  but  frank!  I  love  a  man  who 
will  stand  up  like  you  and  fight  with 
a  jjuneh,  no  matter  where  and  how  he 
strikes. 

You  know.  Mr.  Bayliss.  peojile  ac- 
cuse the  English  of  being  domineering, 
perfidious,  regicidal,  etc.  They  claim 
they  are  right,  and  they  are  sometimes, 
are  they  not?  Let's  take  a  look  at  a 
few  of  their  accusations : 

1 — Persecution  and  oppression  of  Ire- 
land for  seven  centuries.  This  is  an- 
cient stuff,  isn't  it,  Mr.  Bayliss?  It 
isn't  our  fault  that  the  Irish  would  not 
submit  sooner,  as  they  would  liave  done 
had  they  the  proper  common  sense. 
.Still,  accusers  ought  to  invent  some- 
thing new. 

2— Regicides.  It  is  true,  we  did  kill 
a  king  or  two,  and  a  queen,  also,  didn't 
we?  But  it  was  the  law  that  sauc- 
tinned  it. 

3 — Opium  war  with  China;  opium 
forced  on  China  and  Hongkong  taken 
away  in  1S42.  This  is  supposed  to  be 
a  precedent  for  Germany's  seizing 
Kiau-Chaii.  But,  of  course,  that  is  a 
different  matter,  the  Germans  had  no 
right  to  take,  while  we  did. 

4 — India.  Afghanistan,  Burma,  etc., 
wrested  from  the  French  and  Dutch 
and  the  people  of  India  in  wars  e.xtend- 
ing  through  two  centuries.  The  mis- 
sionaries say  that  censorship  is  so 
strict  down  in  India  at  the  present  date 
that  not  a  word  of  the  constant  op- 
pression and  rebellions  get  into  the 
American  and  continental  press.  Fur- 
thermore, India  has  been  called  the  re- 
cruiting place  for  broken  English  for- 
tunes. Now  this,  of  course,  may  be 
true,  but,  anyway,  we  deny  it;  atbest 
it  is  none  of  their  business,  especially 
none  of  the  business  of  Americans. 

!j — Egypt — England  euchred  France 
out  of  the  protectorate  and  then  the 
Khedive  out  of  his  rule  so  that  at  the 
present  day  England  virtually  owns 
Egypt,  in  spite  of  her  often  repealed  de- 
nial of  anylliing  more  than  a  suzeran- 
ily.  Huinling.  isn't  it?  English  rule 
has  been  bcneflcient,  hasn't  it,  for  every 
country  that  England  ever  ownetl? 

(j — The  Boer  war,  the  seizure  of 
South  Africa,  the  famous  English  battle 
line  of  Boer  women  and  children  which 
forced  the  Boers  to  surrender  since  they 
refused  to  shoot  their  own  wives  and 
children.  Also  true.  But  that  was  In 
South  .\frica,  in  a  barbarous  country 
where  barbarous  methods  are  sanction- 
able.  And,  even  so,  if  others  had  the 
chance,  they  would  do  the  same  thing, 
wouldn't  they,  Mr.  Bayliss? 
7 — The   so-called   Congo   scandals   of 


King  Leopold,  claimed  as  invented  by 
England  so  that  she  would  have  reason 
to  anne.\  the  Congo.  Of  course,  that  is 
rot.     Still,  the  Congo  is  pretty  rich. 

8 — Persia,  handed  to  Russia  on  a 
platter,  not  permitted  to  rule  herself  as 
she  wished  but  as  the  Uussian  bear  dic- 
tated. Well,  now,  these  Asian  states 
don't  know  how  to  govern  themselves, 
anyway.  And  that  American  financier 
had  no  business  there,  anyway. 

0 — Inveigled  Japan  to  join  the 
war  against  Germany.  In  spite  of 
assurances  of  respecting  neutrality 
the  first  action  of  Japan  was  to  attack 
the  Caroline  islands  (which  she  was 
not  supposed  to  attack,  although  they 
are  German)  and  to  land  her  troops  ou 
Chinese  territory  100  miles  from  Kiau- 
Chau.  Necessity  of  war — very  simitle. 
10 — England  and  the  United  States. 
177(' — American  colonies  rebelled,  due 
to  oiipression,  injustice,  etc.  (England 
only  .saved  Canada  by  most  extravagant 
proiuises.  Tried  the  same  tactics  on 
Australia  and  had  the  example  of  the 
United  States  jiointed  out  to  her.) 
Fought  with  unfair  means,  inciting  In- 
dian massacres. 

If'lS — Similar  tactics  in  warfare. 
1S48 — Me.xican    war — once   more   the 
same  Indian  tactics. 

18(Jl-(!4— Again  incited  Indians,  as 
witness  massacres  at  New  Ulm,  Fort 
Ridley,  etc.  Helped  confederacy  with 
money  and  ships  and  had  the  effrontery 
to  demand  payment  of  the  confederacy's 
debt  from  the  United  States,  the  matter 
being  finally  refused  within  the  last  ten 
years. 

1808 — Tried  to  engineer  a  coalition  of 
European  powers  against  the  United 
States;  prevented  by  Germany.  Then 
trie<l  to  inveigle  Germany  into  a  war 
with  the  United  States. 

1!»i;mi — I'anama  canal  tolls.  Acts  as 
though  she  owned  canal. 

1014 — September.  Opposed  United 
States  naval  expansion,  using  France 
as  catspaw  in  her  protest  and  even 
trying  to  inveigle  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal, 
etc.,  into  similar  protests. 

Let  others  twist  their  noses  at  this 
record,  which  they  will  call  appalling; 
you  and  I,  Mr.  Bayliss,  being  Anglo- 
maniacs,  lift  our  noses  in  proud  sui)er- 
lority.  For  we  know  that  ICngland 
must  be  supreme,  that  she  must  and 
does  lead — even  if  it  be  only  by  the 
blackness  of  her  page  in  history.  We 
pride  ourselves  that  we  outrank  even 
Russia  in  regicides;  only  in  Russia  kill- 
ing the  king  is  illicit  and  tlie  a.ssassin 
suffers  death,  while  we  kill  our  rulers 
through  the  law  and  thus  stand  as  he- 
roes and  ful fillers  of  the  law. 

What  care  we  If  India  and  Ireland 
used  their  last  heart's  blood  in  the  de- 
fense of  their  race,  their  creed,  their 
language  and  their  customs!  They  had 
no  business  trying  to  be  different  from 
us ;  anyway,  they  are  Inferior  to  us  and 
the  right  of  the  stronger  prevails.  In 
Ireland  we  went  Russia  and  Prussia 
one  better  in  the  expropriation  of  our 
respective  vassals.  For  we  did  accom- 
plish what  we  set  out  to  do;  we  ex- 
tinguished the  Irish  tongue  so  thor- 
oughly that  when  the  universities  of 
Ireland.  England  and  America  wanted 
to  establish  cliairs  of  the  Irish  language 
tliey  (haw!  liaw!  it's  the  joke  of  the 
century — that  they  h:i<l  to  go  lo  Ger- 
many for  men  to  fill  the  chairs,  haw! 
haw  !  In  Prussia  and  Russia — ignorant 
countries,  anyway    (of  course,   Russia 


being  our  ally,  we  must  whitewash  her) 
—they'll  never  get  that  far.  There  they 
are  too  much  afraid  to  hurt  the  people. 
I'hysically,  I  mean.  A  lash  does  won- 
ders ;  famine  is  even  better. 

Sympathy?  You  are  right.  We  do 
not  need  sympathy.  The  Briton  is  su- 
perior to  sympathy  ;  if  he  wants  some- 
thing he  goes  and  takes  it.  He  does  not 
need  sympathy  because  of  something 
that  he  lacks.  But  the  Germans!  They 
do  need  symjjathy  and  more  of  it.  For 
they  have  more  to  lose.  They  have 
a  greater  industry  that  risks  destruc- 
tion, a  higher  science,  a  higher  economy, 
a  better  civilization.  So  of  course  they 
need  sympathy. 

England  plays  a  higher  game.  She 
fights  because  this  is  a  good  opportunity 
to  fight,  because  France  and  Belgium 
bear  the  brunt  of  the  fight,  because 
England  will  draw  whatever  benefits  is 
to  be  reajied  from  the  war.  Whv  send 
many  soldiers?  There  ought  "to  be 
enough  French  and  Belgians;  if  there 
are  not,  more  should  be  enrolled.  On 
the  sea  France  does  what  little  fighting 
there  needs  to  be  done.  Inveigle  our- 
selves into  a  battle  with  the  German 
North  Sea  fleet?  Not  much.  Not  until 
Italy  has  been  drawn  to  the  allies  and 
can  send  her  fleet  to  attack  the  Ger- 
man fleet:  then  when  the  latter  is 
greatly  weakened  Britain  can  step  in 
and  claim  the  credit  and  results  of  the 
fight.  Of  course,  where  there  isn't 
much  danger  like  in  the  Pacific  and  In 
the  Atlantic,  and  when  we  outnumber 
the  enemy's  small  boats,  we  will  gladly 
offer  battle.  But  really,  you  know,  we 
are  superior  fighters.  We  have  always 
said  so,  and,  therefore,  it  must  be  true. 
Let  no   one  dare  doulit  that ! 

You  know,  Britannia  rules  the  Waves 
and  that  means  everything  surrounded 
by  them.  That  means  Euroi)e  and  Asia 
and  Australia,  and  Canada  and  also  the 
damned  United  States  (we'll  get  them 
yet).  England  owns  it  all,  of  course, 
not  quite  yet,  you  know,  but  those 
crazy  Americans  will  soon  know  what's 
good  for  'em,  blast  'em!  You  know, 
once  or  twice.  In  177G  and  1S12,  we 
nearly  whipped  them ;  we  gained  a 
moral  victory,  anyway,  and  I  bet  .vou 
they've  never  forgotten  it. 
And  now,  all  together : 
Britannia  rules  the  Waves — 
And  everything  that's  in  'em ! 

AN  ANGLOMANIAC. 
Madison,  Wis.,  Sept.  13. 

P.  S.  Now  you.  Mr.  Anglomaniac, 
will  call  the  preceding  gentle  sarcasm 
brutal,  or  intolerant,  or  prejudiced.  So 
it  is,  so  it  was  intended  to  api)ear — 
elemental  in  Its  brutality.  But— it  car- 
ries a  lesson.  It  does  not  at  all  repre- 
sent the  opinions  of  the  writer,  rather 
the  reverse  of  it.  But  you.  men  of  Mr. 
Bayliss'  type,  need  a  lesson,  and  need 
it  badly.  And  I  have  merely  sketched 
for  you  wliat  a  man  whose  .\nglophobla 
would  parallel  your  Teutoiihobia.  might 
achieve.  Intemperate  language  is  not 
argnmeiit,  but  is  resorted  to  constantly 
by  the  lowest  type  of  mind,  that  of  (he 
bully  or  rowdy.  Among  that  category 
the  map.  who  can  scold  the  loudest  and 
use  the  most  vulgar  language  is  the 
hero  and  victor.    Draw  your  analogy ! 

Personally  I  sympathize  a  little  more 
with  the  French  thiin  with  the  Ger- 
mans. Yet  men  of  Mr.  Bayliss'  type 
nmke  it  hard  for  nm  to  retain  what 
sympathy  for  the  English  there  re- 
mains. 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


THE     DEFENDER    OF    SMALL 
NATIONS. 


Excoriated  by  One  of  Her  Own;  Who 

Also  Wants  to  Prod  the  Irish 

Awake. 


The  Irish  Voice,  March  4,  1915. 

I  who  write  am  a  wife  and  motlier, 
British  by  birth,  education  and  senti- 
ment, Protestant  in  religion.  Progres- 
sive, and  Pacilist.  Like  all  in'uple 
who  live  somewhat  for  others  than 
solely  for  themselves,  I  am  inter- 
ested in  the  great  problems  con- 
nected with  this  war.  I  want  my 
country  to  win  not  because  I  believe 
her  blameless,  but  because  she  is  my 
country.  I  learn  many  things  from 
current  history,  pre-eminently  that 
there  is  not,  perhaps  never  has  been, 
a  really  Christian  government  on 
earth.  Even  the  government  of  the 
church  herself  has  at  times  been  filled 
with  political  and  moral  corruptions 
of  every  sort.  The  civil  govern- 
ments of  Christian  nations  surpass 
each  other  in  political  chicanery  and 
hypocrisy.  Your  own  government  of 
the  U.  S.  A.  is  perhaps  the  nearest 
approach  (but,  oh,  how  far  off)  to  a 
Christian  government  that  has  ever 
been. 

The  British  government  is  probably 
the  greatest  political  hypocrite  that 
has  ever  been;  the  Russian  govern- 
ment the  greatest  tyrant,  and  the  Ger- 
man government  the  greatest  fool. 
England  wins  by  hoodwinking  other 
nations,  keeping  her  heart  a  secret, 
and  wearing  a  religious  mask.  The 
British  press  for  months  past  is  teem- 
ing with  falsehoods  about  the  Kaiser, 
the  German  government,  army,  navy, 
and  people.  The  Canadian  press, 
English  and  French  alike,  is  savage 
in  its  hatred  of  Germany.  I  could 
send  you  multitudes  of  samples  as 
proofs. 

When  the  Spanish-American  war 
was  on,  the  press  of  England  and  Can- 
ada continually  assailed  the  yellow 
journalism  of  your  country;  today  the 
press  of  those  countries  copy  pro- 
fusely the  assaults  made  on  Germany 
by  the  Anglo-Saxon  press  of  the 
United  States.  I  say  Anglo-Saxon,  for 
it  is  evident  that  in  the  New  England 
and  Southern  States  you  have  no 
longer,  with  few  e.\ceptions,  a  distinc- 
tive, independent,  neutral,  American 
press.  Your  press,  like  many  of  your 
millionaires,  your  ambassadors,  and 
your  American  leagues  in  London  are 
all  playing  toad  to  England.  The  New 
York  Times  calls  Austria  a  dying  and 
decrepit  nation,  but  judging  by  the 
Anglo-Saxon  press  of  America  one 
might  return  the  compliment  to  the 
Times.  Your  clever,  oily  Englishmen 
all  over  the  U.  S.  A.  are  evidently 
getting  a  grip  on  your  American  char- 
acter and  moulding  you  into  good  lit- 
tle English  children.  Even  the  Irish- 
Americans  are  not  proof  against  the 
subtle  fascination  of  John  Bull.  John 
Bull  could  capture  Japan  and  bring 
on  a  Russo-Japanese  war  with  the  se- 
cret motive  of  destroying  the  Russian 
navy.  He  could  capture  Prance  and 
Russia,  for  the  secret  purpose  of  de- 
stroying the  German  navy  and  then 
proudly  sing  as  he  has  been  singing 
for  centuries  in  the  teeth  of  the  world, 


"Britannia  Rules  the  Waves."  Shall 
the  navy  of  France  grow  and  take  the 
place  of  the  German,  then  it  in  turn 
shall  be  doomed  for  destruction  by 
England.  And  what  of  the  navy  of 
the  U.  S.  A.?  But,  no,  England  shall 
long  eat  the  dust  before  she  goes  to 
war  with  your  country.  She  will  plead 
every  excuse,  but  above  all  her  ties  of 
blood,  creed  and  language.  Oh,  cow- 
ardly hypocrisy,  what  a  useful  part 
you  sometimes  play  in  the  destinies  of 
nations!  In  the  future  it  shall  be  as 
in  the  past.  Belgium  is  now  Eng- 
land's darling  pet.  But  a  little  while 
ago  the  English  government  and 
people  were  casting  longing  eyes  on 
Belgium's  rich  possessions  in  Africa 
and  the  British  government  press, 
people  and  established  church  were 
assailing  the  Belgian  king,  govern- 
ment and  people  on  the  score  of  in-  . 
humanity  to  natives.  The  beam  at  all 
times  in  her  own  eyes,  she,  England, 
always  sees  the  mote  in  the  eyes  of 
her  neighbors.  She  forgets  Ireland, 
India,  America  and  Australasia.  And 
Irishmen  in  America  forget  the 
speeches  of  Grattan  and  Burke  and 
Shiel  and  Curran,  Redmond,  O'Brien, 
Healy  and  company  have  surrendered 
to  England  in  the  squabble  tor  office 
under  an  Irish  parliament.  The  Irish 
parliament  may  come,  probably  will 
come,  but  it  will  come  mutilated  in 
every  joint  as  the  Orangemen  of 
Ulster  and  the  Tories  of  Great  Brit- 
ain shall  demand  this,  and  the  de- 
mand shall  be  granted.  It  was 
Froude  who  said: 

"Put  the  stick  hard  and  fast  on  the 
back  of  the  Irishman  and  you  win  his 
respect  and  attachment  every  time." 

England  has  been  doing  this  for 
centuries  and  today  Irishmen  are  ty- 
ing the  boot  laces  of  her  grandees 
and  shedding  their  blood  for  her 
praises.  Smack  Pat  well  on  the  back, 
then  pat  him,  tell  him  he  is  a  fine 
fellow  and  like  the  cur  dog  he'll  lick 
the  hand  that  smote  him.  The  secret 
of  John  Bull's  strength  is  his  power 
to  keep  his  own  secrets  and  a  com- 
mon weakness  of  other  nations,  espe- 
cially of  the  Irish,  is  the  capacity  for 
blabbing  out  everything.  Lord  Der- 
by's speech  to  both  houses  of  parlia- 
ment, July  15,  1634,  said:  "Divide 
not  between  Protestant  and  Papist. 
.  .  .  Divide  not  nationality  betwixt 
English  and  Irish.  The  King  makes 
no  distincton  between  you  .  .  .  and 
madness  it  were  in  you  to  raise  the 
wall  of  separation  amongst  your- 
selves." 

But  England  has  always  divided  be- 
tween Protestant  and  Papist  and  di- 
vides between  them  still.  Divide  et 
impera  has  been  the  ruling  principle 
of  her  government  of  Ireland.  With 
consummate  hypocrisy  she  conceded 
to  Nationalists  the  right  to  organize 
and  drill  only  after  the  war  was  de- 
clared. She  had  a  motive  as  always 
— to  hoodwink  the  soft,  spineless 
Irish  Catholic  by  a  pat  on  the  back 
and  get  him  to  do  her  dirty  work  in 
Europe.  She  is  now  sending  an  am- 
bassador to  the  Pope,  after  4  00  years 
of  open  warfare  with  the  Vatican  and 
there  is  treachery  in  the  gift.  Wit- 
ness the  following  from  the  Church 
Times — leading  organ  of  the  estab- 
lished church.  In  its  leader  of  No- 
vember 13   last,  I  find  the  following 


paragraph    describing    the    object    of 
the  war: 

"There  is,  then,  an  immense  task  In 
hand.  To  carry  the  war  to  a  victor- 
ious issue  is  to  destroy  two  great 
monarchies.  But  mere  destruction  is 
no  policy.  Reconstruction  must  fol- 
low. But  that  will  be  the  work  of  the 
ensuing  peace.  The  object  of  the  war 
is  destruction,  nothing  less;  no 
patched-up  treaty,  no  accommodation. 
Englishmen  are  well  aware  that  to 
this  they  have  set  their  hands.  They 
have  a  national  purpose,  and  in  this 
they  are  at  one."  The  same  journal, 
with  characteristic  Anglican  inso- 
lence, dares  tell  the  Pope  that  he 
should  take  sides  at  once  with  the  al- 
lies. The  good  Pope  Benedict  needs 
to  hold  in  check  his  Italian  impulses 
when  dealing  with  the  wily  self-con- 
tained John  Bull.  I  have  said  that 
you  Irish  have  forgotten  the  speeches 
of  Grattan,  etc.;  also  of  O'Connell  and 
Parnell.  Think  you  that  Grattan, 
O'Connell  and  Parnell  would  become 
recruiting  sergeants  for  the  govern- 
ment of  England?  Redmond's  plea  is 
gratitude,  etc.  Listen  to  Grattan.  De- 
livering himself  against  English  im- 
perialism— he  said: 

"I  know  of  no  species  of  gratitude 
which  should  prevent  my  country 
from  being  free,  no  gratitude  which 
should  oblige  Ireland  to  be  the  slave 
of  England.  In  cases  of  robbery  and 
usurpation,  nothing  is  an  object  of 
gratitude  except  the  thing  stolen,  the 
charter  spoliated.  A  nation's  liberty 
cannot,  like  her  treasures,  be  meted 
and  parceled  out  in  gratitude;  no 
man  can  be  grateful  or  liberal  of  his 
conscience,  nor  woman  of  her  honor, 
nor  nation  of  her  liberty;  there  are 
certain  unimpartable,  inherent,  in- 
valuable properties,  not  to  be  alien- 
ated from  the  person,  whether  body 
politic  or  body  natural.  I  laugh  at 
that  man  who  supposes  that  Ireland 
will  not  be  content  with  her  free 
trade  and  a  free  constitution,  and 
would  any  man  advise  her  to  be  con- 
tent with  less?" 

In  closing  I  have  the  following 
question  to  ask  of  you  and  your  read- 
ers: 

By  what  right,  divine  or  human, 
does  England  claim  to  rule  the  waves 
to  the  exclusion  of  every  other  sover- 
eign power? 

VERITAS. 


SUBMARINE    BT>OCK.\DE    FORCES 

DR.\STir  BRITISH  .\CTION 

.AGAINST  KAISER. 


No  Longer  Question  of  WTiether  Food 

Is    Contraband    or    Whether    It   Is 

Intended  for  Non-Combatants ; 

.Announcement  to  Come 

Monday. 


From  the  "Chicago  Examiner,"  Feb. 
28,  1915. 

LONDON,  Feb.  27. — It  is  under- 
stood that  formal  notification  has 
been  given  by  Great  Britain  to  the 
United  States  that  in  view  of  the 
German  submarine  attacks  on  mer- 
chant vessels.  Great  Britain  and  her 
allies  maintain  the  right  to  stop  all 
shipping  between  neutral  countries 
and  Germany,  Austria  and  Turkey. 


BRITISH   CHARACTER   IN   ACTION 


115 


In  other  words,  it  is  proposed  to 
tie  up  all  traffic  with  Germany.  It 
will  no  longer  be  a  question  of  con- 
traband or  of  whether  food  is  in- 
tended for  consumption  by  the  civil 
population  or  by  the  military.  Grain, 
cotton,  even  medical  supplies  may  be 
stopped.  Not  only  that,  but  goods 
coming  out  of  Germany  may  under 
the  terms  of  this  declaration  be 
seized. 

This  apparently  is  the  form  of  the 
reprisals  which  the  allies  have  agreed 
upon.  The  idea  is  not  merely  to 
starve  Germany  into  submission,  but 
to  cripple  her  industries  in  every  pos- 
sible way. 

As  indicated  yesterday,  Asquith 
will,  it  is  expected,  make  an  an- 
nouncement of  the  government's  pol- 
icy on  Monday.  In  support  of  the 
right  of  the  allies  to  take  such  dras- 
tic measures  he  will  urge  that  the 
Germans  have  violated  all  the  codes 
of  warfare  in  sinking  ships  with  non- 
combatants  aboard,  without  warning 
and  without  even  making  efforts  to 
save  the  lives  of  the  persons  thus  at- 
tacked. 

As  to  the  injury  that  will  be  in- 
flicted upon  the  trade  of  neutrals  by 
this  procedure,  on  the  part  of  the 
allies,  .\squith,  it  is  expected,  will 
rely  upon  the  plea  of  necessity  and 
the  argument  that  only  by  drastic 
action  of  this  sort  can  the  war  be 
brought  to  an  early  conclusion. 


Ttfe  declaration,  it  is  understood, 
will  not  apply  to  shipments  made  be- 
fore formal  announcement  of  the 
blockade.  Every  effort  will  be  made 
to  safeguard  the  lives  of  passengers 
and  crews  on  ships  that  may  be  seized 
or  sunk. 

Would  Create  Issue. 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  2  7. — Secre- 
tary Bryan  tonight  said  the  State  De- 
partment had  not  received  the  answer 
of  Great  Britain  or  Germany  to  the 
American  notes  sent  on  February  19 
in  relation  to  shipments  of  foodstuils 
and  submarine  attacks  on  neutral 
commerce. 

It  is  generally  agreed  here  that 
any  attempt  of  England  to  shut  off 
the  shipment  of  foodstuffs  through 
the  North  Sea  by  way  of  the  English 
Channel  would  create  a  very  serious 
issue. 

If  it  proved  true  that  Great  Britain 
has  taken  the  stand  that  all  food- 
stuffs to  Germany  and  Austria  are  to 
be  held  up  otherwise  than  through  a 
blockade  of  ports,  and  if  her  declara- 
tion to  that  effect  shall  become  pub- 
lic before  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress on  March  4,  a  flare-up  In  Con- 
gress may  be  expected. 

Already  there  is  a  strong  feeling  of 
resentment  in  both  the  Senate  and 
the  House  over  the  extent  to  which 


Great  Britain  has  seen  fit  to  inter- 
fere with  American  commerce  carry- 
ing over  established  routes  of  trade. 

Feeling  Manifested. 

That  feeling  has  been  manifested 
in  the  embargo  resolution  which  was 
proposed  in  the  resolution  introduced 
by  Representative  Dietrick  today 
asking  that  the  President  be  author- 
ized to  require  assurance  of  Great 
Britain  that  her  obnoxious  practices 
shall  cease  within  sixty  days  and  in 
the  speech  of  Senator  Lewis  in  the 
Senate  yesterday. 

Under  international  law  the  right 
of  a  neutral  to  ship  foodstuffs  over 
established  routes  to  a  belligerent 
country  for  the  use  of  noncombatants 
is  a  right  never  heretofore  brought 
into  question.  If  the  United  States 
should  not  now  stand  firm  for  that 
right,  many  members  of  Congress 
undoubtedly  would  take  the  position 
that  by  submission  to  Great  Britain's 
disregard  of  that  right  the  United 
States  would  be  incurring  some  re- 
sponsibility for  the  consequences. 

Leading  members  of  the  adminis- 
tration, who  thoroughly  understand 
the  temper  of  Congress  with  respect 
to  such  a  contingency,  probably  will 
be  inclined  to  withhold  information 
of  the  proposal,  if  it  has  actually 
been  made,  until  after  the  adjourn- 
ment of  Congress. 


The  English  Nursing  Hatred  Toward  the  Kaiser 


HIS   INDISCTIETION   WAS   "CAL- 
CULATED." 


Interview   With   Kaiser   Wilhelm  II., 

Oct.   28.    1908,    and    Its   Con- 

se<juences. 

An  interview  between  the  German 
Emperor  and  "a  rcpreisentative  Eng- 
lishman, who  long  sime  passed  from 
public  to  private  life."  appeared  in 
"The  London  Telegraph"  on  October  2S, 
1908,  and  was  the  next  day  authentic 
cated  by  the  German  Foreign  Office  in 
Berlin  with  the  eomment  that  it  loa.t 
"intended  as  a  message  to  the  English 
people."  This  last  expression  of  the 
Kaiser  toward  Great  Britain — until  his 
deelaration  rm  the  eve  of  the  present 
tear — deeply  stirred  the  German  people 
and  resulted  in  the  Kaiser's  pledge  to 
Chancellor  von  Buelow  that  henceforth 
the  imperial  rietcs  would  be  subject  to 
the  bridle  of  the  ministry  and  the 
Council  of  the  Empire.  The  interview 
as  recorded  by  the  "representative  Eng- 
lishman" teas  a.s  follows: 

Moments  sometimes  occur  In  the  his- 
tory of  nations  when  a  calculated  In- 
discretion proves  of  the  highest  public 
service.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  I 
have  decided  to  make  known  the  sub- 
stance of  a  lengthy  conversation  which 
It  was  my  recent  privilege  to  have  with 
the  Emperor. 

I  do  so  in  the  hope  that  It  will  help 
to  remove  that  obstinate  misconception 
of  the  character  of  the  Emperor's  feel- 
ings toward  England,  which  I  fear  Is 
deeply  rooted  In  the  ordinary  English- 
man's breast.  It  is  the  Emperor's  sin- 
cere wish  that  It  should  be  eradicated. 
He  has  given  repeated  proofs  of  his  de- 


sire l>y  word  and  deed.  But,  to  speak 
frankly,  his  patience  is  sorely  tried 
now;  he  finds  himself  so  continually 
misrepresented  and  has  so  often  expe- 
rienced the  mortification  of  finding  that 
any  momentary  improvement  in  rela- 
tions is  followed  by  renewed  outbursts 
of  prejudice  and  a  prompt  return  to 
the  old  attitude  of  suspicion. 

His  Majesty  spoke  with  impulsive 
and  unusual  frankness,  saying :  "You 
English  are  as  mad,  mad,  mad  as 
March  hares.  What  has  come  over 
you  that  you  are  completely  given  over 
to  suspicions  that  are  quite  unworthy 
of  a  great  nation?  What  more  can  I 
do  than  I  have  done?  I  declared  with 
all  the  emphasis  at  my  command  in  my 
speech  at  the  Guildhall  that  my  heart 
was  set  upon  peace  and  that  it  was 
one  of  my  dearest  wishes  to  live  on  the 
best  terms  with  England.  Have  I  ever 
been  false  to  my  wonl?  Fal.sehood  and 
prevarication  are  alien  to  my  nature. 
My  actions  ought  to  speak  for  them- 
selves, but  you  will  not  listen  to  them, 
but  to  those  who  misinterpret  and  dis- 
tort them. 

Resents  a  Personal   Insult. 

"This  is  a  personal  insult  which  I 
resent;  to  be  forever  misjudged,  to 
have  my  repeatetl  offers  of  friendship 
weighed  and  scrutinized  with  jealous, 
mistrustful  eyes  taxes  my  patience  se- 
verely. I  have  said  time  after  time 
tluit  I  am  a  friend  of  England,  and 
your  press,  or  at  least  a  considerable 
section  of  it,  bids  the  people  of  Eng- 
land to  refuse  my  proffered  hand  and 
Insinuates  that  the  other  hand  holds  a 
dagger.  IIow  can  I  convince  a  nation 
against  its  will?" 


Complaining  again  of  the  difficulty 
ini])osed  on  him  by  Englisli  distrust,  his 
Majesty  said :  "The  prevailing  .senti- 
ment of  large  sections  of  the  middle 
and  lower  classes  of  my  own  people  is 
not  friendly  to  England.  I  am,  there- 
fore, so  to  speak,  in  the  minority  in  my 
own  land,  but  it  is  a  minority  of  the 
best  element,  just  as  it  is  in  England 
respecting  Germany." 

The  Englishman  reminded  the  Kaiser 
that  not  only  England  but  the  whole  of 
Europe  viewed  with  <iisapproval  the  re- 
cent sending  of  the  German  Consul  at 
Algiers  to  Fez  and  forestalling  France 
and  Spain  by  suggesting  the  recogni- 
tion of  Sultan  Mulai  Hafid.  The  Kaiser 
made  an  impatient  gesture  and  ex- 
claimed: "Yes,  that  is  an  excellent  ex- 
ample of  the  way  German  actions  are 
misrepresented,"  and  with  vivid  direct- 
ness he  defended  the  aforesaid  inci- 
dent, as  the  German  Government  has 
already  done. 

The  interviewer  reminded  the  Kaiser 
that  an  important  and  influential  sec- 
tion of  the  German  newspapers  inter- 
I)rete<l  these  acts  very  ditTereiilly,  and 
elTusively  approved  of  them  because 
they  indicated  that  Germany  was  bent 
upon  shaping  events  in  Morocco. 

"There  are  mischief  makers,"  replied 
the  Emperor,  "in  both  countries.  I  will 
not  attempt  to  weigh  their  relative 
capacity  for  misrepresentation,  but  the 
facts  are  as  I  have  stated.  There  has 
been  nothing  In  Germany's  recent  ac- 
tion in  regard  to  Morocco  contrary  to 
the  explicit  declaration  of  my  love  of 
peace  made  both  at  the  Guildhall  and 
In  my  latest  speech  at  Strassburg." 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


Kaiser  and  the  Boer  War. 

Reverting  to  his  efforts  to  show  his 
friendship  for  England,  the  Kaiser  said 
they  had  not  been  confined  to  words. 
It  "was  commonly  believed  that  Ger- 
many was  hostile  to  England  through- 
out the  Boer  war.  Undoubtedly  the 
newspapers  were  hostile  and  public 
opinion  was  hostile.  "But  what."  he 
asked,  "of  official  Germany?  What 
brought  to  a  sudden  stop,  indeed,  to  an 
absolute  collapse,  the  European  tour  of 
the  Boer  delegates,  who  were  striving 
to  obtain  European  intervention? 

'•Then  were  feted  in  Holland.  France 
gave  them  a  rapturous  welcome.  They 
icished  to  come  to  Berlin,  where  the 
German  people  would  have  croumed 
them  with  flowers,  hut  ichen  they  asked 
mc  to  receive  them  I  refused.  The  agi- 
tation iminrdiatelil  died  away  and  the 
dchiiHti  i<  nturned  empty-handed.  Was 
that  tin   action  of  a  secret  enemy?* 

".\gain.  when  the  struggle  was  at  its 
height,  the  German  Government  was 
invited  by  France  and  Russia  to  join 
them  in  calling  upon  England  to  end 
the  war.  The  moment  had  come,  they 
said,  not  only  to  save  the  Boer  repub- 
lic, but  also  to  humiliate  England  to 
the  dust.  What  was  my  reply?  I  said 
so  far  from  Germany  joining  in  any 
concerted  European  action  to  bring 
pressure  against  England  and  bring 
about  her  downfall,  Germany  would  al- 
ways keep  aloof  from  politics  that 
could  bring  her  into  complications  with 
a   sea   power   like  England. 

"Posterity  will  one  day  read  the  ex- 
act terms  of  a  telegram,  now  in  the 
archives  of  M-imlsor  Castle,  in  ichich  I 
informed  the  sovereign  of  England  of 
the  answer  I  returned  to  the  powers 
which  then  sought  to  compass  her  fall. 
Englishmen  tcho  now  insult  me  t>v 
doubting  my  word  should  know  what 
my  actiom  were  in  the  hour  of  their 
adversity.* 

"Nor  was  that  all.  During  your 
black  week  in  December,  1899,  when 
disasters  followed  one  another  in  rapid 
succession.  I  received  a  letter  from 
Queen  Victoria,  my  revered  grand- 
mother, written  in  sorrow  and  afflic- 
tion and  bearing  manifest  traces  of  the 
anxieties  which  were  preying  upon  her 
mind  and  health.  I  at  once  returned  a 
sympathetic  reply.  I  did  more.  I  bade 
one  of  my  officers  to  procure  as  exact 
an  account  as  he  could  obtain  of  the 
number  of  combatants  on  both  sides 
and  the  actual  positions  of  the  oppos- 
ing forces. 

"With  the  figures  before  me  I  worked 
out  what  I  considered  the  best  plan  of 
campaign  in  the  circumstances  and  sub- 
mitted It  to  my  General  Staff  for  criti- 
cism. Then  I  dispatched  it  to  England. 
That  document  likewise  is  among  the 
State  papers  at  Windsor  awaiting  the 
serenely  impartial  verdict  of  history. 

"Let  me  add  as  a  curious  coincidence 
that  the  plan  which  I  formulated  ran 
very  much  on  the  same  lines  as  that 
actually  adopted  by  Gen.  Roberts  and 
carried  by  him  into  successful  opera- 
tion. Was  that  the  act  of  one  who 
wished  England  ill?  Let  Englishmen 
be  just  and  say." 


The  German  Navy. 

Touching  then  upon  the  English  con- 
viction that  Germany  is  increasing  her 
navy    for    the    purpose    of    attacking 


Great  Britain,  the  Kaiser  reiterated 
the  explanation  that  Chancellor  von 
Biilow  and  other  Ministers  have  made 
familiar,  dwelling  upon  Germany's 
worldwide  commerce,  her  manifold  in- 
terests in  distant  seas,  and  the  neces- 
sity for  being  prepared  to  protect  them. 
He  said : 

"Patriotic  Germans  refuse  to  assign 
any  bounds  to  their  legitimate  commer- 
cial ambitions.  They  expect  their  in- 
terests to  go  on  growing.  They  must 
be  able  to  champion  them  manfully  in 
any  quarter  of  the  globe.  Germany 
looks  ahead.  Her  horizons  stretch  far 
away.  She  must  be  prepared  for  any 
eventualities  in  the  Far  East.  Who 
can  foresee  what  may  take  place  in  the 
Pacific  in  the  days  to  come,  days  not  so 
distant  as  some  believe,  but  days,  at 
any  Kite,  for  which  all  European  pow- 
ers with  Far  Eastern  interests  ought 
to  steadily  prepare? 

"Look  at  the  accomplished  rise  of 
Japan.  Think  of  a  possible  national 
awakening  in  China,  and  then  judge  of 
the  vast  problems  of  the  Pacific.  Only 
those  powers  which  have  great  navies 
will  be  listened  to  with  respect  when 
the  future  of  the  Pacific  comes  to  be 
solved,  and  if  for  that  reason  only, 
Germany  must  have  a  powerful  fleet.  It 
may  even  he  that  England  herself  will 
be  glad  that  Germany  has  a  fleet  when 
they  speak  together  in  the  great  de- 
bates  of   the   future." 

The  interviewer  concludes : 
'•The  Emperor  spoke  with  all  that 
earnestness  which  }narks  his  manner 
n^hen  speaking  on  deeply  pondered  sub- 
jects. I  aslc  my  fellow-countrymen 
who  value  the  cauw  of  peace  to 
weigh  what  I  have  written  and  revise, 
if  necessary,  their  estimate  of  the 
Kaiser  and  his  friendship  for  England 
by  his  Majesty's  own  words.  If  tliey 
had  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  hearing 
them  spoken  they  would  no  longer 
doubt  either  his  Majesty's  firm  desire 
to  live  on  the  best  of  terms  with  Eng- 
land or  his  growing  impatience  at  the 
persistent  mistrust  with  which  his  offer 
of  friendship  is  too  often  received."* 
The  Consequences. 
On  November  17  following.  Prince  yon 
Biilow  met  the  Kaiser  at  Kiel,  taking 
with  him  evidence  of  the  feeling  in 
Germany  regarding  the  Emperor's  pub- 
lished interview  and  setting  forth  : 

First,  that  the  Foreign  Affairs  Com- 
mittee of  the  Bundesrat,  or  Federal 
Council,  is  firm  in  the  opinion  formu- 
lated at  the  meeting  held  yesterday 
that  it  would  be  wiser  for  the  Emperor 
not  to  express  views  affecting  the  re- 
lations of  the  empire  with  other  coun- 
tries except  through  his  responsible 
Ministers.  This  expression  derives 
weight  from  the  fact  that  the  Govern- 
ments of  Bavaria.  Wiirttemberg  and 
Saxony  were  represented  on  the  com- 
mittee. 

Second,  that  the  entire  Reichstag  as- 
sented to  the  declarations  made  by  the 
speakers  on  Tuesday  that  the  Emperor 
had  exceeded  his  constitutional  prerog- 
atives in  private  discussion  with  for- 
eigners concerning  Germany's  attitude 
on  controverted  questions. 

Third,  that  the  feeling  of  the  people 
at  large  on  this  matter  was  accurately 
indicated  by  the  press  of  the  country. 


The  Kaiser's  reply  was  published  on 
the  same  date  in  the  "Reichsanzeiger," 
in  the  form  of  a  communication,  which 
read : 

"During  today's  audience  granted  to 
the  Imperial  Chancellor,  his  Majesty, 
the  Emperor  and  King,  listened  for 
several  hours  to  a  report  by  Prince  von 
Biilow.  The  Imperial  Chancellor  de- 
scribed the  feeling  and  its  causes 
among  the  German  people  in  connec- 
tion with  the  article  published  in  'The 
Daily  Telegraph.'  He  also  explained 
the  position  he  had  taken  during  the 
course  of  the  debates  and  the  inter- 
polations on  this  subject  in  the  Reichs- 
tag. His  Majesty  the  Emperor  re- 
ceived the  statements  and  explanations 
with  great  earnestness,  and  then  ex- 
pressed his  will  as  follows : 

"  'Heedless  of  the  exaggerations  of 
public  criticism,  which  are  regarded  by 
him  as  incorrect,  his  Majesty  perceives 
that  his  principal  imperial  task  is  to 
insure  the  stability  of  the  policies  of 
the  empire,  under  the  guardianship  of 
constitutional  responsibilities.  In  con- 
formity therewith,  his  Majesty  the  Em- 
peror approves  the  Chancellor's  utter- 
ances in  the  Reichstag,  and  assures 
Prince  von  Biilow  of  his  continued  con- 
fidence.' " 


WILHELM  n.'S  LETTER  TO  LORD 
TWEED.MOUTH. 


•Emphasized   by   the   Editor   of   "War 


Published   by    The    Morning   Post   of 
London,  Oct.  30,  1914. 

The  subjoined  letter  written  to  the 
late  Lord  Tweedmouth  by  the  German 
Emperor  is  made  pulilic  for  the  first 
time.  It  is  a  literal  transcript  of  the 
original  document  in  which  occur  a 
few  slight  errors  in  spelling.  The  ex- 
istence of  the  document  was  first  made 
known  to  the  public  by  the  military 
correspondent  of  "The  Times."  who 
published  a  letter  on  the  subject  on 
March  0.  190S,  but  its  contents  were 
not  divulged. 

The  significance  of  the  letter  can  be 
understood  only  in  the  light  of  the 
naval  and  political  situation  six  years 
ago.  During  the  preceding  year,  1907. 
The  Hague  Conference,  ostensibly  con- 
vened in  the  interests  of  international 
peace,  had  resolved  itself  into  a  com- 
mittee to  determine  how  to  diminish 
the  severities  of  war.  There  was  a 
section  of  opinion  in  this  country  which 
was  persuaded  that  the  only  method 
of  seeking  peace  was  to  reduce  the 
navy  and  army.  At  the  same  time  the 
Imperial  German  Navy  was  making 
swift  and  steady  progress,  and  its 
menace  to  British  supremacy  aroused 
considerable  alarm  in  this  country. 
Although  the  British  Navy  held  supe- 
riority over  the  German  Navy  in  ships 
not  of  the  dreadnought  type,  the  bal- 
ance in  dreadnoughts  was  virtually 
even. 

Dreadnought  Supremacy. 
It  was  stated  in  Parliament  that  in 
the  year  1916  Germany,  according  to 
her  naval  law.  would  have  thirty- 
six  dreadnoughts,  a  number  which 
would  involve  the  building  by  this 
country  of  forty-four  such  ressels  in 
the  same  period,  toward  which  the 
Government  was  only  providing  two  in 
the  current  year.  It  was  also  stated 
that   in  the  year  1911   Germany  would 


BRITISH   CHARACTER  IX  ACTION 


possess  thirteeu  dreadnoughts  aud 
(ireat  Britain  only  twelve,  which  state- 
ment was  founded  uiiou  reasonable  as- 
sumptions. Could  tiermany  reckon 
upon  the  continuance  of  such  a  rela- 
tive position,  the  advantage  to  her 
would  he  very  great. 

If  was  at  this  critical  moment  that 
the  (Jernian  Emperor  indited  his  let- 
ter to  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty, 
which  is  printed  below.  When  the  fact 
became  knowu  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  jiublic  feeling  aroused  both  In  this 
couniiy  aud  abroad.  Lord  Tweed- 
mouth  stated  that  the  letter  was  a  pri- 
vale  letter  aud  purely  personal.  Prince 
von  Biilow  informed  the  Reichstag 
that  the  letter  was  of  both  a  private 
and  political  character,  adding  some 
remarks  concerning  the  "purely  de- 
fensive character  of  our  naval  pro- 
gramme which,"  said  the  Chancellor, 
•'eaimot  be  emphasized  too  frequently." 

The  German  Foreign  Office  officially 
announced  that  "In  his  letter  the  Em- 
peror merely  corrected  certain  er- 
roneous views  prevalent  in  England 
regarding  the  development  of  the  Ger- 
man tleet." 

Headers  are  now  in  a  position  to 
Judge  for  themselves  the  accuracy  of 
these  statements.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered that  the  reduced  navy  estimates 
of  ]!Kl8-0  were  followed  by  national 
alarm  and  the  publication  of  Admiral 
[>ord  Charles  Berosford's  shipbuilding 
(irogramme  and  large  increase  in  es- 
timates of  the  following  year.  Here 
is  the  letter: 


Til 


Kaiser's    Letter. 


"Berlin,  14th-2,  l'.)OS. 
"My  I)ear  Ijord  Tweedmouth — May 
I  Intrude  on  your  precious  time  and 
ask  for  a  few  momeuts"  attention  to 
these  lines  I  venture  to  submit  to  you? 
I  see  by  tlie  dally  papers  and  reviews 
that  a  battle  royal  is  being  fought 
about  the  needs  of  the  navy.  I,  there- 
fore venture  to  furnish  you  with  some 
information  aiicnt  the  German  naval 
programme,  wliicli  it  seems  is  being 
quoted  by  all  jiarties  to  further  their 
ends  by  trying  to  frighten  peaceable 
British  taxpayers  with  it  as  a  l)ogy. 

"I>uring  my  last  pleasant  visit  to 
your  hospitable  shores  I  tried  to  make 
your  authorities  understand  what  the 
drift  of  German  naval  policy  is,  but  I 
am  afraid  that  my  explanations  have 
been  either  misunderstood  or  not  be- 
lieved, because  I  see  "German  danger' 
and  '(Jerman  challenge  to  British  na- 
val supremacy'  constantly  quoted  in 
(lifforent  articles.  This  phrofte.  if  not 
rrpudiiitcd  or  corrected,  sown  broadcast 
liver  the  country  and  dailii  dinned  into 
/{;i7i.v/(  cars,  mif/ht  in  the  end  create 
the  mast  dcpiorahle  results.* 

"I.  therefore,  deem  it  advisable,  as 
.Vdmiral  of  the  Fleet,  to  lay  some  facts 
before  you  to  enable  you  to  see  clearly 
thai  it  is  absolutely  nonsensical  and 
untrue  that  the  German  naval  bill  is 
lo  provide  a  navy  meant  as  a  chal- 
lenge to  British  naval  supremacy.  The 
(ierman  fleet  is  built  against  nobody  at 
all;  it  is  solely  built  for  Germany's 
needs  in  relation  with  that  country's 
nipidly  growing  trade.  The  German 
ii;ival  bill  was  sanctioned  by  Imperial 
Tarliament  and  published  ten  years 
ago,  and  may  be  had  at  any  large  book- 


•Ertiphaylzed  by  the   Editor. 


seller's.  There  is  nothing  suri)rising, 
secret,  or  underhand  lu  it,  and  every 
reader  may  study  the  whole  course 
mapped  out  for  the  devolpment  of  the 
German  Navy   with   the  greatest  ease. 

Thirty  to  Forty  Battleships  in  1920. 

"The  law  is  being  adhered  to,  and 
provides  for  about  thirty  to  forty 
ships  of  the  line  in  l!»liO.  The  number 
of  shii)s  tixed  by  the  bill  included  the 
fleet  then  actually  in  commission,  not- 
withstanding its  material  being  al- 
ready old  and  far  surpassed  by  con- 
temporary types.  In  other  foreign 
navies  the  extraordinary  rapidity  with 
which  improvements  were  introduced 
in  types  of  battleships,  armaments, 
and  armor  made  the  fleet  in  commis- 
sion obsolete  before  the  building  pro- 
gramme providing  additions  to  it  was 
half  fiuished. 

"The  obsolete  fleet  had  to  be  struck 
off  the  list,  thus  leaving  a  gap,  lower- 
lug'  the  number  of  ships  below  the 
standard  prescribed  by  the  bill.  This 
gap  was  stopped  by  using  the  finished 
ships  to  replace  the  obsolete  ones  in- 
stead of  being  added  to  them  us  orig- 
inally intended.  Therefore,  Instead  of 
steadily  Increasing  the  standing  fleet 
by  regular  additions,  it  came  to  a 
wholesale  rebuilding  of  the  entire  Ger- 
man Navy.  Our  actual  programme  in 
course  of  execution  is  practically  only 
the  exchange  of  old  material  for  new, 
but  not  an  addition  to  the  number  of 
units  originally  laid  down  by  the  bill 
of  ten  years  ago,  which  is  being  ad- 
hered to. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  the  main  fault 
in  the  discussions  going  on  in  the  pa- 
pers is  the  permanent  ventilating  of 
so-called  two  to  three  or  more  power 
standard  and  then  only  exemplifying 
on  one  i)ower,  which  Is  invariably 
Germany.  It  is  fair  to  suppose  that 
each  nation  builds  and  commissions  its 
navy  according  to  its  needs  and  not 
only  with  regard  to  the  programme  of 
other  countries.  Therefore,  it  would 
be  the  simplest  thing  for  England  to 
say :  'I  have  a  world-wide  empire  and 
the  greatest  trade  of  the  world,  and 
to  protect  them  I  must  have  so  and 
so  many  battleships,  cruisers,  etc,  as 
are  necessary  to  guarantee  the  su- 
premacy of  the  sea  to  me,  and  they 
shall,  accordingly,  be  built  aud 
manned,' 

"That  is  the  absolute  right  of  your 
country,  and  nobody  anywhere  would 
lose  a  word  about  it,  and  whether  it 
t)e  (10  or  no  or  100  battleships,  that 
would  make  no  difference  and  cer- 
tainly no  change  in  the  (ierman  naval 
bill.  May  the  numbers  be  as  yovi  think 
til,  everybody  hero  would  understand 
It,  but  the  people  would  be  very  thank- 
ful over  here  if  at  last  Germany  was 
left  out  of  the  discussion,  for  it  is 
very  galling  to  the  Germans  to  see 
their  country  continually  held  up  as 
the  sole  danger  and  menace  to  Great 
Britain  by  the  whole  press  of  the  dif- 
ferent contending  parties,  considering 
that  other  countries  are  building  too, 
and  there  are  even  larger  fleets  than 
the  German. 

Fears  German   Retaliation. 

"Doubtless,  when  party  faction  runs 
high  there  is  often  a  lamentable  hick 
of    discrimination     In     the    clinice    of 


weapons,  but  I  really  must  protest  that 
the  German  naval  programme  should 
be  regarded  as  for  her  exclusive  use,  or 
that  such  a  poisoned  view  should  be 
forged  as  a  German  challenge  to  Brit- 
ish supremacy  of  the  sea.  If  perma- 
nently used,  mischief  may  be  created 
at  home,  and  the  injured  feeling  en- 
gendering the  wish  for  retaliation  in 
the  circle  of  the  German  Naval  League 
as  a  representative  of  the  nation  which 
would  influence  public  opinion  and 
place  the  Government  in  a  very  dis- 
agreeable position  by  trying  to  force 
it  to  change  its  programme  through 
undue  pressure,   difficult   to  ignore. 

"In  a  letter  which  Lord  Esher 
caused  to  be  published  a  short  time 
ago  he  wrote  that  every  German,  from 
the  Emperor  down  to  the  last  man, 
wished  for  the  downfall  of  Sir  John 
Fisher.  Now,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  tell 
whether  the  supervision  of  the  foun- 
dations and  drains  of  royal  palaces 
is  apt  to  qualify  somebody  for  the 
jiKlgment  of  naval  affairs  in  general. 
As  far  as  regards  German  affairs,  the 
phrase  is  a  piece  of  unmitigated  bal- 
derdash, and  has  created  immense 
merriment  in  the  circles  of  those  here 
who  know.  But  I  venture  to  think 
that  such  things  ought  not  to  be  writ- 
ten by  people  who  arc  highly  placed, 
as  they  are  liable  to  hurt  public  feel- 
ings over  here. 

"'Of  course,  I  need  not  assure  you 
that  nobody  here  dreams  of  wishing 
to  influence  Great  Britain  in  the 
choice  of  those  to  whom  she  means  to 
give  the  direction  of  her  navy  or  to 
disturb  them  in  the  fulfillment  of  their 
noble  task.  It  is  expected  that  the 
choice  w'ill  alwa,vs  fall  on  the  best 
and  ablest,  and  their  deeds  will  be 
followed  with  interest  and  admiratiou 
bv  their  brother  officers  lu  the  German 
Navy. 

""It  is,  therefore,  preposterous  to  in- 
fer tluit  the  German  authorities  work 
for  or  against  persons  In  official  posi- 
tions in  foreign  countries.  It  is  as 
ridiculous  as  it  is  untrue,  and  I  hereby 
repudiate  such  calumny.  Besides,  to 
my  humble  notion,  this  perpetual  quot- 
ing of  the  German  danger  is  utterly 
unworthy  of  the  great  British  Nation, 
with  its  world-wide  empire  and  mighty 
navy.  There  is  something  nearly  In- 
dici"ous  about  it.  The  foreigners  in 
other  countries  might  easily  conclude 
that  Germans  must  be  an  exception- 
ally strong  lot,  as  they  seem  to  be  able 
to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the 
British,  who  are  five  times  their  su- 
periors. 

"I  hope  your  Lordship  will  read 
these  liues  with  kind  consideration, 
The.v  are  written  by  one  who  is  an 
ardent  admirer  of  your  si)lendld  navy, 
who  wishes  It  all  success,  and  who 
hopes  that  Its  ensign  ma.v  ever  wave 
on  the  same  side  as  the  German 
Navy's,  and  by  one  who  is  proud  to 
wear  a  British  naval  uniform  of  Ad- 
miral of  the  Fleet,  which  was  con- 
ferred on  him  by  the  late  great  Queen 
of  blessed  memory, 

"Once  more,  the  German  naval  bill 
is  not  aimed  at  England  and  is  not  a 
challenge  to  British  supremacy  of  the 
sea,  which  will  remain  unchallenged 
for  generations  to  come.  Let  us  all 
remember  the  warning  Admiral  Sir 
John    Fisher    gave    to    his    hearer*    In 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


November,  wheu  so  cleverly  lie  cau- 
tioned them  not  to  get  scared  by  using 
the  admirable  phrase  'If  Eve  had  not 
always  kept  her  eye  on  the  apple  she 
would  not  have  eaten  it,  and  we  would 
not  now  be  bothered  with  clothes.' 
"I  remain  yours  truly, 

"WILLIAM  L  R., 
"Admiral  of  the  Fleet" 
— The  New  York  Times. 


GERMANY'S  STRONG  CASE. 

"The  American,"  of  Marion,  Va.,  in 
its  issue  of  February  25th,  says  edi- 
torially : 

"The  refusal  of  Great  Britain  to 
permit  the  United  States  or  neutral 
countries  to  send  foodstuffs  to  the 
civilians  of  Germany  violates  all  the 
laws  of  civilized  warfare,  and  is  a  blot 
upon  a  Christian  nation.        *        *        « 

"The  British  Government  In  1S12 
claimed,  as  it  is  claiming  now,  supreme 
authority  for  regulating  the  laws  of 
commerce  on  the  high  seas  both  as  to 
belligerents  and  neutral  nations,  and 
also  for  fixing  to  suit  herself,  regards 
the  rules  that  should  control  naval 
warfare.      «      *      * 


"Then  the  merchant  vessels  of  the 
United  States,  according  to  the  state- 
ments of  President  Madison,  "freighted 
with  the  products  of  our  soil  and  In- 
dustry, or  returning  with  the  honest 
proceeds  of  them,  were  wrested  from 
their  lawful  destinations,  confiscated 
by  prize  courts,  no  longer  the  organs 
of  public  law.  but  the  instruments  of 
arbitrary  edicts.' 

"Then,  as  now.  Great  Britain  was 
asserting  her  authority  as  'mistress  of 
the  seas.'  a  position  she  has  claimed 
and  held  ever  since  it  was  won  for  her 
in  the  sixteenth  century  by  her  piratical 
admirals — Drake.  Hawkins,  and  Mor- 
gan— who  were  knighted  and  feasted 
by  royalty  because  of  the  successes 
they  won  as  buccaneers.  The  war  of 
1,S12  did  not  end  at  Trafalgar,  but  had 
a  bloody  and  humiliating  end  for  Eng- 
land at  New  Orleans.     *     *     * 

"Why  does  Mr.  Jeffre.v  speak  of  Ger- 
mans as  the  'barbarian  nation?'  They 
are  of  his  own  kindred,  the  only  pdre 
Teutonic  nation  on  earth.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  blood  which  flows  in  our  veins 
is  Teutonic ;  and  if  the  Englishman,  by 
birth  or  descent,  has  any  right  to  the 


claim  of  a  higher  civilization,  he  must 
base  that  claim  not  upon  his  Anglo- 
Saxon  origin,  but  to  the  influences  of 
other     tribes     of     the    Teutonic     race. 

*     *     * 

"Who  was  it  that  saved  Great  Brit- 
ain from  defeat  at  Waterloo,  and  Bel- 
gium from  permanent  annexation  as  a 
French  provice?  The  so-called  German 
barbarians.  At  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo the  Duke  of  Wellington  command- 
ing the  allied  forces  was  being  crushed 
by  the  army  of  France.  In  his  sore 
strait  the  Iron  Duke  exclaimed :  'Oh, 
for  night  or  Bliicher!'  Before  night 
came,  Bliicher  arrived  upon  the  scene 
with  his  army  of  Prussian  barbarians, 
saved  the  battle  and  rescued  Welling- 
ton from  certain  defeat.  Since  then 
Great  Britain  has  been  the  enemy  of 
its  savior  at  Waterloo ;  and  since  then 
the  Germans  have  developed  into  bar- 
barians."   *     *    * 

It  is  refreshing  to  see  this  Virginia 
paper  come  out  fearlessly  on  the  side 
of  right,  the  more  so  as  Mr.  Pendle- 
ton, its  editor,  is  not  one  of  those  dread- 
ful "hyphenated  Americans." — From 
"The  Crucible." 


British  War  News 
The  Press  Must  Assist  Us  in  Fighting  Our  Battles 


AN  ENGIilSH  LIE  NAILED. 


WAR  NEWS. 


The  Story  that  193  Belgian  Catholic 

Priests  Were  Shot  or  Mutilated 

Is  a  Base  Fabrication. — All 

Priests   .Arrested   Have 

Been  Set  Fi-ee. 


"Irish  World,"  March  13,  1915. 

With  reference  to  the  alleged  mal- 
treatment of  Belgian  priests  by  the 
German  authorities  in  Belgium,  the 
German  Information  Service,  at  the 
instance  of  the  German  Embassy  in 
Washington,  has  issued  the  follow- 
ing statement: 

"The  London  Times  recently  pub- 
lished a  much  noticed  letter,  signed 
by  a  certain  Wilfrid  Ward,  according 
to  which  it  was  alleged  that  the  Ger- 
man authorities  had  taken  severe  re- 
prisals against  Belgians  who  had  tes- 
tified as  to  German  atrocities  before 
an  English  commission  of  investiga- 
tion. The  letter  quoted  a  statement 
of  the  Observer,  according  to  which 
193  Catholic  priests  'whose  names 
are  unknown'  have  been  shot,  in- 
jured, mutilated,  or  made  prisoners. 

"The  German  Information  Service 
is  advised  by  the  German  Embassy  at 
Washington  that  the  above  state- 
ments are  devoid  of  all  truth  and 
are  nothing  but  a  malicious  fabrica- 
tion. In  a  report  to  the  Imperial 
Chancellor  the  chief  of  the  German 
civil  administration  in  Belgium, 
Freiherr  von  der  Lacken,  says: 

"  'In  so  far  as  Belgian  priests  have 
become  victims  of  the  present  war,  it 
has  merely  been  due  to  their  unlaw- 
ful behavior  against  the  German 
troops.  Those  who  have  been  made 
prisoners  and  were  interned  in  Ger- 
many have  been  released  and  have 
returned  to  Belgium.'  " 


E.xtracts,   Editorial,  The  World,  New 
York. 

Neither  side  has  had  a  monopoly 
of  the  taking  in  this  war.  If  there 
is  more  of  it  on  the  side  of  the 
allies,  that  preponderance  is  easily 
explained  by  the  fact  that  more  war 
news  of  all  kinds  comes  from  those 
sources.  The  untruthful  reports 
against  which  Mr.  Prieth  protests  are 
not  part  of  a  deliberate  campaign 
of  "slander,  vituperation  and  boast- 
ing," as  he  thinks.  They  are  an  in- 
evitable result  of  such  a  censorship 
as  all  the  governments  have  applied. 
Correspondents  are  not  allowed  at 
the  front.  In  the  German  army  they 
are  wholly  under  the  ban,  and  corre- 
spondents everywhere  have  to  be 
guided  not  by  what  they  see,  but  by 
what  they  are  told.' 

There  is  no  more  unsatisfactory 
way  of  gathering  news;  yet  in  re- 
spect to  the  main  operations  of  the 
different  armies,  the  American  people 
in  particular  have  been  kept  remark- 
ably well  informed.  Nothing  reflects 
more  credit  upon  the  energy  and  re- 


'And  what  the  correspondents  are 
not  told  they  supply  from  their  own 
imagination,  "The  World's"  editorial 
writer  forgot  to  add.  That  helps  the 
London-Paris-Petrograd  War  News 
Lies  Factory.  The  war  correspond- 
ents thus  get  even  with  the  nasty 
German  barbarians  for  being  pre- 
vented to  follow  their  columns.  But 
"The  World"  forgets  Mr.  James 
O'Donnell  Bennett  and  his  four  com- 
panions who  signed  the  famous 
"Round  Robin."  They  are  not  guided 
"by  what  they  are  told." — The  Pub- 
lisher of  "War  Echoes," 


sourcefulness  of  the  American  press 
than  the  manner  in  which  it  has 
overcome  the  obstacles  that  military 
despotism  and  a  rigid  censorship 
have  imposed  upon  a  correct  report- 
ing of  this  war. 

Fakes  there  have  been,  and  plenty 
of  them,  but  tew  have  survived  the 
publicity  of  24  hours.  Where  the 
news  proved  to  be  wrong  it  has  been 
corrected  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
there  is  no  important  particular  in 
which  readers  of  American  news- 
papers are  misinformed  except  in 
matters  in  which  the  conflicting  re- 
ports from  both  sides  make  it  impos- 
sible to  separate  the  true  from  the 
false. 

Of  the  complaints  about  the  news 
which  come  to  The  World,  we  have 
found  that  in  a  majority  of  cases 
the  fault  was  with  the  reader.  Ru- 
mors that  were  printed  as  rumors 
he  had  persisted  in  taking  as  direct 
statements  of  facts.  Unofficial  re- 
ports printed  as  unofficial  reports  he 
has  twisted  into  official  reports. 
Even  obvious  typographical  errors' 
have  been  construed  as  proof  of  gross 
unfairness  or  shocking  ignorance  on 
the  part  of  the  newspapers. 

The  man  who  reads  the  New  York 
newspapers  every  day  with  an  intelli- 
gent and  open  mind,  and  who  care- 
fully checks  up  not  only  the  correc- 
tions of  misleading  false  reports  but 


-We  refer  to  the  article  "WMll  the 
New  York  'World'  Explain?"  printed 
on  another  page.  Does  the  "World's" 
editorial  writer  explain  the  mutila- 
tion of  Mr.  Vieweger's  letter  as  one  of 
the  "obvious  typographical  errors" 
which  the  readers  "with  an  intelli- 
gent and  open  mind"  should  have  no 
trouble  in  detecting? — The  Publish- 
er of  "War  Echoes." 


GREAT  BRITAIN   AND  INTERNATIONAL  LAW 


119 


the  corroborations  of  correct  reports, 
will  have  very  clear  and  accurate  in- 
formation as  to  the  general  progress 
of  the  war."  More  than  that  no  news- 
paper can  hope  to  do  for  its  readers. 


SICK  OF  IT!     WHY  NOT? 


"We  ask  the  readers  of  Anglo- 
American  newspapers  of  the  New 
York  "World"  brand,  of  course  only 
those  "with  an  intelligent  and  open 
"Tiind:"  did  they  ever  attempt  to  se- 
cure "a  very  clear  and  accurate  in- 
formation as  to  the  general  progress 
of  the  war"  by  following  the  sugges- 
tions of  "The  World's"  editorial 
writer?  If  they  attempted  it,  did 
they  succeed?  We  strongly  doubt 
whether  "The  World's"  intelligent 
editorial  writer  with  his  open  mind 
could  himself,  by  following  his  own 
suggestions,  accomplish  the  herculean 
*ask  of  checking  up  "not  only  the 
corrections  of  misleading  false  re- 
ports but  the  corroborations  of  cor- 
rect reports." 

To  attempt  to  sift  out  the  truth 
from  so  many  prejudiced  news  and 
editorial  columns,  from  rumors,  from 
official  and  unofficial  reports,  from 
"obvious  typographical  errors,"  as 
"The  World"  expects  its  readers  to 
do,  even  from  deliberate  lies,  would 
be  a  task  not  worth  the  effort,  for 
"Gratiano  speaks  an  infinite  deal  of 
nothing,  more  than  any  man  in  all 
Venice;  his  reasons  are  as  two  grains 
of  wheat  hid  in  two  bushels  of  chaff; 
you  shall  seek  all  day  ere  you  find 
them  and  when  you  have  them  they 
are  not  worth  the  search." — The 
Publisher  of  "War  Echoes." 


Editorial  from  the  "Milwaukee  Free 
Press,"    October    7,    1914. 

It  is  not  easy  to  understand  the  psy- 
chology of  the  expression,  "I  am  sick  of 
war  news."  It  seems  hardly  possible  that 
any  one  should  be  so  narrow  in  his  In- 
terests, so  lacking  in  human  sympathy  as 
to  become  surfeited  with  the  details  of  one 
of  the  most  portentous  crises  of  humanity. 

Here  is  the  opening  paragraph  of  an 
editorial  in  the  New  York  .Sun  which 
must  have  provoked  the  hilarity  of  the 
nethermost  pit. 

The  American  public  is  not  sick  of 
war  "news,"  but  it  is  sick,  mighty  sick, 
of  the  miserable  fabrications,  the  verbal 
debauchery,  that  papers  like  the  Sun 
are  trying  to  ram  down  the  throats  of 
their  readers  under  the  guise  of  "news. " 

When  the  intelligent  reader  sees  one 
issue  giving  the  lie  to  another  in  the 
fairy  tales  that  are  being  relayed  over 
I'aris  and  Ix)ndon ;  when  he  reads  ac- 
counts of  Uussian  victories  one  hundred 
miles  distant  from  the  location  of  the 
troops ;  when  he  discovers  the  allied 
correspondents  describing  in  detail  the 
very  reverse  of  what  the  official  bul- 
letins state  as  fact ;  he  tosses  aside 
sheets  of  the  Sun's  journalistic  policy 
and  justly  exclaims :  "I  am  sick  of  war 
news !" 

Nor  is  this  the  worst  of  It.  Seventy- 
five  per  cent  of  the  alleged  news  in 
papers  of  this  class  is  boldly  and  vic- 
iously anti-German.  In  headline  and 
feiiture  story,  as  in  the  handling  of 
news,  he  who  reads  may  discover  the 
imprint  of  the  cloven  hoof. 


No  alleged  defeat  of  the  Germans 
too  preposterous,  no  alleged  atrocity 
too  vile,  no  alleged  incompetence, 
confusion  or  disorganization  of  the 
German  army  too  absurd,  to  deny  it 
space  or  heralding  in  the  columns  of 
this  press. 

"Cut  out  the  army  of  words,"  writes 
a  distinguished  national  legislator  to 
the  Sun,  "just  give  us  information." 
Replies  that  journal  with  seemingly 
outraged  patience : 

He  does  not  realize  that  there  are  not 
words  enough  to  give  the  information,  that 
language  is  bankrupted  by  the  facts,  that 
it  is  only  by  heaping  Ossa  upon  Pelion 
that  some  dim  picture  of  the  reality  can  be 
thrown  before  the  eyes  of  such  as  will 
read  with  imagination  and  feeling. 

This  is  rich. 

Night  after  night,  our  copy  readers 
dump  reams  of  what  the  Sun  considers 
"information" — stuff  that  intelligence, 
reason  and  the  very  map  at  our  elbows 
condemns  as  bold-faced  invention. 

Language  is  not  bankrupted  by  the 
facts,  but  by  the  hectic  fancy  of  the 
penny-a-liners  who  are  composing  these 
yarns,  miles  away  from  the  smell  of 
gunpowder,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
British  censor. 

And  these  romances,  anti-German 
with  scjircely  an  exception,  the  Sun  asks 
its  readers  to  peruse  "with  imagination 
and  feeling." 

Sick  of  war  news?  No.  But  the 
people  are  getting  heartily  sick  of  a  cer- 
tain kind  of  American  journalism, 
whose  hotbeds  are  New  York  and  Chi- 
cago, that  is  trying  to  prostitute  Amer- 
ican sense  and  sentiment  in  the  inter- 
ests of  the  foes  of  Germany. 


Great  Britain  and  International  Law 


BKITAIN'S     COWARDLY     ATTACTi 
0.\  liKGAL  XEfTRAL  KIGHTS. 


From   "Milwaukee   Free  Press," 
March  20,  1915. 

The  British  government  promises 
that  the  measures  which  it  takes  will 
involve  no  "risk  to  neutral  ships  or  to 
neutral  or  non-combatant  life"  and  will 
accord  with  "a  strict  observance  of  the 
dictates  of  humanity."  But  that  is 
merely  sugar  coating  a  bitter  dose.  No 
neutral  nation  can  be  any  the  less 
averse  to  surrendering  its  established 
rights  on  the  high  seas  because  the 
belligoreut  who  is  trying  to  take  them 
away  agrees  to  conduct  holduj)  opera- 
tions in  a  more  or  less  civil  and  consid- 

\  erate  manner. 

I 

No  Reason  to  Abandon  Rights. 

Great  Britain's  new  program  is  based 
on  a  theory  which  cannot  he  justified  in 
law  or  in  reason.  It  is  a  piece  of  arro- 
gance for  any  one  nation  to  hold  that 
international  understandings  must  yield 
in  an  emergency  to  its  teiui)orary  self- 
interest.  That  Is  what  Great  Britain  is 
doing  in  calling  on  neutral  nations  to 
suspend  commerce  with  Germany,  al- 
though Germany's  ports  are  not  block- 
aded and  Great  Britain  declines  to  ac- 
cept the  military  risks  of  blockading 
I  hem.  There  is  no  reason  why  the 
t'nited  .States  or  any  other  neutral  na- 
tion should  abandon  the  right  to  trade 
with  Germany  simply  because  a  volun- 


tary cessation  of  such  trade  would  al- 
low Great  Britain  and  her  allies  to  reap 
all  the  benefits  of  a  legal  blockade  with- 
out incurring  any  of  the  inconveniences 
of   maintaining  one. 

We  Cannot  Submit. 

We  are  asked  to  participate,  at  least 
passively,  in  a  punitive  operation 
launched  by  one  belligerent  against  an- 
other. We  cannot  any  more  submit  to 
Great  Britain's  demand  that  to  sur- 
render our  right  to  trade  with  un- 
blockaded  German  iwrts  or  with  Ger- 
many through  neutral  ports  (subject,  of 
course,  to  contniband  restrictions)  than 
we  could  have  allowed  our.selves  to  be 
intimidated  by  Germany's  "war  zone" 
threat  into  abandoning  our  trade  with 
the  unblockade<l  ports  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland. 

The  excuse  given  for  the  order  in 
council  is  that  it  is  a  reprisal.  That 
excuse  may  hold  against  Germany,  but 
It  cannot  hold  against  neutrals.  Just 
because  Germany  has  sunk  allied  mor- 
chantinen  and  has  Intimated  that  her 
submarines  might  accidentally  sink  neu- 
tral  morcbantnien  Great  Britain  is  not 
justified  In  going  still  further  and  say- 
ing that  neutral  merchantmen  may  not 
hereafter  carry  any  goods  destined  to 
Germany  or  outward  hound  from  Ger- 
many. 

British  Order  FIngrnnt. 

If  one  combatant  In  a  nunrrel  strikes 
out  wildly   at   an    Innocent    liystander. 


that  does  not  warrant  the  other  com- 
batant in  turning  to  and  knocking  the 
innocent  victim  out.  What  the  belliger- 
ents do  to  one  another  does  not  directly 
concern  us.  But  when  either  attacks 
us  as  an  incident  of  his  warfare  on  the 
other  we  must  defend  ourselves.  The 
United  States  should  not  be  faithful  to 
its  honorable  traditions  as  a  champion 
of  neutral  interests  if  it  did  not  protest 
with  all  its  energy  against  the  British 
order  in  council's  Hagrant  subversion  of 
international  rights. 

Voicing  its  regret  that  England 
should  voluntarily  relegiite  obligations 
which  she  bad  defended,  the  Spring- 
field IJopublican   says: 

It  is  with  the  deepest  regret  that 
many  American  sympathizers  with  Eng- 
land contemplate  this  development  since 
In  its  complete  disregard  of  established 
usage  and  treaty  obligation  the  Brit- 
ish measure  of  retaliation  against  Ger- 
many's submarine  warfare  deprives 
Great  Britain  of  very  much  of  the  mor- 
al strength  that  had  come  from  her  de- 
fense of  the  sanctity  of  solemn  interna- 
tional obligations. 

Violates  International  Law. 

The  develoi)ment  may  in  time  be  all 
the  more  deplorable  if  this  new  mani- 
festation of  England's  determination  to 
"rule  the  sea"  without  scrupulous  re- 
gard for  the  established  rights  of  neu- 
trals arouses  resentment  in  neutral 
countries,  particularly  In  America, 
whose  history  in  the  Napoleonic  period 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


was  identified  with  a  struggle  to  force 
powerful  belligerents  to  treat  neutrals 
with  respect.  It  is  impossible  to  ignore 
the  fact  that  in  their  measures  of  re- 
taliation the  belligerents  of  today  are 
virtually  proceeding  ou  th;  theory  that 
law  must  yield  to  force  even  in  the  case 
of  the  innocent  bystander.  Pushed  to 
its  logical  conclusion,  the  doctrine  that 
military  necessity  Imows  no  law  would 
leave  neutral  states  to  exist  merely  on 
sufferance.  And  in  practice  it  actually 
makes  over  international  law  regit  rdless 
of  the  wishes  and  the  vital  interests  of 
nations  remaining  at  peace  except  in 
so  far  as  some  neutrals  may  be  poten- 
tially strong  enough  to  modify  bellig- 
erent pretensions  and  hold  belligerent 
action  in  restraint. 

Would  Destroy  Trade. 

Great  Britain  will  assert  the  right  to 
seize  neutral  ships  and  cargoes  any- 
where on  the  high  seas  and  send  them 
before  British  prize  courts  if  those 
ships  are  engaged  in  any  kind  of  trade 
with  Germany  either  by  way  of  Ger- 
man ports  or  by  way  of  neutral  ports. 
Neutral  ships  with  uoncontraband  car- 
goes bound  for  Genoa  or  Naples  are  to 
be  overhauled  and  taken  to  some  Brit- 
ish port  for  judicial  proceedings,  more 
or  less  protracted,  on  the  mere  suspi- 
cion, perhaps,  that  the  cargoes  have  a 
German  destination.  A  British  cruiser 
lying  in  wait  off  New  York  or  Boston 
may  seize  these  ships  almost  before 
they  have  passed  from  sight  of  land. 

One  notes  with  satisfaction  that  in 
no  case  will  uoncontraband  cargoes  be 
confiscated  and  that  provision  is  made 
for  the  restoration  of  the  cargoes,  or  a 
money  equivalent,  to  neutral  owners 
who  may  establish  their  property 
rights.  But  it  cannot  be  argued  from 
this  fact  that  a  neutral  trade  hitherto 
lawful  will  not  be  virtually  destroyed 
nor  that  neutral  rights  hitherto  re- 
garded as  firmly  established  will  not 
be  wiped  out  to  satisfy  presumed  bellig- 
erent needs  on  the  arbitrary  decree  of 
a  single  nation  at  war. 
Duty  of  United  States  Government. 

But,  regardless  of  the  injury  done,  it 
is  impossible  that  our  government 
should  consent  to  the  principle  that 
these  nations  at  war  may  rewrite  the 
rules  of  international  law  to  please 
themselves  while  war  is  in  progress 
without  admitting  the  right  of  neutrals 
to  be  heard — nay,  more  than  that,  the 
right  of  neutrals  to  a  full  share  in  de- 
termining what  the  changes  in  the  rules 
shall  be.  If  international  law,  as  now 
appears  to  be  the  fact,  is  being  remade 
it  is  the  duty  of  our  governemnt,  in  the 
interest  of  the  nations  at  peace,  to  de- 
mand proportional  representation  in  the 
lawmaking  that  is  going  on. 


CONTRABAND  LIST  IS  GROWING. 


Britain    Enforcing   New   Prohibitions 
on  Trade  With  Germany. 


[Correspondence  of  the  Associated 
Press.] 

London,  England.  Jan.  21. — Gradu- 
ally the  economic  phases  of  the  war 
are  becoming  more  apparent  in  Great 
Britain.  The  military  activities,  which 
monoix)lized  attention  at  the  opening 
of  the  struggle,  are  now  overshadowed 
at  times  b.v  the  blockade  of  the  North 
Sea  and  the  strict  measures  the  navy 


is  enforcing  against  German  commerce 
and  trade  with  the  neutrals  adjoining 
Germany,  which  have  been  supplying 
foodstutts  to   Germany  and  Austria. 

i'  rom  time  to  time  the  contraband 
list  has  been  lengthened  as  It  became 
possible  for  English  otticiais  to  make  a 
more  thorough  study  of  the  needs  of 
their  adversaries  and  the  probable 
source  of  supplies.  Every  week  Eng- 
land also  is  increasing  the  list  of  arti- 
cles the  exijortation  of  which  from  the 
English  isles  is  prohibited. 

Ihe  latest  commodity  to  go  ou  this 
list  is  copra,  or  dried  cocoanut.  Im- 
mediately after  the  exportation  of 
copra  was  forbidden  the  price  fell  ap- 
preciably in  England,  as  little  of  the 
material  is  consumed  here.  The  Ger- 
mans extract  an  oil  from  the  cocoanut, 
which  is  used  as  the  basis  for  oleo- 
margarine. 

The  Philippines  are  the  greatest  pro- 
ducers of  copra  and  will  probably  be 
the  greatest  sufferers  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  getting  the  product  to  Ger- 
man manufacturers.  It  is  known  that 
within  a  few  days  additional  lists  of 
oU  bearing  products  will  be  put  on  the 
same  list  with  copra.  Peanuts,  palm- 
nuts,  sesame  seeds,  lard  and  several 
other  products  which  Germans  use  ex- 
tensively in  making  artificial  butter 
and  cooking  fat  are  to  be  barred  from 
exportation.  In  the  colder  sections  of 
Germany  imitation  butters  are  in  great 
demand,  while  the  troops  use  large 
quantities  of  oleomargarine  and  other 
substitutes. 


THE  PEACE  OF  THE  ANGLO- 
S.IXONS. 

A  book  with  the  above  title  was 
written  by  Major  Stewart  L.  Murray, 
of  the  British  army,  In  1905  and  ad- 
dressed to  the  laboring  class  of  Eng- 
land. Lord  Koberts  wrote  a  lauda- 
tory preface,  "with  pleasure,"  as  he 
stated. 

The  following  are  a  few  extracts 
which  we  copy  from  an  article  by  Dr. 
Edmund  von  Mach  in  "The  Father- 
land :" 

"It  cannot  be  too  clearly  stated  that 
international  law  Is  no  protection  ex- 
cept to  the  strong,  and  that  the  only 
laws  which  great  powers  recognize  as 
binding  are  those  of  power  and  expedi- 
ency" (page  44).  "The  worst  error  In 
war  is  a  mistaken  spirit  of  benevolence. 
*  *  *  It  was  not  in  such  a  spirit 
of  weakness  that  we  wrested  the  com- 
mand of  the  sea  from  the  Dutch,  that 
we  fought  the  great  struggle  against 
Napoleon,  or  seized  the  Danish  fleet  at 
Copenhagen  in  1S07  to  avert  its  possi- 
hle  use  against  us''   (page  48). 

The  question  is.  "MTio  will  have  the 
supremacy  *  *  *?  To  share  and 
agree  is  impossible"  (page  SI).  "Let 
us,  therefore,  make  up  our  minds  once 
for  all  that  we  will  be  supreme  upon 
the  sea,  cost  what  it  may,  and  let  us 
get  to  work  at  once.  Let  us  add  at 
once  another  5,000,000  jwunds  yearly  to 
our  shipbuilding  program  and  recoup 
ourselves  from  the  foreigner,  and  If 
necessary,  from  futurity"  (page  16S). 

"If  one  nation  yields  to  another  na- 
tion, such  weakness  only  encourages  its 
opponent  to  play  the  same  game  of 
threats  again"  (page  39).  "Instead  of 
listening  to  the  unpractical  nonsense 
of  those  who  talk  much  about  the  wick- 
edness of  war,  let  us  regard  war  as  it 


really  is — as  an  ineiitable  event  in  the 
life  of  each  generation"  (page  40). 
"Kussla  interprets  international  law 
simply  as  pleases  herself,  without  the 
slightest  reference  to  anybody  else's 
opinion.  And  so  will  every  other  bel- 
ligerent who  is  strong  enough"  (page 
44). 

When  people  In  such  high  places  In 
the  council  of  the  British  nation,  as 
Lord  Koberts  undoubtedly  was,  sub- 
scribe "with  pleasure"  to  such  senti- 
ments then  may  God  protect  us  from 
the  "peace  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,"  for 
it  is  the  peace  of  the  beast  in  the 
jungle  rather  than  of  a  civilized  na- 
tion. 

And  incidentally  this  book  is  the 
most  shocking  and  the  most  complete 
list  of  England's  political  crimes  which 
ever  was  compiled,  and  well  may  King 
George  exclaim :  "God  protect  me 
against  my  friends!" — From  "The 
Crucible." 


PROTEST   AGAINST   TURCO 
SOLDIERS. 

In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Minnesota 
"Staats  Tiding,"  Editor  Schonberg, 
in  an  editorial  bearing  the  caption, 
"The  Black  Soldiers  of  France," 
makes  these  comments: 

"According  to  reports  from  Mar- 
seilles, France  is  importing  native 
troops  from  Northern  Africa  for  use 
against  the  Germans.  The  French, 
who  are  so  anxious  to  be  looked  upon 
as  the  elite  of  all  civilization  in  the 
world  and  the  bearers  of  the  highest 
humanity,  really  intend  to  repeat  the 
extreme  barbarities  of  1870.  'We  did 
not  think  that  it  was  possible  that 
they  again  would  use  these  half  wild 
people  in  European  war  after  the 
horrible  brutality  of  the  North  Afri- 
cans in  1870. 

"Luckily  they  did  not  reach  the 
battlefields  as  often  as  they  like 
under  the  cover  of  darkness  to 
torture  the  wounded.  It  was  not 
French  discipline,  however,  that  held 
them  back  from  so  doing,  but  the 
German  weapons  that  nearly  always 
were  masters  of  the  battlefields.  If 
the  work  of  the  French  had  been 
successful  these  half  wild  people 
would  have  carried  on  their  barbaric 
practices  not  only  on  the  battlefields: 
but  she  would  also  have  taken  them 
into  the  enemy's  country.  How  they 
would  have  behaved  toward  the  Ger- 
man women  we  dare  not  think.  That 
a  cultured  nation  of  Europe  should 
sully  its  shield  of  arms  by  driving 
half-wilds  against  their  European 
opponents  is  beyond  understanding. 
Against  such  an  act  one  may  have 
the  right  to  protest  in  the  name  of 
humanity  and  express  indignation  at 
France  for  daring  for  a  second  time 
to  do  anything  so  terrible  in  the 
face  of  all   Europe. 

"But  the  Swedes  believe  that  the 
righteous  God  knows  on  which  side 
the  deepest  civilization  is  to  be  found. 
We,  therefore,  with  faith  foresee  the 
result  of  this  'speed  hunting'  which 
has  been  taken  up  by  Slavs  and 
Gauls — alas,  with  the  help  of  Eng- 
land— and  which  long  has  been  pre- 
pared for  as  a  blow  to  German 
culture  on  the  continent." — Re- 
printed from  the  "News  of  the  War 
in  Europe,"  supplied  by  "The 
Fatherland,"  New  York. 


BRITISH   CHAR.\CTER   IN   ACTION" 


121 


Great  Britain's  Position — Some  Remarkable  Confessions 


THE   ELTIOPEAX   WAR. 

(Conclusion.) 

This  is  the  tirrtftli  diiil  tlif  lii.tl  ur- 
lirlf  of  a  scricn  on  THE  III  UorE.W 
WAK.  irliich  apiiiiircd  in  the  Ortiibcr 
Siimlxr  (,f  Till-:  OI'EX  VOVRT.  under 
llir  title  ■•Citnclii'^iiin."  written  hy  the 
Editor,  Dr.  Paul  Cams. 

Conxult  the  IXDEX  for  the  romplete 
xerie.t.  and,  in  order  to  .tee  where  in 
the  various  Chapters  of  the  hook,  the 
different  artieles  of  this  trejiti.se  moi/ 
he  found,  look  f<rr  FAItOPK.W  WAR 
t'I'IlEi.  In  tliis  wan  the  reader  mail 
read  the  entire  series  of  artieles  in 
their  original  order,  if  he  chooses  to  do 
so.  irhile  the  present  arranr/ement  still 
fiins  liini  the  ailrantaf/e  of  bringinij 
the  nirious  artieles  under  their  proper, 
respective  Chapter-headings  of  the 
hook. 

Thus  is  a  series  of  creeptionally  fine 
artieles  on  the  stihiect  in  (/uestion,  and 
Iheii  hear  a  uiiii/ue  and  important  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  lie  sure  to  read 
them  also  in  their  original  order. — 
Editor,  "War  Echoes." 

A  few  personal  comments  may 
throw  light  on  the  fundamental  con- 
ception upon  which  my  opinion  of 
the  war  rests.  I  have  been,  for  al- 
most my  entire  life,  since  I  began  to 
think,  an  advocate  of  the  federation 
of  the  great  Teutonic  nations,  as  a 
guarantee  of  the  peace  of  the  world 
— Great  Britain  and  her  colonies, 
Germany  with  Austria,  and  the 
I'nited  States. 

This  political  ideal  of  mine  is  not 
founded  upon  pan  -  Germanism, 
though  it  does  not  in  the  least  ex- 
clude it.  Modern  civilization  has 
been  worked  out  in  England,  Ger- 
many and  the  United  States.  Here 
are  the  centers  of  progress,  here  live 
the  people  from  whom  we  may  ex- 
pect further  progress,  deeper  thought, 
clearer  science,  and  advancement  in 
a  conception  as  well  as  in  a  realiza- 
tion of  noble  humanity.  Other 
smaller  countries  cluster  about  them; 
they  are  either  of  kindred  blood  or 
kindred  language  and  thought.  They 
belong  to  them  as  younger  brothers 
who  look  up  respectfully  to  their 
elder  brothers. 

If  these  three  groups  of  nations, 
centering  about  Germany,  England 
and  the  I'nited  States,  stand  together, 
the  peace  of  the  world  will  be  as- 
sured. So  long  as  they  do  the  right, 
all  the  smaller  nationalities,  states 
and  groups  of  states  will  have  to 
behave,  and  the  peaceful  realization 
of  a  highly  cultured  civilization  will 
most  assuredly  be  ours.  But  now 
this  ideal — a  by  no  means  impossible 
one — has  become  an  illusion.  My 
hope  of  seeing  it  established  has  now, 
within  a  day,  turned  to  despair.  And 
why?  Because  one  brother  does  not 
want  another  one  to  grow  beyond  his 
present  stature.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
grew  at  first  more  quickly  than  the 
older  German,  but  since,  of  late,  the 
German  has  made  a  sudden  start, 
and  threatens  to  outdo  the  Saxon, 
the  specter  of  war  has  appeared,  and 
the    two    brothers    face    each    other, 


sword  in  hand.  And  the  end  will  be 
that  one  of  them  will  fall.  What  a 
tragedy  for  mankind!  Whatever 
the  final  result  may  be,  mankind, 
with  its  ideals,  will  be  the  loser. 

Woe  unto  those  villainous  advisers 
who  have  begun  the  war.  They 
think  themselves  wise,  but  they  are 
short-sighted.  They  appeal  to  the 
lowest  and  vilest  motives  of  their 
countrymen,  and  hope  to  enrich  their 
country  by  the  ruin  of  their  brothers. 
Woe  unto  themi  The  curse  of  their 
own  people  will  most  surely  fall  upon 
them.  So  far  the  English  people 
seem  only  to  have  expected  to  see  the 
Germans  crushed  between  the  French 
and  the  Russians.  But  what  if  Ger- 
many should  rise  beyond  her  present 
state,  and  develop  a  grandeur  of  un- 
told strength?  What  if  the  spirit  of 
God  should  come  upon  her,  and  she 
should  smite  her  foes,  and  chastise 
them  according  to  their  deserts? 
What  if,  after  conquering  her  Gallic 
enemy,  she  should  overcome  the 
giant  Slav,  and  finally  the  Saxon,  her 
own  wicked  brother  beyond  the  chan- 
nel? 

My  dear  English  friends!  I  love 
the  English  nation,  and  I  wish  that 
England  could  be  regenerated.  On 
my  last  visit  to  Europe  I  beheld  with 
joy  a  new  growth  in  France,  but  sen- 
sible thoughtful  minds  do  not  yet 
figure  sufficiently  in  her  politics. 
They  are  still  in  the  minority.  Any 
mob  of  self-styled  patriots  can  cry 
them  down,  and  if  they  should  ever 
dare  to  utter  an  honest  opinion  they 
would  be  denounced  as  traitors.*  In 
Germany  I  have  witnessed  an  almost 
incredible  advance  in  every  line,  and 
though  there  are  still  many  things 
which  have  not  my  approval,  I  must 
state  my  conviction  that,  upon  the 
whole,  the  life  of  the  nation  is  de- 
veloping in  the  right  direction.  Even 
a  hater  of  Germany  cannot  deny  her 
his  admiration.  In  England  condi- 
tions are  different;  wretched  poverty, 
almost  unknown  on  the  continent,  is 
apparent  in  the  very  streets  of  Lon- 
don, and  in  the  by-ways  of  the  coun- 
try. My  dear  good  English  friends, 
believe  me,  for  the  sake  of  your  own 
best  interests,  that  you  cannot  enrich 
your  poor  countrymen  by  ruining 
your  German  brothers  on  the  other 
side  of  the  channel.  It  will  do  you 
no  good  to  wipe  the  Teuton,  with  his 
competition,  off  of  the  face  of  the 
earth,  but  it  will  be  terrible  to  face 
him  when  he  rises  against  you  with 
all  his  might,  in  his  just  wrath.  Why 
did  Greece  fall?  Because  Sparta  and 
Athens  hated  each  other.  Will  you 
not  learn  from  history,  and  must  you 
repeat  the  sin  of  older  generations, 
only  to  reap  the  same  punishment? 
The  Germanic  civilization,  repre- 
sented by  Germany,  England  and  the 
United  States,  is  leading  now,  but  the 
Slav  hopes  to  take  their  place,  and 
the  Japanese,  the  most  active  people 
of  the  yellow  race,  are  filled  with 
ambition  also  to  enter  the  field.     An 


•M.  J.Tun'^s  was  against  the  w.tp  and 
he  w.Ts  shot  by  an  unknown  hand.  No 
serious  effort  appears  to  have  been 
made    to    punish    the   assassin. 


internecine  war  of  the  Germanic  na- 
tions is  apt  to  pave  the  way  for  both 
Slav  and  Asiatic  ascendency. 

As  a  friend  of  the  English,  and 
also  in  the  interest  of  the  further 
development  of  the  British  empire, 
I  cannot  help  feeling  a  grim  dis- 
satisfaction with  English  politics. 
The  present  war  which  Great  Brit- 
ain has  undertaken  against  Germany 
and  Austria-Hungary  is  against  the 
real,  the  vital,  and  the  all-important 
interest  of  Great  Britain;  hence  I 
believe  that  the  statesmen  who,  by 
their  advice,  their  conduct,  and  their 
decisions,  have  brought  about  this 
war,  have  shown  an  obvious  lack  of 
judgment  and  have  become  guilty  of 
gross  criminality. 

The  war  is  unjust,  the  leaders  of 
government  affairs  have  not  been 
fair  to  the  German  cause;  but,  in 
addition,  they  have  neglected  to  ac- 
quire even  the  most  superficial  in- 
formation about  the  ability  of  the 
German  people  to  wage  a  war,  and 
have  thoughtlessly  and  unnecessarily 
changed  a  vigorous,  powerful  and 
friendly  nation  into  a  most  formid- 
able foe.  The  consequences  of  this 
action  will  endure  into  the  most  dis- 
tant future,  and  can,  under  no  cir- 
cumstances, even  in  case  of  a  victory, 
ever  be  or  become  favorable.  And,  in 
addition,  England  will,  of  course, 
have  to  suffer  the  usual  curses  which 
follow  in  the  wake  of  war, — slaugh- 
ter and  ruin,  the  blighting  of  civili- 
zation and  culture,  of  industry  and 
commerce,  and  the  death  knell  of 
the  blessings  of  peace. 

The  men  of  England  who  have  ad- 
vocated the  war  and  have  stirred  the 
English  people  with  hatred,  are 
guilty  of  the  blackest  crime;  they 
have  committed  the  sin  against  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  sin  which  can 
never  be  forgiven.  If  I  were  an  Eng- 
lish citizen,  I  would  advocate  their 
removal  from  those  high  offices 
which  they  have  so  shamefully  dis- 
graced, and  would  even  go  so  far 
as  to  have  them  indicted  for  high 
treason  against  Great  Britain  for 
their  neglect  of  duty  and  because 
they  have  brought  upon  the  British 
empire  the  curse  of  evil  counsel. 

The  outbreak  of  war  between 
Great  Britain  and  Germany  has 
proved  to  me  the  greatest  and  sad- 
dest disappointment  of  my  life.  I 
have  investigated  the  conditions  and 
motives  which  led  to  it  with  sincere 
impartiality,  but  I  have  come  to  def- 
inite conclusions  which  place  the 
guilt  first  of  all,  mainly  and  almost 
exclusively  at  the  door  of  English 
diplomacy.  Shotild  I  be  mistaken. 
I  wish  to  be  refuted  not  by  general 
declarations  against  German  mili- 
tarism, by  denunciations  of  Kaiserism 
and  Prussianism,  such  as  betray 
mere  ignorance  and  prejudice,  but  by 
real  facts  or  good,  sound  arguments. 
I  am  open  to  conviction  and  I  shall 
carefully  study  all  answers  which 
contain  actual  points  worth  consider- 
ing, yea,  I  will  give  publicity  to  them 
and,  in  case  I  shall  have  to  change 
my  views,  promise  to  confess  my  er- 
rors openly  and  without  reluctance. 


122 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


WHY  WE  ARE  AT  WAR. 

lu  an  editorial  of  March  12th  the 
London  "Times"  says : 

"We  joined  the  Triple  Entente  be- 
cause we  realized,  however  late  in  the 
day,  that  the  time  of  'splendid  isola- 
tion' was  no  more.  We  reverted  to 
our  historical  policy  of  the  balance  of 
power,  and  we  reverted  to  it  for  the 
reasons  for  which  our  forefathers 
adopted  it.  They  were  not.  either  for 
them  or  for  us.  reasons  of  sentiment. 
They  were  self-regarding,  and  even 
selfish  reasons.  Chief  amongst  them 
certainly  was  a  desire  to  preserve  the 
peace  of  Europe,  but  it  was  the  chief 
only  because  to  preserve  that  peace 
was  the  one  certain  way  to  preserve 
our  own.    »     *     * 

"England  is  helping  her  allies  to 
fight  in  defense  of  their  soil  and  of 
their  homes  against  the  aggressor,  and 
she  is  proud  to  pour  out  her  blood  and 
her  treasure  in  so  sacred  a  cause.  But 
she  is  not  fighting  primarihj  for  Bel- 
gium or  for  Serbia,  for  France  or  for 
Rustic.  They  fill  a  great  place  in  her 
second.  The  first  place  belongs,  and 
rightly  belongs,  to  herself     *     *     * 

"It  is  to  .save  ourselves  from  the 
deadly  consequences  of  Germany's  con- 
sidered malignity  that  we  stand  in 
arms.  To  shield  our  homes  from  the 
murder  and  the  rape,  from  the  organ- 
ized loot  and  the  systematic  arson  we 
have  seen  across  the  seas ;  to  protect 
the  Empire  our  race  has  reared  at  so 
dear  a  cost;  to  secure  for  our  children 
and  for  mankind  the  spiritual  heritage 
of  which  it  is  the  embodiment  and  the 
guardian — these  are  the  ends  for  which 
we  are  launching  upon  the  battlefields 
of  France  the  gre^atest  and  the  most 
powerful  armies  our  history  has  ever 
linown ;  the  ends  for  which  England 
has  pledged  her  last  shilling  and  her 
last  man." 

It  was  pre-eminently  the  London 
"Times"  which  upheld  for  a  long  time 
the  fiction  of  Sir  Edward  Grey  that 
England  had  joined  "the  sacred  cause" 
of  Russia  (pardon  me  for  smiling!) 
and  France  because  Germany  violated 


the  neutrality  (so-called)  of  Belgium, 
but  the  ridicule  launched  against  this 
untenable  assertion  has  at  last  pierced 
even  the  thick  hide  of  John  Bull,  and 
his  retainers  have  received  orders  to 
press  lightly  henceforth  on  the  Belgium 
stop  and  to  sound  more  and  more 
loudly  the  note  of  England's  honor  and 
plighted  word  to  her  allies,  and  of 
her  self-interest. 

When  Russia  shall  have  made  a  sepa- 
rate peace  one  of  these  days  and  Eng- 
land shall  have  to  stand  more  and 
more  on  her  own  legs,  she  will,  per- 
haps, give  up  the  fiction  of  "Russia's 
sacred  cause,"  too,  and  acknowledge 
that  from  the  beginning  she  thought 
of  her  own  interest  only  and  consid- 
ered the  war  a  game  of  grab  and  noth- 
ing else. — From  "The  Crucible." 


WHAT   C.itlSED   THIS   WAR? 

In  an  interview  which  appeared  in 
the  London  "Daily  Chronicle"  of  Jan- 
uary 1,  1914,  that  is  to  sa.v,  only  seven 
months  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
Lloyd  George,  now  a  slanderous  enemy 
of  Germany,  made  the  following  re- 
marks : 

Flays  the  Press. 

"The  Agadir  incident  served  a  very 
useful  purpose  in  bringing  home  to 
these  two  great  countries  the  perils 
involved  in  the  atmosphere  of  suspicion 
which  had  been  created  and  main- 
tained by  the  politicians,  the  press  and 
certain  interests. 

"The  realization  of  the  imminence 
of  the  danger  came  as  a  great  shock, 
and  sanity  has  now  been  more  or  less 
restored  on  both  sides  of  the  North 
Sea. 

German  Militarism. 

"The  German  army  is  vital,  not 
merely  to  the  existence  of  the  German 
Empire,  but  to  the  very  life  and  Inde- 
pendence of  the  nation  itself,  sur- 
rounded as  Germany  is  by  other  nations 
each  of  which  possesses  armies  al- 
most as  powerful  as  her  own. 


Army  Absolute  Necessity. 

"The  country  has  so  often  been  in- 
vaded, overrun,  and  devastated  by 
foreign  foes,  that  she  cannot  afford  to 
take  any  chances  in  that  direction. 
We  forget  that  while  we  insist  upon 
a  CO  per  cent  superiority  (so  far  as 
our  naval  strength  is  concerned)  over 
Germany  being  essential  to  guarantee 
the  integrity  of  our  own  shores — Ger- 
many herself  has  nothing  like  that 
superiority  over  France  alone,  and  she 
has,  of  course,  in  addition  to  reckon 
with    Russia   on   her   eastern   frontier. 

"Germany  has  nothing  which  ap- 
proximates to  a  two-power  standard. 
.She  has,  therefore,  become  alarmed  by 
recent  events,  and  is  spending  huge 
sums  of  money  on  the  expansion  of 
her  military   resources. 

Does  Not  Threaten  England. 

"That  is  why  I  feel  convinced  that, 
even  if  Germany  ever  had  any  idea  of 
challenging  our  supremacy  at  sea,  the 
exigences  of  the  military  situation  must 
necessarily  put  it  completely  out  of 
her  head." 

Here  we  have  it  acknowledged  by 
Lloyd  George,  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer— 

(1)  That  the  press,  the  politicians 
and  certain  interests  are  responsible 
for  the  bitter  feeling  in  England  against 
Germany. 

(2)  That  the  German  army  is  vital 
to  the  very  independence  and  life  of 
the  nation. 

(3)  That  Germany  Is  not  by  far  as 
strongly  armed  as  England,  and, 

(4)  That  the  German  navy  does 
not  constitute  a  threat  against  Eng- 
land. 

Since  August  4,  1914,  Lloyd  George 
has  changed — if  not  his  opinions — at 
least  his  song,  but  we  doubt  whether 
he  would  say  that  he  had  lied  in  that 
hiterview. — From    "The   Crucible." 


Bits  of  News  on  France  in  the  Great  War 


DISTORTING       ALL       TRUTH       IN 
FRANCE. 


Impressions    of    a    Swiss    Journalist 

After  a   Tour  Along  the  Firing 

Line. 


From  "The  Fatherland." 

Georges  Wagniere,  director  of  the 
"Journal  de  Geneve,"  recently  under- 
took a  tour  of  observation  along  the 
French  front  by  permission  of  General 
Joffre.  His  remarks  on  the  impression 
received  on  seeing  a  French  newspaper 
after  a  considerable  time  is  highly  in- 
teresting in  view  of  the  impression 
made  upon  this  undoubted  Swiss  friend 
of  the  French  by  the  irresponsible  and 
distorted  twaddle  of  the  Parisian  press. 

"In  Sezanne  I  liought  a  'Journal,' 
for  I  hadn't  seen  a  paper  in  a  long 
time.  The  heroically  sentimental  tone 
of  the  very  first  article  made  a  pecu- 
liar impression  upon  me.  I  felt  all  of 
a  sudden  far — very  far — away  from  the 


front,  far  away  from  all  those  brave 
lads  who  are  constantly  face  to  face 
with  death,  who  often  confront  death 
with  courage  and  even  cheerfulness, 
and  who,  deeply  devoted  to  their  coun- 
try, use  only  plain  and  intelligible 
words.  But  the  moment  one  opens  a 
paper  truth  remains  behind ;  one  ex- 
changes it  for  mere  literature. 

".\  second  article  seeks  to  prove  that 
intellectual  Germany  has  never  pro- 
duced anything  of  value.  Because 
General  von  Kluck  burned  the  town  of 
Curtacon,  Goethe  is  an  obscure  little 
poet  and  Richard  Wagner — only  yes- 
terday compared  to  a  divinity — be- 
comes a  composer  of  the  fourth  rank. 

"I  know  of  nothing  more  offensive  In 
this  war  than  this  sort  of  depreciation, 
to  which  the  most  intelligent  people 
have  become  addicted.  The  soldier  on 
the  firing  line  judges  his  opponent  with 
more  sense  and  fairness.  He  does  not 
represent  him — like  most  of  the  papers 
and  artist.s — as  persistently  flying  and 


advancing  to  attack  only  when  im- 
pelled to  do  so  by  the  kicks  of  his  of- 
ficer. There  would  be  no  credit  in  con- 
quering such  a  foe. 

"A  French  officer  recently  described 
to  me  in  a  radically  different  tone  a 
German  infantry  attack,  when  the 
battalions  in  thick  masses  charged 
across  the  open  ground  in  total  disre- 
gard of  the  hellish  effect  of  the  mit- 
raileuses,  all  the  time  singing  at  the 
top  of  their  voices.  But  unbridled  pas- 
sions seem  to  have  cast  the  whole 
world  into  darkness,  and  error  pre- 
vails everywhere.  Already  this  war 
surpasses  every  other  in  horrors ;  in 
spite  of  which  disordered  minds  are  in- 
venting all  sorts  of  refined  tales  of  in- 
human atrocities.  Legends  are  contin- 
ually being  circulated  and  exaggerated 
in  France  and  in  Germany.  If  one 
single  authentic  case  is  found  it  is 
magnified  to  boundless  proportions. 
.Vttempt  to  trace  the  truth,  and  .vou 
soon  discover  it  to  be  a  lie. 


SOME   NEWS  FROM   FRANCE 


123 


"It  is  really  remarkable  how  the 
truth  is  concealed  iu  all  places,  so  to 
speak.  To  give  a  single  example:  All 
Frenchmen  are  tirmly  convinced  that 
Joffre  purposely  lured  the  Germans  to 
the  neighborhood  of  Paris  to  inflict  a 
defeat  upon  them  on  the  Marne  I 

"As  though  any  general  staff  ever 
conceived  the  fantastic  idea  of  draw- 
ing a  million  Germans  into  their  coun- 
try and  allowing  them  to  keep  the  rich- 
est province!" 


COUNT   ZEPPEMN   IN   ALSACE 
IN   1870. 


(By  Courtesy  of  The  Oi>en  Court.) 
By  Karl  Klein. 

[Count  Ferdinand  Zeppelin,  the  in- 
ventor of  the  dirigible  balloon,  i.s  inomi- 
nently  before  the  public  because  of  the 
important  part  his  airships  play  in  tho 
present  European  war.  He  is  now  in  his 
seventy-seventh  year,  and  a  man  of  activr- 
intelligence  and  in  vigorous  health.  He  is 
an  e.xtraordinary  character  and  remark- 
ably young  for  his  age. 

By  birth  the  Count  is  a  Swabian.  T  !•/ 
first  saw  the  light  on  July  8,  1838,  very 
near  Friedrichshafen  on  Lake  Constanc< . 
He  acquired  a  very  good  and  broad  educa- 
tion, not  only  of  a  general  nature  but  also 
in  technical  and  mechanical  science.  11- 
attended  the  polytechnic  institute  at  Stutt- 
gart, the  military  academy  at  Ludwigs- 
burg  and  the  University  of  Tiibingen.  In 
1858  he  entered  the  Wiirttemberg  army 
In  1863  while  the  war  of  Secession  was 
waging  in  the  United  States  he  could  not 
stay  at  home,  but  in  his  anxiety  to  profit 
by  experience  in  actual  warfare  he  left 
for  America,  entering  the  army  of  tin- 
North  as  a  cavalry  officer,  where  lie  did 
good  service  until  the  end  of  the  war  in 
1865.  Even  thus  early  he  had  taken  sp'  - 
cial  interest  in  aeronautics,  for  he  onc<- 
made  an  ascent  in  a  captive  balloon  in  or- 
der to  spy  out  the  position  of  the  Confed- 
erate army.  For  some  time  he  was  at- 
tached to  the  staff  of  General  Carl  Schurz 
and  barely  escaped  being  taken  prisoner 
at  Fredericksburg. 

Upon  his  return  home  the  Austro-Pnis- 
sian  war  broke  out  in  1866,  and  he  served 
in  the  Wiirttemberg  army  against  Prussia. 
At  the  very  beginning  of  the  Franco-Prus- 
sian war  in  1870  he  played  a  conspicuous 
part  in  a  brilliant  dash  into  Alsace  which 
he  made  in  the  service  of  the  German 
armies  in  order  to  reconnoiter  the  country 
and  determine  the  position  of  the  various 
French  army  corps.  This  experience  is 
told  in  the  diary  of  the  Rev.  Karl  Klcm. 
an  Alsacian  pastor  of  the  village  of 
Frbschweiler.  The  diary  was  published 
after  the  war  of  1870-71.  and  has  the 
fresh  and  impartial  tone  which  belongs  to 
such  an  informal  document.  Since  the 
Rev.  Karl  Klein  was  a  subject  of  France, 
he  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  a  German, 
yet  as  an  Alsacian  he  was  not  without 
sympathy  for  the  German  invaders.  At 
the  time'he  wrote.  Count  Zeppelin  was  not 
famous,  nor  could  his  later  exploits  in 
aeronautics  be  foreseen.  We  republl.sh 
here  Pastor  Klein's  account  of  Count  Zep- 
pelin's adventure,  translated  into  English 
bv  Lvdia  G.  Robinson  and  accompanied  by 
illustrations  made  by  Ernest  Zimmer,  a 
German  artist,  after  a  careful  study  of 
the  localities,  the  uniforms  and  all  the 
personalities  concerned. 

We  will  conclude  our  comment  by  stat- 
ing that  after  the  foundation  of  the  em- 
pire O.unt  Zeppelin  served  In  the  liunttrs- 
rat  (the  imperial  council  representing  the 
sovereign  princes  of  Germany)  as  the 
Wiirttemberg  Plenipotentiary,  a  very  high 
position  He  retired  from  active  service 
in  the  army  In  1901  with  the  rank  of  I.ieu- 
tenant-General  and  has  since  then  devoted 
himself  to  the  development  and  perfection 
of  the  dirigible  balloon  which  now  bears 
his  name. — Ed.l 

"The  Prussians  are  coming!  The 
Prussians  are  coming!"  During  the 
summer  of  ISTO  this  alarm  had 
sounded  more  than  once  in  Frosch- 
weiler.  Worth  and  tlie  neighboring  Al- 
sacian villages.  Who  said  .so?  Wliere 
are  they?  How  could  any  one  make 
sense  out  of  such  hulibnb  I     The  people 


would  run  out  and  fall  over  each  other : 
the  squadron  of  light  cavalry  detailed 
at  Froschweiler  from  Hegiment  11  sta- 
tioned at  Niederbronn  would  gallop 
hither  and  yon ;  the  regiment  itself 
would  come  up  from  Niederbronn  and 
patrol  around  in  all  directions— but  the 
Prussians  did  not  come  and  everything 
would  (luiet  down  again.  And  yet  no 
one  could  feel  quite  comfortable ;  the 
railroad  trains  rumbled  so  mysteriously 
from  Reichshofen  across  the  "great 
forest"  (Grossenwald).  The  calm  was 
beginning  to  weigh  oppressively  on  peo- 


M.  Poincare— President  of  France 

(Photo    by    the    International    .News 


FRENCH       SOCIALIST       OBJECTS. 


Gustave  Hene  Ashamed  of  Treatment 

.Vccorded  to  (Jermaiis  and 

Austrians. 


"Tlie  Fatlierland." 

Gustave  Herve,  according  to  infor- 
mation received  by  the  Neue  Freie 
Presse  from  Paris,  has  demanded  that 
the  conditions  prevailing  in  French 
concentration  camps  be  at  once  inves- 
tigated. "The  concentration  camps," 
says  Herve,  "by  no  means  constitute 
a  page  of  glory  in  the  history  of 
France.  For  lack  of  any  better  ex- 
cuse for  the  defeat  in  the  early  stages 
of  war,  the  blame  has  been  put  upon 
espionage.  The  government  has  lost 
its  head  and  ordered  all  Germans  and 
Austrians  to  be  interned. 

"These  unfortunate  victims  were 
herded  together  in  railway  trains,  and 
under  the  shouts  and  insults  of  the 
populace  were  removed  to  various 
places.  There  they  wen*  escorted  by 
a  double  row  of  soldiers  and  police- 
men to  some  quarters  unprepared  and 
unfit  for  habitation.  For  weeks  men, 
women  and  children  had  to  sleep  on 
a  thin  layer  of  straw,  if  not  on  the 
bare  floor,  and  were  treated  like  crim- 
inals. The  number  of  children  who 
died  in  consequence  of  such  treatment 
will  never  be  known. 


pie's  spirits,  when  suddenly  early  In 
the  morning  of  July  24,  the  boy  from 
the  castle  came  running  iu  as  pale  as 
death  from  Elsasshausen,  crying  at  the 
top  of  his  voice :  "The  Prussians  are 
coming!  The  Prussians  are  liere!  I 
saw  them  myself.  They  rode  through 
Elsasshausen  and  I  had  to  show  them 
the  way."  And  Babe  Lanze  broke  in 
with :  "Oh  dear,  oh  dear !  we  are  all 
lost!  Every  Prussian  (airries  a  saber 
in  his  mouth  crosswise  and  has  a 
loaded  pistol  in  each  hand !"  And  as 
they  went  shouting  about  through  the 
village,  all  the  others  crowded  around 
shouting  after  them  until  there  ■was  as 
great  a  consternation  and  screaming 
and  howling  as  if  a  hundred  thousand 
brigands  were  down  there  by  the 
churchyard  and  were  sure  to  massacre 
everything  that  had  skin  and  hair. 
Crowds  flocked  around  the  parsonage, 
and  especially  the  women  were  wring- 
ing their  hands  and  whimpering  and 
weeping  as  if  all  was  already  lost. 
.\nd  we  were  admonishing  them  to  be 
still  and  leave  everything  in  God's 
hands,  when  a  gendarme  came  gallop- 
ing up  from  Worth  who  confirmed  the 
news  that  a  troop  of  Prussians  had 
rushed  through  Worth  with  flashing, 
swords  and  muskets  cocked,  shouting 
"War!  War!"  He  said  he  was  hurry- 
ing to  Niederbronn  to  inform  the  regi- 
ment so  that  these  marauders  would  be 
killed  or  captured.  Then  our  people 
quieted  down  somewhat  and  every  one 
— both  young  and  old— that  went  on 
two  feet,  stood  ready  to  sacrifice  them- 
selves on  the  altar  of  the  fatherland. 

The  captain  of  the  squadron,  a  val- 
iant and  courageous  young  hero,  -who 
was  infuriated  at  the  slightest  sign  of 
fear  and  cowardice,  could  not  slay 
quietly  on  the  spot  another  moment. 
He  rushed  hither  and  thither  with  his 
company,  scouted  in  every  direction, 
down  hill,  across  country  and  back 
again,  and  when  one  or  another  of  his 
men  wiped  the  sweat  from  his  brow 
with  beating  heart  and  grave  forebod- 
ings, he  consoled  them  with  "AUons, 
mon  hravr!  pan  prur!  nous  mourons 
pour  U  patrir!"  (Courage,  my  brave 
fellow,  fear  not!  we  are  dying  for  our 
country!)  And  all  who  could  under- 
stand it  and  carried  Christian  hearts 
in  their  breast  could  not  keep  back  the 
tears,  thinking : 

"God  keep  you! 

Yesterday  on  mounted  steed. 

Today  with  hero's  heart  ableed. 

Tomorrow   in  tlie  peaceful  grave." 

So  as  much  as  an  hour  and  a  half 
was  spent  in  riding  up  and  down,  lying 
in  ambush,  coming  liack.  keeping  quiet, 
receiving  all  sorts  of  good  wishes  and 
words  of  encouragement,  emptying  can- 
teens, filling  them  up  again  and  strik- 
ing out  in  all  directions  without  blood- 
shed. Then  the  gendarme  came  back 
and  announced  that  the  regiment  had 
broken  camp  at  Niederbronn  and  had 
gone  to  meet  the  enemy  by  way  of 
Gundershofen.  "They  must  forget  the 
way  home  !"  opined  I.indenbauer,  drunk 
with  triumph.  "Yes,  if  they  don't  run 
away,  or  if  there  is  a  rear  guard  be- 
hind them."  whispered  the  shrewd  Wil- 
libald.  "they  are  hardly  likely  to  be  left 
to  themselves." 

The  enemv's  forces  consisted  of  an 
ofhcer  of  the  Wiirttemberg  general 
staff.  Captain  Count  Zoi)pelin.  three 
ofBcers  from  Uadeii  and  four  dragoons. 


THE   ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


EUINS  OF  HEIDELBERG  CASTLE 

Devnstntefl  in  KISS  by  the  French  under  Malec.  previous  to  the  estiililishnient   of   Milirnrisni 

(By  Courtesy  of  the  "Open  Court") 


Tliey  had  orders  to  reconuoiter  across 
Lauterburg  out  into  the  country  and 
see  whether  any  considerable  number 
of  troops  had  mobilized  in  lower  Al-  , 
sace.  They  had  succeeded  in  passing 
through  Sulz,  Worth,  Frosehweiler. 
and  had  advanced  on  an  uufreciuented 
mountain  path  so  far  from  Elsasshau- 
sen  that  they  could  look  down  upon 
the  railroad  tracks  from  Guudersbofen 
to  Niederbronn  and  also  over  a  good 
part  of  Hanau. 

Whether  they  had  finished  their 
Joshua  and  Caleb  errand  or  were  just 
about  to  carry  it  out  we  shall  not  here 
betray  for  the  best  of  reasons.  But  it 
is  our  duty  to  communicate  to  posterity 
what  took  place  at  the  Schirlenhof  Inn 
lying  in  lonely  isolation  in  the  woods 
midway  between  Eberhach.  Gunders- 
hofen  and  Reichshofen,  and  what  fate 
overtook  the  venturesome  horsemen 
there. 

They  had  returned  to  the  courtyard 
and  put  up  their  horses  in  stables  and 
sheds ;  they  were  about  to  rest  a  while 
after  their  hard  ride  and  already  the 
omelets  were  merrily  steaming  in  the 
pan  and  were  going  to  taste  all  the  bet- 
ter on  French  ground — when  all  of  a 
sudden  there  was  an  uproar,  the  whole 
cavalry  regiment  was  coming  up.  the 
yard  was  already  surrounded.  What 
next?  Knives  and  forks  fell  to  the 
table,  swords  were  unsheathed,  the 
guests  plunged  headlong  out  of  the  Inn 
and  barricaded  themselves  behind  their 
horses.  The  first  shot  stretche<l  a 
French  subaltern  on  the  ground ;  other 
shots  followed ;  Lieutenant  Wlnslow 
was  fatally  wounded  and  others  were 
injured.  There  were  a  few  shots  of 
retaliation,     but     superior    force     had 


conquered.  Two  officers  and  two  dra- 
goons were  taken  and  Winslow  bled  to 
death;  but  Count  Zeppelin  and  the  two 
other  dragoons  escaped.  The  regiment 
turned  right  alwut  face  and  reached 
Xlederbronn  again  that  very  evening 
ill  the  midst  of  general  rejoicing.  In 
I'aris  the  "battle  of  Schirlenhof"  was 
celebrated  with  Illuminations,  and  even 
in  Frosehweiler  the  joy  was  so  great 
and  the  enthusiasm  so  universal  when 
our  squadron  came  back  that  our  good 
people  never  tired  of  asking  questions, 
Iiralsiug  and  admiring,  and  the  soldiers 
could  not  finish  eating,  drinking,  and 
telling  stories  until  far  Into  the  night. 
As  booty  they  brought  back  with  them 
a  short  musket  and  a  thick  wooden 
cudgel,  still  preserved  In  Frosehweiler 
as- a  permanent  memorial.  How  these 
trophies  were  prized  and  marveled  at! 
Count  Zeppelin  escaped  on  the  black 
horse  of  the  fallen  French  subaltern. 
people  in  the  forest  say,  and  returned 
to  Schirlenhof  shortly  after  the  battle 
and  settled  his  account  there.  Whether 
this  is  true  or  not  he  himself  must 
know  best,  for  he  is  still  alive,  and 
even  if  he  does  not  confess  it  perhaps 
history  will  throw  light  on  the  matter 
at  some  future  day.  At  any  rate  he 
Is  a  bold  horseman,  for  his  retreat  into 
Pfalz  not  only  shows  a  very  exact 
knowledge  of  our  locality,  but  also  such 
contempt  of  death  as  to  compel  admira- 
tion. From  the  scene  of  the  battle  he 
wended  his  way  in  a  northeasterly  di- 
rection through  the  "great  forest"  and 
it  must  have  been  not  far  from  Froseh- 
weiler that  he  crossed  the  Reichshofen 
military  road  which  at  that  time  was  a 
much  frequented  highway.  Then  he  pro- 
ceeded over  the  outskirts  of  the  for- 
est into  the  mountains,  always  in  com- 


pany with  the  black  horse,   which  has 
become  a  legendary  figure. 

Wheu  Wendllng"s  Peter  (God  bless 
him!)  was  tending  his  cows  In  the  pas- 
ture that  evening  close  to  the  wood  liy 
the  mountain  slope  between  Niihweiler 
and  IJnienhauseu,  there  came  along  a 
strange  looking  man  who  could  not  be 
a  Frenchman.  He  was  leading  a  tireil 
warhorse  by  the  bridle  and  asked  if  he 
couldn't  get  a  little  milk.  Peter  looked 
at  him  in  alarm.  "Yes,  I  would  just  as 
soon  give  you  a  little  milk  If  I  had 
something  to  milk  into."  "That  is  eas- 
ily arranged."  said  the  man  and  drew 
a  leather  object  out  of  his  pocket  which 
could  be  drunk  out  of  and  milked 
Into,  and  Peter  milked  into  it  bravely 
enough.  The  milk  tasted  so  good  to 
the  stranger  that  he  let  the  cowherd 
fill  the  cup  again,  whereupon  he  gave 
the  dumbfounded  fellow  a  two-franc 
piece,  said  "Thank  you"  and  "Good- 
bye." And  all  this  happened  while 
French  horsemen  were  scouring  up  and 
down  not  more  than  three  hundred 
paces  away,  and  were  execrating  the 
Prussian  in  the  wood  though  they  did 
not  go  Into  the  wood  after  him. 

Count  Zeppelin  went  on  his  way,  and 
that  very  evening  reached  Giinsthal. 
There  at  the  so-called  "Big"  Peter's 
house  he  drank  two  glasses  of  red  wine 
for  which  he  paid  a  ten-franc  piece  and 
next  day  arrived  in  the  kingdom  of 
Bavaria  with  important  communica- 
tions after  his  fatiguing  ride.  But 
never  to  his  dying  day  did  Wendliug's 
Peter  forget  that  evening,  nor  how  he 
milked  Into  the  stranger's  leather  cup. 

There  were  two  dragoons  also  who 
escaped  from  the  battle  of  Schirlenhof. 
as  we  said  before.  They  songlit  and 
found  shelter  and  lodging  In  the  forest 


SOME   M:\VS   from    KRANCIi 


125 


i;ki(M;k    riii:  days  of  "Mii.rj'AitisM  ' 

The  Return  of  the  Freuch  Troups  from  Petrowski  Park 

(By  Courtesy  of  the  "Open   Court") 


wliili-  ilicir  fnmrailos  wpiv  given  an 
<>|iIiorliiiiity  of  silent  nieditalion  liohind 
tile  walls  of  the  Nieileiiiroiin  jirison. 
One  of  the  two  who  escaped  had  been 
shot  in  the  foot,  and  so  the  way  home 
on  shank's  mare  through  hedges  and 
thorns  could  not  give  liim  any  particu- 
lar jileasure.  They  )iad  started  off 
straight  towards  the  south  not  far  from 
Kberliach.  had  stoiii)ed  at  Allierl's  Inn 
(eoinniiinly  called  the  Ijouse  Inn)  lie- 
iween  Miirshronn  and  Worth  to  ask  for 
refreshment  and  civilian's  clothes,  and 
hoped  that  from  there  they  could  suc- 
ceed in  getting  back  to  their  home  by 
way  of  tlie  Hagenau  forest  near  by, 
which  extends  down  to  the  Uhine.  But 
they  were  to  find  out  very  soon  wliat 
Alsacians  can  do  when  it  liecomes  a 
<iuestlon  of  protecting  their  fatherland 
from  barbarians. 

It  was  reported  that  a  few  Prussians 
were  lurking  in  the  forest,  and  al- 
though the  regiment  at  Niederbronn 
might  sleep  in  peace,  in  S.uierhof  no 
one  could  be  expected  to  do  so  inider 
the  circinnstances.  Xo  indec^d.  you 
must  not  think  that  Sauerhof  is  any 
ordinary  place  on  the  maji.  Who  Is  at 
all  acquainted  with  it  knows  that  it 
contains  many  jtrominent  peoi)le,  phi- 
losophers and  poets  (tliere  is  one  poet 
there  who  is  firmly  convincetl  that 
lie  reaches  at  least  up  to  Schiller's 
ankles;  I.  .\nd  here  al>ove  all  we  have 
patriots  without  a  peer.  I  tell  you  it's 
great  when  these  men  strike  the  table 
and  set  about  dividing  up  llie  world! 
So  we  can  easily  understand  that  no 
one  in  Sauerhof  could  rest  in  peace  un- 
til those  dreadful  villains  were  caught 
and  wlpeil  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

l-'irst  of  all  the  patricians  assembled 
Id  take  measures  to  save  their  country; 


the  uuprecedentedness  of  such  an  in- 
vasion was  set  forth  in  its  projier  light 
with  all  its  dangers  and  horrors ;  the 
people's  wrath  was  aroused  to  the 
necessary  iiitch  by  means  of  large  black 
type;  and,  to  make  a  long  stor.v  short, 
it  was  decided  to  make  an  exiiedition 
into  the  forest  and  bring  back  the  ban- 
dits to  Sauerhof.  dead  or  alive.  Now 
imagine  the  village,  if  you  can,  at  such 
an  exalted  moment !  The  enthusiasm, 
the  outbursts  of  wrath,  the  contempt  of 
death  and  the  joy  of  victory!  What  a 
pity  there  were  not  a  hundred  Prus- 
sians lying  in  the  forest  instead  of  only 
two.  Yesterday  they  did  not  as  much 
as  imprison  one,  today  each  man  would 
kill   a   dozen. 

But  who  will  lead  the  expedition? 
What  a  question  !  You  can  easily  des- 
cry the  vengeance-breathing  commander 
there  on  the  white  horse.  See  how 
smartly  his  hair  is  dresse<l  and  how 
valiantly  he  gallojis  ui>  and  down  under 
the  window  of  the  line  ladies  so  that 
the  siiarks  fly  from  his  charger's  hoofs. 
I  give  you  my  word  of  honor  that  he 
will  take  to  his  heels,  and  escajx'  across 
the  Kniebis  before  the  first  battle!' 
And  there  is  the  adjutant  at  the  head 
(his  name  has  just  escaped  me  but  It 
does  not  matter)  who  has  been  a  sol- 
dier, even  a  subaltern.  Y'ou  can  tell 
him  by  his  voice  and  the  Prussians  will 
know  him  by  Ids  stripes.  Hear  him  as 
with  pistol  in  either  hand  he  goes  roar- 
ing about  among  the  raging  crowd. 
"Where  are  they?  Where  are  they? 
Allons,  cnfaitts  de  la  patric!"  And  the 
crowd  takes  It  up  after  him.     See  how 


'  Pastor  Klein  Bays  In  a  footnote  that 
this  Is  what  actually  occurred  In  less  than 
ten  days,  on  August  4. 


the  zealous  army  of  citizens  with  llint- 
loclis,  knives,  scytlies.  pitchforks,  stakes 
and  all  manner  of  dcatli-dealing  imple- 
ments, swearing  death  and  destruction, 
surge  through  the  streets,  and  away 
they  go  without  fear  and  without  wav- 
ering, forth,  forth  to  the  bloody  fray. 
Only  one  man,  the  wise  .feculaiiius, 
looks  on  with  a  iihilosophic-al  smile 
from  behind  the  palings  of  his  garden 
and  mutters  in  his  beard,  "Oh!  if  there 
were  ou\y  some  way  to  muzzle  such 
specimens!"  But  he  nevertheless  takes 
bandages  and  other  remedies,  has  his 
gig  hitched,  and  still  musing  rides  along 
behind  the  rest  to  the  scene  of  battle. 

What  incidents  occurred  on  the  way, 
what  sorts  of  "vive  la  France!"  and 
other  slogans  resounded  through  the 
forest,  the  present  historian  cannot  say. 
All  he  knows  is  that  when  the  main 
body  of  troojis  in  fighting  array  sur- 
rounded Albert's  Inn  (comiuonly  c.illed 
the  l.onse  Inn)  and  the  spokesman  had 
solemnly  demanded  the  unconditional 
surrender  of  the  hostile  army,  there 
stepped  out — two  .voung  unarmed  strip- 
lings, who  stood  silent  before  their  vic- 
tors as  in  da.vs  of  old  Vercingetorlx 
stoo<l  before  Ca>sar.  "There  they  are! 
There  they  are!  ^'cngcancc!  d  6a.v  la 
I'rusxr!  We've  got  'em!"  .sounded 
from  a  hundred  throats,  besides  what- 
ever else  in  the  way  of  curses,  threats 
and  iiatriotic  effusions,  all  who  had 
particularly  distinguished  themselves  iu 
the  battle  could  utter. 

A  beautiful  twilight  glow  sjiresid  over 
the  great  forest ;  the  expedition  had 
sucPet>ded  beyond  all  expectations. 
Beaming  with  jo.v  the  leaders  of  the 
army  returned  to  Sauerhof  with  ap- 
plauding legions  and  barbarians  In 
chains.     The  doors  of  the  carcere  duro 


126 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


clanged,  and  therein  lay  two  captive 
dragoons  tortured  tlie  whole  night  long 
with  curses  and  execrations.  The  next 
morning  they  were  led  like  ordinary 
criminals,  hareheaded  and  with  torn 
clothes,  through  Froschweiler  and  Nie- 
derbronn,  and  the  writer  will  never  for- 
get the  look  one  of  them  cast  up  at  a 
window  where  a  foul-mouthed  spec- 
tator was  giving  utterance  to  the  genu- 
inely patriotic  speech.  "Beheadingd  be 
too  good  for  them." 


.John  Bull  comes  to  the  assistance  of 
his  oppressed  friend  from  motives  of 
purest  philanthropy.  France  furnishes 
the  troops  and  the  fighting  grounds  for 
the  blow  which  the  City  statesmen 
have  planned  against  their  unpleas- 
antly successful  competitor.  "Let  us 
suppose  that  France  enters  Into  peace 
negotiations  with  us,"  the  "Tag"  says, 
"is  it  believed  in  Paris  that  Kitchener 
and  French  will  simiily  evacuate  the 
French   territory   to   wliich   they   came 


ures,  as  a  result  of  which  France's  in- 
dustry and  commerce  derive  some 
profit  from  the  existing  conditions 
which  place  England  in  the  position 
of  the  Sovereign  of  the  Seas.  Evident- 
ly the  fear  exists  in  the  minds  of  the 
French  that  England  may  use  her  na- 
val supremacy  to  the  disadvantage  of 
French  trade  and  industry. 

The  French  soldiers,  too,  have  be- 
come disgusted  with  their  English  com- 
rades.      The     "Mannheimer     Geueral- 


THE   OUSPINSKI    CHTHCU   AS   A   STABLE 

During  the  days  of  French  Glory,  and  before  the  Days  of  the  Modern  "Huns" 

(By  Courtesy  of  the  "Open  Court") 


You  shake  your  head,  dear  reader, 
and  think  "Oh,  Sauerhof,  to  what 
heights  hath  your  patriotism  soared!" 
Be  calm  and  chide  not  to  me  the  bound-" 
less  bravery  of  the  Alsacian  people. 
Down  in  Germersheim  or  up  in  Ofifen- 
burg  the  dragoon  hunt  agamst  two 
wounded  Frenchmen  would  have  been 
carried  on  in  exactly  the  same  way. 


FRANCE  AS  AN  ENGLISH 
PROTECTORATE. 

Reports  come  in  continually  from 
the  field  stating  that  the  antipathy  ex- 
isting between  the  French  and  British 
is  increasing  considerably.  The  Eng- 
lishmen play  the  part  of  lord  and  ruler 
in  many  of  the  most  important  French 
cities,  such  as  Havre,  and  take  the 
reins  of  government  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  French  authorities.  France  is 
following  the  same  path  as  Belgium. 
We  know  from  the  latest  exposures 
how  Great  Britain  first  offered  the 
Belgian  government  her  assistance  and 
then  forced  it  upon  them.  Even  the 
members  of  the  French  government 
can  no  longer  give  credence  to  the 
idea  that  this  war  is  a  German-French 
passage  at  arms,  in  which  the  knightly 


only  as  the  saviours  of  France?  Eng- 
land would  further  fortify  her  'tete 
de  pont,'  Calais.  To  come  right  down 
to  the  truth,  England  never  really  got 
over  the  loss  of  Calais.  'When  my 
heart  is  opened,'  said  the  dying  Maria 
Tudor,  "the  name  Calais  will  be  found 
written  on  it.'  " 

England  needs  Northern  France  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  warfare 
against  Germany,  In  whose  possession 
they  do  not  wish,  under  any  circum- 
stance, to  leave  Ostend  and  Antwerp. 
France  has  become  an  English  protec- 
torate. Even  the  French  do  not  de- 
ceive themselves  as  to  this  fact.  The 
deputies  of  the  Department  of  the 
Seine  held  a  consultation,  during 
which  the  Delegate  Laval  demanded 
that  a  deputation  from  the  French  gov- 
ernment  be  appointed   to  adopt   meas- 


Add   Horrors   of  War. 

Paris,  Sept,  11. — One  Parisian, 
seeing  his  supply  of  absinthe  was 
reduced,  with  no  chance  for  obtain- 
ing more,  drank  his  last  bottle  almost 
at  one  drink  and  died. — From  "The 
Chicago  Tribune,"  September  12, 
1914. 


Anzeiger"  prints  a  letter  from  Lleuten-I 
ant-Colonel  Ehrt,  commander  of  the 
First  "Landsturm"  Infantry  Battalion 
In  Heidelberg,  written  to  the  Mann- 1 
helm  Auxiliary  of  the  Red  Cross,  in 
which  the  following  incident  is 
lated:  "A  short  time  ago,  French 
'Laudwehr'  men  sent  the  following  j 
note  to  the  German  troo])s"  :  "Do  not 
shoot  and  we  will  not  shoot,  Imt  give  j 
it  to  the  English  good  and  hot !"  The 
"Journal"  thinks  there  is  no  hope  that 
Germany's  resources  will  be  exhausted 
by  next  summer.  In  order  that  peace 
be  brought  about,  one  of  the  parties 
must  come  to  the  recognition  that  fur- 
ther efforts  are  useless.  Germany  will 
have  actually  conquered,  the  paper 
states,  when  the  Allies  have  been 
driven  back  over  the  Loire,  when  Eng- 
land feels  herself  threatened  in  her 
own  land,  and  when  the  German  army 
has  won  a  battle  before  St.  Petersburg 
and  Moscow.  The  end  of  the  war  will 
come  sooner  than  it  did  in  1870,  the 
"Journal"  thinks,  nnd  adds  that  a 
general  uprising  of  the  French  people, 
after  all  men  capable  of  bearing  arms 
have  been  called  to  the  front,  is  out 
of  the  (piestion. — "Hamburger  Frem- 
denblatt,"   Hamburg,   Germany. 


FREEDOM   FOR  THE  JEWISH   PEOPLE 

The  Liljeration  of  the  Jewish  People  by  Russia 


AN  OPEN  LETTER  TO  ISHAKI 
ZANGWILL. 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 

Mr.  Zangwill,  I  address  to  you  the 
following  lines,  because  you  have  tak- 
en the  liberty  of  advising  the  Amer- 
ican Jews  as  to  what  attitude  they 
should  take  in  this  terrible  blood- 
shed. 

True,  it  is,  that  we  Jews  have 
long  ago  given  up  the  idea  of  taking 
you  seriously.  But  our  Gentile 
brethren  still  believe  that  you  are 
one  of  our  "leaders."  and  that  hence 
you  must  have  spoken  with  authority 
in  your  "Epistle  to  the  Jews."  It 
is  on  this  account  that  1,  as  an  Amer- 
ican Jew,  am  compelled  to  protest  in 
a  publication,  read  by  the  general 
public,  against  the  amazing  and  un- 
just statements  contained  in  your 
"Manifesto"  to  us. 

You  begin  by  expressing  surprise 
that  some  American  Jews  should 
sympathize  with  Prussia,  though  this 
war  was  "made  in  Germany."  Let 
me  tell  you.  Mr.  Zangwill,  that  not 
some,  but  most  of  the  American  Jews, 
and  I  hope  of  the  entire  world,  are 
sympathizing  with  Germany.  All  the 
American  Jewish  dailies  (with  per- 
haps one  exception)  are  out-spoken 
pro-German.  And  do  you  know 
why?  Because  we  are  too  intelli- 
gent to  believe  the  poisoned  English 
press.  We  do  not  allow  our  minds 
to  be  made  up  for  us  by  the  anti- 
German  editorial  writers.  We  read 
the  documents  and  we  are  convinced, 
as  every  honest  and  sound-minded 
person,  familiar  with  the  political  de- 
velopments that  lead  to  the  war, 
must  be,  that,  in  this  terrible  con- 
flagration, Germany  was  forced  to 
take  up  arms  for  self-defense  against 
Russian  barbarity,  French  lust  for 
revenge  and  English  greed  for  money. 
For  what  was  it,  if  not  the  desire 
to  cripple  German  prosperity,  that 
drove  the  "nation  of  shopkeepers" 
into  the  embrace  of  savage  Russia  a 
few  years  ago?  And  why  did  now 
England  declare  war  against  Ger- 
many? I  consider  you  too  intelligent 
to  believe  that  England  was  willing 
to  sacrifice  millions  of  dollars  and 
thousands  of  her  subjects  because 
she  signed  a  treaty  to  preserve  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium.  You,  as  well 
as  I,  know  that  when  she  has  noth- 
ing to  gain,  England  is  not  so  scru- 
pulous about  her  signature.  One 
example  is  sufficient  to  prove  this  as- 
sertion: In  187S  England  signed 
the  Berlin  Tractate  which  contains  a 
distinct  clause  that  Roumania  must 
accord  equal  rights  to  her  Jewish 
subjects.  Up  to  the  present  day, 
Roumania  has  been  treating  her 
Jews  as  outlaws,  thus  violating  a 
treaty  which  England  signed.  And 
what  has  England  done  to  enforce 
respect  for  her  signature?  She  sure- 
ly has  not  declared  war  against  Rou- 
mania. Why?  Because  there  was 
nothing  to  be  gained  for  British  in- 
terests by  punishing  little  Roumania, 
while  there  is  a  great  deal  to  be 
won  by  weakening  powerful  Ger- 
many. 


XICIIOI.AS   IT— CZAR   <U-   ];TSSI.\ 


This,  as  we  American  Jews  believe, 
being  the  case,  how  ridiculous  it  is 
for  you  to  repeat  the  futile  asser- 
tions of  the  hypocritical  English 
press  that  Britain  is  fighting  against 
German  Militarism.  If  it  is  noble 
and  moral  to  try  to  crush  Germany 
because  she  has  a  splendid  army 
(which,  by  the  way,  she  has  been 
compelled  to  maintain,  being  hemmed 
in  between  two  powerful  and  mili- 
tary enemies),  why  is  it  less  noble 
for  another  nation  to  destroy  Eng- 
land, on  account  of  her  tremendous 
navy?  In  which  way  is  Militarism 
a  greater  danger  to  civilization  than 
"Navyism"? 

You  speak  of  Germany's  "barba- 
rous" behavior  in  this  war.  Hence, 
again,  you  are  condemning  Germany 
without  listening  to  her  side  of  the 
story.  But,  in  any  case,  it  sounds 
rather  awkward  that  an  Englishman 
should  accuse  Germany  of  barbarism, 
when  the  Allies,  not  satisfied  to  cast 
their  lot  with  "civilized"  Russia,  Tiave 
called  upon  the  Turco  and  Japan  into 
this  European  struggle.  Your  so- 
phisticated excuse  that  England  is 
using  "black  means  for  white  ends" 
is  an  empty  phrase,  for  you  are  beg- 
ging the  question.  We  believe  that 
every  war  is  barbarous,  unless  it  Is 
fought  for  self-defence.  England 
cannot  claim  this  excuse,  hence  it  Is 
Kngland  and  her  allies  who  brought 
about  this  war;  they  are  the  real 
barbarians.  And  if  you  call  Ger- 
many's punishing  civilian  snipers 
"barbarous,"  I  should  like  to  know 
how  "civilized"  F^ngland  would  treat 
civilians  caught  firing  at  her  sol- 
diers? 

Your  suspicion  that  the  Jews  hold 
off  their  sympathy  from  the  allies  on 
account  of  Russia,  is  only  partly  cor- 
rect. Even  if  Russia  would  take  no 
part  in  the  war  we  would  sympathize 
with    Germany,    because    we    believe 


that  the  allies  are  wrong.  But,  now 
that  Russia  sides  with  the  allies,  of 
course,  no  sane  person  could  expect 
the  Jews  of  neutral  states  to  wish  the 
allies  success,  for  this  would  mean 
greater  glory  for  the  Czar  and  more 
suffering  for  our  Russian  co-religion- 
ists. 

Your  amazing  statement  that  it  1b 
better  for  the  Russian  Jews  to  "con- 
tinue to  suffer  than  that  the  great 
interest  of  civilization  should  be  sub- 
merged by  the  triumph  of  Prussian 
militarism"  surpasses  in  its  cruelty 
and  injustice  anything  I  have  ever 
seen  written  by  a  Jew. 

Mr.  Zangwill,  do  you  know  what 
it  means  to  suffer  in  Russia?  You 
liave  read  about  pogroms.  Have  you 
Hver  lived  through  one?  You  have 
heard  of  your  ally,  the  Cossack.  But 
(lid  you  ever  feel  his  lash?  And  If 
you  say  that  your  imaginative  mind 
(■an  clearly  picture  to  you  all  the  hor- 
rors of  Jewish  life  in  Russia,  even 
though  you  never  experienced  them 
in  person,  do  you  still  maintain  that 
vou  are  willing  to  have  your  unfor- 
tunate 6,000,000  brethren  tortured 
indefinitely,  in  order  to  save  "civili- 
zation," meaning  of  course,  English 
civilization,  which  allows  such  atroc- 
ities— nay,  which,  by  its  alliance  with 
the  Czar,  sanctions  all  his  barbarities 
perpetrated  on  our  brethren? 

You  are  trying  to  win  our  sympa- 
thy for  England  by  telling  us  that 
Sir  Edward  Grey  has  assured  you 
that  when  Germany  will  be  defeated, 
Russia  will  be  "encouraged"  to  treat 
the  Jews  like  human  beings.  And 
you,  Mr.  Zangwill,  state  that  this  Is 
not  a  promise  of  "a  politician  in  a 
crisis."  Is  that  really  so?  Where 
was  Sir  Edward  Grey  till  now?  Why 
did  he  not  "encourage"  Russia  to 
stop  the  scandalous  Bellis  trial? 
Why  did  he  not  encourage  the  Czar 
to  allow  you,  Mr.  Zangwill,  to  enter 
Russia?  I  suppose  you  did  not  for- 
get the  answer  the  same  Sir  Grey 
gave  to  the  "English  Jewish  Commit- 
tee" when  they  asked  him  to  bring 
some  pressure  on  the  Czar  that  he 
respect  a  British  passport  in  the 
hands  of  a  Jew? 

And  In  conclusion,  let  me  quote  a 
passage  from  II  Chronicles,  xx:  37, 
in  which  Sir  Churchill  may  be  Inter- 
ested : 

"Then  prophesied  Eliezer,  the  son 
of  Dodavohu  of  Mareshah,  against 
Jehoshaphat,  saying,  'Because  thou 
hast  connected  thyself  with  Achaz- 
yahu,  the  Lord  hath  broken  down 
thy  works,  and  the  ships  were 
wrecked,  so  that  they  were  not  able 
to   go   to  Tarshish.'  " 

Meyer  I.  Left,  M.  D.     ■ 

September   14,   1914. 


The  Anglomaniac  press  of  New 
York  and  elsewhere  will  have  to  in- 
vent a  new  cause  for  their  anti- 
German  belligerency  than  that  Ger- 
many had  no  business  to  go  to  war 
with  Russia,  for  England  declared 
war  against  Austria  for  no  reason 
whatever.  Austria  was  at  perfect 
peace  with  England  and  was  fighting 
Russia   and    France,   not   England. 


128 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


THE  JEWS  AXD  RUSSIA. 


Herman  Ridder,  Xew  Yorker  Staats- 
Zeitung. 

The  well-known  secretary  of  the 
American  Jewish  Committee,  Mr. 
Herman  Bernstein,  in  his  preface  to 
the  "American  Jewish  Year  Book," 
which  appears  today,  says: 

"The  Beilis  affair  has  constituted 
the  darkest  tragedy  of  the  Jews  in 
recent  years.  The  evil  forces  of  the 
Russian  Empire  conspired  against 
them,  an  innocent  Jew  was  tortured 
in  prison  for  two  years  and  a  half, 
and  the  entire  Jewish  people  in  Rus- 
sia was  threatened  with  pogrom 
panics  through  this  political  conspir- 
acy. In  the  Beilis  affair,  the  Russian 
government's  policy  of  cruel,  militant 
and  anti-Semitism  reached  its  culmi- 
nation. Just  as  the  civilized  world 
was  shocked  at  the  Kishineff  mas- 
sacres, so  it  was  appalled  when  the 
Russian  government  revised  the  in- 
famous blood  legend  for  the  purpose 
of  discrediting  the  Jewish  people  and 
justifying  new  massacres. 

"The  list  of  events  in  Russia  dur- 
ing the  past  twelvemonth  recorded  in 
this  scheme  reveals  a  painful  state 
of  affairs.  The  sufferings  and  hope- 
lessness of  the  Jew  in  the  Pale  of 
Settlement  are  shown  in  the  simple 
records  of  "ordinary"  hanpenings,  of 
wholesale  expulsions — silent,  word- 
less progress — of  new  devices  of  per- 
secution, of  the  suppression  of  edu- 
cation, and  of  the  ritual  murder  de- 
lirium with  which  the  Russian  gov- 
eTiment  has  crazed  the  minds  of  the 
Russian  masses." 

The  "Year  Book"  contains  also  an 
interesting  90-page  review  of  the 
Beilis  affair,  which  well  deserves 
reading. 

Some  weeks  ago  it  was  reported 
from  Europe  that  the  Czar  had  is- 
sued a  ukase  promising  to  the  Jews 
In  Russia  complete  civil  rights.  Us- 
ing this  ukase  as  his  text,  Israel 
Zangwill,  the  noted  Jewish  author 
and  playwright  of  England,  sent  out 
to  the  Jews  of  neutral  countries,  not 
long  after,  an  appeal  for  Jewish 
sympathy  and  Jewish  prayers  for 
Great  Britain  in  her  present  "war 
for  freedom." 

It  is  apparent  from  the  tone  of  the 
Jewish  press  in  the  United  States  and 
from  letters  written  by  prominent 
members  of  the  Jewish  community, 
that  Mr.  Zangwill's  "manifesto"  has 
fallen,  so  far  as  this  country  is  con- 
cerned, upon  sterile  soil.  The  Brit- 
ish advertising  clique  was  unfortu- 
nate in  the  choice  of  Mr.  Zangwill  as 
the  man  to  address  the  Jews  of  the 
world,  for  great  as  his  work  has  been 
in  the  field  of  literature,  he  has  come 
to  be  regarded  by  the  Jews  the  world 
over,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
those  in  England,  as  one  no  longer 
In  touch  with  the  sufferings  of  his 
race  in  less  tolerant  countries  and 
one  who  has  little  sympathy  with 
the  true  racial  aspirations  of  his 
people.  But  even  had  Mr.  Zangwill 
been  the  one  man  to  appeal,  on  the 
strength  of  the  Russian  ukase,  for 
Jewish  sympathy  for  England,  what 
had   he  to   offer  them   in   return   for 


such   sympathy  or  as   an   excuse   for 
his  appeal? 

The  story  of  the  Jews  in  America 
is  known  to  all — of  the  Jew  in  Eu- 
rope to  not  so  many.  I  know  it  suf- 
ficiently well  10  state,  however,  that 
in  England  alone  have  the  Jewish 
people  received  complete  civil  rights. 
In  France  and  Germany  their  condi- 
tion is  not  so  good  as  in  England, 
but  it  is  as  far  divided  from  their 
condition  in  Russia  and  the  Balkan 
States  as  high  heaven  is  from  hell. 
The  great  majority  of  the  Jews  in 
this  country  come  not  from  the  Brit- 
ish Isles,  but  from  Russia  and  south- 
eastern Europe  and  have  come  here 
to  escape  the  horrors  of  the  perse- 
cutions to  which  they  were  subjected 
there.  These  Jews  have  not  forgot- 
ten what  they  and  their  fathers  suf- 
fered from  the  lash  of  the  Cossack 
and  the  riflebutt  of  an  ignorant  and 
bigoted  soldiery.  They  remember 
the  pogroms  of  Kishineff  as  vividly 
as  Mr.  Zangwill  the  banquets  at 
which  he  has  been  feasted  in  Lon- 
don. And  many  of  them  have  friends 
and  relatives  submitting  to  this  same 
treatment  today,  unable  to  escape 
from  Russia.  It  is  not  probable  that 
such  Jews  will  lend  their  prayers  to 
the  Anglo-Russian  combine  until  the 
condition  of  their  race  in  Russia  has 
been  definitely  and  concretely  im- 
proved. 

And  what  is  Mr.  Zangwill's  assur- 
ance that  in  the  event  of  a  Russian 
victory  over  Germany  such  will  be 
the  case?  Sir  Edward  Grey  has  said 
that  in  that  event  he  will  "encour- 
age" Russia  to  alter  its  present  atti- 
tude toward  her  Jewish  subjects!  I 
do  not  wish  to  impugn  the  word  of 
the  British  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs.  Above  all,  he  is  "a 
man  of  his  word."  So  true  was  he 
to  the  promises  that  he  had  given 
behind  the  backs  of  Parliament  and 
the  British  people  to  Russia  and 
France,  that  he  plunged  his  country 
into  an  unpopular  war.  The  com- 
bined efforts  of  the  cinematograph, 
the  spell-binders  of  the  government 
and  a  press  campaign  by  such  writ- 
ers as  Mr.  Zangwill,  have  failed  to 
rouse  England  to  Sir  Edward's  duty. 
The  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs 
will  undoubtedly  carry  out  his  prom- 
ise and  "encourage"  Russia,  when 
the  Cossack  is  in  Berlin,  but  of  what 
avail  will  it  be?  We  have  had  our 
own  experience  in  such  things.  When 
Russia  accepts  the  abrogation  of  its 
American  treaty,  as  a  protest  against 
her  treatment  of  the  Jew,  without 
turning  a  hair,  what  respect  may  she 
be  expected  to  show  for  the  "encour- 
agement" of  her  ally? 

The  attitude  of  England  toward 
the  suffering  Jew  In  other  countries 
is  already  in  black  and  white.  A 
clause  of  the  "Berlin  Tractate"  of 
1878,  to  which  Great  Britain  was  sig- 
natory, demands  of  Roumania  that 
she  accord  to  her  Jewish  subjects 
equal  rights  with  those  of  other  re- 
ligious beliefs.  The  treatment  of 
the  Jew  in  Roumania  today  is  known 
to  be  and  for  years  to  have  been  no 
less  brutal  and  revolting  than  that 
experienced  in  Russia.  And  yet,  can 
we  doubt  that  England,  and  espe- 
cially Sir  Edward  Grey,  has  "encour- 
aged"   Roumania    to    alleviate    these 


conditions?  England  is  true  to  her 
treaties.  She  has  told  us  that  so 
often  these  last  few  weeks  that  it 
would  seem  impossible  for  anyone 
but  herself  to  doubt  it.  What  good 
has  come  of  it?  Has  all  England's 
encouragement  brought  back  to  life 
a  single  Jew  foully  murdered  be- 
cause he  chose  to  worship  God  in  the 
manner  of  his  fathers?  Has  it 
erased  the  scars  from  one  Jewish 
back,  wrought  there  by  the  lash  of 
an  avaricious  police?  Has  it  won  him 
the  right  to  live  where  he  will,  to 
possess  property  in  security,  and  to 
educate  his  children  in  the  schools 
which  he  is  compelled  to  support?  It 
has  done  no  one  of  these  things,  and 
it  will  do  no  more  in  Russia.  In- 
stead of  looking  forward  to  a  con- 
tingency which  at  best  is  highly 
problematical,  Mr.  Zangwill  should 
have  looked  back  and  told  the  Jews 
what  England  has  already  done  for 
them  in  the  dominions  of  the  Slav. 
We  have  seen  what  the  Jew  may 
expect  from  England  in  return  for  his 
sympathy  and  support.  Let  us  look 
for  a  moment  at  what  he  may  rightly 
expect  from  Russia. 

The  "word  of  a  Romanoff"  is  a 
proverb  among  the  downtrodden  sub- 
jects of  the  Czar.  Its  value  is  known 
to  Jew  and  Christian  alike.  It  is 
given  today  and  retracted  tomorrow. 
When  the  voice  of  the  oppressed 
rises  to  the  ears  of  the  Little  Father 
in  times  of  peace  it  is  stilled  by  the 
crack  of  the  knout  and  the  clank  of 
Siberian  chains.  When  the  throne 
rocks  on  the  waves  of  an  unpopular 
war  it  is  necessary  to  meet  it  with 
other  weapons.  It  is  then  the  open 
season  for  conciliatory  ukases.  Alex- 
ander I.  promised  Finland  its  auton- 
omy under  conditions  not  dissimilar 
from  those  which  exist  today,  and 
what  has  Finland  profited  thereby? 
The  Russo-Japanese  war  purchased  a 
Duma,  but  so  emasculated  that  Its 
place  is  rather  with  the  sewing  cir- 
cles of  Victorian  England  than  with 
the  parliamentary  bodies  of  civilized 
States.  The  present  conflict  has  de- 
veloped the  inner  dissension  of  the 
Russian  Empire  to  the  limit.  Poles 
are  asked  to  fight  Poles,  Jews  to 
fight  not  only  other  Jews  but  a  coun- 
try which  has  treated  the  race  with 
a  large  measure  of  justice.  We  have 
had.  therefore,  two  examples  of  "the 
word  of  a  Romanoff."  The  first  was 
to  Poles,  but  that  has  since  been 
retracted  by  the  Russian  commanders 
in  Galicia,  when  they  found  Austrian 
Poles  fighting  against  them.  The 
second  was  to  "my  beloved  Jews." 
But  what  proof  has  the  Jew  in  Amer- 
ica that  the  signature  of  the  Little 
Father  has  been  affixed  to  this  other 
ukase,  promising  his  people  in  Rus- 
sia full  civil  rights?  It  has  even 
been  asserted,  and  on  authority  quite 
as  good  as  that  on  which  the  publi- 
cation of  the  ukase  in  question  was 
made,  that  the  whole  story  of  the 
Czar's  promise  to  his  "beloved  Jews" 
is  a  fabrication  for  foreign  consump- 
tion. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  Russia  wishes 
to  conciliate  the  Jews  at  the  present 
time,  not  only  at  home  but  abroad. 
She  has  spurned  their  religion  and 
cannot,  therefore,  care  very  much  for 
their    prayers.      She    can    use,    how- 


FREEDOM   FOR  THE  JEWISH   PEOPLE 


ever,  to  good  advantage,  their  money, 
their  brains  and  their  lifeblood.  In 
the  last  analysis  it  is  that  which 
she  seeks.  If  Mr.  Zangwill  had  been 
moved  by  a  spirit  of  loyalty  to  his 
race  it  is  that  which  he  would  have 
penned  in  his  manifesto. 

When,  however,  he  comes  before 
them  with  the  plea  that  England  is 
fighting  a  war  of  freedom  against 
German  "militarism"  he  misjudges 
his  audience.  The  Jew  can  read 
through  the  tenuous  fabric  of  his 
words  as  easily  as  anyone.  It  is  not 
a  war  of  England  against  Germany, 
but,  so  far  as  England  is  concerned, 
a  war  for  the  destruction  of  Ger- 
man sea  power  and  the  seizure  of 
Germany's  outlying  colonies.  So  far 
as  internal  Europe  is  concerned,  it  is 
a  war  between  Russia  and  Germany. 
True,  Germany  has  her  militarism, 
but  she  has  also  her  culture,  her  re- 
finement and  her  justice.  Russia  has 
only  militarism,  in  an  exaggerated 
and  brutal  form.  She  can  offer  not 
one  redeeming  trait  of  government 
or  policy.  Of  the  two  the  Jew  will 
know  which  to  choose. 

The  appeal  of  Mr.  Zangwill  asks 
the  Jews  of  America  to  forget  too 
much.  It  asks  them  also  to  believe 
too  much.  They  have  no  fight  with 
England,  but  they  will  not  help  Eng- 
land to  help  Russia.  When  Mr.  Zang- 
will can  guarantee  that  equal  rights 
will  be  accorded  to  the  Jews  in  Rus- 
sia, they  will  listen  to  him.  When  he 
can  secure  the  guarantee  of  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  to  the  same  effect,  they 
will  listen  to  him.  When  he  can 
offer  the  guarantee  of  anyone  but  a 
Romanoff,  they  will  listen  to  him. 
But  not  before. 


HOPE  FOR  RUSSIAN  JEWS. 


Editorial    from    "The    Chicago    Trib- 
une,"  September  14,    1014. 

The  cradle  of  race  hatred  in  Rus- 
sia is  the  army.  It  is  the  army  offi- 
cers as  a  class  that  foster  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Jews.  It  is  almost  a 
fashion  with  them  to  assert  them- 
selves as  anti-Semites,  to  cover  up 
their  own  petty  natures  and  dark 
dealings  with  loud  mutterings  about 
Russia's  greatness  and  the  nf>cd  of 
downing  all  foreigners,  and  especially 
the  Jews. 

It  is  with  considerable  interest, 
therefore,  that  the  Jews  of  the  world 
will  read  the  news  that  the  Czar  has 
decided  to  admit  members  of  their 
race  as  officers  in  the  Russian  army 
and  navy.  It  was  well  known  in  the 
past  that,  in  spite  of  the  restrictions 
which  government  has  placed  upon 
Jews  as  a  people.  It  has  recognized 
the  abler  among  them  In  an  un- 
official way.  Hatred  of  the  Jews, 
for  instance,  has  not  prevented  the 
Czar  from  calling  out  a  Jewish  physi- 
cian from  Berlin  to  attend  his  sickly 
heir,  the  Czarevitch.  It  Is  well 
known,  too,  that  the  editors  of  some 
of  the  most  reactionary  papers  in 
Russia    privately   seek   the   advice   of 


Jewish  scholars  and  students  of  af- 
fairs— Russian  affairs — just  as  the 
Russian  government  privately  turns 
to  Jewish  bankers  abroad  for  finan- 
cial favors. 

Apparently  official  Russia  is  grow- 
ing tired  of  this  ridiculous  policy 
toward  five  million  of  its  subjects. 
Permitting  Jews  to  become  army  and 
navy  oflicers  is  not  yet  granting  all 
the  Jews  of  Russia  political  and  eco- 
nomic freedom.  But  it  is  a  strong 
move  in  that  direction.  Not  only 
Jews,  but  all  fair  minded  people  will 
hope  that  Russia  will  profit  from  its 
alliance  with  England*  and  France, 
at  least,  to  the  extent  of  adopting 
a  humanitarian  attitude  toward  a 
people  it  has  outraged  and  oppressed 
for  centuries. 


RLSSLVS  DECLARATION"  OF 

LOXT;  FOR  THE  JEW 

AND  POLISH. 


♦Does  "The  Chicago  Tribune"  in- 
clude itself  among  "all  fair  minded 
people,  who  will  hope  that  Russia 
will  profit  from  its  alliance  with  Eng- 
land" to  the  benefit  of  the  outraged 
and  oppressed  Jews?  "But  it  is  a 
strong  move  in  that  direction,"  says 
"The  Tribune."  We  suppose  it  ar- 
rives at  this  conclusion  because  "the 
Czar  called  out  a  Jewish  physician 
from  Berlin  to  attend  his  sickly  heir, 
the  Czarevitch."  It  is  remarkable 
what  "profound"  arguments  are 
brought  forward  by  a  vast  number  of 
Anglo-American  newspapers  in  their 
efforts  to  whitewash  England's  new 
comrade — Russia,  in  order  to  make 
their  readers  believe  that  such  com- 
panionship will  have  the  beneficial  in- 
fluence of  forcing  Russia  to  keep  her 
promises  to  the  Jews.  We  cannot 
share  this  present  cheerful  view  of 
the  Anglo-American  press  which, 
only  shortly  before  the  war,  could 
not  find  terms  hard  enough  to  de- 
nounce Russia  In  its  attitude  towards 
the  Jews.  "Apparently  official  Rus- 
sia is  Krowlng  tired  of  this  ridicn- 
Ion.s  policy  toward  five  million  of  its 
subjects,"  says  "The  Tribune."  In 
trying  to  find  some  further  proof  that 
the  Jews  in  Russia  will  from  now  on 
be  treated  somewhat  like  human  be- 
ings. It  strikes  us  as  somewhat  pe- 
culiar that  the  editorial  writer  of 
"The  World's  Greatest  Newspaper" 
should  use  the  adjective  "ridiculous" 
in  referring  to  a  long  series  of  blood- 
shedding  cruelties  and  outrages,  trials 
of  ritual  murder  and  the  restriction 
of  the  possibilities  of  making  a  liv- 
ing. The  reports  that  are  being  re- 
ceived of  the  treatment  the  invading 
Cossacks  are  giving  to  the  Jews  in 
Gallcia  shotild  tend  to  open  the  eyes 
of  the  editorial  writer  in  "The  Trib- 
une," who  seems  to  be  but  one  of 
many  who  have  been  hoodwinked  by 
the  Czar's  promises  to  his  "beloved" 
Jews.  It  should  make  him  realize 
that  if  Russia  wins  the  lot  of  the 
Jews  In  Russia  will  be  the  same  as 
before,  if  not  worse;  in  other  v;ords, 
that  It  will  be  a  repetition  as  car- 
tooned In  the  first  and  third  of  the 
pictures  illustrating  "TTie  Czar  and 
His  Beloved  Jews."  We  also  refer 
our  readers  to  "The  Jewish  Year 
Book"  and  "An  Open  Letter  to  Israel 
Zangwill:"  for  the  latter  consult  the 
Index. — The  Editor. 


Translation,  Editorial,  Illinois  .Staats- 
Zeitung,  Chicago. 

The  present  war  brings  strange 
things  to  maturity  and  makes  strange 
bed-fellows.  England  walks  arm  In 
arm  with  Russia,  pretending  to  fight 
for  liberty  and  right,  and  the  same 
England  calls  at  the  same  time  upon 
Eastern  Japan  against  Western  civil- 
ization. 

Animated  by  the  noble  example 
set  by  England,  Russia  entered  also 
the  road  of  humanity  and  tries  to 
prove  how  serious  and  sincere  her 
fight  for  freedom  is.  Russia  has 
rendered  already  the  first  evidence. 
The  Jews  were  promised  religious 
freedom    and    the    Polish    home   rule. 

Necessity  teaches  even  Russia  to 
pray.  Russian  self-consciousness, 
Russian  belief  in  victory  stands  on 
lame  legs  if  the  almighty  Czar 
thought  it  advisable  to  enter  into  ne- 
gotiations with  the  despised  Jews  and 
with  the  fettered  Polish  to  arouse 
sympathies  in  them  in  favor  of  Rus- 
sia. 

The  sudden  human  inclination  of 
Russia,  even  though  it  presents  itself 
In  the  form  of  a  Russian  promise 
only,  that  Inclination  as  well  as  the 
tears  of  the  London  Times,  shed  the 
other  day,  arouse  the  suspicion  that 
the  recent  French  and  Russian  vic- 
tories do  not  look  exactly  as  the  cable 
dispatches  from  London,  Paris  and 
St.  Petersburg  would  have  them  look. 

It  Is  more  than  suspicious  to  see 
Russia  make  love  to  the  Jew  and 
to  the  Polish.  Great  troubles  seem 
to  have  confounded  Russia's  mind, 
which  has  never  been  altogether 
sound.  The  Czar  and  his  advisers, 
if  clear-minded,  would  never  have  as- 
sumed that  a  mere  promise  given  to 
the  Jews  would  extirpate  from  their 
souls  the  memory  of  the  bloody  po- 
groms, the  trials  of  ritual  murders, 
the  restriction  of  the  possibilities  of 
making  a  living. 

And  a  clear-minded  Czar  would 
not  allow  himself  to  think  for  one 
moment  of  the  possibility  of  a  mere 
promise  converting  the  Polish  to  Rus- 
sian patriots  and  induce  them  to  shed 
their  blood  for  the  hangman  of  their 
national  existence. 

Since  the  overthrow  of  the  resur- 
rection led  by  Kosciousco  and  the 
third  and  final  division  of  Poland  in 
the  year  1791,  the  Polish,  who  can- 
not antl  never  will  forget  the  glori- 
ous history  of  their  country,  nowhere 
else  except  In  Russia  met  with  the 
hardest  and  most  brutal  persecution. 

The  honeyed  bread  of  the  prom- 
ise of  home  rule  will  hardly  sweeten 
the  bitter  memories.  The  Polish  In 
Russia  will  never  warm  up  to  the 
Russian  that  seized  200  Polish,  part 
of  whom  were  beheaded  and  part 
of  whom  were  deported  to  Siberia 
thirty  years  ago. 

The  Polish  in  Russia  will  never 
forget  that  the  Russians  confiscated 
their  church  goods  in  1865  and  sub- 
jected   them    to    the    fanatics    in    St. 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


Petersburg.  The  Polish  in  Russia 
will  never  forget  the  brutal  force 
which  brought  about  their  Russifica^ 
tion. 

And  this  Russia  has  the  audacity 
to  talk  about  the  liberation  of  the 
Slavs.  When  had  the  Slav  national- 
ities in  Austria  and  Hungary  to  en- 
dure similar  oppressions?  When  did 
Austrian  or  Hungarian  authorities 
confiscate  church  goods  of  the  adher- 
ents of  the  orthodox  church? 

And  still  the  claim  Is  that  the 
oppression  of  the  Slavs  in  Austria 
and  Hungary  was  the  primary  cause 
of  the  present  war.  And  England 
sings  the  same  song  and  joined  Rus- 
sia to  liberate  the  Slavs — outside  of 
Russia — and  glorify  the  orthodox 
church.  And  England  calls  this  a 
fight  for  liberty  and  for  civilization! 
If  that  word  In  the  lips  of  England 
does  not  mean  a  simple  phrase,  if 
constitutional  and  democratic  Eng- 
land is  actually  striving  for  the  lib- 
eration of  others,  it  should  start  with 
the  subjects  of  its  Russian  ally.  It 
should  induce  Russia  to  grant  at 
least  Finland  and  the  Baltic  prov- 
inces some  liberty  of  speech  and  of 
religion. 

As  long  as  England  does  not  even 
try  to  accomplish  that  her  protesta- 
tion of  trying  to  further  the  cause 
of  civilization  should  be  reduced  to 
the  value  of  the  Russian  promise  to 
the  Polish  and  the  Jew. 


AS   WAS  EXPECTED. 


Editorial  from  the  "Milwaukee  Free 
Press,"  October  3,   1914. 

Skepticism  anent  Russia's  good 
faith  in  promising  relief  to  Jews  and 
Poles  appears  to  have  been  well  jus- 
tified. 

The  Russian  embassy  in  London 
informs  the  press  that  it  knows  of 
no  new  privileges  given  to  Jews  in 
Russia,  and  intimations  are  being 
made  that  the  promises  to  the  Poles 
have  been  "withdrawn,"  on  the 
ground  that  some  natives  of  Austria 
and  Prussian  Poland  have  been  fight- 
ing against  the  czar. 

Since  such  an  event  was  inevitable, 
its  assignment  as  a  reason  must  be 
regarded  as  a  pitiable  pretext — proof 
that  the  formal  promises  made  to  the 
Poles  by  Russia  were  meant  to  be 
broken  from  the  first  as  soon  as  they 
had  served  their  purpose. 

With  respect  to  the  Jews,  the  Rus- 
sian government  does  not  see  fit  to 
manufacture  so  much  as  a  pretext 
for  its  breach  of  faith. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  another 
of  the  czar's  promises  related  to  the 
forgiveness  of  political  exiles  provid- 
ed they  returned  to  fight  for  Russia. 
This  appears  to  have  been  a  similarly 
base  subterfuge,  since  we  are  told 
that  Bourtzen,  the  revolutionist,  who 
went  back  to  join  the  colors  upon 
the  strength  of  this  assurance,  was 
arrested  in  Finland  and  shipped  to 
Siberia. 

So  Kipling's  old  warning  seems 
still  to  hold:  "Make  ye  no  truce 
with  Adamzad,  the  bear  that  walks 
like  a  man!" 


The  Brooklyn  Eagle  in  seeking  to 
explain  this  shocking  duplicity  of  the 
Russian    government   says: 

"We  suppose  the  explanation  is 
that  the  powerful  state  church  influ- 
ence has  been  exerting  itself  in  Pe- 
trograd.  Politically  reactionary,  it 
has  no  mercy  for  liberal  thinkers  on 
governmental  problems.  It  is  against 
the  Jews  as  Jews;  against  the  Poles 
as  Roman  Catholics.  Perhaps  it  is 
seeking  to  stultify  the  czar  without 
the  czar's  consent.  In  that  case  the 
autocrat's  personal  strength  of  char- 
acter will  be  subjected,  or  is  being 
subjected,  to  a  severe  test." 

That  is  only  half  the  truth.  To 
say  that  the  church  "has  been  ex- 
erting itself  at  Petrograd"  is  to  im- 
ply that  it  is  not  always  in  the  saddle, 
riding  hand  in  glove  with  the  grand- 
ducal  clique.  The  present  czar  has 
been  a  pawn  in  the  hands  of  these 
ruthless  reactionaries  from  the  be- 
ginning of  his  reign;  he  was  its  tool 
in  covering  up  the  Russian  prepara- 
tions for  war  just  as  he  was  when 
he  put  his  name  to  promises  that 
were  never  intended  to  be  kept. 

His  "strength  of  character"  is  un- 
dergoing no  severer  test  today  than 
it  has  for  years  past.  Whatever  that 
strength  amounts  to  it  is  as  helpless 
as  a  babe's  before  the  real  rulers 
of  Russia. 

Until  these  and  their  government 
are  overthrown,  there  can  be  no  hope 
for  the  oppressed  races,  the  oppressed 
masses  of  the  Muscovite  realm. 


ZANGWILL    ASKS   JEWS    IN    U.    S. 
SUPPORT  THE  ALLIES. 


RepKnted  from  the  "Chicago  Amer- 
ican,"  September   10,    1914. 

London,  Sept.  10. — Israel  Zang- 
will  has  sent  to  the  "Standard"  an 
appeal  to  Jews  of  neutral  countries, 
especially  those  in  America,  to  sup- 
port the  allies  against  Germany.  He 
writes: 

"Though  the  most  monstrous  war 
in  human  history  was  'made  in  Ger- 
many' and  although  Germany's  be- 
havior in  war  is  as  barbarous  as  her 
temper  in  peace,  I  note  with  regret 
that  certain  sections  of  Jewry  in 
America  and  other  neutral  countries 
seem  to  withhold  sympathy  from 
Britain  and  her  allies. 

"In  so  far  as  these  Jews  are  Ger- 
man born  their  feeling  for  Germany 
is  as  intelligent  as  is  mine  for  Eng- 
land, but  in  so  far  as  they  are 
swayed  by  consideration  of  the  in- 
terests of  Russian  Jews,  to  whom 
Germany  and  Austria  are  offering 
equal  rights,  let  me  tell  them  that  It 
would  be  better  for  the  Jewish  mi- 
nority to  continue  to  suffer  and  that 
I  would  far  sooner  lose  my  own  right 
as  an  English  citizen  than  that  the 
great  interests  of  civilization  should 
be  submerged  by  the  triumph  of 
Prussian   militarism. 

Explains   Black  Army. 

"And  in  saying  this  I  speak  not  as 
a  British  patriot,  but  as  a  world  pa- 
triot, dismayed  and  disgusted  by  the 
inhuman  ideal  of  the  Gothic  super- 
man. 


"I  am  well  aware  Germany's  press 
agent  paints  Germany  as  the  guard- 
ian of  civilization,  an  angel  fighting 
desperately  against  hordes  of  sav- 
ages imported  from  Africa  and  Asia, 
but  if  we  are  using  black  forces  it  is 
.  for  a  white  purpose.  She  is  using 
white   forces   for   black   purposes. 

"But  it  is  not  even  certain  the 
Jews  of  Russia  would  continue  to 
suffer  once  England  was  relieved 
from  this  Teutonic  nightmare.  I 
have  been  privileged  to  obtain  from 
Sir  Edward  Grey  the  assurance  that 
he  will  neglect  no  opportunity  of  en- 
couraging the  emancipation  of  Rus- 
sian Jews. 

Trusts  in  England. 

"This  marks  the  turning  point  in 
their  history,  replacing  as  it  does 
windy  Russian  rumors  by  solid  polit- 
ical bases  of  hope.  Nor  is  this  the 
mere  utterance  of  a  politician  in  a 
crisis.  I  am  in  a  position  to  state 
that  I  represent  the  attitude  of  all 
that  is  best  in  English  thought. 

"It  is  with  confidence,  therefore, 
that  I  appeal  to  American  and  other 
'neutral'  Jews  not  to  let  the  shadow 
of  Russia  alienate  their  sympathies 
from  the  indomitable  island,  which 
now,  as  not  seldom  before,  is  fight- 
ing for  mankind  and  which  may  yet 
civilize   Russia  and  Germany."* 


*See  Dr.  Meyer  L..  Sett's  reply  to 
Zangwill,  the  leading  ai'ticle  of  this 
section. — Editor. 


'MY  BELO\'ED  JEWS." 


From    "The   American    Jew." 

The  Czar  of  Russia  seems  to  real- 
ize that  his  Jewish  subjects  are,  after 
all, — Men.  Now,  when  the  physical 
strength  of  the  Russian  Empire  is 
put  to  the  test,  the  barriers  of  relig- 
ious prejudice  and  hatred  fall,  and 
in  the  gigantic  chess  game  across 
the  seas  counts  only  the  strength  of 
arm,  the  clearness  of  vision,  the 
bravery  of  heart.  The  Russian  Jew 
is  no  coward.  It  takes  strength,  su- 
perhuman courage,  to  endure  what 
has  been  meted  out  to  our  poor  breth- 
ren in  Russia.  They  who  faced  death 
a  thousand  times,  death  in  its  most 
barbarous  form, — who  welcomed  the 
reaper's  touch  when  Russian  fiends 
desecrated  their  homes  and  tortured 
their  loved  ones, — know  how  to  wage 
a  loyal  fight.  It  will  take  more  than 
war  to  liberate  the  Russian  Jew, 
more  than  mere  words,  spoken  in  the 
hour  of  need,  to  establish  our  faith 
in  the  Czar's  promises. 


THE  CZAR'S  ITKASE. 


From  "The  Fatherland,"   New  York, 
September  30,   1914. 

Apropos  of  the  Czar's  message  to 
the  Jews  in  Russia,  the  "Censor"  in 
its  last  issue  terms  it  "about  as  sar- 
donic a  bit  of  jesting  as  has  come 
out  of  Russia  in  a  long  time,"  writes 
"The  American  Jew."  "If  the  prom- 
ise were  meant  to  be  kept,"  says  the 
editorial,  "it  would  still  be  a  joke  in 
its  method  of  address,  for  as  the 
world  knows  the  Russian  autocracy 
has  always  been  in  the  habit  of  testi- 
fying its   'love'   for   the  Jews   by  re- 


FREEDOM  FOR  THE  JEWISH   PEOPLE 


131 


morseless  proscriptions,  imprisoning 
them  in  gliettoes,  and  once  and  again 
promoting  a  'pogrom'  ttiat  slauglit- 
ered  them  without  discrimination,  for 
no  other  reason  than  that  they  were 
'Jews'."  Our  esteemed  contempo- 
rary cannot,  therefore,  agree  with  us 
when  we  commend  the  Russian  Jew's 
loyalty  to  his  country.  Tlu'  Czar's 
Ukase  is  sheer  hypocrisy.  He  does 
not  love  the  Jew.  He  does  not  mean 
to  respect  the  Jew's  rights.  And  the 
Jew  knows  it.  Knows  that  he  is  the 
cast-off,  despised  plaything  of  Rus- 
sian brutality — the  social  underling 
of   Russian    autocracy. 


REVOLUTION.\RY    MOVEMENTS 
IN  RUSSIA. 

A  Sofia  paper  writes  that  a  Bulgari- 
an wholesale  house  received  a  report 
from  its  St.  Petersburg  representa- 
tive, relative  to  the  increase  to  the 
revolutionary  movement  in  Russia. 
The  jjolice  of  the  secret  service  caused 
many  hundreds  of  arrests  during  the 
last  weeks.  In  St.  Petersburg  only 
the  arrest  of  Social  Democratic  repre- 
sentatives to  the  Duma  have  been  pub- 
lished. Reports  have  been  spread  re- 
garding a  plot  against  the  Czar,  in 
which    Representatives    JeUaterinoslaw 


and  Petronski  were  entangled.     In  Lu- 
pansk   wholesale  arrests   took   place. 

The  calling  in  of  the  troops  does  not 
go  on  quite  smoothly.  In  •  some  dis- 
tricts, scarcely  half  of  those  liable  to 
military  service  put  in  an  appearance 
— the  peasants  have  to  be  gathered  by 
force.  —  "Hamburger  Fremdcnblatt," 
Hamburg,  Germany. 


The  Czar's  promises  to  treat  the 
Jews  just  as  he  treats  his  other  sub- 
jects are  calculated  to  send  a  shiver 
of  apprehension  throughout  Israel. — 
From  the  "Boston  Transcript." 


Great  Britain's  and  Russia's  Part  in  the  World  War 


ENGLISH  PERFIDY  A.VD  RUSSIAN 
.\TKOCITIES. 


The   \ital  Issue,   New   York. 

Editor's  Note: 

Below  we  publish  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable articles  ever  printed  in  an  Amer- 
ican journal.  It  is  very  unusual  that 
newspaper  reprints  have  ever  appeared  In 
an  American  newspaper.  Usually,  the  or- 
dinary newspaper  does  not  publish  such 
tflling  material  as  we  g-ive  below,  but  it  Is 
only  right  and  fair  that  the  great  Ameri- 
can public  should  be  told.  They  want  to 
know  facts  from  both  sides. 

Here  follows  a  letter  written  by  one  of 
the  best  known  college  professors  in  Eng- 
land to  "ERypt"  of  August.  1912.  Please 
remember  that  the  letter  was  written  two 
years  ago  and  that  it  has  therefore  no 
reference  to  the  present  European  Crisis. 
For  this  r*-ason  the  manuscript  is  remaric- 
able  and  not  influenced  by  sentiments 
caused  by  the  present  European  Crisis. 
Our  English  correspondent  condemns  bit- 
terly the  Russian  government  and  its 
agents.  We  quote  his  own  words :  "Our 
'Friends.'  as  the  London  'Times'  and  Its 
congeners  persist  In  calliing  the  Russians." 
Remember  that  this  was  written  two  years 
ago  by  an  English  college  professor,  and 
it  is  true  today.  The  pictures  which  we 
reprint  herewith  are  reproductions  from 
actual  photographs,  and  show  the  most 
gruesome  and  abomlnal>le  deeds  of  Rus- 
sian governmental  agents.  These  pictures 
show  Russian  methods  In  their  despicable 
rflle.  It  is  these  Russians  who  preclplt.ited 
the  present  European  war.  Similar  meth- 
ods were  employed  by  them  through  the 
Revolution  in  the  Baltic  provinces  a  few 
years  ago.  It  is  these  dreadful  Russians 
who  have  now  set  out  to  destroy  German 
Culture,  German  Ideals  and  German 
Thought. 

The  picture  Is  mute  evidence  of  the  ac- 
tual l>ehavlor  of  the  Russians,  and  the  ar- 
ticle describes  the  sentiments  and  the  atti- 
tude of  a  certain  British  clique.  Their 
envy  of  Germany  wa.s  rapacious  and  their 
commercial  greed  irisati^ibl.^.  HiikhIii 
YTouid  never  have  attiK'ked  4>friiinny  if 
liefore  the  oiitlireak  (»f  the  nnr  lOiiKliind 
hnd  not  >|nietly  encoiiraeed  liiiHMln. 
Such  underhand  support  is  hard  to 
prove,  but  now  we  see  that  this  same 
British  clique  openly  Joins  hands  with 
despotic  Russia  to  destroy  German  Cul- 
ture and  German  Freedom.  The  Brit- 
ish even  ask  the  help  of  the  Yellow 
Men  and  transported  peaceful  Hindus 
to  Europe  to  help  them  In  their  devil- 
ish plans.  What  fearful  responsibil- 
ity must  fall  upon  the  shoulders  of  a 
bnnil  of  men  of  such  a  low  and  perfidious 
chaiacur.     May  Heaven  punish  them  I* 


•1  did  not  have  the  heart  to  give  you 
more  than  the  word-picture  of  these  bar- 
barities ;  out  of  charitv  toward  the  de- 
fenders I  refuse  to  show  the  ghastly  pho- 
tographic reproductions  of  the  incidents 
described.  However.  I  cmphasl/.e  the 
sentence  in  small  black,  above. — -Editor 
of    ll'iir    Echoes. 


By   PROFESSOR   ROBERT    D.   OREE.NE, 
Of  Oxford  University,  England. 

Sir. — Today's  papers  are  full  of 
reflection  on  the  result  of  the  elec- 
tion at  North-West,  Manchester,  and 
while  they  differ  according  to  their 
political  tenets  as  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  results,  they  all  notice 
the  significant  fact  that  the  success 
of  the  Unionist  candidate  was  due 
less  to  any  remarkable  enthusiasm 
for  the  principles  which  he  advocated 
than  to  a  very  conspicuous  lack  of 
enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  Liberal 
voters,  some  1,200  of  whom  appear 
to  have  abstained  from  voting. 

This  lack  of  enthusiasm  is  vari- 
ously ascribed  to  dislike  of  the  In- 
surance Bill,  or  of  Home  Rule,  or  of 
Welsh  Disestablishment;  but  I  have 
not  seen  it  suggested  that  a  pro- 
found mistrust  and  dislike  of  the 
foreign  policy  of  the  present  govern- 
ment had  anything  to  do  with  it.  I 
think,  however,  that  there  is  good 
ground  for  believing  that  this  is  the 
case.  Liberalism,  as  a  power  capable 
of  generating  enthusiasm,  is  not  a 
mere  name  or  label,  but  an  idea,  or 
set  of  ideas,  often  denounced  by  its 
opponents  as  "sentimentalism,"  but 
at  least  inspired  by  a  deep-seated  be- 
lief in  abstract  justice  and  truth;  a 
desire  for  and  belief  in  moral  ad- 
vance; sympathy  for  the  weak,  and 
hatred  of  oppression;  and  a  profound 
conviction  that  a  nation  cannot,  any 
more  than  an  individual,  Ignore 
righteousness,  surround  itself  with 
an  atmosphere  of  falsehood,  or  defy 
expediency  with  impunity. 

Illiberal   Forel^rn   Policy. 

Now  I  venture  to  ."iny  that  seldom. 
If  ever,  in  the  history  of  this  coun- 
try has  a  foreiffn  policy  been  pur- 
sued at  once  so  illiberal,  so  inimnral, 
so  cont<'iiipllhIe,  and  .so  |>«>rilous  as 
that  pursued  by  the  present  Govern- 
ment. 

Illiberal,  because,  contemptuously 
regardless  of  the  claims  to  our  sym- 
pathy of  small  nations  "rightly 
struggling  to  be  free,"  It  has  shown 
Itself  as  ready  to  go  to  war  for  a 
bad  cause  (  such  as  the  enslavement 
of  Morocco  to  France),  as  it  was  un- 
ready to  make  any  effective  effort  to 
restrain    its    new    "friend,"    Russia, 


from  acts  of  brutal  aggression  in 
Persia. 

Immoral,  because  it  has  almost 
succeeded  in  muzzling  our  vaunted 
free  press  in  all  that  concerns  for- 
eign affairs,  poisoning  the  very  well 
of  truth,  and,  partly  by  suppression, 
partly  by  suggestion,  in  so  distorting 
facts  that  only  to  such  as  possess 
special  sources  of  information  on  any 
particular  question  of  foreign  policy 
is  it  possible  to  see  things  as  they 
really  are.  Contemptible,  because 
it  has  destroyed  England's  reputa- 
tion for  truth,  honor,  and  love  of  fair 
play. 

Perilous,  because,  in  spite  of  con- 
stantly increasing  expenditure  on 
armaments.  Lord  Morley  has  to  reply 
querulously  to  Lord  Curzon's  tren- 
chant criticisms  of  the  insane  project 
of  an  Indo-Russian  railway  that  we 
cannot  say  "No,"  lest  worse  things 
befall  us. 

The  net  result,  then,  is  that,  as  the 
Persians  say,  we  have  neither  this 
world  nor  the  next,  and  that  our  ex- 
piring influence  in  Asia  has  been  con- 
sistently used  since  this  government 
came  into  power  on  the  wrong  side, 
the  side  of  tyranny,  reaction,  and 
vandalism. 

The  Situation   in   Persia. 

It  is  of  Persia  chiefly  that  I  am 
thinking,  and  of  an  unusually  odious 
leading  article  on  Persia  in  today's 
"Times"  (which,  unhappily,  too  of- 
ten foreshadows  the  intentions  of  the 
Foreign  Ofl^ce),  and  of  tw^o  sets  of 
documents  which  lie  before  me:  the 
last  White  Book,  and  a  dozen  of  the 
most  frightful  photographs  it  has 
ever  been  my  misfortune  to  see.  The 
latter  (which  it  would  be  well  that 
all  Englishmen  should  see,  were  they 
not  too  horrible  for  publication)  rep- 
resent the  way  in  which  the  Russian 
Government  and  its  agents  "Our 
friends,"  as  the  "Times"  and  its  con- 
geners persist  in  calling  them — 
understand  Christian  civilization  in 
the  twentieth  century,  and  how  they 
celebrated  last  New  Year's  Day  In 
the  unhappy  city  of  Tabriz. 

The  one  "constructive"  feature  of 
their  policy  is  the  gallows,  from 
which  swing  the  poor,  mortal  re- 
mains of  some  of  the  bravest  and 
most   enlightened   of   the  Nationalist 


132 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


leaders  of  Tabriz;  the  other  features, 
which  can  scarcely  be  called  "con- 
structive," include  the  closing  of 
schools  and  printing  presses,  the 
dynamiting  of  ancient  monuments 
and  private  houses,  and  the  restora- 
tion of  the  worst  elements  of  the 
old  regime. 

Some  of  the  photographs  show  the 
Russians  at  work  in  the  way  familiar 
to  all  who  have  followed  their  doings 
in  the  Caucasus,  the  Baltic  Provinces 
and  elsewhere;  others  (yet  more  re- 
pulsive) show  the  work  of  Samad 
Khan  Shuja-ud-Dawla,  ardent  re- 
actionary and  partisan  of  the  ex- 
Shah,  who  followed  them  into  the 
city  he  had  so  long  failed  to  subdue, 
was  recognized  by  them  as  de  facto 
governor,  and,  with  their  sanction 
and  approval,  at  once  set  to  work  to 
do  such  things  as  they  could  hardly 
do:  to  stab,  mutilate,  hang  head 
downwards,  cut  men  in  two  like 
sheep,  and  hang  the  pieces  in  the 
shop. 

All  this,  appalling  as  it  is,  is  only 
what  anyone  who  had  read  history 
would  have  expected,  but  what 
shocks  us  most  is  to  find  the  British 
Consul  at  Tabriz  recommending  the 
recognition  of  Samad  Khan  as  Gov- 
ernor of  the  town,  thinking  that  he 
"will  not  be  a  bad  Governor,"  and 
telegraphing  to  the  British  Minister 
at  Teheran  that  it  was  "in  every  way 
desirable  to  recognize  him  as  Gov- 
ernor-General, as  he  was  popular  ( ! ) 
and  possessed  Influence  among  no- 
mads." 

I  wish  the  photographs  before  me 
could  have  been  reproduced  as  illus- 
trations to  the  White  Book,  so  that 
all  Its  readers  might  at  once  have 
Been  (what  the  text  omits  to  men- 
tion) the  methods  by  which  Samad 
Kahn  Shuja-ud-Wawla  commended 
himself  to  the  then  British  Consul  at 
Tabriz  as  "not  a  bad  Governor."  and 
obtained  "popularity"  and  "Influ- 
ence"! 

I  must  not,  however,  pursue  this 
topic  further;  but  I  enclose  herewtih 
some  of  the  photographs  to  which  I 
have  referred,  in  order  to  convince 
you.  Sir,  that  I  do  not  speak  too 
strongly,  and,  though  I  count  myself 
a  Liberal  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
word  was  used  formerly,  and  though 
I  have  no  assurance  that  a  Unionist 
Poreigrn  Minister  would  or  could  re- 
verse or  ameliorate  the  lamentable 
foreign  policy  of  Sir  Edward  Grey 
and  his  lieutenants,  I  think  I  would 
do  what  I  could  to  put  the  matter 
to  the  test  In  the  certain  assurance 
that  things  could  hardly  be  worse 
than  they  are  now.  How  I  should 
vote  Is  a  matter  of  very  little  con- 
sequence, but  I  have  reason  to  think 
that  a  very  large  number  of  Liberals 
are  In  the  same  position,  and  that  a 
deep  disgust  of  the  present  Govern- 
ment's foreign  policy  played,  perhaps, 
a  not  Inconsiderable  part  in  the  Man- 
chester election,  and  Is  likely  to  play 
a  still  greater  part  in  future  elec- 
tions. 

ROBERT  D.  GREENE. 

Ozford,  England,  August  9,   1912. 

The  above  letter  was  written  by 
an  Englishman  of  international  repu- 
tation, a  historian  and  a  student  of 


politics.  The  letter  gives  proof  of 
much  knowledge. 

We  have  an  absolute  legal  and 
moral  right  to  publish  it;  in  fact, 
the  letter  was  printed  and  circulated 
within  a  small  but  select  circle  two 
years  ago.  But  whether  the  profes- 
sor would  like  to  see  his  name  print- 
ed with  his  scorching  letters  at  the 
present  time  is  a  question.  Though 
not  at  fault,  the  British  government 
(the  humane  and  honorable  mem- 
bers* who  are  his  friends,  have  since 
resigned  from  the  British  Cabinet) 
might  apply  some  drastic  Russian 
punishment  to  the  professor,  so 
strong  Is  his  condemnation  of  the 
sneaking  and  Intriguing  policy  of 
Edward  Grey.  For  this  reason,  and 
because  of  friendly  and  personal  feel- 
ings toward  the  professor  as  an  in- 
dividual, we  have  substituted  another 
name,  and  we  hope  he  will  approve 
of  our  course. 

The  bad  policies  and  the  mean 
methods  of  Grey  are  well  under- 
stood and  severely  condemned  by  a 
large  part  of  the  English  public.  It 
is  openly  stated  that  never  before 
had  the  Morale  In  high  English  cir- 
cles such  a  low  standard.  It  has 
been  hypocrisy,  intrigue  and  under- 
handed work  throughout  for  years 
past.  Any  man  who  will  look  at  a 
photograph  of  Mr.  Grey  (Sir  Ed- 
ward) will  see  these  wordsf  *  *  * 
In  this  vein  many  British  papers  have 
written.  But  will  any  of  our  readers 
point  out  a  single  American  news- 
paper in  which  Professor  Greene's 
letter  and  the  above  plain  statements 
have  appeai-ed?  Few.  if  any.  papers 
will  yo>i  name.  And  yet  this  letter 
was  published  in  London,  England. 
Do  you  not  find  it  rather  strange  that 
no  (or  few)  American  papers  have  re- 
printed such  telling  material?  Does 
this  not  cause  you  to  think?  What 
is  the  reason?  The  reason  Is  very 
plain:  American. Newspapers  receive 
almost  all  their  foreign  news  from 
English  correspondents,  and  with 
little  thought  (if  any)  print  what  the 
British   give   them. 


*Ijord  Morley  and  Hon.  John  Burns 
resigned  their  portfolios  rather  than 
follow  Sir  Edward  Grey  in  his  war 
upon    Germany. — Editor. 

tAg-ain  out  of  charity  towards  the 
offenders  the  Editor  of  War  Echoes 
omits  even  a  portion  of  the  "Word 
Picture." 


TAKES  ISSITE  ON  RUSSIA. 

Reprinted   by   Oourte.sy   of  The   New 
Republic,  March  13.  1915. 

L.  N.  Harper. 

Sir:  My  attention  has  been  called 
to  the  article  by  H.  N.  Brailsford. 
"The  Slavic  Hope,"  in  The  New  Re- 
public for  January  ninth.  This  arti- 
cle shows  either  complete  ignorance 
of  or  simply  failure  to  grasp  most  ele- 
mentary facts  of  Russian  history  and 
politics;  it  should  not  be  allowed  to 
pass  unchallenged. 

Panslavism  and  Slavophilism  are 
related  but  not  interchangeable 
terms.  Further,  it  has  always  been 
clear  that  there  is  no  real  tendency 
toward  political  unity  in  the  Slav 
world.  Political  Panslavism  bears 
the  trade-mark  "Made  in  Germany." 
As  one  writer  says   (Levine,  Political 


Science  Quarterly,  December,  1914): 
"Political  Panslavism  is,  for  the  Ger- 
man, a  useful  cover  for  the  deeds  and 
misdeeds  of  economic  Pangerman- 
ism."  And  whatever  Slavophilism 
may  be,  Pobedonostev  was  not  a 
Slavophil,  but  a  simple  obscurantist; 
he  himself  harked  back  to  earlier 
Slavophilism,  but  when  he  did  so  he 
represented  a  perversion  of  Slavo- 
philism. At  the  present  moment  a 
small  unrepresentative  group  is  call- 
ing up  the  teachings  of  the  Slavophils, 
attempting  to  apply  this  theory  to 
the  present  situation.  To  do  this 
they  must  and  do  consider  Germany 
and  Europe  as  synonymous.  This 
lack  of  respect  for  facts  has  been 
called  to  their  attention.  A  Russian 
historian  (Professor  Kisevetter,  in 
the  Russkiya  Vedomosti  for  January 
21,  1915).  writes:  "No,  we  are  not 
fighting  Europe,  but  Germany.  Fur- 
thermore, it  is  in  alliance  with  Eu- 
rope that  we  are  fighting  Germany, 
and  we  can  do  this  only  because  we 
too  are  of  Europe." 

Mr.  Brailsford  compares  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  government  vodka  monop- 
oly to  the  decree  of  Peter  the  Great 
prohibiting  the  wearing  of  beards;  he 
sees  here  proof  of  further  loss  "in 
liberty  by  this  return  to  the  habit  of 
autocratic  legislation."  Is  tlie  writer 
ignorant  of  the  movement  for  temper- 
ance that  has  been  going  on  in  Russia 
for  many  years,  of  the  protests  com- 
ing from  conservatives  as  well  as  lib- 
eral and  radical  circles,  agaiust  Rus- 
sia's "drunken  budget,"  to  use  an  ex- 
pression so  current  in  Russian  poli- 
tics? Does  Mr.  Brailsford  know  of 
the  debates  on  a  local  option  law 
passed  by  the  Duma  and  the  Imperial 
Council  just  a  year  ago,  and  of  the 
dismissal  of  a  Minister  of  Finance  on 
this  very  issue?  And  finally,  did  the 
writer  take  the  trouble  to  read  the 
Russian  newspapers  for  the  month  of 
August  last,  the  first  month  of  the 
war?  Had  he  done  so,  he  must  have 
seen  how  all  parties  worked  to  se- 
cure the  permanent  closing  of  the 
government  vodka  shops,  which  had 
been  shut  down  originally  only  tor 
the  term  of  mobilization. 

The  attitude  taken  by  all  parties 
and  all  classes  toward  the  vodka 
question,  and  this  at  a  moment  when 
the  public  was  occupied  with  the 
many  questions  relative  to  the  begin- 
ning of  hostilities,  testified  to  the 
moral  awakening  of  the  Russian  peo- 
ple of  which  so  many  of  her  friends 
are  firmly  convinced.  And  the  per- 
manent closing  of  the  vodka  shops 
was  a  clear  victory  for  the  people  as 
against  the  government  policy  and 
the  bureaucracy. 

Mr.  Brailsford  represents  an  im- 
portant group  of  English  thinkers. 
And  it  is  interesting  to  note  how  now, 
as  at  other  times,  the  views  and  state- 
ments of  the  English  Radical  with  re- 
gard to  Russian  politics  coincide  most 
strangely  with  the  views  and  state- 
ments of  the  Russian  reactionary.  As 
Russian  newspapers  are  emphasizing, 
it  is  these  two  groups  that  are  now 
evidencing,  in  their  respective  coun- 
tries, the  same  "Germanophil"  ten- 
dencies. The  "peace  party"  in  Russia 
at  the  present  moment  is  the  old 
friend  whom  we  always  called  the 
"German  party."  Their  recent  in- 
trigues have  been  exposed  to  the  light 


GREAT   HRITAIN   AND  JAPAN 


133: 


and  thus  rendered  ineffective.  Ther 
are  led  by  Count  Witte  and  Marltov 
2nd,  who  have  always  been  the  frank 
opponents  of  liberty  and  progress  in 
Russia.  By  the  attitude  they  take 
toward  Russia,  are  not  the  English 
Radicals  playing  into  the  hands  of 
these  intriguers?  Mr.  Brailsford 
may  believe  that  the  Liberals  in  Rus- 
sia are  over-confident  of  the  victory 
of  their  cause.  But  he  should  be 
more  careful  to  collect  his  facts  be- 
fore he  draws  his  inferences  and 
states  his  belief. 

There  is  another  equally  VMluable 
article  in  War  Echoes  from  The  Xcic 
Repuhlir.  The  French  View  of  (Jerman 
"Kultur."  See:  New  Uepulilic,  or 
"Kiiltur."    in    the    Indc.v. — Kditor. 


WHKRE   OIK   SKXTIMEXTS 
SHOULD  BE. 


Kditorinl  from  the  "Irish  Advocate" 

It  is  not  true  to  say  that  Ameri- 
can sentiment  is  altogether  with 
England,  France  and  Russia  in  this 
war  with  Germany  and  Austria. 
There  is  enough  German  blood  in 
this  country  alone  to  assure  a  large 
volume  of  German  sentiment.  Irish- 
American  sentiment  is  more  German 
than  English  or  French,  and  this  is 
only  natural,  considering  that  the 
Irish  and  German  peoples  have  got 
along  together  in  this  country  for 
two  generations  better  than  any  other 
two  nationalities. 


The  daily  papers  of  America,  for 
reasons  best  known  to  themselves, 
have  tried  to  fasten  on  the  Kaiser 
all  blame  for  bringing  the  war  to 
a  head,  and,  therefore,  according  to 
this  theory,  American  sentiment 
must  of  necessity  be  with  the  Triple 
Entente.  Deep  down  in  American 
minds  and  feelings  there  is  no  such 
sentiment.  As  for  Irish-Americans 
they  have  every  reason  to  feel  in 
common  with  their  German  neigh- 
bors in  this  conflict.  It  may  be  very 
diplomatic  for  Mr.  Redmond  to  ex- 
press the  sentiments  of  England  in 
England's  House  of  Commons,  but 
this  declaration  does  not  bind  Irish- 
Americans  to  pledge  their  moral  sen- 
timents in   England's   favor. 


Anglo-Japanese  Machinations  and  American  Safety 


JAPAN   AND  THE   WAR. 

This  is  the  sij-ih  article  of  a  series 
on  THE  EVnOI'KAN  ^YAR.  which  ap- 
p<ared  in  the  October  \umbcr  of  THE 
OPEX  ecu  RT.  under  the  title  •'Japan" 
trrittcn  bii  the  Editor,  Dr.  Paul  Cams. 

(■i,n.-<ult  the  IXDEX  for  the  complete 
scries,  and,  in  order  to  see  irhcre.  in 
the  various  Chapters  of  the  book,  the 
different  articles  of  this  treatise  may 
be  found,  look  for  EIROPEAS  W.iR 
(THE).  In  this  uan  the  reader  may 
read  the  cntirT  series  of  articles  in 
their  orij/inal  order,  if  he  chooses  to  do 
so,  u-hilc  the  present  arrangement  stilt 
gives  him  the  advantage  of  bringing  the 
various  articles  tinder  their  proper,  re- 
spective Chapter-headings  of  the  book. 

Thut  is  a  series  of  exceptionaUi/  fine 
articlis  on  the  subject  in  question,  and 
they  bear  a  unique  and  important  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  Re  sure  to  read 
th<'in  also  in  their  original  order. — 
Editor.  "IVor  Echoes." 

Japan  has  joined  the  war. 

The  action  of  Japan  has  been  re- 
ceived in  the  United  States  with  feel- 
ings of  deep  distrust.  On  the  one 
hand  it  seems  an  indication  that  the 
English  cause  must  be  very  weak  if 
Japan's  help  is  needed,  and  on  the 
other  hand  it  seems  to  open  the 
possibility  of  drawing  the  I'nited 
States  into  the  war.  We  have  sym- 
pathized with  Japan  during  the  Rus- 
so-Japanese war,  but  since  then  the 
Japanese  have  shown  a  strange  an- 
tagonism towards  the  United  States 
in  the  Philippines,  in  Honolulu,  in 
Mexico,  and  now  they  manifest  an 
ambition  to  take  possession  of  Ger- 
man China  as  well  as  of  the  German 
islands  in  the  Pacific.  Their  assur- 
ance that  they  do  not  enter  the  war 
for  the  sake  of  self-aggrandizement 
has  been  officially  believed  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  and  Secretary  Bryan,  but 
finds  little  credence  among  the  peo- 
ple. 

Here  are  some  sentences  quoted 
from  the  "Chicago  American"  show- 
ing William  Randolph  Hearst's  re- 
flections on  this  subject,  views  which 
have  found  an  echo  all  over  the 
United   States: 

"The  intrusion  of  Japan  into  the 
European  war  is  a  matter  to  excite 
the  especial  interest  and  attention  of 
the  American  public.  Japan  has  no 
quarrel  whatever  with  Germany  or 
Austria,  no  reason,  so  far  as  surface 


indications  are  concerned,  tor  in- 
jecting herself  into  the  European 
situation.  What,  then,  was  the  secret 
or  subterranean  reason  for  Japan's 
action? 

"Great  Britain  has  often  assured 
the  government  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  that  no  such  intimate 
alliance  with  Japan  existed,  but  the 
plain  facts  and  Japan's  frank  ac- 
knowledgment are  incontrovertible. 
The  action  of  Japan  is  wholly  in- 
explicable upon  any  other  assump- 
tion. 

"Never  before  in  the  history  of  the 
country  has  the  far-seeing  wisdom 
of  George  Washington  in  enjoining 
our  government  to  keep  free  from 
entangling  alliances  with  foreign 
powers  been   more  apparent. 

"But  if,  in  order  to  keep  free  from 
conflicts  like  that  now  raging  in 
Europe,  we  must  not  enter  into  any 
alliance  with  any  other  nation,  then 
must  we  all  the  more  depend  on  our 
own  resources  and  have  resources 
sufiicient  to  depend  upon. 

"But  we  should  have  a  great  navy. 

"Furthermore,  we  should  have  a 
Panama  Canal  owned  by  the  United 
States,  controlled  by  the  United 
States,  fortified  by  the  United  States 
and  in  time  of  war  at  the  service  of 
the  United  States  alone. 

"If  the  people  of  our  nation  im- 
agine that  the  reason  we  are  not 
involved  in  this  war  is  because  of 
any  special  diplomatic  inspiration  of 
our  government,  or  because  of  any 
impregnable  situation  of  our  coun- 
try, they  are  as  absurd  in  their  as- 
sumption as  the  ostrich,  who  thinks 
if  he  hides  his  head  in  the  sand  he 
will   not  be  hit  by   the  hunter. 

"We  always  are  and  always  will 
be  anxious  to  avoid  war,  but  in  the 
light  of  recent  events  it  is  evident 
that  no  country  can  tell  when  it  will 
be  compelled  to  defend  itself.  A 
great  navy  is  our  best  protection  and 
all  far-seeing  citizens  of  the  United 
States  hope  that  the  party  now  in 
power  at  Washington  will  end  its 
foolish  and  dangerous  "no  navy"  pol- 
icy and  proceed  promptly  to  give  our 
country  the  protection  It  needs  and 
demands." 

The  attitude  of  Japan  and  her  pro- 
cedure against  Germany  is  a  warn- 
ing. Might  we  not  over  night  have 
a    war    on    hand    on    account   of   the 


secret  treaties  between  Japan,  Eng- 
land, and  Russia,  in  which  Mexico 
and  the  South  American  republics 
would  join  just  for  the  fun? 


Japan. 

Ami  here  is  Mr.  Jourdaln's  reply  to 
the  Editor's  liiscussion  of  this  subject. — 
ICditor  of  War  Echoes. 

The  action  of  Japan  has  l)t>on  so  cor- 
rect that  no  reasonable  American  paper 
shows  a  trace  of  Mr.  Randolph  William 
Hearst's  notorious  scare  on  this  sub- 
ject=  in  the  "Chicago  American."  The 
conclusion  is  so  grotesque  that  it  needs 
no  comment  or  refutation.  "The  atti- 
tude of  Japan  and  her  procedure 
against  Germany  is  a  warning.  Might 
we  (i.  e.,  America)  not  overnight  have 
a  war  on  hand  on  account  of  the  secret 
treaties  between  Japan.  England  and 
Russia  in  which  Mexico  and  the  South 
.Vnierican  republics  would  join  just  for 
the  fun?" 


'"Ibid.,"  pp.  618-619. 

By  consultinB  tlie  Index  the  render 
can  find  the  connection  of  the  Foot 
Notes.  To  describe  the  pos.silile  align- 
ment in  any  such  a  future  difficulty  as 
"crotesque"  i.s  not  refutinc  its  possl- 
liility.  Mr.  Jourdain:  don't  you  think 
that  plenty  of  men  and  women  would 
have  descrihed  the  present  European 
aliKnment  as  "crotesque"  only  ten 
years    ago? — ICditor    War    Echoes. 


JAPAN    AND   KIAUTSCHAV. 


Translation   of   Editorial    Which    Ap- 
peared  in   (iernian   in   the   "Illi- 
nois Staat-s-Zeitung,"  Chicago. 

When  Japan  addressed  its  note  of 
extortion  to  Berlin  and  turned  up  as 
the  eighth  foe  of  Germany,  we  knew 
that  the  black-white-red  colors  flying 
at  Tsingtau  were  doomed  to  descend. 
The  small  band  at  this  forlorn  Ger- 
man outpost  could  not  hope  that  its 
heroic  resistance  would  save  the 
colony  for  Germany:  but  it  defended 
the  honor  of  German  arms  to  the 
last  and  threw  away  their  lives  for 
the  ethical  and  moral  treasures 
which  the  white  race  must  protect 
against  the  covetousness  of  the  yel- 
low people,  but  which  England  be- 
trayed for  the  sake  of  a  shopkeepers' 
profit  of  five  thousand  men  probably 
a  few  hundred  had  gathered  within 
the  walls  of  the  Tsingtau  forts  at 
the  call  of  the  Kaiser.  Three  divi- 
sions of  full  strength  crossed  the  sea 


134 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


to  take  possession  of  this  defiant 
burg.  Although  only  a  small  force, 
the  spirit  that  prevailed  among  the 
defenders  of  Kiautschau  from  the 
governor  down  to  the  rawest  recruit, 
more  than  made  up  for  the  disparity 
In  numbers.  "We  will  fulfil  our 
duty  to  the  last,"  Meyer-Waldeck 
wired  to  Berlin  when  informed  of 
the  Japanese  ultimatum  and  the  Ger- 
man heroes  in  the  far  east  stuck  to 
their  post  until  buried  under  the 
ruins  of  walls  and  ramparts. 

The  defense  of  Kiautachau  will  be 
mentioned  first  among  the  glorious 
German  and  Austrian  feats  of  arms. 
Portresses,  which  were  considered 
impregnable,  owing  to  their  great 
steel  sides  and  immense  concrete 
walls  and  that  were  defended  by  tens 
of  thousands  and  even  hundreds  of 
thousands  fell  after  as  many  days  as 
it  took  weeks  to  capture  Kiautschau. 
We  are  pained  that  the  inevitable 
regarding  the  fortress  has  come  to 
pass;  but  we  are  consoled  by  the 
thought  that  owing  to  the  dispro- 
portion in  the  strength  of  the  oppos- 
ing forces — ten  against  one — it  can- 
not be  said  that  the  Japs  covered 
themselves  with  glory. 

As    already    stated,    the    honor    of 
the   German   arms   was   preserved   at 
Tsingtau.     The  harbor  of  Kiautschau 
would  have  furnished  a  fine  base  of 
operations   against   a    British   squad- 
ron  in   Asiatic  seas   and   this   it  had 
been  intended  for.     For  that  reason 
this  territory  was  not  in  charge  of  a 
civil   governor   as   is  the  case  in   all 
German  colonies,  but  a  naval  officer 
in    active    service.      The    British-Jap 
alliance  was  badly  disappointed  in  its 
hope     of     destroying     the     German- 
Chinese     squadron     when     it     took 
Kiautschau,    for    the    Gneisenau    and 
Scharnhorst,  after  making  wrecks  of 
two  British  cruisers  prior  to  Japan's 
participation  in  the  war  had  reached 
the  high  seas  and  shown,  that  with- 
out having  a  base  of  operations,  they 
could  become  a  terror  to  the  enemy. 
At  all   events  the  only  result  of  the 
fall    of    Kiautschau    to    be    deplored 
is,     that     the     squadron     heretofore 
blockading   the   harbor   can    now    be 
used    in    operations    against   German 
cruisers. 

The  tremendous  losses  suffered  by 
the  Japs  in  their  struggle  with  the 
heroic  band  of  German  defenders 
makes  Kiautschau  a  very  costly  ac- 
quisition: nevertheless  their  title  will 
only  be  a  temporary  one:  the  fate 
of  the  German  colonies  will  be  de- 
cided on  the  battlefields  of  Europe, 
no  matter  what  the  outcome  of  the 
struggle  on  their  own  soil  may  be. 
If,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  ne- 
gotiations regarding  Kiautschau  will 
be  carried  on  with  China,  the  second 
partv  will  not  be  Japan,  but  Ger- 
manV.  Defeated  England  may  then 
be  given  the  task  of  regaining  the 
German  possessions  in  the  Yellow 
and  South  seas  from  her  Japanese 
ally,  which  she  had  incited.  Honor 
the  heroic  sons  of  Germany,  who  In 
the  far  east  fought  for  the  glory  of 
their  country:  their  loss  will  be 
charged  to  England's  account  and 
Germanv's  mailed  fist  will  rest  heav- 
ily on  the  island  kingdom  until  all 
accounts,  among  which  will  be  Kiaut- 
schau, have  been  settled  without  a 
remainder. 


THE    CRYSTALLIZATION    OF 

THE  ANGLO-JAPANESE 

ALLIANCE. 


New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung, 

New  York. 

Herman  Ridder. 

A  tragedy  that  will  live  as  long  as 
heroism  is  remembered  is  being 
staged  today  in  a  small  outpost  of 
western  civilization  on  the  coast  of 
China.  The  spectacle  of  the  4,000 
Germans  in  Tsingtao  defying  the 
Japanese  nation  is  not  one  to  be 
lightly  regarded.  There  is  more  to 
it  than  the  mere  fact  of  a  gallant 
defense — more  to  it  than  the  fact 
that  since  Leonidas  tried  to  hold 
Thermopylae  against  the  East  of  his 
day,  no  greater  example  of  deter- 
mined gallantry  and  patriotism  has 
been  given  to  the  world.  There  is 
a  deeper  meaning  in  the  defence  of 
Kiaochow,  significant  to  all  the  West 
and  peculiarly  significant  to  Amer- 
ica. It  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  the  West  in  the  East. 

The  pretext  which  Japan  advanced 
to  cover  her  intrusion  into  the  war 


AMERICA   AND   JAPAN. 

\u  \iuerican  who  has  recently  re- 
turned from  Japan  after  a  prolonged 
residence  in  that  country  states  that 
in  military,  naval  and  official  circles 
there  is  no  longer  any  attempt  to  dis- 
"ui'^e  the  feeling  that  au  approaching 
conflict  with  the  Tnited  States  is  in- 
evitable. In  the  event  of  a  defeat  ot 
Germanv  in  the  present  war  it  is  be- 
lieved in  the  Mikado's  empire  that 
England  will  fulfil  her  obligations 
as  ally,  and  come  to  her  aid  against 
Uncle  Sam.  In  view  of  the  ready  re- 
sponse on  the  part  of  Japan  to  Eng- 
land's demand  upon  her  to  attack 
Tsingtao,  the  Tokio  government  seems 
assured  that  it  can  rely  upon  Eng- 
land's fleet  a-'d  army  in  the  event  of 
war  with   th     United   States. 

The  Amei.can  declared  that  Japan 
has  been  carefully  preparing  for  a  long 
time  for  such  a  contingency.  He  said 
that  every  Japanese  subject  in  Amer- 
ica has  an  alloted  task  assigned  to 
him  by  the  secret  service  and  that 
every  Japanese  in  America  is  in  reality 
a  governmental  spy.  The  bridges,  tun- 
nels, and  railroad  connections  will  be 
immediately  destroyed  by  these  Jap- 
anese, before  Uncle  Sam  has  time  to 
collect  his  faculties,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent the  transfer  of  troops  and  war 
material  from  the  East  to  West. 

The  American  military  authorities 
are  sadlv  negligent  in  guarding  against 
such  unexpected  possibilities  and  be- 
fore proper  precautions  are  taken, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  gravest 
damage  could  be  done  to  the  lines  of 
communication. 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  urged  on 
the  American  War  Department  to 
exercise  control  over  all  Japanese  in 
the  United  States,  that  specific  and 
definite  instruction  be  given  to  all  po- 
lice authorities  to  keep  watch  over 
and  report  their  movements  and  imme- 
diately confine  them,  if  the  situation 
liocanie  critical.  —  The  "Continental 
Times,"  Berlin. 


was  as  transparent  and  as  easily  dis- 
posed of  as  was  England's.  The  ex- 
cuse advanced  for  her  by  her  apolo- 
gists that  she  harbors  a  feeling  of 
enemity  toward  Germany  on  account 
of  the  latter's  protest  against  the 
occupation  of  southern  Fengtien  by 
Japan  in  1895,  is  true  but  not  com- 
prehensive. For  France  and  Russia, 
who  are  now  Japan's  allies  against 
Germany,  were  joined  in  this  pro- 
test and  Russia,  who  subsequently 
inherited  the  leasehold  of  Port  Ar- 
thur, was  its  instigator.  Japan  threw 
in  her  lot  with  the  Allies  on  account 
of  her  enmity  for  Germany;  but  the 
roots  of  that  enmity  were  fed  in 
far  deeper  soil  than  that  of  the  Liao- 
tung  Peninsula. 

A  few  years  ago  a  great  deal  more 
was  heard  of  the  "Yellow  Peril" 
than  we  hear  today.  Our  interests 
in  the  Pacific  have  brought  us  into 
fighting  distance  of  Japan  and  the 
phrase  has  consequently  been  forced, 
in  this  country  at  least,  into  the  class 
of  taboo.  We  scarcely  longer  dare 
discuss  the  internal  administration  of 
the  Philippines  for  fear  that  we  may 
give  the  jingoes  of  Tokyo  cause  for 
agitation.  But  not  so  Germany.  The 
Asiatic  "peril"  was  first  enunciated 
by  her  thinkers  and  she  has  never 
ceased  to  realize  and  discuss  its  im- 
port. With  perhaps  no  greater  ap- 
preciation ot  its  dangers  than  we  have 
had,  but  certainly  with  a  greater  de- 
gree of  fearlessness  in  discussion, 
she  has  never  lost  an  opportunity  to 
point  out  the  significance  and  mean- 
ing of  the  coming  struggle  between 
the  Occident  and  the  Orient.  Japan 
could  not  fail  to  remark  this.  And  it 
is  just  this  which  underlies  the  in- 
tense and  lasting  hostility  of  Japan 
to  Germany. 

The  aspirations  of  Japan  to  the 
pre-eminent  position  in  Asia  and  In 
the  Pacific  are  well  known.  Her  lead- 
ing men  have  taken  but  small  pains 
to  conceal  them.  In  times  of  ex- 
citement they  are  a  theme  for  her 
demagogues  from  Tokyo  to  Nagasaki. 
One  nation,  especially,  stands  in  the 
way  ot  their  realization — -the  United 
States,  whose  shores,  like  those  of 
Japan,  are  washed  by  the  Pacific,  and 
another  nation,  Germany,  has  stood 
by  ever  ready  to  assist  the  United 
States  in  the  defense  of  its  claims. 
On  all  the  Continent  of  Europe  Ger- 
many alone  has  stood  out  clearly  and 
irrevocably  for  the  West  as  against 
the  East.  England  has  long  been  an 
ally  of  Japan  and  today  France  and 
Russia  are  fighting  under  the  same 
standard.  On  the  other  hand,  Ger- 
many has  never  once  retreated  from 
her  position  as  champion  of  the  civ- 
ilization of  Europe  and  America. 
When  it  came  to  a  choice  between 
two  evils  she  chose  in  19  04  the  lesser 
and  supported  Russia  against  Japan. 
For  all  this  Japan  cannot  and  will 
not  forgive  her. 

But  it  is  not  so  much  the  Germany 
of  Europe,  which  can  never  hope  for 
predominency  in  the  Pacific,  that  ran- 
cors Japan,  but  Germany  the  silent 
ally  of  the  United  States.  Until  the 
advent  of  the  present  war  the  efficacy 
of  the  Anglo-Japanese  alliance  in 
case  of  war  between  ourselves  and 
Japan  admitted  of  a  certain  amount 
of  doubt.     Japan  may  still  think  that 


SERBIA'S  CAUSE  AND  CONDUCT  IN  THE  WAR 


135 


this  condition  continues  to  exist, 
thougli  England's  conduct  has  re- 
moved any  such  impression  from  the 
minds  of  the  American  people.  In 
any  event,  her  logic  ran,  the  hour 
had  struck  for  putting  Germany  out 
of  the  class  of  dangerous  enemies. 
When  she  had  been  disposed  of  the 
one  and  only  ally  to  whom  the 
United  States  could  look  would  no 
longer  exist.  To  deal  then  with  the 
United  States  would  be  a  much  sim- 
pler task.  When,  further,  she  ar- 
gued, by  warring  on  Germany  she 
could  put  herself  in  possession  of 
points  in  the  Pacific  particularly 
helpful  in  the  coming  conflict,  the 
case  of  Japan  was  complete. 

The  possession  of  Kiaochow  can- 
not be  regarded  as  other  than  a  sec- 
ondary consideration  with  .Japan. 
With  half  of  Manchuria  to  develop 
in,  she  does  not  need  it.  The  great 
things  for  which  Japan  is  fighting 
are  the  destruction  of  Germany,  the 
crystallization  of  the  Anglo-Japanese 
alliance  and  the  occupation  of  terri- 
tories in  the  Pacific  strategically  im- 
portant in  the  struggle  which  she 
knows  is  doomed  to  come  with  this 
country.  All  three  of  these  motives 
bear  directly  on  that  struggle.* 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Amer- 
ican people  should  not  forget  the 
significance  of  the  fight  that  is  be- 
ing put  up  by  the  handful  of  Ger- 
mans in  Tsingtao.  It  is  impossible 
that  this  flght  can  go  on  much  long- 


er. The  odds  are  too  frightfully 
great.  It  will  probably  end  in 
slaughter — and  when  it  ends  there 
will  be  great  rejoicing  in  Japan.  The 
last  stronghold  of  Germany  in  the 
East  will  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  and  the  first  and  last  ally  of 
the  United  States  in  the  Pacific  will 
have  been  humbled.  The  victory  it- 
self will  not  have  been  great  in  ma- 
terial things  but  it  will  symbolize  the 
racial  aspirations  of  the  Japanese. 

The  twenty-four  centuries  which 
divide  the  Spartan  defence  of  Ther- 
mopylae against  Xerxes  and  the 
hordes  of  Persia,  from  the  battle  to 
hold  Tsingtao  against  the  East,  re- 
veal nothing  so  significant  in  the  con- 
flict of  races. 


*J.  I.  P.  C.  Have  you  any  reason  to 
state  that  the  Japanese  desire  more 
than  the  recovery  of  Kiaochow  to 
return  it  to  China?  Has  she  ever 
given  reason  to  believe  that  she  la 
working  only  for  the  peace  of  the 
Far   East'? 

It  is  the  opinion  of  those  who  know 
the  Far  East  tolerably  well  that  Ja- 
pan will  never  return  Kiaochow  to 
China.  As  to  your  further  question 
I  quote  from  the  Nokington  of  Tok- 
yo of  190."i,  while  the  war  with  Rus- 
sia was  still  on,  as  follows: 

"There  is  something  utterly  ridic- 
ulous in  the  idea  which  our  diplo- 
mats made  the  European  powers  be- 
lieve   in,    that   we   are   only    fighting 


to  insure  peace  in  the  East.  They 
will  soon  know  better  when  their 
turn  to  take  the  medicine  we  are  now 
giving  to  Russia  comes. 

"Unless  we  had  something  of  im- 
portance to  gain  for  ourselves  why 
should  we  have  undertaken  this  war 
which  has  cost  us  so  much  valiant 
blood  and  so  much  treasure?  We 
have  a  purpose  and  will  keep  that 
before  our  eyes  until  it  is  accom- 
plished; that  is  when  the  foreigners 
have  been  shown  the  way  back  to  the 
countries  from  which  they  came  to 
swoop  down  like  vultures  on  what 
they  thought  was  a  dead  body.  They 
probably  see  that  they  have  made  a 
mistake  now  for  even  if  China  is 
dead  and  unable  to  defend  herself, 
Japan  is  very  much  alive. 

"We  will  never  allow  the  Far  East- 
ern question  to  be  settled  by  the 
Europeans  and  Americans,  who  have 
invaded  this  part  of  the  world  with- 
out a  shadow  of  right,  and  who  will 
always  be  aliens  to  us.  The  Far 
Eastern  question  must  be  settled  by 
an  empire  which  has  risen  in  the  Far 
East — Japan.  The  peace  of  the  Ori- 
ental Far  East  requires  that  by  a 
union  of  all  Orientals  in  the  Far 
East,  under  the  transforming  influ- 
ence of  Japan,  a  great  empire  be 
formed  on  the  Far  Eastern  shores 
of  the  Asiatic  continent." — From  the 
"Questions  and  Answers"  column  in 
the  "New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung," 
October  28,    1914. — Editor. 


Serbia's  Cause,  Position  and  Her  Part  in  the  World  War 


SERVIA'S  DREAM  OF  EXPANSION 


The  Literary  Digest,  Xew  York. 

The  tragedy  of  Sorajevo  has  not  (iiil,\ 
acted  like  an  earthquake  whose  slu"  l^ 
has  passed  through  Europe  and  tli" 
world,  but,  like  an  earthquake,  it  li:i~ 
laid  bare  things  below  the  surface 
which  the  world  did  not  dream.  :i 
threatens  to  end  in  international  cai.i- 
trophe.  It  has  not  yet  been  shown  lli:i' 
the  death  of  Prince  Francis  Ferdiii.uHl 
is  to  lie  attributed  definitely  to  any  jmli 
tieal  parly  at  Belgrade,  but  Servia's  r.- 
ply  to  Austria's  ultimatum  did  not  ilcn. 
the  possibility  that  Servian  offiicrs  m.i 
have  been  involved  in  the  liitri^'ii.  - 
against  Austria.  The  deadlock  ihii 
brought  on  the  war  lay  in  Servia's  i. 
fusal  to  let  Austrian  officials  have  a 
hand  in  finding  and  punishing  llie 
guilty.  And  the  Berlin  Vossische  Zei- 
tung,  in  a  long  article,  traces  the  trai;- 
edy  to  certain  "revolutionary  anarih 
Ists"  who  claimed  to  be  patriots  becaii-r 
they  were  striving  to  bring  under  tin' 
direct  control  of  Belgrade  the  very  out- 
lying Slav  provinces  which  Francis 
Ferdinand  was  laboring  to  unite  under 
the  crown  of  .\ustria-IIungary.  Servia's 
culpability   is  thus  indicated: 

"The  bloody  crime  of  Serajevo  was 
only  one  link  in  the  long  train  of  assas- 
sination and  horror  by  which  the  revo- 
lutionary propagandists  In  Belgrade 
were  working  to  promote  the  official 
policy  of  Servia.  As  early  !!*=  the  coro- 
nation of  King  Peter  the  Sor\  Ian  Minis- 
ter   of    Foreign   Affairs    imlillslicil    the 


Peter  I.    King  ol  Servia. 


following  iirograiii  of  I  lie  niovciuent: 
Servia  was  to  form  an  alliance  with 
Montenegro  and  to  enter  into  some 
agreement  with  Bulgaria  regarding 
Macedonia.  Belgrade  was  to  give  sup- 
port to  the  Servlaii-(."roatian  opposition 
party  in  Croatia.  Servia  was  to  be 
iMuaiirlpMled     from     Ibc     Iraiiiiiicis     ol' 


trade  willi  -Viistria.  A  revolution  was 
to  lie  stirred  up  in  Bosnia,  and  the  Aus- 
trian authorities  there  were  to  be  dis- 
croililcd;  the  Adriatic  question  was  to 
lie  settled  with  Italy,  and  a  traveling 
comniilleo  was  to  be  formed  for  the 
larryiiig  out  of  these  projects,  as  it  was 
iniiiossihie  for  Servia  to  act  ofBcially  in 
the  uialter." 

This  writer  goes  on  to  say  that  the 
program  was  directetl  to  the  end  of 
uniting  all  the  Slav  inhabitants  of  the 
South  Slavic  countries.  It  was  ap- 
proved by  King  Peter  in  190(i,  and  his 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  Stojan  Pro- 
lilsch,  .spoke  of  it  as  "a  torpedo  which 
Si'rvia  is  now  in  the  act  of  hurling  for 
I  ho  purpose  of  blowing  up  the  Austro- 
Ihiiigarian  monarchy  and  the  whole 
Triple  Alliance."  This  history  of 
Servian  intrigues,  brought  up  to  date. 
(lescrilies  the  methods  by  which  the 
revolutionary  propaganda  was  spresid  In 
lite  schools  of  the  various  Slavic  pop- 
ulations: 

"Since  1900,  there  has  existed  out- 
side the  governmental  circles  of  Bel- 
grade a  band  of  revolutionary  na- 
tionalists whose  members  were  close- 
ly connected  with  the  South  Slavic 
youths  of  Austria-Hungary,  so  that 
In  1010  the  nationalistic  anarchistic 
propaganda  reached  a  crisis  and  se- 
cret societies  were  formed  in  the 
grammar  schools,  the  preparatory  and 
other  schools.  The  center  of  the  move- 
ment, as  hitherto,  still  remained  in 
Belgrade.  Measures  were  taken  that 
the  young  men  from  the  South  Slavic 
((luiilrli's  of   the   monarchy  in   ever-ln- 


136 


THE  ENTENTE  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 


■  creasing  numbers  should  flock  to  Bel- 
grade. These  youths  were  received 
with  open  arms,  and  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  certain  politicians  were 
permitted  to  domicile  there  as  trust- 
wortliy.  They  were  employed  at  a 
wage  of  from  ten  to  fourteen  dollars 
a  month  on  light  clerical  work  for  the 
office  of  the  Skupshtina,  which  only 
required  of  them  from  two  to  three 
hours'  work  daily.  From  these  lads,  on 
their  return  home,  were  recruited  the 
agitators  of  the  Greater  Servia  prop- 
aganda. Among  tliem  mingled  degener- 
ates who  adopted  the  ideal  of  Servian 
expansion  as  the  last  anchor  of  deliver- 
ance for  their  almost  shipwrecked  lives. 
From  people  of  this  type  sprang  the 
man  of  violence,  Savro  Princip,  the 
murderer  of  the  heir  to  the  crown. 
Grand  Duke  Francis  Ferdinand.  He 
was  just  sucti  a  beggar  student.  In 
the  Belgrade  free  coffee-stands,  where 
a  meal  for  five  cents  goes  with  ttie 
coffee,  some  dozens  of  these  fellows 
were  lounging  ready  at  any  time  to 
commit  violence,  indulging  their  morbid 
vanity  in  order  to  be  feted  as  national 
heroes." 

The  hatred  of  Servia  for  Austria- 
Hungary  and  the  exultation  felt  over 
tlie  fate  of  the  Heir  Apparent  are  re- 
flected in  the  utterances  of  the  Bel- 
grade iiress.  The  Pravada  is  a  lib- 
eral and  progressive  organ  and  remarks 
sarcastically : 

"The  public  mourning  for  Archduke 
Francis  Ferdinand  made  small  excite- 
ment   in    Austria-Hungary.     The    only 


genuine  tears  shed  for  the  Heir  Appar- 
ent were  those  of  his  children.  All 
others  were  crocodile  tears." 

Austria  has  more  than  twenty  million 
Slavs  in  her  population ;  inevitably 
they  will,  early  or  late,  side  with  their 
compatriots.  One  of  the  English  jour- 
nals said  yesterday,  'Whoever  in  East- 
ern Europe  lifts  his  head  against  Russia 
or  the  Slavs  will  in  due  time  share  the 
fate  of  the  Austrian  Crown  Prince.  So 
it  would  have  been  with  Prince  Alex- 
ander of  Bulgaria  if  he  had  not  abdi- 
cated. The  Bulgarian  leader  Stam- 
bouloff  was  killed  because  he  was  an 
enemy  of  Russia.  Had  not  Russia  a 
finger  in  the  assassination  of  King 
Alexander  of  Servia?  Had  not  the 
taking  off  of  Austria's  Crown  Prince 
the  same  cause?'  This  finding  the  end 
of  the  cord  that  forced  these  assas- 
sinations in  Russia  is  correct,  we  know, 
but  while  the  Crown  Prince  was  polit- 
ically opposed  to  Russia,  he  was 
friendly  to  the  Slavs ;  and  was  not  the 
Princess,  so  ruthlessly  murdered,  her- 
self a  Slav? 

"National  rivalries  were  in  evidence 
in  the  last  century  in  every  part  of 
Europe,  but  those  principal  nations,  the 
Germans  and  Italians,  for  example,  ob- 
served reasonable  limits  in  their  am- 
bitions. The  Slavs  are  of  an  earlier 
race  and  have  not  been  able  to  shake 
off  the  barbarities  of  their  origin, 
bloodthirsty  still  even  in  their  most 
sacred  aspirations.  Here  Is,  in  our 
opinion,  Europe's  most  troublesome 
problem  in  the  Balkans. 


The  Balkan  regions  (Belgrade) 
had  formerly  among  its  chief  con- 
tributors the  noted  anarchist  Cice- 
varics,  who  contributes  an  article  on 
the  assassination,  in  which  he  re- 
marks: 

"It  is  not  the  Heir  Apparent  as  an 
individual  that  ought  to  be  mourued 
over,  but  only  his  worth  to  the  country, 
which  was  practically  nil." 

In  Germany  the  Servian  threats  and 
muttered  complaints  against  Austria- 
Hungary  were  considered  to  be  mere 
"sound  and  fury  signifying  nothing." 
The  Lokal  Anzeiger  (Berlin),  which 
is  considered  to  echo  the  opinions  of 
the  military  authorities  and  the  court, 
said,  in  an  article  on  "Europe's  soli- 
darity against  the  great  Servian  agita- 
tion," that  "Austria-Hungary  will  take 
no  steps  against  Servia,"  an  idea  which 
subsequent  events  have  belied.  A  fur- 
ther quotation  is  interesting  as  show- 
ing how  unexpected  the  Austrian 
thunderclap  was  to  even  this  well-in- 
formed court  organ : 

"This  self-restrained  attitude  of  the 
Danube  monarchy  is  more  intelligible 
when  we  consider  that  no  decided  re- 
sult of  the  inquiry  into  the  responsibil- 
ity for  the  Serajevo  assassination  has 
yet  been  arrived  at.  .  .  .  But  we 
believe  that  we  are  not  mistaken  when 
we  declare  that  to  men  in  other  states 
where  moral  order  reigns  this  attitude 
of  the  Danube  monarchy  is  incon- 
trovertlbly  correct." 


THE  'TRIPLE"  ALLIANCE 
GERMANY,  AUSTRIA,  AND  OTHER  ALLIES 

Germany,  Austria,  Italy;  Turkey 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND 

The  Underlying  Causes  of  the  Great  War;  The  Part  Germany  Had  In  Its  Advent 

INTRODUCTION 
AN  ADDRESS  BY  REV.  ALFRED  E.  MEYER 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND. 


Mass  Meeting  of  German-.Vniericans. 
Aiiilitoriuni,  Chicago. 


Address  by  Rev.  Alfred  E.  Meyer. 

(Translation  from  the  German, 
published  by  the  "Abendpost,"  Chi- 
cago, in  its  issue  of  August  12, 
1914.) 

The  die  is  cast.  The  dark  war 
clouds  that  have  gathered  over 
Europe  for  years  have  burst.  The 
tempest,  dreadful,  devastating,  mur- 
derous, has  broken  out.  In  the  bolt- 
hole  of  the  Balkans  it  arose,  hurling 
its  first  flash  when  the  bullet  of  the 
conspirator  hit  Austria's  heir  to  the 
throne.  From  the  black  Ural  Moun- 
tains it  reverberated  dismally,  awak- 
ing shrieking  echoes,  like  fiendish 
laughter,  in  the  distant  Vosges  and 
over  the  English  Channel.  And  in 
the  path  of  the  storm  the  peaceful 
realms  of  our  dear  old  Fatherland! 
We  stand  shocked,  frightened,  hor- 
rified, aghast!  For  a  tornado  it 
threatens  to  become,  such  as  the 
world  has  never  seen  before.  And 
in  its  path  our  dear  old  Fatherland! 
War,  war!  Horrible  word!  Terror 
of  man!  Uttermost  abomination! 
And  such  a  war.  in  the  heart  of  civ- 
ilization, with  the  murderous  wea- 
pons of  modern  times!  Have  mercy 
upon  us,  O  Lord  God!  And  in  the 
midst  of  that  war,  in  the  battle  to- 
wards East  and  West  and  North  our 
beloved  Fatherland! 

Was  it  not  possible  otherwise? 
Did  it  have  to  come?  Could  not  the 
strong  man  in  the  heart  of  Europe 
avert  the  world-calamity,  William  II., 
the  strong  pillar  of  peace? 

Ask,  good  friend,  for  an  answer 
the  Anglo-Saxon  press  of  our  country 
and  the  larger  part  of  it  replies  with 
a  loud,  embittered  Yea!  It  was  In 
his  power  to  avoid  the  war,  but  he 
did  not  want  to.  It  is  he  who  with 
mailed  fist  extinguishes  the  light  of 
civilization,  who  alone  has  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  greatest  dis- 
aster that  ever  befell  Europe.  Did 
he  not  declare  war  to  Russia?  Did 
he  not  have  his  army  invade  peaceful 


France?  He  it  is  and  Germany 
who  are  accountable  for  the  dreadful 
European   conflagration. 

Terrible  accusation!  If  it  be  well 
founded,  what  a  guilt!  What  pros- 
pects for  Germany  before  the  al- 
mighty, righteous  God,  "who  dis- 
penses a  strict  and  rigid  judgment?" 

But   What   About   That   Accusation? 

We  German-American  citizens  do 
not  believe  it.  We  know  that  it  is 
unjust  and  unfair  in  the  highest  de- 
gree. Therefore  we  protest.  There- 
fore we  demand  that  the  other  side, 
too,  be  heard  and  discussed  in  the 
Anglo-American  press.  We  demand 
no  favors,  no  privileges,  only  justice, 
fairness  and  truth,  no  more.  But 
that  much  we  German-Americans  as 
a  strong  and  integral  part  of  the 
American  nation,  have  a  right  to  ex- 
pect, a  right,  by  the  rivers  of  German 
blood  shed  for  this  country  in  the 
battles  for  its  independence,  from 
England  and  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Union;  a  right  by  the  German 
labor  and  toil  without  which  America 
would  never  have  been  what  it  is  to- 
day; a  right  by  the  German  culture 
and  mental  accomplishments  which 
we  and  hosts  of  other  Americans 
have  gathered  in  Germany  and 
brought  to  the  land  of  our  choice;  a 
right  by  all  the  laws  of  justice  to- 
wards a  nation  which  has  always 
lived  in  peace  with  the  United  States, 
whose  independence,  among  all 
rulers  of  Europe,  a  Hohenzollern 
first  recognized,  Frederick  the  Great 
of  Prussia;  a  right  by  the  sacred- 
ness  of  truth  which  to  serve,  espe- 
cially in  crises  like  the  present,  is  an 
imperative  duty  of  those  who  would 
be  leaders  of  public  opinion. 

We  know  that  Germany  did  not 
want  war,  that  it  declared  it  because 
it  was  compelled  to  do  so;  that  It 
does  not  bear  the  responsibility  for 
the  European  conflagration.  We 
have  good  reasons  to  believe  the 
German  "White  Book,"  which  shows 
clearly  that  the  declaration  of  war 
was  an  act  of  defense,  an  act  neces- 
sary to  preserve  the  existence  of  a 
people  whose  destruction  for  a  long 
time  had  been  decided  in  the  coun- 
cils of  jealous  and   envious   peoples. 

13" 


We  believe  the  "White  Book,"  be- 
cause we  know  from  history  that 
German  official  declarations  may  be 
trusted,  which  of  some  other  nations' 
official  publications  and  bulletins 
cannot  always  be  said.  But  we  have 
other  reasons  besides  the  "White 
Book." 

Should  a  people  which  alone  of  all 
the  leading  nations  of  Europe  has 
preserved  peace  for  over  forty  years 
and  has  become  what  it  is  by  its 
marvelous  w'orks  of  peace,  tlirow  it 
away  by  sheer  eagerness  for  war 
which  it  has  never  known?  For 
centuries  the  despised  battlefield  of 
Europe,  without  natural  protection 
at  its  frontiers,  spurned,  assaulted 
and  sat  upon  by  ruthless  enemies  on 
all  sides  until  it  was  welded  together 
in  the  "blood  and  iron"  of  a  great 
time,  its  very  national  hymn  a  true 
mirror  of  its  soul,  a  song  not  of 
aggression,  but  defense,  not  vainglo- 
rious challenge,  but  watchful  love  of 
home  and  Fatherland,  The  Watch 
o'er  the  Rhine. 

The  present  war,  too,  is  a  war  of 
defense;  more  than  that — a  war  for 
Germany's  existence!  Whosoever 
knows  the  A.  B.  C.  of  the  premises 
of  the  present  war  cannot  deny  that. 
What  are  the  premises?  Not  a  sud- 
den eruption  of  passions,  not  an  un- 
expected clash  of  interests,  but  a 
political  situation  that  had  taken 
ever  more  the  form  of  a  plot  to  de- 
stroy Germany,  resting  on  three  fac- 
tors which  we  may  well  call  the 
.\  B  C  of  the  present  situation: 

A,  The  implacable  hatred  of 
France;  B,  The  insatiable  greed  of 
expansion  of  Russia  with  the  ideal  of 
Panslavism;  C,  The  spiteful  jealousy 
of   England. 

France's  Hatred 
About  the  A  we  do  not  need  to  say 
much,  for  every  schoolboy  with  Ger- 
man blood  in  his  veins  knows 
France's  slogan  and  bloody  cynosure 
since  1870;  Revenge!  Revenge  on 
Germany  because  it  had  dealt  a  se- 
vere blow  to  the  vanity  of  "La 
grande  nation;"  revenge,  because 
she  had  taken  back  Alsace-Lorraine 
which  France  had  stolen  from  Ger- 
many some  centuries  ago.    Therefore 


THE  ALLIANXE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  BRUNSWICK,  THE  KAISER'S  ONLX  DAUGHTER 

(To  the  Reader's  Left) 

THE  GERMAN  CROWN  PRINCESS 

(To  the    Right) 

Wearing  the  Uniforms  of  tlieir  respective  Regiments 

(By   Courtesy   o£   tlie   "Open    Court") 


the  feverish  exertion  of  a  nation 
whiclt  has  condemned  itself  to  slow 
extinction  by  race  suicide.  Therefore 
the  unbearable  revolutionary  activ- 
ity in  the  German  frontier  provinces. 
Therefore  the  introduction,  as  a  last 
measure  of  war  preparation,  of  the 
three  year  military  service  which 
meant  to  all  who  had  open  eyes  im- 
minent war.  For  that  burden  France 
for  physical  as  well  as  political  rea- 
son  could   not  bear   long. 

The  B  of  the  political  situation  lead- 
ing  to   the  war   is  Russia's   insatiable 
greed  for  expansion  with  the  strong  ad- 
mixture  of   Panslavism   as   a   political 
ideal.     Not   content  with  its   immense 
European  and  Asiatic  possessions  whose 
inner  administration  has  not  yet  over- 
come the  conditions  of  semi-barbarism 
it  has  always  sought  expansion  on  the 
way  of  least  resistance.     A  friend  of 
Germany     at     Bismarck's     time     with 
whom    it  bad  a   temporary    protective 
agreement,  it  changed  its  position  when 
that  agreement  was  suspended  by  the 
successor     of     the     great     chancellor. 
French  gold  and  flattery  brought  about 
the     alliance      with      France      which 
strengthened    Immensely     the    latter's 
liope  for  revenge.     But  It  was  no  help 
to  Russia  in  the  Far  East,  for  England, 
then  Russia's  enemy,  with  characteris- 
tic political  shrewdness,  had  made  Ja- 
pan   its    police   officer    to    lick    Russia 
without  any  harm  to  John  Bull.    Weak- 
ened and  reconciled  by  some  concessions 
in  Persia.  Russia  was  drawn  into  the 
Triple  Entente  which  on  France's  and 
England's    side    was    mainly    directed 
against  Germany  while  Russia  looked 
for    compensation    in    Turkey    or    the 
Balkans    respectively,    thereby    becom- 
ing a  constant  menace  to  Austria  whose 
very  existence  it  threatened  by  its  pan- 
alavistic  agitation.     But  right  there  on 
the  Balkans  one  mistake  showed  which 
Edward  VII,  in  his  "encircling  policy" 


had  made.  The  physic  which  he  had 
Japan  administer  to  Russia  had  been 
a  little  too  strong  for  the  welfare 
of  the  Triple  Entente,  and  when  Aus- 
tria, to  prevent  further  panslavistic 
agitation  laid  her  hands  on  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina,  and  Germany,  faith- 
ful to  her  ally,  stood  by  her,  Russia 
felt  too  weak  to  strike  the  desired 
blow.  Growling  she  retired  with  hate 
in  her  heart  against  Germany  never 
known  before  in  that  intensity  and 
preparing  for  war  against  her  with 
such  energy  and  insistance  that  the 
law  had  to  be  passed  in  the  old  fath- 
erland augmenting  the  standing  army 
to  be  prepared  for  any  emergency. 

England's  Jealousy 

The  third  factor  which  led  to  the 
present  war  is  England's  spiteful  jeal- 
ousy of  Germany  which  found  its  prin- 
cipal political  expression  in  the  policy 
of  Edward  VII,  whose  evil  seeds  have 
now  borne  fruit.  It  is  a  well  known 
fact  that  the  cause  of  this  jealousy 
is  the  unparalleled  development  of 
German  commerce  and  the  German 
navy.  England,  the  ijroud  mistress  of 
the"  seas,  the  first  commercial  power 
of  the  world,  was  rapidly  caught  up 
with  in  what,  in  characteristic  British 
impudence,  it  considered  its  personal 
privilege,  and  that  by  a  power  to  whom 
yet  in  ISOl  Lord  Palmerstone  had  com- 
municated by  his  press  that  the  Ger- 
man might  be  good  enough  at  plowing 
his  field,  sailing  with  the  clouds  and 
building  air  castles,  but  not  at  sailing  in 
Zeppelins.  But  never  had  he  had  the 
genius  of  navigating  the  oceans  or  even 
the  smaller  seas. 

Some  statistics:  From  a  commer- 
cial power  which,  as  an  absolutely 
negligible  quantity  to  England,  already 
in  1S92  Germany  had  risen  to  a  com- 
mercial position  where  the  volume  of 


its  trade,  both  exports  and  imports, 
exceeded  half  of  the  British :  Eight 
billion  marks  against  England's  fifteen 
billions.  In  1900  it  was  eleven  billion 
against  England's  eighteen  and  in  1907 
seventeen  billions  against  England's 
twenty-three  and  a  half.  Looking  back- 
ward statistics  show  that  for  every  two 
steps  that  England  took  forward  in  its 
commerce  Germany  took  three,  so 
that  with  the  past  relative  growth, 
without  an  interruption  like  the  pres- 
ent war,  within  about  fifteen  years 
England's  volume  of  trade  would  have 
been  reached  by  Germany. 

A  large  commercial  fleet  like  Ger- 
many's scattered  all  over  the  world, 
needs  for  its  protection  a  navy,  and 
the  German  navy  could  have  been  more 
than  two-thirds  as  strong  as  England's 
without  being  disproportioned  to  the 
commerce  it  had  to  protect,  at  least  if 
it  took  England's  proportion  for  an 
example.  It  was  therefore  mere  hyp- 
ocrisy when  England  said  of  the  Ger- 
man navy  which  was  and  is  so  much 
smaller  numerically  than  England's, 
that  it  constituted  a  menace  to  Eng- 
land. If  compelled  to  fight,  however, 
as  it  is  now,  it  may  prove  more  formid- 
able than  England  expects. 

The  real  thoughts  of  England,  not 
only  regarding  the  German  navy  but 
also  German  trade  were  revealed  by 
such  voices  as  that  famous  article  of 
the  "Saturday  Review"  of  September, 
is; I",  which  clearly  brought  out  the  idea 
that  England  could  only  prosiier  if 
Germany  were  destroyed.  England,  it 
said  in  this  article  must  meet  the 
severest  competition  of  Germany  in 
every  corner  of  the  globe.  A  million 
of  small  frictions  are  making  for  the 
greatest  war  which  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  If  Germany  would  be  de- 
sti-oyed  to-moiTOW  there  would  be 
no  Englishman  in  the  world  who 
would  not  be  so  much  richer  for  it 
the  day  after  to-morrow. 

Can  there  be  a  more  selfish,  ruth- 
less, brutal  incitation  of  war  than  in 
these  words? 

Further  the  article  says :  The  growth 
of  the  German  navy  will  only  add  to 
the  severity  of  the  blow  which  will  be 
struck  at  Geriuany.  Her  ships  would 
soon  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  or  be 
caiitured.  When  England's  work  were 
done  she  could  without  difliculty  say 
to  F'rance  and  Russia  :  Get  your  com- 
pensations. Take  of  Germany  what 
you  want,  you  may  have  it.  "German- 
iam  esse  delendam."  "Germany  must 
be  destroyed!"  so  this  article  is  con- 
cluded. 

In  the  same  sense,  only  that  his 
words  were  still  weightier  because  he 
was  an  active  member  of  the  govern- 
meut,  spoke  Arthur  Lee,  civil  Lord 
of  the  Admirality  in  a  public  address 
on  February  3rd,  1905.  The  balance 
of  naval  power,  he  stated,  had  changed 
within  recent  years.  England  would 
in  the  future  have  to  direct  its  at- 
tention to  the  North  Sea.  If  a  war 
should  break  out  the  English  navy 
could  strike  the  first  blow  before  the 
other  party  would  flnd  time  to  read  In 
the  papers"  that  war  had  been  declared. 
Referring  to  this  speech  the  "Daily 
Chronicle,"  one  of  the  widest  circu- 
lated and  most  influential  papers  of 
England  said:  "If  the  German  navy 
had   been  destroyed  in   October,   1904, 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND 


139 


(referring  to  the  incident  with  the 
Russian  navy),  we  would  have  had 
peace  in  Europe  for  sixty  years. 
Therefore  I  consider  the  declaration 
of  Mr.  Lee  as  a  wise  and  peaceful 
declaration  of  the  unchangeable  de- 
termination of  the  mistress  of  the 
seas. 

This,  then,  was  the  wise  ( ! )  and 
peaceful  ( ! )  unchangeable  determi- 
nation of  England:  her  "Ceterum 
censeo:  Gemianiam  esse  dclendani," 
Germany  must  be  destroyed!  This 
was  the  aim  of  the  policy  of  Edward 
VII,  which  gave  new  and  strong  im- 
petus to  France's  and  Russia's  ag- 
gressive attitude,  won  Japan  as  Eng- 
land's ally,  befriended  Spain  through 
a  marriage,  while  Portugal  became 
practically  a  dependency  of  England, 
and  tried  to  sow  the  seed  of  discord 
in  Italy,  in  short,  created  the  condi- 
tions which  at  the  given  moment  had 
to  lead  to  the  European  conflagra- 
tion, so  coolly  and  cynically  predicted 
by  the  "Saturday  Review."  What 
flagrant  hypocrisy  for  a  people  and 
government   that  has   with   evil   dili- 


gence for  years  planted  the  mines 
with  which  to  destroy  a  neighboring 
nation,  and  has  repeatedly  and  open- 
ly declared  this  intention  in  brutal 
words,  to  pose,  when  the  fuse  burns, 
as  a  lover  of  peace!  Albion,  we  know 
thy  bloody,   faithless,   cruel   history! 

Be   Fair 

Friends,  does  that  look  as  if  that 
part  of  the  press  were  right  which 
so  emphatically  says:  The  blame 
for  the  war  is  Germany's?  If  a  peo- 
ple knows  that  its  destruction  is  in- 
tended and  planned,  that  its  very 
existence  is  at  stake,  has  it  a  right 
to  draw  the  sword  in  self-defense,  or 
should  it  wait  until  the  others  had 
gotten  ready  to  strangle  it? 

Therefore  we  as  German-American 
citizens  ask  with  just  indignation 
those  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  press  who 
judge  and  condemn  Germany  without 
thinking  of  giving  it  a  fair  trial:  Why 
do  you  forget  that  justice  and  fair- 
ness which  is  such  a  great  trait  of 
the  American  character,  when  Ger- 
many is  concerned?  Why  those  in- 
sulting   cartoons,     those     misleading 


headlines,  those  inimical  editorials  of 
your  press?  Give  us  justice,  give  UB 
equity,   be  fair! 

"Germania  Delenda" 

Germany,  our  dear  old  Fatherland, 
with  its  ally  fighting  against  tre- 
mendous odds,  fighting  for  its  very 
existence!  What  can  we  German- 
American  citizens  do  for  her? 

This  is  our  first  duty:  Try  to  heal 
the  wounds  which  the  terrible  war 
is  striking  at  this  very  minute,  heal, 
relieve,  assuage  under  the  sign  of  the 
Red  Cross.  A  special  appeal  to  you 
for  this  purpose  will  be  made.  Fol- 
low it.  You  who  wear  on  your  breast 
the  "iron  cross"  of  Germany's  great- 
est time,  you  who  look  up  to  the 
cross  as  the  sign  and  symbol  of  your 
faith  and  love,  you  all  on  whom 
presses  the  blood-red  cross  of  a 
world's   dire   distress. 

And  Thou,  Germany,  with  the  ally 
Austria  marching  in  the  same  step, 
battling  for  thy  existence,  for  thy  all 
— land  of  our  fathers,  land  of  our 
brothers — God  with  Thee! 


The  German  Government  and  the  German  People 


THE   GER.MAN   POSITION. 


Dr.  Durnberg's  Statement. 

New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung, 

New  York. 

Herman  lUdder. 

I  reprint  below  the  statement  of 
Dr.  Bernhard  Dernburg  in  connection 
with  the  charge  which  has  been  made 
so  frequently  in  American  papers  of 
late,  that  the  German  Emperor  alone 
was  responsible  for  the  declaration  of 
war  against  Russia  and  that  the  Ger- 
man people  had  no  voice  in  the  mat- 
ter. This  statement  first  appeared  in 
the  New  York  "Sun"  and  was  later 
copied  by  the  New  York  "Times"  and 
by  the  latter  made  the  subject  of 
editorial  comment.  The  "Times" 
leader  is  also  reprinted. 

DR.    DERNBIRGS    STATEMENT. 

When  1  arrived  in  New  York  a  fort- 
night ago,  I  was  greatly  surprised  on 
reading  in  the  papers  big  headlines  such 
as  "The  Kaiser's  War,"  "The  Kaiser's 
Army,"  "The  Kaiser  Beaten,"  etc.  I 
thought  at  first  that  this  was  only  a 
sort  of  abbreviation  and  that  the  "Kais- 
er's" name  stood  as  a  symbol  for  the 
whole  of  Germany  in  this  war  forced 
upon  our  nation.  I  soon  had  to  see, 
however,  that  something  quite  different 
was  meant  and  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  American  people  were  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  Emperor  was  more  or  less 
responsible  for  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war.  and  that  the  (Jernian  people, 
whom  they  all  knew  to  be  good  and 
peaceable,  had  been  dragged  into  it  in 
consequence  of  autocratic  Institutions 
peculiar  to  Germany,  and  as  a  sequel 
to  militarism  rnnii)ant  in  Germany. 

I  consider  it,  therefore,  of  interest  to 
explain  here  the  constitutional  basis  on 
nhich  our  institutions  rest.  The  Ger- 
man Empire  is  a  Union  composed  of  all 
the  States  which  formerly  belonged  to 


the  German  Federation,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Austria-Hungary.  The 
Eleventh  Article  of  the  German  Consti- 
tution says :  "The  Union  shall  be  pre- 
sided over  by  the  King  of  Prussia, 
whose  title  is  to  be  'Deutscher  Kaiser.'  " 
There  is  a  great  similarity  with  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
which  is  also  a  Union  of  a  number  of 
independent  States,  who  have  given 
part  of  their  sovereignity  in  favor  of 
the  Union.  While  the  Kaiser  repre- 
sents the  empire  in  its  foreign  relations, 
he  may  not  declare  war  in  the  name  of 
the  empire  without  the  consent  of  the 
Bundesrat.  representing  these  single 
States  forming  the  empire,  except  when 
German  territory  is  attacked.  In  this 
Bundesrat  of  fifty-four  equal  votes  the 
Emperor  in  his  capacity  of  King  of 
Prussia  has  only  seventeen  votes.  It 
follows  that  the  Emperor  could  not, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  has  not,  de- 
clared war  on  his  own  account,  but  that 
he  had  to  have,  and  in  fact,  had  the 
consent  of  his  allies,  represented  by 
the  Federal  Council.  This  consent 
was  unanimous.  This  is  a  much 
greater  check  than  the  control  placed  by 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
on  the  President,  who  of  all  great  riilers 
of  the  earth  concentrates  in  himself  the 
greatest  power.  The  German  Kaiser 
can  no  more  than  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  make  war  at  pleasure. 

Neither  is  the  Emperor  what  is  called 
here  "The  War  X>ord."  lie  has  not  the 
disposal,  that  is,  the  absolute  command, 
of  the  forces  of  the  entire  German 
.\rmy.  Article  00  of  our  Constitution 
says  that  the  German  Princes,  more  es- 
pecially the  Klngsof  Bavaria.  Wiirttem- 
berg.  ami  .Saxony,  are  the  chiefs  of  the 
troops  belonging  to  their  territory  (six 
army  corps  of  twenty-four)  ;  they  nom- 
inate the  ollicers  for  these  troops,  they 
have  the  right  to  inspect  these  troops, 
etc.  Consetpiently  the  absolute  disposi- 
tion of  the  German  Army  passes  on  to 
the   Kaiser  only   in   the  moment  when 


the  consent  of  his  allies,  viz.,  the  States 
who  with  Prussia,  form  the  empire,  has 
been  obtained  for  the  declaration  of  a 
war.  But  there  is  a  further  and  much 
heavier  check  on  the  Emperor's  doings. 
All  measures  providing  ways  and  means 
for  conducting  war  must  be  passed  by 
the  Reichstag.  The  Reichstag  is  a  body 
elected  on  the  most  liberal  ballot  law 
that  exists  anywhere,  more  liberal  even 
than  the  ballot  law  of  the  United  States 
for  the  election  of  a  President.  The 
German  law,  ever  since  1807,  has  been 
a  one  man,  one  vote,  universal,  secret 
and  direct  ballot  law.  The  German  peo- 
I)le  are  represented  as  directly  and  dem- 
ocratically in  the  Government  as  the 
American  people  are  in  theirs.  The 
right  to  vote  does  not  depend  either  on 
a  census  or  on  any  educational  test. 
Any  German  being  twenty-five  years 
and  over  may  vote.  The  Reichstag  con- 
sists of  397  members.  The  conserva- 
tives, the  so-called  "War  I'arty,"  from 
which  most  of  the  officers  are  being  re- 
cruited, Is  in  a  hopeless  minority,  about 
.''..-..  There  are  110  Social  Democrats 
and  about  100  Liberals,  so  that  in  fact 
there  is  a  Liberal  majority  in  the  Ger- 
man Reichstag.  Notwithstanding  this 
composition,  this  Reichstag  has  voted 
mianiniously  the  necessary  laws  and 
credits  for  conducting  the  jiresent  war, 
and  although  the  Social  Democrats  re- 
ject war  on  principle  in  their  program, 
they  have  Indorsed  unanimously  the  pol- 
icy* of  the  emiiire  as  specifically  an- 
nounced by  the  Emperor's  Chancellor. 
I  say  this  to  prove  that  this  war  Is 
not  "a  Kaiser's  war,"  because  he  can- 
not make  a  war.  but  It  is  the  "German 
people's  war."  A  modern  war.  accord- 
ing to  Prince  Bismarck's  great  sjieech  in 
1SS7,  with  its  enormous  armies  compris- 
ing whole  peoples,  cannot  be  undertaken 
with  safety  nor  carried  through  with 
success  except  by  the  full  consent  and 
enthusiastic  assistance  of  the  whole  na- 
tion.    Americans  returning  from  Ger- 


THE  ALI.IANCK  AN'D  THEIR   ALLIES 


ALSO  A  VOLUNTEER 

A  new  kind  of  Peanuts  for  the  famous  Hagenbeek  Park  Eleiiliant   to  handle 

I  By    Courtesy    of    the    "Chicago    Abendpost") 


many  will  tell  you  that  this  consent  and 
enthusiasm  are  there  in  the  highest  de- 
gree and  that  there  has  never  been  such 
a  Suity  of  the  German  people,  between 
Princes  and  people,  between  parties  and 
creeds  as  tliere  is  in  these  trying  times, 
where  no  less  than  seven  nations  have 
joined  liands  to  down  our  people. 


(From  the  "Times.") 

DR.   DERNBURG'S    ARGUMENT. 

Far  and  away  the  ablest  and  the 
most  subtle  presentation  yet  made  of 
Germany's  case  is  that  from  the  pen  of 
Dr.  Bernhard  Dernburg.  which  in  this 
issue  of  The  Times  we  reprint  from  The 
Sun  of  yesterday.  Having  been  a  part 
of  the  German  Government,  a  Secretary 
of  State  for  the  Colonies,  Dr.  Deruburg 
knows  his  subject,  be  knows  precisely 
the  impression  he  wishes  to  produce, 
and  he  has  surpassing  skill  in  marshal- 
ing his  argument  to  produce  just  that 
Impression.  His  method  is  so  exceed- 
ingly adroit  that  if  he  be  not  read 
with  constant  wariness  of  mind  the 
reader  may  find  himself  granting  one 
assumption  after  another  until  he 
is  swept  helplessly  along  to  a  conclus- 
ion that  (iorniany  has  been  the  most 
peaceful  nation  on  earth,  that  the 
Kaiser  is  merely  the  humble  servant 
of  his  people,  and  that  the  war  was 
imposed  upon  Europe  by  a  higher 
fate   quite  beyond  human  control. 

There  are  three  leading  conten- 
tions in  Dr.  Dernburg's  argument. 
The  first  is  that  the  German  Emperor 


is  no  more  a  man  of  war  than  our 
President  and  has  less  power  to  make 
war. 

Dr.  Dernburg  points  out  that  ex- 
cept when  German  territory  is  at- 
tacked the  Emperor  may  not  declare 
war  without  the  consent  of  the  Bun- 
desrat,  and  that  this  is  "a  much 
greater  check  than  the  control  placed 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  on  the  President."  But  our 
President  cannot  declare  war  at  all. 
Congress  alone  has  that  power.  Dr. 
Dernburg  asserts  that  the  Emperor 
"must  have,  and  in  fact  had,  the  con- 
sent of  his  allies,  represented  by  the 
Federal  Council,"  and  that  the  con- 
sent was  unanimous.  We  do  not  ques- 
tion the  statement,  but  we  recall  no 
report  of  a  meeting  of  the  Federal 
Council.  The  declaration  of  war  was 
contained  in  a  telegram  of  the  Im- 
perial Chancellor  to  the  Ambassador 
in  St.  Petersburg,  declaring  that  "his 
Majesty,  the  Emperor,  my  August 
Sovereign,  in  the  name  of  the  Em- 
pire, takes  up  the  defiance  and  con- 
siders himself  in  a  state  of  war 
against  Russia."  Dr.  Dernburg  in- 
sists that  Wilhelm  II.  has  been  a  man 
of  peace.  In  his  aversion  to  war  he 
is  put  on  a  level  with  President  Wil- 
son. If  the  comparison  is  just,  then 
we  must  assume  that  in  the  Emper- 
or's place  Woodrow  Wilson  would 
have  given  Austria  a  "free  hand," 
would  have  warned  all  civilized  na- 
tions that  they  must  not  interfere  be- 
tween Austria  and  Servia,  and  would 
in  the  crisis  of  the  aSair  have  gone 


to  war  with  Russia,  France  and  Eng- 
land. Do  we  believe  that?  Does 
Dr.  Dernburg  expect  us  to  believe 
that  the  firm  mind  and  hand  that 
kept  us  out  of  war  with  Mexico  would 
have  plunged  all  Europe  into  a 
bloody  strife  in  support  of  Austria's 
unbearable  attitude  toward  Servia? 
The  difference  is  not  merely  in  the 
men,  the  training  and  environment 
count  for  everything,  and  what  they 
are  in  the  case  of  the  Kaiser  one  may 
learn  from  the  book  of  von  Bern- 
hardi,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  war 
party,  in  which  war  is  lauded  as  "the 
greatest  factor  in  the  furtherance  of 
culture  and  power." 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  its  com- 
ment on  Dr.  Dernburg's  argument  the 
"Times"  pursues  no  less  adroit  a 
method  of  securing  the  good  will  of 
its  readers  than  that  which  it  ascribes 
to  the  gentleman  whose  assertions  it 
wishes  to  rebut.  It  opens  with  an  at- 
tempt to  poison  the  reader's  mind  by 
the  insinuation  that  Dr.  Dernburg's 
points  are  established  rather  by  ef- 
fects of  style  than  by  their  intrinsic 
verity.  When  one  has  read  the  feeble 
defense  opposed  by  the  "Times"  to 
the  logic  of  its  self-chosen  adversary, 
the  necessity  for  this  method  Is  read- 
ily seen. 

The  first  statement  of  Dr.  Dern- 
burg  to  which  the  "Times"  takes  ex- 
ception is  that  "the  Emperor  may  not 
declare  war  without  the  consent  of 
the  Bundesrat,  and  that  this  Is  'a 
much  greater  check  than  the  control 


DEKENDIXG  THE  FATHERLAND 


placed    by    the    Constitution    of    the 
United  States  on  the  President.'  " 

The  "Times"  replies:  "But  our 
President  cannot  declare  war  at  all. 
Congress  alone  has   that  power." 

We  need  not  read  so  very  far  back 
In  American  history  to  find  the  quib- 
ble. The  "Times"  has  expressed  a 
theory,  but  the  facts  have  differed 
widely  from  it  in  recent  years.  When 
President  Wilson  went  before  Con- 
gress and  asked  its  approval  of  his 
conduct  in  Mexico  he  had  already  de- 
clared war  on  that  country.  It  was 
to  our  purpose  at  the  time  to  pro- 
claim that  "a  state  of  hostilities  ex- 
isted in  Mexico,"  but  no  war,  and  that 
we  "got  away"  with  it  was  due  solely 
to  the  fact  that  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment was  impotent  to  protect  itself 
against  that  most  incontrovertible 
declaration  of  war — the  infringe- 
ment of  a  nation's  sovereignty  by  the 
seizure  of  its  territory.  If  we  go 
back  to  1898  we  find  a  still  more  co- 
gent refutation  of  the  "Times"  posi- 
tion. On  April  25th  of  that  year, 
Congress  passed  a  joint  resolution 
"That  war  be,  and  the  same  is  here- 
by declared  to  exist,  and  that  war  has 


existed  since  the  twenty-first  day 
of  April,  anno  Domini  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  ninety-eight.  Including  said 
day,  between  the  United  States  of 
America  and  the  Kingdom  of  Spain." 
In  other  words,  four  days  after  a 
state  of  war  had  existed  with  Spain 
and  then  only  at  a  suggestion  from 
President  McKinley,  contained  in  his 
special  message  of  April  25th,  Con- 
gress came  through  with  that  formal 
declaration  of  war  on  which  the 
"Times"  places  so  much  importance. 
Was  it.  In  this  instance,  Congress  or 
the  President,  who  first  made  war 
on  Spain? 

The  second  point  on  which  the 
"Times"  bases  its  contention  is  the 
language  in  which  the  Chancellor's 
telegram  to  St.  Petersburg  was 
couched.  Without  denying  that  a 
meeting  of  the  Bundesrat  was  held 
and  the  declaration  of  war  decided 
upon  by  that  body,  and  overlooking 
the  fact  that  it  was  made  by  the  Em- 
peror "in  the  name  of  the  Empire," 
the  "Times"  attempts  to  read  into  the 
form  in  which  it  was  presented  to 
Russia  something  autocratic  and  un- 
American.       The    truth    is    that    the 


Bundesrat  was  convened  and  is  still 
in  session,  and  that  it  voted  the  war. 
The  Chancellor  was  but  its  spokes- 
man in  conveying  the  sense  of  its  ac- 
tion to  St.  Petersburg.  The  essentials 
are  not  contained  in  the  words  of  the 
Imperial  Chancellor,  but  in  the  action 
of  the  Bundesrat  itself. 

The  object  of  the  "Times"  is  appar- 
ently to  blind  its  readers  to  the  fact 
of  the  Constitution  on  which  is  based 
the  whole  structure  of  German  unity 
and  which  in  essentials  differs  from 
our  own  only  in  the  method  of  con- 
stituting courts  and  the  tenure  of  the 
Executive.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there 
is  less  dissimilarity  between  these 
two  constitutions  than  there  is  be- 
tween the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  that  of  any  other  country 
of  Europe.  There  is  no  evidence  at 
hand  to  show  that  the  German  Em- 
peror on  any  one  point  has  exceeded 
his  legal  rights  under  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land. 

The  question  of  Emperor  vs.  Presi- 
dent as  a  candidate  for  the  Nobel 
Prize  is  one  on  which  every  American 
will  form  his  own  opinion.  The  fact 
is  that  Austria,  and  her  ally,  put  up 


THE   GERMAN  ARMY  IN   BELGIUM 

The  advance  Troops  are  ever  on  the  alert,  and  seek  the  most   advantageous   screens   to   watch   the   movements   of   the 
.\llies.     Notice  the  Soldiers  in  front,  -wearing  the  Iron  Cross.     No  doubt  they  are  going  to  have  Chicken  Dinner.     But 

Order  and  Seriousness  mark  erery  Scene 
(Photograph  by  the  International  News  Service) 


142 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


for  years  with  conditions  on  her  bor- 
ders that  would  have  made  General 
Weyler  blush  at  his  own  moderation. 
When  out  of  those  conditions  came 
open  and  flagrant  murder  not  even 
"the  firm  mind  and  hand"  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson  would  have  availed  to  re- 
strain the  righteous  indignation  of 
the  sufferers  thereby.  The  spirit  of 
1898,  that  drove  Spain  from  Cuba, 
was  not  one  whit  more  justifiable 
than  that  which  prompted  Austria  to 
demand  redress  for  her  wrongs  and 
her  ally  to  support  her  in  that  de- 
mand. 


IT  IS  NECESSARY  TO  FIGHT  WITH 

THE  WEAPONS  OF  THE 

ADVERSARY. 


New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung, 

New  York. 

Herman  Ridder. 

Among  the  many  able  friends  of  Ger- 
many in  the  United  States  who  have  de- 
fended their  convictions  by  pen  and 
voice,  Dr.  Bernhard  Dernburg  ranks 
with  the  first.  The  second  article  from 
Dr.  Dernburg's  pen,  which  appeared  in 
The  Sun  of  the  27th  inst.,  leaves  little 
to  be  desired  from  the  points  of  view 
of  logic,  comprehensiveness  and  lucid- 
ity. I  agree  with  The  Sun  when  it 
Bays  of  Dr.  Dernburg  that  "both  In 
temper  and  in  method  of  presentation 
he  is  by  far  the  most  effective  of  all 
the  advocates  now  writing  or  speaking 
in  behalf  of  Germany's  cause.  .  .  . 
Dr.  Dernburg's  arguments  are  all  legi- 
timate, and  the  tone  of  his  expression 
Is  so  moderate  and  his  line  of  reason- 
ing so  plausible  that  it  is  not  impossible 
he  may  lead  many  American  minds  into 
that  very  attitude  of  biased  unneutral- 
ity  which  he  warns  us  against  (if  the 
sympathy  be  for  England)  as  incapaci- 
tating the  United  States  for  a  media- 
tory role." 

The  Sun  continues,  however : 
"We  shall  therefore  content  ourselves 
with  saying  that  if  Dr.  Dernburg's 
spirit  and  skill  and  tact  had  directed 
the  unfortunate  efforts  of  some  of  the 
organized  and  volunteer  and  individual 
propagandists  who  have  undertaken  to 
create  in  this  country  a  public  opinion 
favorable  to  Germany,  the  sentiment 
here  might  be  quite  different  from  that 
of  which  they  complain." 

This  implied  criticism  of  the  efforts 
of  other  and  less  fortunately  situated 
friends  of  Germany  to  counteract  the 
designs  of  her  enemies  needs  little  an- 
swer or  explanation.  It  is  necessary  to 
fight  with  the  weapons  of  the  adver- 
sary. I  can  sympathize  with  the  point 
of  view  of  those  who  have  been  taunt- 
ed into  possible  hyperbole  or  violence 
of  expression  by  the  evident  bias  of  the 
Anglophile  press.  Would  that  it  might 
be  given  to  us  all  to  maintain  an  atti- 
tude of  calm  logic  and  friendly  good  na- 
ture under  the  extreme  provocation  of 
seeing  what  we  respect  and  admire 
trampled  ruthlessly  under  foot.  Too 
often,  however,  the  human  hand  is  di- 
rected by  the  impulse  of  a  superheated 
collar.  Too  often  we  respond  to  the 
sting  of  some  glaring  injustice,  and 
our  pen  runs  riot.  The  human  element 
grips  us  strongly  and  we  react  to  the 
beat  of  our  hearts.  It  is  not,  however, 
for  those  who  laid  the  train  to  such  ex- 
plosions to  criticize  the  result. 


Germany — the  German  Emperor  and 
the  German  people — is  making  a  mag- 
nificent fight  for  existence.  One  may 
differ  from  her  in  opinion,  but  we  can- 
not withhold  the  admiration  that  is 
due  a  determined  nation  fighting  for 
all  it  holds  nearest  and  dearest  in  life. 
Surrounded  by  enemies  actuated  by  the 
most  divergent  motives  and  one  only 
in  the  desire  to  crush  Germany,  over- 
whelmed by  numbers,  she,  with  her 
single  ally,  is  showing  the  world  an 
example  of  patriotism,  of  united  effort 
and  determination,  for  which  history 
cannot  fail  to  give  her  full  credit. 

The  German  papers  in  this  country 
have  shown  a  united  front  in  preach- 
ing the  cause  of  Germany.  I  do  not 
refer,  of  course,  to  other  than  bona  fide 
German  papers,  and  certainly  not  to 
Mr.  Hearst's  German  editions,  in  which 
the  word  is  the  word  of  the  German, 
but  the  thought  the  thought  of  a 
Hearst.  In  this  connection  we  quote 
"Collier's  Weekly"  as  follows : 

"The  "(var  shows  again  the  brazen 
effrontery  with  which  Hearst  dishes  up 
the  stuff  he  publishes.  One  day  last 
month  the  so-called  "American"  (Nev? 
York)  had  a  cut  with  the  line:  'This 
Is  the  type  of  English  soldier  who  is 
doing  such  tremendous  work  on  the 
battle  front  in  France.'  On  the  same 
day  the  German  edition  had  the  same 
cut,  but  gave  it  this  title :  'British 
troops  who  are  able  to  sprint  so  fast 
that  the  German  soldiers  cannot  catch 
up  with  them.'  If  you  want  to  be  bun- 
coed, just  read  the  Hearst  papers.  Wil- 
liam Randolph  will  do  the  rest — and 
you." 

There  is  no  stronger  defender  of  the 
German  side  of  the  war  than  the  Ger- 
man Herold  of  Mr.  C.  B.  Wolffram.  In 
the  columns  of  this  paper  Mr.  Wolffram 
has,  in  a  quiet,  careful,  unobtrusive 
maimer  conducted  an  able  campaign  for 
the  advancement  of  German  thought 
and  the  presentation  of  German  argu- 
ments. 

The  times  have  given  rise,  also,  to  a 
weekly  publication.  The  Fatherland, 
which  is  no  less  inspired  by  patriotic 
motives  in  its  attempt  to  represent  the 
spirit  of  fair  play.  In  its  issue  of  the 
30th  inst.,  The  Fatherland  puts  the  fol- 
lowing questions : 

"To  the  fair-minded  American  citi- 
zen, who  can't  be  fooled  all  the  time, 
even  by  the  newspapers,  the  following 
questions  are  offered  for  consideration  : 
"First — Why  Is  Zabern  cited,  but 
Klshineff  forgotton? 

"Second — Why  is  it  a  crime  against 
humanity  for  Germany  to  maintain  the 
biggest  army  in  the  world,  but  a  mere 
means  of  defense,  just,  natural,  and 
proper,  for  Great  Britain  to  maintain 
the  biggest  navy  in  the  world? 

"Third — Why  is  it  hysterical  or  hypo- 
critical for  Germany  to  speak  of  'the 
Slavic  peril.'  but  wise,  foresighted,  and 
righteous,  all  this  last  decade,  for  Eng- 
land in  every  possible  way  to  fill  the 
minds  of  her  people  with  the  idea  of 
'the  Germanic  peril?" 

"Fourth — Why  was  it  outrageous  of 
Austria  to  question  the  sincerity  of 
Servla's  acceptance  of  seven  of  the  eight 
conditions  of  the  ultimatum,  but  mere 
statesmanly  foresight  on  the  part  of 
Sir  Edward  Grey  to  question  the  sin- 


cerity of  Germany's  efforts  to  keep  the 
peace? 

"Fifth— Why  was  it  disgraceful  of 
Germany  to  keep  faith  with  her  ally, 
Austria,  but  noble  and  heroic  of  Eng- 
land to  keep  faith  with  her  ally, 
France? 

"Sixth — Why  is  Germany's  invasion 
of  neutral  (?)  *  Belgium  an  outrage,  but 
Japan's  invasion  of  neutral  China  a 
negligible  matter? 

"Seventh— Why  is  every  Belgian, 
French  and  English  account  of  Ger- 
man outrage  to  be  swallowed,  hook, 
line  and  sinker,  while  German  accounts 
of  Belgian  and  Russian  outrages  are 
to  be  sneered  at  as  mere  fakes? 

"Eighth— Why  is  it  improper  and  a 
breach  of  neutrality  for  Americans  of 
German  descent  to  express  their  sym- 
pathy with  Germany,  but  proper  and 
commendable  for  Americans  of  Eng- 
lish descent  to  express  their  sympathy 
with  England  and  her  allies? 

"Ninth — Why  is  it  fanatical  and  bar- 
baric of  the  Germans  to  believe  in  the 
destiny  of  Germany,  but  right  and  nat- 
ural of  the  Englishman  to  believe  in  the 
Heaven-appointed  destiny  of  England  to 
rule  the  earth?" 

I  have  attempted  in  my  own  small 
way  to  offset  as  much  of  the  hostile 
and  unfounded  criticism  levelled  at 
Germany  as  possible,  by  presenting  the 
readers  "of  the  Staats-Zeitung  with  the 
other  side  of  the  shield.  There  is  a 
certain  amount  of  right,  of  logic  and 
of  pure,  unquestionable  faith  in  the 
justice  of  its  own  cause  to  be  found 
In  each  of  the  armed  camps  of  Europe. 
Only  when  the  attempt  is  made  to  con- 
vince the  American  people  that  this  is 
not  true  of  Germany  I  object— and  I 
object  not  as  a  German  but  as  an 
American,  not  more  because  of  the  di- 
rect Injustice  done  thereby  to  a  friendly 
nation  than  because  the  American  peo- 
ple are  being  educated  la  error.  I  have 
been  assailed  both  In  the  press  and  by 
those  anonymous  letter  writers  whose 
views  are  not  worth  their  signatures. 
For  every  letter  of  that  sort  which  I 
have  received,  however,  I  have  had  ten 
from  intelligent  and  sympathetic 
friends  of  Germany  and  fair  play. 


♦Read  the  following  articles  printed 
elsewhere  in  this  book.  (The  index 
gives  their  exact  location)  :  "Bel- 
gian Neutrality,"  "Has  Germany  Vio- 
lated Belgian  Neutrality?,"  "Bern- 
hard  Shaw  Points  Out  England's  Factor 
of  Responsibility  for  Europe's  War," 
"Belgium's  Change  of  Policy,"  "More 
English  Faithlessness,"  and  in  "Ger- 
many and  the  Great  War,"  the  para- 
graph headed  "What  is  the  justification 
for  the  violation  of  the  Belgian  neu- 
trality to  which  Germany  was  a 
party?" ;  also  "An  Authority  on  Neu- 
trality," "War  or  Vandalism."  and  "An 
Excuse  for  a  Minister's  Mistakes." 


THE  ALLIES. 

Sir  John  French:  Through  my 
glasses  I  see  distinctly,  mon  General, 
that  the  retreating  columns  are 
French. 

General  Joffre:  Take  my  glasses, 
sir,  and  you  will  see  that  they  are 
English. 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND 


143 


GERMAX  WAR  SUBSfRIPTIOX. 

Military  Fund  of  $l,12o, 00(1, QUO 

(Quickly  Raised  by 

Public. 

The  Daily  News,  Chicago. 

[By  The  Associated  Press.] 
Berlin,  Germany,  Sept.  28  (via 
London,  2:50  p.  m.). — The  response 
of  the  German  public  to  the  efforts 
of  the  government  to  raise  a  war 
fund  of  .'.,000,000,000  marks  (?1,- 
250,000,000)  has,  it  is  asserted  here, 
removed  all  anxiety  the  nation  may 
have  had  regarding  its  ability  to  meet 
financial  obligations  due  to  the  war. 
Already  4,500,000,000  marks  has 
been  subscribed  by  the  public  without 
straining  seriously  the  liuuuciul  re- 
sources of  the  empire. 

Had  $125,000,000  at  Start. 

According  to  military  authorities, 
the  war  is  costing  Germany  about 
20,000,000  marks  ($5,000,000)  a 
day,  inclusive  of  the  money  spent  on 
behalf  of  those  who  have  been  de- 
prived of  their  bread  winners. 


The  means  of  the  government  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  not  includ- 
ing the  permanent  war  treasure, 
but  including  the  reserve  funds  of 
the  reichsbank,  amounted  to  about 
500,000,000  marks  ($125,000,000), 
which,  however,  has  been  consider- 
ably increased  through  the  issue  of 
notes. 

It  is  thought,  therefore,  that  the 
money  available  for  the  purposes  of 
the  campaign  can  be  increased,  if 
necessary,   by  several   billion   marks. 

Count  on  .$2,000,000,000. 

The  amount  which  the  government 
could  borrow  from  the  reichsbank  is 
unknown,  but  it  is  estimated  at 
about  3.000,000,000  marks,  making  a 
total  of  about  8,000,000,000  marks 
($2,000,000,000).  At  the  rate  of 
20,000,000  marks  ($5,000,000)  a 
day,  this  sum  would  permit  Germany 
to  carry  on  the  war  for  more  than 
a  year. 

It  is  said  here  that  these  esti- 
mates concerning  Germany's  finan- 
cial resources  are  low  rather  than 
high. 


G  E  R  M  .\  N      ASSOCIATIONS      RE- 
PORTED FAVORING  PEACE. 


Story  of  Petition  of  Economic  Bo<lies 

Believed  to  Have  Been  Censored 

by  Teutonic  Authorities. 


From    "Chicago    Daily    News,"    Feb., 
1915. 

Berlin,  March  13,  3  a.  m. — The 
Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung,  in 
an  editorial,  referring  to  yesterday's 
petition  by  economic  organizations, 
reasserts  the  inadvisability  of  discuss- 
ing peace  terms  at  this  juncture. 

The  paper  says  that  such  a  discus- 
sion might  weaken  the  impression 
abroad  of  complete  German  unanim- 
ity in  the  determination  to  persevere 
to  the  utmost. 

It  would  be  better,  says  the  edi- 
torial, to  gain  a  definite  victory  be- 
fore talking  about  the  reward  for  all 
the  sacrifices  made  and  the  shape  a 
peace  treaty  should  take.  The  po- 
lemical attitude  of  the  associations 
against  the  decision  of  the  highest 
military  and  civil  authorities  is  in- 
opportune and  will  not  hasten  vic- 
tory in  the  field,  asserts  the  paper. 


Attacking  ancd  Defending  Germany  in  the  Crisis 


CONGRESSMAN  BARTHOLDT'S 
PLEA  FOR  GER.M^INV. 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 

(On  September  27,  before  a  packed 
house  in  Terrace  tJarden,  Representa- 
tive Bartholdt,  of  St.  Louis,  made  one 
of  the  strongest  addresses  yet  made 
on  the  war  here.  Because  it  Ijoldly 
upheld  the  Teuton  cause  the  speech 
was  denied  that  prominence  it  de- 
serves. We  are  glad  to  publish  in 
substance  tlie  entire  address.) 

"Germany  wants  peace,  as  her  his- 
tory shows.  For  forty-three  years 
she  has  consistently  maintained  it, 
in  spite  of  many  irritations  as  well  as 
numerous  opportunities  to  make 
gains  by  aggression.  The  sole  pur- 
pose of  the  triple  alliance  was  for 
defense  and  for  the  preservation  of 
the  peace  of  Europe.  German  mili- 
tarism was  purely  for  defense,  and 
Germany  would  never  disturb  the 
peace  if  let  alone  by  her  neigh- 
bors. The  efficiency,  thrift  and  cul- 
ture of  the  German  people  would 
easily  make  them  the  master  nation 
of  Europe  if  only  they  were  permitted 
to  enjoy  permanently  the  blessings  of 
peace. 

Calls   Press    Unfair. 

"The  hostile  attitude  of  a  large 
part  of  the  American  press  toward 
Germany  is  the  most  bitter  disap- 
pointment of  my  life.  While  on  Ger- 
man Day  we  usually  point  with  justi- 
fiable satisfaction  to  the  proud  his- 
tory of  the  .\merican  Germans,  today 
we  are  obliged  to  ask  the  humiliating 
questions  whether  our  diligent  co- 
operation in  the  upbuilding  of  this 
country  has  ever  been  noticed  by  our 
non-German   contemporaries. 

"If  it  had,  we  could  at  least  have 
cherished  the  hope  that  our  Anglo- 
American   fellow-citizens  might  have 


gained  a  more  favorable  conception 
of  the  country  from  which  we  hail, 
of  its  culture  and  its  institutions, 
than  we  now  find  expressed  in  the 
newspapers,  a  conception  which  we 
thought  might  have  prevented  the 
American  press  from  printing  the 
many  absurd  and  outrageous  stories 
which  emanate  from  London  and 
Paris  to  poison  public  opinion  in  our 
neutral  country  against  Germany. 
We  believed  that  the  complete  iden- 
tification of  the  Germans  with  Ameri- 
can institutions,  their  unswerving 
loyalty  to  the  stars  and  stripes  and 
tlieir  diligent  and  intelligent  efforts 
in  all  fields  of  American  activity  had 
earned  for  them  at  least  just  con- 
sideration and  fair  treatment,  but  we 
must  now  reluctantly  admit  that  in 
this  we  are  sorely  disappointed. 

Germans  Entitled  to  Sympathy. 

"The  German  nation,  owing  to  its 
traditional  friendship  for  the  United 
States,  is  even  entitled  to  the  out- 
spoken sympathy  of  the  American 
people.  Or  have  we  forgotten  that 
Frederick  the  Great  sent  us  Baron 
von  Steuben,  whose  achievements  as 
the  drillmaster  of  the  revolutionary 
army  made  possible  the  final  triumph 
of  the  colonies?  Have  we  forgotten 
that  in  the  civil  war  Germany  was  our 
only  friend,  while  England,  in  open 
sympathy  with  the  South,  destroyed 
our  commerce  and  refused  any  and 
all  aid  to  the  I'nion.* 

"In  the  hour  of  his  greatest  dis- 
tress Abraham  Lincoln  sent  three  em- 
issaries to  Europe  to  float  I'nion 
bonds.  These  envoys  were  shown 
the  door  in  both  I.,ondon  and  Paris, 
and   Gladstone  declared   openly   that 


•Nor  Is  It  an  accident  In  Prussian 
History  and  Character  that  Frederick 
the  Great  was  among  the  first  of  the 
rulers  to  recognize  the  Independence  of 
the   United   States   ot   America. — Editor. 


the  English  hoped  for  Confederate 
success.  But  when  Lincoln's  emis- 
saries came  to  Germany  they  were 
received  with  open  arms,  and  Bis- 
marck, then  promoter  of  Prussia,  told 
the  Berlin  and  Frankfort  bankers  to 
advance  to  the  Union  all  the  money 
they  could  spare.  Tlie  purchase  of 
these  Union  bonds  by  Germany  made 
it  possible  for  President  Lincoln  to 
continue  the  war  and  carry  it  to  a 
successful  conclusion. 

"Have  we  not  a  right  to  remind 
our  fellow-citizens  of  this  historical 
fact  just  at  this  time  and  does  this 
not  furnish  at  least  one  valid  reason 
why  in  the  present  war  drama,  when 
Germany's  very  life  is  at  stake,  Amer- 
ican sympathies  should  go  out  to  our 
arch-friend  rather  than  our  arch- 
enemy? 

Japan    to    Demand    Pay. 

"England's  summons  to  the  black 
men,  the  brown  men  and  the  yellow 
men  to  fight  her  battles  against  a 
white  and  highly  cultured  nation  will 
not  be  the  end  of  it.  .Japan  will  de- 
mand her  pound  of  flesh,  which  is 
bound  to  be  cut  out  of  the  skin  of  one 
L'ncle  Sam.  Even  now  supremacy  in 
the  Pacific  may  have  been  promised 
the  yellow  man  in  return  for  his  pres- 
ent aid  and  for  the  protection  by  Ja- 
pan of  India.  Who,  I  ask  you,  would 
be  America's  natural  ally,  when  that 
time  comes?  Under  her  treaty  ob- 
ligations England  will  be  bound  to 
back  up  the  Mikado,  hence  Germany 
again  will  be  our  only  stand-by.  as 
she  was  when,  some  years  ago,  John 
Hay  looked  around  for  support  for 
his  policy  of  the  open  door  and  Chi- 
nese neutrality. 

"England  and  France  came  in  only 
after  Germany  had  demonstratively 
joined  hands  with  our  great  Secretary 
of  State.  For  this  very  act,  Japan 
asserts,  the  Germans  are  to  be  pun- 


144 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


ished  now,  because  it  frustrated  some 
fine  Japanese  plans.  This  being  so, 
will  not  the  Mikado  have  it  in  for  the 
United  States  for  the  same  reason? 

Militarism  Protest   Insincere. 

"If  the  protest  against  German 
militarism  were  sincere,  I  would  re- 
joice in  it,  but  alas,  it  is  not,  for  the 
same  papers  which  are  objecting  to 
Germany's  militarism  are  loudest  in 
their  support  of  American  militarism. 
England's  navy  is  the  climax  of  mili- 
tarism and  France's  army,  too,  pro- 
portionately  larger   than  Germany's. 

"Even  the  peace  advocates,  of 
whom  I  am  one,  admit  that  as  long 
as  the  world  remains  an  armed  camp 
Germany  has  more  justification  in 
keeping  up  an  efficient  army  than  al- 
most any  other  country.  When  di- 
vided she  was  the  spittoon  of  Europe, 
the  battles  of  all  nations  having  been 
fought  on  her  soil.  It  was  to  protect 
the  Fatherland  against  being  every- 
body's battle  ground  that  she  built  up 
a  strong  army  as  soon  as  her  unity 
had  been  achieved  as  a  result  of  the 
Franco-German  war,  but  it  was  an 
army,  as  her  history  shows,  merely 
for  her  defense  and  not  for  aggres- 
sion." 

The  Peace  Programme. 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  Bartholdt  ven- 
tured a  prophesy  by  saying: 

"A  defeat  or  dismemberment  of 
the  German  Empire  will  mean  eternal 
war;  because  the  Teutonic  race  will 
never  accept  such  a  result.  A  vic- 
tory of  the  two  German  nations,  how- 
ever, will  signify  permanent  peace. 
Both  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary 
cherish  peace,  and  their  two  rulers 
wish  for  their  people  the  blessings  of 


\ux  iiim;1:;nbit;g  and  his  staff 

(By    Courtesy    of   the    "Chicago    Abendpost") 

fruitful  civilization,  the  growth  of 
industry  and  trade  and  the  highest 
development  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
and  the  condition  'sine  quo  non'  of 
such  progress  and  the  healing  of  the 
wounds  caused  by  this  horrible  war 
is  a  secure  and  permanent  peace  an- 
chored upon  an  international  agree- 
ment providing  for  disarmament  and 
for  a  high  court  of  nations  which  will 
adjust  all  the  peoples'  differences, 
and  whole  decisions  will  be  backed  by 
an  international  police  force. 

"This  is  the  programme  to  which 
for  many  years  I  have  devoted  my 
humble  efforts,  and  the  realization  of 
which  will,  let  us  hope,  be  in  the  near 
future." 


BRITONS  IN  PROTEST. 


Milwaukee  Free  Press. 

P.  Hugh  O'Donnell,  formerly  for- 
eign editor  on  the  "Morning  Post," 
the  "Spectator"  and  other  leading 
London  journals,  writes  as  follows  to 
the  New  York  "Evening  Post": 

"Every  man  who  has  had  a  connec- 
tion with  the  honorable  British  jour- 
nalism of  the  past  ought  to  thank 
you  for  your  just  and  moderate  re- 
buke of  the  pretended  censorship 
which  has  passed  off  such  a  moun- 
tain of  falsehoods  on  the  public  of 
both  hemispheres.  I  suppose  I  am 
the  Doyen  of  the  foreign  editors  of 
London,  and  well  I  know  that  under 
Gladstone  and  Beaconsfield  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  find  either 
writers  or  censors  for  the  abominable 
fictions  which  have  been  spread  In 
order  to  inflame  the  British  masses 
against  their  German  opponents.   The 


tales  of  German  officers  filling  their 
pockets  with  the  severed  feet  and 
hands  of  Belgian  babies,  and  German 
Catholic  regiments  deliberately  de- 
stroying French  Catholic  cathedrals, 
would  decidedly  not  have  been  ac- 
cepted by  any  editors  of  the  "Times" 
or  "Morning  Post"  in  the  days  of 
Queen  Victoria. 

"The  worst  part  of  these  infamous 
Inventions  has  been  that  they  have 
stirred  up  the  blind  fury  of  the  Eng- 
lish populace  against  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  inoffensive  and  useful  for- 
eigners who  have  done  nothing  but 
good  in  a  hundred  honest  profes- 
sions, and  who  are  now,  in  the  midst 
of  savage  threats  and  insults,  torn 
from  their  industrious  homes  and 
thrust  into  bleak  and  miserable  pris- 
ons without  a  single  comfort  on  the 
brink  of  the  wintry  season.  The 
spectacle  is  a  hideous  one  and  the 
military  censorship  which  has  spread 
the  exciting  calumnies  has  gained  no 
enviable   place   in   truthful   history." 


Mr.  O'Donnell  is  certainly  a  noble 
exception  to  the  prevailing  spirit  in 
England  in  the  crisis.  Nor  is  he 
without  company,  as  we  have  become 
familiar  with  such  names  as  Treve- 
lyan,  McDonald,  Burns,  Morley  and 
many  others. — Editor. 


This  goes  to  show  that  not  all 
Englishmen  are  by  any  means  in 
sympathy  with  the  manner  in  which 
the  British  press,  aided  and  abetted 
by  the  government  censor,  is  poison- 
ing and  perverting  the  news;  to  many 
indeed  it  appeals  as  a  sad  reflection 
on  the  deterioration  of  British  char- 
acter. 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND 


145 


When  a  retired  army  officer  like 
Major  Redway  can  declare,  as  he  did, 
in  the  London  "Globe,"  that  "we 
must  learn  to  look  upon  the  manu- 
facture of  mendacities  during  the 
war  as  a  heroic  attempt  to  keep  us 
going  in  the  absence  of  truth,"  he 
makes  a  serious  charge  against  his 
countrymen  that  ill  comports  with 
England's  ancient  reputation  for 
manliness  and  square  dealing. 

For  our  part  we  incline  to  the 
opinion  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
public  wants  the  truth,  wants  fair 
play  for  its  opponents.  And  we  fur- 
ther believe  that  as  this  public 
gradually  awakes  to  the  double  deal- 
ing of  the  government  which  in- 
volved Great  Britain  In  this  war  and 
to  the  cowardly  and  dishonorable 
character  of  its  censorship,  there  will 
come  about  a  revulsion  of  feeling 
against  the  responsible  Liberal  min- 
istry that  will  overthrow  it  at  the 
first  opportunity  the  war  permits. 

With  enlistments  lagging,  with 
colonial  rebellion  spreading  and  with 
the  voice  of  criticism  becoming  more 
emphatic  this  event  may  be  much 
nearer  than  any  one  anticipates. 


ENGLAND'S  CASE. 


By    Viscount    Bryce    in    The    Times, 
New  York. 


Commented    Upon     by     Herman 

Bidder,  New  Yorker  Staats- 

Zeitung,   New   York. 

The  consignments  of  spoon  food 
received  from  England  during  the  last 
two  months  have  glutted  the  market. 
We  are  tired  and  sick  of  it  all.  The 
"sabre-rattling"  and  "jack-boots"  of 
Sir  Arthur  have  had  their  run.  We 
want  novelty  in  this  country  and 
nothing  could  pall  more  upon  us  than 
the  repeated  dinning  into  our  ears 
by  every  English  organ  from  "The 
Times"  up  or  down,  of  the  few  catch 
phrases,  copied  by  that  master 
of  English  word-cinematography.  I 
have  read  Sir  Arthur's  effusions, 
along  with  those  of  H.  G.  Wells, 
Anthony  Hope,  Rudyard  Kipling, 
Israel  Zangwill  and  the  rest  of  the 
war-mad  English  penmen,  and  for 
the  life  of  me  I  am  unable  to  come 
to  any  other  conclusion  than  that 
their  readings  on  Germany  have 
been  confined  to  Bernhadi  and 
Treitschke,  those  two  German 
writers  who  were  never  a  part  of 
German  intellectual  life  and  were 
both  disowned  by  the  German  peo- 
ple. It  would  be  easy  to  point  out 
writers  in  England  who  have  advo- 
cated theories  far  more  radical  than 
either  Treitschke  or  Bernhardi,  who 
have  had  their  little  day  and  passed 
into  their  little  grave  "unwept,  un- 
honored  and  unsung."  It  would 
servo  no  useful  purpose,  however,  to 
do  so,  for  Englishmen  are  notorious- 
ly fond  of  making  a  mountain  out 
of  a  mole-hill.  Even  Lord  Roberta 
was  not  above  warning  England 
three  years  ago  that  her  immediate 
opponent  was  Germany,  but  her 
eventual  enemy  was  the  United 
States. 

It  is  a  relief,  therefore,  to  happen 
upon    a    writer   for   England    who    is 


above  the  level,  intellectually  and  as 
a  novelist,  of  the  crowd  of  literary 
freebooters  who  have  attempted  so 
zealously  to  force  Bernhardi  down 
our  throats.  Such  a  writer  is  James 
Bryce,  whose  contribution  to  "The 
Times"  of  Sunday  last  will  do  much 
to  raise  England's  case  from  the 
mire  out  of  which  the  poets,  dra- 
matists and  fiction  writers  of  the 
country  have  tried  in  vain  to  drag 
it.  It  matters  little  whether  it  is 
"Mr."  Bryce  or  "Viscount"  Bryce 
who  writes.  Whatever  the  name  of 
James  Bryce  is  subscribed  to  Amer- 
icans will  always  read  with  pleasure 
and  seldom  without  conviction.  He 
has  been  "among  us"  and  we  know 
him,  not  simply  as  a  profound  and 
elegant  scholar,  but  as  a  great,  gen- 
erous, lovable  soul.  The  fact  that  he 
is  the  author  of  "The  Holy  Roman 
Empire"  and  "The  American  Com- 
monwealth" is  scarcely  the  basis  of 
our  affection  for  Viscount  Bryce.  It 
is  rather  the  fact  that  as  British  Am- 
bassador to  Washington  he  showed 
himself  big  enough  to  serve  his  own 
country  without  losing  the  good  will 
of  ours. 

I  know  of  no  one  better  qualified 
to  present  England's  case  to  the 
American  people  than  he — surely  no 
one  in  the  motley  throng  that 
rushed  into  the  first  breach  with  no 
other  equipment  than  their  quiver- 
ing goosequills.  Their  mighty  ef- 
forts are  adumbrated  by  his  quiet 
logic  and  the  faith  which  we  have 
in   his  knowledge  of  his  subject. 

I  have  no  more  sympathy  for 
Bernhardi  than  any  other  free-born, 
liberty-loving  American  has  —  no 
more  than  the  quiet.  Industrious  Ger- 
man has,  who  looks  upon  militarism 
as  the  Englishman  regards  navalism, 
as  a  national  necessity  and  a  nation- 
al evil — and  therefore  I  can  welcome 
these  words  of  Viscount  Bryce: 
"What  are  these  doctrines?  I  do 
not  for  a  moment  attribute  them  to 
the  learned  class  in  Germany,  for 
whom  I  have  profound  respect,  recog- 
nizing their  immense  services  to 
science  and  learning;  nor  to  the  bulk 
of  the  civil  administration,  a  body 
whose  capacity  and  unrightness  are 
known  to  all  the  world,  and  least  of 
all  to  the  German  people  generally. 
That  the  latter  holds  no  such  views 
appears  from  Bernhardi's  own  words, 
for  he  repeatedly  complains  of  and 
deplores  the  pacific  tendencies  of  his 
fellow-countrymen." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Bernhardi  is 
not  even  read  in  Germany.  Of  his 
works,  published  by  Cotta,  only  800 
copies  have  been  given  to  the  pub- 
lic to  date!  And  that  to  a  public 
of  6.''). 000, 000!  The  writings  of 
Treitschke,  as  a  historian,  are  re- 
garded by  Germans  as  brilliant,  but 
Treitschke  is  remembered  by  them 
as  a  man  of  Intense  party  feeling, 
who  labored  under  the  spirit  of  1S70 
and  was  Incapable  of  true  sympathy 
with  their  racial  aspirations.  If 
Americans  are  in  search  for  a  Ger- 
man historian  whose  Ideals  are  one 
with  those  of  his  people  and  whose 
work  will  live  when  that  of  Treitsch- 
ke. Bernhardi  and  the  rest  of  their 
Ilk  h.ns  long  been  forgotten.  I  would 
suggest  Professor  Lamprecht.  of 
Leipslc. 


So  logically  and  truly  deduced  are 
the  conclusions  of  Viscount  Bryce 
that  Bernhardi  was  In  but  not  of 
Germany  that  it  is  difficult  to  recon- 
cile with  them  his  assertion  that  it 
was  the  teachings  of  Bernhardi  that 
moved  Germany  to  war  and  controls 
her  present  conduct  of  it.  This  con- 
demnation of  Germany,  however, 
vis-a-vis  of  England,  cannot  be  ef- 
fected by  the  statement  that  her  pol- 
icy was  dictated  by  a  military  caste 
of  which  Bernhardi  was  the  spokes- 
man. England  has  had  her  own  war 
party,  which  for  years  has  urged 
upon  her  the  crushing  of  Germany 
and  to  which  Sir  Edward  Grey  has 
shown  himself  to  have  been  no  In- 
significant adherent.  In  the  circum- 
stance of  the  actual  conflict  "the  Ger- 
man people  generally,"  to  whom 
least  of  all  Viscount  Bryce  would 
attribute  any  acceptance  of  Bern- 
hardi's principles,  have  shown  them- 
selves far  more  in  sympathy  with 
the  decision  of  their  Government 
than  have  the  British. 

It  might  almost  be  suspected  that 
Viscount  Bryce  has  said  so  much  of 
Bernhardi,  simply  to  hang  on  a  text 
chosen  from  "Germany  and  the  Next 
War,"  a  sermon  to  the  German  na- 
tion on  the  duty  of  greater  to  lesser 
states.  If  Bernhardi  is  followed, 
says  Bryce:  "They  (the  smaller  and 
weaker  nations)  will  be  absolutely  at 
the  mercy  of  the  stronger,  even  if 
protected  by  treaties  guaranteeing 
their  neutrality  and  independence. 
They  will  not  be  safe,  for  treaty  ob- 
ligations are  worthless,  'when  they  do 
not  correspond  to  facts.'  i.  p.,  when 
the  strong  power  finds  that  they  stand 
in  its  way  its  interests  are  par- 
amount." 

-As  the  learned  writer  of  these 
lines  has  repudiated  Bernhardi  as  a 
spokesman  for  Germany,  it  cannot  be 
assumed  that  he  looks  to  Germany  to 
work  upon  any  such  principles.  It 
may  be  assumed,  however,  that  they 
were  penned  to  offset  some  of  the 
suspicions  which  the  history  of  the 
last  century  has  cast  upon  England's 
attitude  toward  her  smaller  and 
weaker  neighbors. 

"If  a  state  hold  valuable  min- 
erals," continued  Viscount  Bryce,  "as 
Sweden  has  iron,  and  Belgium  coal, 
and  Roumania  oil.  or  if  it  has  abund- 
ance of  water  power,  like  Norway, 
Sweden  and  Switzerland;  or  If  It 
holds  the  mouth  of  a  navigable  river, 
the  upper  course  of  which  belongs  to 
another  nation,  a  great  state  may 
conquer  and  annex  that  small  state 
as  soon  as  It  finds  it  needs  minerals 
or  water  power  or  river  mouth." 

Precisely.  The  inference,  however, 
which  we  are  asked  to  make  Is  that 
Germany  will  reach  out  for  Belgium, 
Roumania,  Norway,  Sweden  and 
Switzerland  as  soon  as  it  finds  It 
needs  minerals  or  water  power  or 
river  mouth. 

I  do  not  wish  to  question  Viscount 
Bryce  on  the  history  of  the  distant 
past.  The  author  of  "The  Holy  Ro- 
man Empire"  la  a  much  more  learned 
man  In  such  things  than  I.  I  wish 
only  to  mention  a  few  facts  and  to 
ask  a  few  questions  having  to  do 
with  those  years  which  both  he  and 
I  can  claim  as  our  own. 


146 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


When,  then,  during  the  last  sixty 
years  has  Germany  shown  herself  un- 
generous to  her  smaller  neighbors  or 
covetous  of  their  resources?  During 
what  one  of  those  same  years  has 
England  not  been  guilty  of  the  very 
conduct  which  Viscount  Bryce  pic- 
tures as  so  reprehensible?  Was  it 
not  England  who  attempted  to  break 
the  Union  that  she  might  rule  all 
America?  Was  it  not  the  "aurifer- 
ous nature"  of  the  soil  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Orinoco  that  led  her  to 
expand  her  Venezuelan  claim  in  two 
years  from  76,000  to  109,000  square 
miles?  Was  it  not  the  ilianidiul 
mines  of  the  Transvaal  that  led  her 
to  wipe  out  the  Boer  republic?  It 
is  not  necessary  to  point  out  the  mo- 
tive w'hich  has  actuated  England  to 
the  very  last  to  maintain  the  yoke 
of  Indian  opium  about  the  neck  of 
the  Chinese  people,  nor  am  I  going 
to  add  to  the  list  of  England's 
crimes  against  smaller  and  weaker 
nations.  They  are  too  many  and  too 
well  known.  The  British  Empire  is 
founded  on  them. 

We  are  asked  to  deal  with  theories 
and  possibilities.  We  should  deal 
rather  with  facts;  not  with  what 
Germany  might  do,  but  with  what 
England  has  done  and  is  continuing 
to  do.  The  whole  history  of  Ger- 
many's relations  with  the  smaller 
nations  of  the  world  points  to  her 
continued  generous  treatment  of 
them.  Will  the  history  of  England 
bear  the  same  test? 


THE  STOCK  COMPAXY  OF  KITCH- 

EXER.  ASQUITH,  CHURCHILL, 

AXD  BALFOUR  AT  THE 

GUILDHALL. 


New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung, 
New   York. 

Herman  Ridder. 

Monday  night's  Guildhall  meeting 
in  London  served  the  two-fold  pur- 
pose of  installing  a  new  Lord-Mayor 
of  London,  and  of  furnishing  the 
well-known  stock  company  of  Kitch- 
ener, Asquith,  Churchill  and  Balfour 
an  opportunity  for  a  display  of  their 
histrionic  abilities.  This  quartet 
has  been  touring  the  country  preach- 
ing patriotism,  lecturing,  and  when 
necessary,  playing  the  role  of  recruit- 
ing sergeant.  Mostly  it  has  been 
necessary. 

They  have  divided  their  work  each 
according  to  his  temperament  and 
ability.  Kitchener,  blunt  old  soldier, 
representing  the  martial  spirit  called 
the  present  armageddon  "a  struggle 
for  the  existence  of  the  Empire" ; 
Asquith,  fine  tempered  statesman, 
representing  the  British  conscience, 
devoted  himself  with  less  flight  of 
Imagination  but  with  subtle  British 
hypocrisy  to  proving  that  it  was  a 
struggle  "to  place  upon  an  unassail- 
able foundation  the  right  of  smaller 
nations";  Balfour,  silver  tongued 
spell-binder,  representing  the  pop- 
ular voice,  appealed  to  both  military 
and  political  prejudices  and  delivered 
himself  of  the  shop  worn  phrase  that 
the  war  was  a  fight  "against  reckless 
and  brutal  militarism";  and  finally 
Churchill,  the  Pied  piper  of  London 
town,  representing  the  English  spirit 


of  prophecy,  dilated  upon  the  re- 
markable efficiency  and  preparedness 
of  the  British  navy,  flatly  contradict- 
ing thereby  the  previous  remarks  of 
Kitchener  to  the  general  effect  that 
England  did  not  want  war  because 
she  was  unprepared  for  it.  Nobody 
apparently  noticed  the  discrepancy 
as  the  spirit  of  patriotism  ran  high. 

On  the  whole  Lord  Kitchener  was 
nearest  to  the  truth.  For  England 
the  present  war  is  a  life  and  death 
struggle,  more  so  than  any  other 
war  which  she  has  ever  been  engaged 
in.  Britain  has  a  great  stake  at 
issue,  the  loss  of  which  would  mean 
disaster  beyond  repair.  South  Africa, 
Egypt  and  India  once  severed  from 
the  Empire  would  never  return. 

The  Food  problem  in  England  is 
a  most  serious  one.  Denmark,  Hol- 
land and  Belgium,  always  England's 
active  suppliers  of  fresh  food  pro- 
ducts, have  practically  ceased  to  be 
Buch.  But  worse,  the  modern  weapon 
of  mine-laying  will  soon  so  endanger 
the  approach  to  all  British  harbors, 
that  few  merchantmen  will  be  will- 
ing to  take  the  risk,  insurance  or  no 
insurance. 

No  fleet,  however  powerful,  will 
prevent  daring  German  mine-layers 
from  creating  more  and  more  danger 
zones  around  the  British  Isles,  such 
as  are  said  to  have  kept  the  giant 
Olympic  from  proceeding.  Further- 
more, Kitchener  realizes,  that  mere 
territorial  forces,  mere  defence  with- 
in the  borders  of  the  islands,  would 
be  wholly  insufficient,  and  that  the 
enemy  must  be  attacked  on  the  Con- 
tinent, to  deliver  England  from  dis- 
aster. It  is  a  curiously  incongruous 
remark  by  the  straightforward  ruth- 
less soldier  Kitchener,  that  England's 
military  unpreparedness  proves  her 
pacific  intentions,  while  the  German 
thoroughness  of  organization  clearly 
proves  the  contrary.  When  Pied 
piper  Churchill  paid  a  glowing 
tribute  to  the  preparedness  of  the 
British  Navy,  he  carefully  refrained 
from  drawing  any  such  rash  con- 
clusions about  pacific  or  war-like  in- 
tentions. Churchill,  incidentally, 
tried  to  gloss  over  the  fact,  that  the 
"rats"  have  succeeded  in  pretty  well 
"rattling"  the  British  navy.  Kitch- 
ener's speech  was  hardly  one  to  en- 
courage the  belief  in  the  efficiency  of 
the  new  English  army  of  1,250,000 
soldiers.  He  made  it  very  clear,  that 
such  preparations  were  required  by 
modern  warfare,  that  a  long  time 
would,  of  necessity,  have  to  pass, 
before  an  efficient  army  could  be 
created.  He  might,  had  his  speech 
been  less  carefully  revised,  readily 
have  pointed  to  the  half-baked 
soldiery  which  had  been  sent  by 
order  of  the  autocratic  Pied  piper 
Churchill  to  hapless  Antwerp. 

Mr.  Asquith's  traditional  and 
cheaply  popular  manner  of  cloaking 
English  with  moral  pretenses  was,  on 
this  occasion,  chiefly  applied  to  the 
rights  of  small  nations.  This  sham 
is  thrown  into  a  strong  light  by  the 
recent  organization  in  England  of 
"The  Union  of  Democratic  Control." 
Its  members  include  such  men  as 
Ramsay  McDonald  and  Charles  Tre- 
velyan,  who,  with  Mr.  Morley  and 
Mr.  Burns,  withdrew  from  the  British 
Cabinet  rather  than  be  a  party  to  a 


plan  of  allowing  England  to  be 
forced  into  this  war  through  secret 
treaties,  negotiated  by  a  few  English 
autocrats  like  Grey  and  Churchill. 
"Democratic  Control"  is  the  Society's 
chief  object.  Its  formation  in  the 
midst  of  a  titanic  struggle,  one  which 
is  inspiring  in  Germany  and  France 
the  strongest  bonds  of  national  unity, 
is  highly  significant  as  showing  Eng- 
land less  united,  and  confirming 
Kitchener's  plaintive  remark  "With- 
out a  great  national  impulse  we  can 
do  but  little."  The  "Democratic 
Control"  Society  protested  against 
those  English  foreign  policies  of  the 
last  decade,  which  the  German  people 
have  been  complaining  about 
namely,  secret  treaties,  secret  alli- 
ances, and  secret  "balance  of  power" 
arrangements.  To  cap  the  climax 
this  organization  states  as  its  object 
"to  prevent  the  sudden  conclusion  of 
a  peace  arranged  secretly  by  the 
diplomatists,  who  made  the  war  in- 
evitable." So  much  for  the  fine 
moral  pretense  of  true  democracy  by 
Mr.  Asquith. 

It  is  a  pity,  that  Mr.  Balfour's  ad- 
dress about  militarism  was  not  fol- 
lowed by  some  words  from  Great 
Britain's  new  Sea-Lord,  Lord  Fisher. 
As  a  British  delegate  to  the  1899 
Hague  Convention  he  startled  every- 
body by  his  ruthless  views  about  the 
conduct  of  war.  No  German  or 
Frenchman  of  either  military  or 
naval  prominence  has,  thank  good- 
ness, ever  approached  the  brutality 
of  this  "purely  English"  mind,  for 
let  us  not  forget,  that  this  quality 
made  Fisher  the  successor  of  the 
Prince  of  Battenberg,  who  was  ac- 
cused of  the  lack  of  such  a  "purely 
English"  mind.  This  is  what  Mr. 
Fisher  had  to  say  when  the  Hague 
Conference  tried  to  establish  more 
humane  methods  of  warfare.  "War 
should  be  made  as  hellish  as  pos- 
sible. When  you  have  to  wring  a 
chicken's  neck,  you  don't  give  the 
chicken  intervals  for  rest  and  re- 
freshment." When  the  treatment  of 
captured  sub-marine  crews  was  being 
discussed.  Lord  Fisher,  this  "pure" 
Britisher,  shocked  the  assembly  by 
barking  "Sub-marines?  If  I  catch 
any  in  time  of  war,  I  will  string 
their  crews  up  to  my  yard-arm." 
This  Is  the  "navalism,"  which  placed 
captured  German  sailors  into  the 
bow  of  the  "Amphion,"  while  she 
was  searching  for  mines,  so  that  they 
might  surely  be  killed,  should  any- 
thing happen.  What  a  contrast  to 
German  navalism,  which  thinks  of 
the  safety  of  the  prisoners  first,  be- 
fore putting  up  a  last  fight,  as,  for 
instance,  the  auxiliary  cruiser 
"Kaiser  Wilhelm  der  Grosse,"  did  in 
African  waters.  She  first  trans- 
ferred her  captured  enemies,  then 
she  went,  fighting,  to  her  certain 
doom.  What  a  contrast  between  the 
brutal  words  of  Lord  Fisher  and  the 
generous  action  of  the  German  com- 
mander of  the  "Kaiser  Wilhelm  der 
Grosse." 


">L\DE  IN  GERMANY." 

This  war  was  not  made  in  Ger- 
many, but  "Made  in  Germany"  caused 
the  war. — From  the  Charleston 
"Deutsche  Zeitung." 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND 


"HIDING  INFANTKV" 

Modprn  "Hartiarians"  seem  to  have  a  wholesome  Sense  of  Humor 

(By    Courtesy    ot    the    "Chicago    Abendpost") 


A  PASSIONATE  DEFENSE  OF 
GERMANY. 


Editorial,  The  Cliicago  Evening  Post. 

The  indefatigable,  we  may  even  say 
the  inevitiible,  Hugo  Muensterherg  has 
come  to  the  rescue  of  the  fatherland. 
"The  War  and  America"  has  reached  us 
from  the  publishers,  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
and  is  announced  on  the  cover  jacliet  as 
"the  first  authoritative  work  on  the 
great  Kuropean  war,"  showing  "the  true 
Inside  of  the  war,  its  real  motives  and 
issues  and  their  imjiortaiit  meaning  for 
our  country." 

The  claim  is  rather  too  big  for  the 
l>ook.    Professor  Muensterberg's  hastily 


and  passionately  compiled  work  will 
not  help  much  to  a  real  understanding 
or  a  fair  valuation  of  facts."  It  may  be 
read  with  interest  as  a  product  of  pa- 
triotism, admirable,  indeed,  in  any  man, 
but  not  conducing  to  impartial  weigh- 
ing of  evidence  or  calm  judgment  on  is- 
sues. 

"Audi  alteram  partem"  is  a  Latin 
proverb  to  lie  commended  to  all  open- 
mlnde<l  people,  and  for  this  reason  we 
commend  the  reading  of  "The  War  and 
America"  to  those  who  regard  the 
kaiser  and  the  German  military  system 
as  the  aggressors  in  the  strife  that  has 
shaken  civilization.  Professor  Muenster- 
herg argues  earnestly  against  this  view. 
It  is  his  belief  that  Germany  is  the  un- 
happy and  unwilling  victim  of  jealous 


nations  whose  swords  have  long  been 
whetted  to  cut  her  throat. 

It  is  early  yet  to  write  history,  but 
Professor  Muensterherg  might  have 
been  more  convincing  had  he  made 
greater  use  of  the  otficial  documents 
now  available  in  the  white  papers  of 
the  governments  involved.-  We  have 
much  of  his  opinion,  and  little  of  au- 
thentic material  to  supixirt  it. 

We  are  told  that  Belgrade  was  will- 
ing to  concede  everything  to  the  Aus- 
trian demand  until  a  cipher  telegram 
arrived  from  St.  Petersburg.  "A  few 
hours  later  a  refusal  was  sent  to 
Vienna  which  could  mean  nothing  but 
war,"  are  the  words  in  which  the  his- 
torian describes  the  Belgrade  reply.  By 
such    unfairness'    Professor    Muenster- 


'Read  Mr.  Herman  Bidder's  comment 
on  this  book,  reprintofl  elsewhere  in 
"War  Eclioes."  under  the  title  "The  War 
and  America."  Then  read  Professor 
Muensterberg's  book  and  you  will  be 
able  to  judge  for  yourself  whether  or 
not  "The  Chicago  Evening  Post"  is  cor- 
rect in  sl.-iliiig  that  his  "work,  hastily 
and  passionately  compiled,  will  not  help 
much  to  a  rejil  understanding  or  a  fair 
valuation   of  facts."— The  Editor. 

'Our  readers  will  find  extracts  from 
"The  White  Books"  of  Great  Britain 
and  Germany,   "The  Orange  Book"  of 


Russia  and  "The  Grey  Book"  of  Bel- 
gium, and  comments  on  them  reprinted 
on  other  pages.  The  index  gives  their 
exact  location.  The  British  White 
Paper  and  the  German  White  Book 
have  been  published  by  the  New  York 
"Times"  in  one  pamphlet  for  which 
ten  cents  is  charged.  They  also  have 
been  printed  In  very  convenient  form  as 
one  of  the  monthly  issues  of  the  Amer- 
ican Society  of  International  Concilia- 
tion, 407  West  One  Hundred  and  Sev- 
enteenth Street,  New  York.  Therefore 
we  are  not  reprinting  these  documents 


as  it  would   add   unnecessarily   to   the 
size  of  our  book.^The  Editor. 

'After  reading  the  sixth  paragraph 
connuencing  "The  oft-repeated  assertion 
that  the  C/.ar  did  his  best  to  preserve 
the  peace  of  Europe  .  .  ."  in  the  ar- 
ticle entitled  "The  Russian  Orange  Pa- 
per," reprinted  elsewhere  in  this  book, 
we  leave  it  to  the  falr-mlndod  render 
to  judge  for  himself  as  to  whether  "The 
Chicago  Evening  Post"  is  right  or 
wrong  in  asserting  that  "By  such  un- 
fairness Profes.sor  Muensterherg  dis- 
counts much  of  his  plea." — Editor. 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


berg  discouuts  much  of  his  plea.  We 
know  the  answer  of  Servia  was  in  all 
but  one  particular'  a  concession  to  Aus- 
trian demands,  and  that  particular  a 
detail  the  granting  of  which  meant  the 
utter  humbling  of  national  self-respect. 

Whatever  may  be  said  as  to  the  prov- 
ocation offered  by  llussia  in  the  persis- 
tent mobilization  of  troops  after  pro- 
test from  the  kaiser — and  there  is  room 
for  argument  on  this  point  which  may 
turn  to  the  justification  of  Germany — 
we  think  unbiased  opinion  is  pretty 
well  satisfied  that  Austria's  ultimatum 
was  couched  with  bellicose  purpose,  and 
that  Servia's  answer,  had  not  a  desire 
for  war  existed  on  the  part  of  the  dual 
monarchy,  would  have  satisfied  Ger- 
many's ally.* 

It  is  a  pity  that  Professor  Munster- 
berg  has  spoiled'  his  plea  for  fair  play 
by  this  show  of  bias  in  his  opening 
chapter.  With  his  assertion  that 
"America  ought  to  be  no  more  anti- 
German  than  anti-French  or  anti-Eng- 
lish" we  heartily  concur.  We  deplore 
the  tendency  in  some  quarters  to  deride 
and  denounce  Germany  and  German  in- 
stitutions, and  to  believe  every  story  of 
barbaric  behavior  that  a  hostile  cable 
feeds  to  American  newspapers.  We  ad- 
mire the  spirit  of  Lord  Roberts  of  Eng- 
land, who  urges  his  fellow  countrymen 
to  be  charitable  in  their  Judgment  of 
their  foes.  Let  us  all  be  charitable.  Let 
us  reserve  the  final  verdict,  not  until  we 
have  read  the  professor's  book,  as  his 
publisher  advises,  but  until  peace  has 
afforded  us  the  perspective  and  mental 
disposition  in  which  to  consider  all  the 
facts  and  reach  sound  conclusions. 


VIOLENT  OUTBURSTS  OF  THE 
ENGLISH  PRESS. 


*"It  is  believed  by  many  people  in 
the  United  States  that  Servia  accept- 
ed all,  or  nearly  all,  of  Austria's  de- 
mands. In  reality  she  did  not  accept 
the  most  important  one,  namely,  that 
of  issuing  to  the  oflicers  of  the  Serv- 
ian army  an  official  condemnation  of 
Pan-Slavic  propaganda  and  of  the  as- 
sassination of  the  Crown  Prince.  Now 
it  has  been  proved  that  the  assassina- 
tion of  the  Crown  Prince  was  prepared 
and  arranged  by  Servian  officers.  He 
was  shot  with  a  Servian  army  re- 
volver."— Count  J.  H.  von  BernstorfC, 
the  Imperial  German  Embassador  in 
"Germany  and  the  Great  War"  reprint- 
ed in  full  on  another  page. — Editor. 

'As  to  "The  Chicago  Evening  Post's" 
assertion  that  "unbiased  opinion  Is 
pretty  well  satisfied  that  Austria's  ulti- 
matum was  couched  with  bellicose  pur- 
pose, and  that  Servia's  answer  would 
have  satisfied  her,  had  not  a  desire  for 
war  existed  on  the  part  of  the  dual 
monarchy,"  we  believe  that  REALLY 
UNBIASED  readers,  after  reading 
Mr.  Herman  Ridder's  article  entitled 
"The  Russian  'Orange  Paper,'  "  and  a 
mass  of  other  authentic  evidence  re- 
printed elsewhere  in  this  book,  will 
not  agree  with  "The  Chicago  Even- 
ing Post,"  and  that  therefore:  Pro- 
fessor Miiensterberg  has  NOT  spoiled 
his  plea  for  fair  play. — Editor. 


This  war  is  one  thing  that  England 
wishes  to  see  labeled  "Made  in  Ger- 
many."— From  "The  Daily  News, 
Chicago,  August  7,  1914. 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 

According  to  press  reports  from 
England,  Lord  Roberts  has  made  a 
aignitied  attempt,  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  "Hibbard  Journal,"  to 
denounce  "the  unsportsmanlike  prac- 
tice of  abusing  one's  enemies,"  re- 
minding the  British  public  of  the 
"gross  charges  absolutely  untrue, 
which  were  brought  against  our 
brave  soldiers  fighting  in  South 
Africa." 

It  seems,  however,  rather  doubtful 
that  the  veteran  otficer's  voice  will 
be  heard  in  the  tumult  of  violent 
anti-German  outbursts,  which  has 
been  raging  in  England  for  the  last 
two  months,  with  only  too  ready 
echoes  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  present  jour- 
nalistic standard  of  the  majority  of 
English  newspapers,  a  leader  of  the 
London  "Financial  News"  of  Septem- 
ber 16,  deserves  to  be  quoted.  It 
bristles  with  intemperate  language, 
rarely  to  be  found  in  an  English 
paper  of  standing. 

Under  the  headline,  "No  Compunc- 
tion Now!"  the  said  journal  assails 
"The  Economist"  for  expressing  the 
view  that  no  such  harsh  peace  terms 
ought  to  be  imposed  upon  Germany 
"as  no  proud  nation  could  possibly 
accept,  except  as  a  last  extremity." 
To  this  the  Financial  News  replies: 

"A  proud  nation  which  destroys 
Louvain  from  sheer  lust  of  destruc- 
tion, which  pitches  babies  on  bay- 
onet points,  cuts  off  the  hands  of 
nurses  and  soldiers,  outrages  women, 
slices  old  men,  gouges  out  the  eyes 
of  the  wounded,  tears  off  women's 
breasts,  trains  its  soldiers  in  the  art 
of  rape,  rejoices  in  a  multitude  of 
obscenities  too  frightful  to  be  re- 
corded in  cold  type,  and  does  it  all 
deliberately,  exultingly  and  of  set 
purpose,  by  order  of  the  Kaiser,  ifi 
simply  a  horde  of  brigands  and  mur- 
derers, and  deserves  precisely  the 
mercy  which  should  be  meted  out  to 
that  class  of  people.  Britain  exists 
to  huinble  such  'pride'  as  that."* 

What  mercy,  the  "Financial  News" 
asks,  should  be  slioimi  such  "barbari- 
ans" and  irliat  could  prove  to  usf  that 
the  German  people  are  not  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  royal  ruffian,  who  has 
so  recently  scuttled  out  o£  France  just 
on  the  eve  of  what  he  hoped  would 
be  his  triumphal  entry  into  the  cap- 
ital of  the  Republic  which  he  so 
wantonly  attacked.  They  just  love 
his  cowardly  deviltries.  There  has 
been  no  foul  act  during  this  cam- 
paign, no  shooting  of  a  helpless 
mother.  No  dismembering  of  a  ter- 
rified child,  that  has  not  received  the 
whole-hearted  indorsement  of  the 
German  nation,  from  the  blood- 
thirsty Professor  Harnack  down  to 
the  humblest  Dienstmann  at  the  rail- 
way station.  It  follows  that  the  Ger- 
man nation,  having  made  their  bed, 
must  lie  on  it.  Our  mission  is  to  see 
that  the  last  pfennig  of  the  allied 
doctor's  bill  has  been  well  and  truly 
paid.  Devils  need  expensive  medi- 
cine, and  they  must  pay  for  it." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  "Financial 
News"  lays  down  already — a  trifle 
early — what  it  calls  "the  elementary 


principles  of  the  post-bellum  settle- 
ment."    Here  they  follow: 

"The  HohenzoUerns  must  go,  bag 
and  baggage.  If  the  Kaiser  should 
survive  defeat,  nothing  but  banish- 
ment to  a  lonely  island  will  be  a  safe 
finish  to  his  career.  St.  Helena  is 
not  the  place  for  him,  with  his  mem- 
ories of  who,  with  all  his  faults,  was 
a  man  and  not  a  ghoul.  Tristan 
I'Acuncha  would  be  more  suitable. 
Next,  there  must  be  the  largest  war 
indemnity  that  Germany  can  pay 
without  absolute  bankruptcy.  A  ten- 
tative figure  of  1,000,000,000  pounds 
sterling  will  serve  for  present  con- 
templation. In  the  third  place,  the 
present  German  Empire  must  be 
broken  up  into  its  constituent  parts, 
and  to  some  extent  redistributed,  as 
has  meted  out  to  Germany  can  be 
guessed  from  the  following  passage: 
"Let  us  steel  ourselves  in  advance  to 
crush  the  last  drop  of  lifeblood  out 
of  German  militarism ;  and  all  this 
Mr.  Churchill  has  already  suggested, 
in  accordance  with  racial  consider- 
ations. The  Krupp  works  must  be 
leveled  to  the  ground,  so  that  not 
one  stone  is  left  upon  another,  the 
German  fleet  must  be  handed  over  to 
its  conquerors  and  all  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  Heligoland  Bight  utterly 
dismantled.  The  Kiel  Canal  must  be 
internationalized.  Finally,  all  these 
terms  must  be  imposed  by  the  allied 
armies  encamped  at  Berlin." 

The  best  augury  for  the  carrying 
out  of  this  programme,  however,  the 
paper  sees  in  "the  quiet,  restraint 
temper  of  the  whole  nation." 

Evidently,  the  "Financial  News," 
with  the  proverbial  lack  of  humor  of 
the  English,  does  not  realize  what  an 
exquisite  exposition  of  "quiet,  re- 
strained temper"  it  has  furnished  to 
the  reading  public  by  its  intemper- 
ate language. 

♦Emphasized  in  bold  type  by  the 
Editor. 

fltalicised  words  are  my  own. — ■ 
Editor. 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CIVILIZED 
WORLD. 


By  -Many  Noted  German  Representa- 
tive Men. 

As  representatives  of  German 
Science  and  Art,  we  hereby  protest 
to  the  civilized  world,  against  the 
lies  and  calumnies  with  which  our 
enemies  are  endeavoring  to  stain  the 
honor  of  Germany  in  her  hard  strug- 
gle for  existence — in  a  struggle 
which  has  been  forced  upon  her. 

The  iron  mouth  of  events  has 
proved  the  untruth  of  the  fictitious 
German  defeats,  consequently  mis- 
representation and  calumny  are  all 
the  more  eagerly  at  work.  As  her- 
alds of  truth  we  raise  our  voices 
against   these. 

It  is  not  true  that  Germany  is 
guilty  of  having  caused  this  war. 
Neither  the  people,  the  government, 
nor  the  "Kaiser"  wanted  war.  Ger- 
many did  her  utmost  to  prevent  it: 
for  this  assertion  the  world  has 
documental  proof.  Often  enough 
during  the  26  years  of  his  reign  has 
Wilhelm  II  shown  himself  to  be  the 
upholder  of  peace,  and  often  enough 
has  this  tact  been  acknowledged  by 
our      opponents.     Nay,      even      the 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND 


"Kaiser,"  they  now  dare  to  call  an 
Attila,  has  been  ridiculed  by  them 
lor  years,  because  of  his  steadfast 
endeavors  to  maintain  universal 
peace.  Not  till  a  numerical  su- 
periority which  had  been  lying  in 
wait  on  the  frontiers,  assailed  us,  did 
the   whole  nation   rise  to  a  man. 

It  is  not  true  that  we  trespassed 
in  neutral  Belgium.  It  has  been 
proved  that  France  and  England  had 
resolved  on  such  a  trespass,  and  it 
has  likewise  been  proved  that  Bel- 
glum  had  agreed  upon  their  doing 
so.  It  would  have  been  suicide  on 
our  part  not  to  have  headed  them  off 
at  their  own  game  if  possible. 

It  is  not  true  that  the  life  and 
property  of  a  single  Belgian  citizen 
was  injured  by  our  soldiers  without 
the  bitterest  self-defense  having 
made  it  necessary;  for  again  and 
again,  notwithstanding  repeated 
threats,  the  citizens  lay  in  ambush, 
shooting  at  the  troops  out  of  the 
houses,  mutilating  the  wounded,  and 
murdering  in  cold  blood  the  medical 
men  while  they  were  doing  their 
Samaritan  work.  There  can  be  no 
baser  abuse  than  the  suppression  of 
the  report  of  these  crimes  with  the 
view  of  letting  the  Germans  appear 
to  be  criminals,  only  for  having 
justly  punished  these  assassins  for 
their  wicked  deeds. ' 

It  is  not  true  that  our  troops 
treated  Louvain  brutally.  Furious 
inhabitants  having  treacherously 
fallen  upon  them  in  their  quarters, 
our  troops  with  aching  hearts,  were 
obliged  to  fire  a  part  of  the  town,  as 
a  punishment.  The  greatest  part  of 
Louvian  has  been  preserved.  The 
famous  Town  Hall  stands  quite  in- 
tact; for  at  great  self-sacrifice  our 
soldiers  saved  it  from  destruction  by 
the  flames.  Every  German  would, 
of  course,  greatly  regret,  if  in  the 
course  of  this  terrible  war  any  works 
of  art  should  already  have  been  de- 
stroyed or  be  destroyed  at  some 
future  time,  but  inasmuch  as  in  our 
love  for  art  we  cannot  be  surpassed 
by  any  other  nation,  in  the  same  de- 
gree we  must  decidedly  refuse  to 
buy  a  German  defeat  at  the  cost  of 
saving  a  work  of  art. 

It  is  not  true  that  our  warfare 
pays  no  respect  to  international 
laws.  It  knows  no  undisciplined 
cruelty.  But  in  the  east,  the  earth 
is  saturated  with  the  blood  of 
women  and  children  unmercifully 
butchered  by  the  wild  Russian 
troops;  and  in  the  west.  Dum-nura 
Bullets  mutilate  the  breasts  of  our 
soldiers.  Those  who  have  allied 
themselves  with  Russian  and  Serv- 
ians, and  present  such  a  shameful 
scene  to  the  world  as  that  of  incit- 
ing Mongolians  and  Negroes  against 
the  white  race,  have  no  right  what- 
ever to  call  themselves  upholders  of 
civilization. 

It  is  not  true  that  the  combat 
against  our  so-called  militarism  is 
not  a  combat  against  our  civiliza- 
tion, as  our  enemies  hypocritically 
pretend  it  is.  Were  it  not  for  Ger- 
man militarism,  German  civilization 
would  long  since  have  been  extir- 
pated. For  its  protection  It  arose  In 
a  land  which  for  centuries  had  been 
plagued  by  bands  of  robbers,  as  no 
other  land  had  been.  The  German 
army    and    the    German    people    are 


one,  and  today,  this  consciousness 
fraternizes  7  0  millions  of  Germans, 
all  ranks,  positions  and  parties  being 
one. 

We  cannot  wrest  the  poisonous 
weapon — the  lie — out  of  the  hands 
of  our  enemies.  All  we  can  do  is 
to  proclaim  to  all  the  world,  that 
our  enemies  are  giving  false  witness 
against  us.  You,  who  know  us,  who 
with  us  have  protected  the  most  holy 
possessions  of  man,  we  call   to  you: 

Have  faith  in  us!  Believe,  that 
we  shall  carry  on  this  war  to  the 
end  as  a  civilized  nation,  to  whom 
the  legacy  of  a  Goethe,  a  Beethoven 
and  a  Kant,  is  just  as  sacred  as  its 
own  hearths  and  homes. 

For  this  we  pledge  you  our  names 
and  our  honor: 

Adolf  von  Baeyer,  Prof,  of  Chem- 
istry.   Munich. 

Wilhelm  von  Bode,  General  Di- 
rector of  the  Royal  Museums,  Berlin. 

Alois  Brandl,  Professor,  President 
of  the  Shakespeare  Society,  Berlin. 

Prof.  J.  Brinkmann,  Museum  Di- 
rector, Hamburg. 

Prof.   Peter   Behrens,   Berlin. 

Emil  von  Behring,  Professor  of 
Medicine,   Marburg. 

Luju  Brentano,  Professor  of  Na- 
tional  Economy,   Munich. 

Johannes  Conrad,  Professor  of 
National   Economy,   Halle. 

Franz  von  Defregger.   Munich. 

Adolf  Deissmann,  Professor  of 
Theology,   Berlin. 

Friedrich  von  Duhn.  Professor  of 
Archa?ology.   Heidelburg. 

Albert  Ehrhard,  Professor  of  R. 
Catholic  Theology,  Strassburg. 

Gerhard  Esser,  Professor  of  R. 
Catholic  Theology,  Bonn. 

Herbert    Eulenberg,    Kaiserswerth. 

Emil  Fischer,  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry, Berlin. 

J.  J.  de  Groot,  Professor  of 
Ethnography,    Berlin. 

Ernst  Haeckel,  Professor  of  Zool- 
ogy,  Jena. 

Prof.  A.  von  Harnack,  General 
Director  of  the  Royal  Library,  Ber- 
lin. 

Karl   Hauptmann,  Schreiberhau. 

Wilhelm  Herrmann,  Professor  of 
Protestant  Theology,  Marburg. 

Richard    Dehmel,    Hamburg. 

Prof.  William  Dorpfeld,  Berlin. 

Prof.  Paul  Ehrlich,  Frankfort  on 
the  Main. 

Karl  Engler,  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry,  Karlsruhe. 

Rudolf  Eucken,  Professor  of  Phil- 
osophy.  Jena. 

Heinrich  Finke,  Professor  of  His- 
tory.  Freiburg. 

Wilhelm  Foerster,  Professor  of 
Astronomy,    Berlin. 

Eduard  von  Gebhardt,  Dusseldorf. 

Fritz  Haber,  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry,  Berlin. 

Max  Halhe.   Munich. 

Gerharl    Haupmann,    .Agnetendorf. 

Gustav  Hellmann,  Professor  of 
Meterology,    Berlin. 

.\ndroas  Heusler,  Professor  of 
Northern    Philology.   Berlin. 

T>udwig  Hoffmann,  City  Architect, 
Berlin. 

Leopold  Graf  Kalckreuth,  Presi- 
dent of  the  German  Confederation 
of  Artists.  Eddelsen. 

Arthur  Knmnf,  Berlin. 

Theodor  Kinn,  Professor  of  Juris- 
prudence.  Berlin. 


Anton  Koch,  Professor  of  R.  Cath- 
olic   ineology,   Munster. 

Karl  Lamprecht,  Professor  of  His- 
tory,  Leipsic. 

Maximilian     Leuz,     Professor     of 
History,   Hamburg. 

Franz  von  Liszt,  Professor  of  Jur- 
isprudence, Berlin. 

Josef    iMausbach,    Professor    of    R. 
Catholic  Theology,  Munster. 

Fritz   Schaper,   Berlin. 

August     Schmidliu,     Professor    of 
Sacred  History,   Munster. 

Reiuhold     Seeberg,     Professor     of 
Protestant  Theology,  Berlin. 

Franz  von  Stuck,   Munich. 

Hans   Thoma,   Karlsruhe. 

Karl  VolmoUer,  Stuttgart. 

Karl   Vossler,  Professor  of  Roman 
Philology,  Munich. 

Wilhelm    Waldeyer,    Professor    of 
Aiiatomy,  Berlin. 

Felix  von  Weingartner. 

Wilhelm       Wien,       Professor       of 
Physics,  Wurzburg. 

Richard    Willstatter,    Professor    of 
Chemistry,   Berlin. 

Max    Rubner,    Professor    of    Medi- 
cine, Berlin. 

Adolf  von   Schlatter,   Professor  of 
Protestant   Theology,   Tuebingen. 

Gustav    von    SchmoUer,    Professor 
of  National  Economy,  Berlin. 

Martin    Spain,    Professor    of    His- 
tory, Strassburg. 

Hermann  Sudermann,   Berlin. 

August   von    Wassermann,    Profes- 
sor of  Medicine,  Berlin. 

Theodore    Wiegard,    Museum    Di- 
rector,  Berlin. 

Ulrich      von     Wilamowitzmoellen- 
dorff.  Professor  of  Philology,  Berlin. 

Wilhelm     Windelband,     Professor 
of  Philosophy,  Heidelberg. 

Wilhelm      Wundt,      Professor      of 
Philosophy,  Leipsic. 

Sebastian  Merkle,  Professor  of  R. 
Catholic   Theology,    Wurzburg. 

Heinrich    Morf,    Professor    of    Ro- 
man  Philology,  Berlin. 

Albert  Neisser,  Professor  of  Medi- 
cine,  Breslau. 

Wilhelm     Ostwald,     Professor     of 
Chemistry,   Leipsic. 

Max  Pianck,  Professor  of  Physics, 
Berlin. 

Georg  Reicke,   Berlin. 

Alois   Riehl,    Professor    of    Philos- 
ophy, Berlin. 

Fritz  Ang.  von  Kaulbach,  Munich. 

Felix    Klein,    Professor   of    Mathe- 
matics,  Goettingen. 

Alois  Knoepfler.   Professor  of  His- 
tory of  Art,  Munich. 

Paul   Laband,    Professor   of   Juris- 
prudence,  Strassburg. 

Philipp      Lenard,      Professor      of 
Physics,   Heidelberg. 

Max  Liebermann,   Berlin. 

Lndwig   Manzel,    President    of    the 
Academy  of  Arts,   Berlin. 

Eduard    Meyer,    Professor   of   His- 
tory,  Berlin. 

Friedrich  Naumann,  Berlin. 

Walter       Nernst.       Professor       of 
Physics,   Berlin. 

Bruno    Paul,    Professor    of    School 
for  Applied  Arts,  Berlin. 

Albert   Plehn,    Professor   of   Medi- 
cine, Berlin. 

Prof.   Max   Reinhardt,   Director   of 
German  Theater,  Berlin. 

Karl    Robert,    Professor    of    Arch- 
ipology,  Halle. 

Wilhelm     Rontgen,     Professor     of 
Physics.  Munich. 


150 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 

German  Character  and  the  German  Cause  in  the  War 


WITH  <;OL>  Foil  OIK  FATHERLAND 


Six   Emperors   Sons  now   take   the   Field   as   brilliant   examples  to  the   World; 
God  grant  that  our  Emperor's  Sons  Crown  a  noble,  manly    Victory ! 


THINKS  GERMANY  WAS  FORCED 
INTO  THE  WAR. 

Special    Correspondent    Analyses    Mi- 
nutely  Causes   of   Conflict.      Peace 
Sought   by   Kaiser.      Attitude  of 
Both   Russia  and  London  De- 
clared to  Have  been  Favor- 
able to  Outbreak. 


The  Chicago  Daily  News. 
Raymond  E.  S\ving. 

Berlin,  Germany,  Aug.  13. — The 
fabric  of  life  is  today  torn  to  shreds. 
Coherence,  cool  thinking,  objectivity, 
seem  Impossible.  The  great  Euro- 
pean war  is  well  under  way.  The 
terrors,  the  miseries,  the  horrors 
which  men  have  always  known  to 
attend  war  are  again  present.  Hatred 
and  lying  are  rampant.  But  in 
spite  of  it  all  it  is  of  great  impor- 
tance that  clear  statements  of  the 
events  of  the  last  few  weeks  be  made, 
and  that  thinking  men  and  women 
read  such  statements,  digest  them, 
and  prepare  for  the  moment  when 
they  can  decide  deliberately  what  the 
great  forces  were  which  precipitated 
this  Immeasurable  chaos. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  attempt 
even  the  beginning  of  a  history  of  the 
last  few  weeks.  That  can  be  done  only 
after  time  has  revealed  more  sources 
of  Information  than  are  now  available. 
It  is  not  my  intention  to  pass  final 
judgment  on  any  nation  or  race.  Such 
an  attempt  would  show  colossal  stupid- 
ity in  view  of  my  ignorance  of  many 
of  the  essential  facts.  But  I  shall 
try  to  put  down  what  facts  I  have 
learned,  and  through  them  make  it 
possible  for  any  reader  of  these  lines 
to  reconstruct  with  some  degree  of 
accuracy  the  spirit — the  very  thrilling 
spirit — which  we  of  Berlin  have  known 
In  these  extraordinary  times. 


Must  Go  Back  to  Murder. 

To  understand  this  war  it  is  neces- 
sary to  go  back  to  the  murder  of  the 
Austrian  crown  prince  and  his  wife. 
Every  American  knows  that  these  two 
were  victims  of  bombs  thrown  by  Ser- 
vians on  June  28,  1014.  Immediately 
following  this  murder,  there  was  con- 
siderable talk  from  Austrians  of  com- 
plicity with  the  assassins  of  Servian 
patriotic  societies  with  the  membership 
embracing  the  highest  offlciaUlom  in 
Belgrade.  No  definite  charges  were 
made  publicly  to  my  knowledge,  but 
the  understanding  was  that  men  very 
high  in  the  goverment  of  Servia  knew 
of  the  assassination  plot  and  at  least 
did  not  prevent  it. 

Proofs  In  such  matters,  I  should  say, 
are  difficult  to  obtain.  I  know  that  it 
was  the  conviction  of  Austrian  official- 
dom and  of  the  official  circles  of  Berlin 
that  the  Austrian  assassinations  were- 
even  more  than  the  outgrowth  of 
societies  and  that  the  men  in  some  way 
responsible  for  the  assassination  were 
to  be  found  in  the  very  palace  of  Bel- 
grade, if  not  In  official  circles  of  St. 
Petersburg.  That  is  a  strong  convic- 
tion and  1  give  it  not  as  a  fact,  but  as 
a  conviction,  and  before  this  war  can 
be  understood  this  conviction  must  be 
appreciated. 

Reason  for  the  Ultimatum. 
It  was  the  consequence  of  this  con- 
viction which  led  Austria  to  deliver  her 
ultimatum  to  Servia.  There  has  been 
considerable  speculation  as  to  whether 
Germany  knew  of  this  ultimatum  be- 
fore it  was  delivered.  Every  twist  of 
diplomatic  language  has  been  employed 
to  make  it  appear  as  if  Austria  took 
her  step  without  the  knowledge  of  her 
allies,  Italv  and  Germany.  But  such  an 
effort,  while  it  might  have  served  an 
immediate  purpose,  is  in  the  end  use- 
less, and  It  Is  as  well  to  realize  now 
that   Germany   did  know  of   this  ulti- 


matum, approved  of  it  and  joined  in 
the  pr<_)found  wish  that  assassinations, 
particularly  as  the  means  of  furthering 
tremend<ius  political  movements,  should 
be  punished  severely.  And  Italy,  I 
have  reason  to  believe,  after  having  dis- 
cussed with  Austria  certain  Balkan 
differences,  also  gave  her  approval  and 
her  pledge  to  remain  true  to  her  alli- 
ance in  event  of  war.  These  facts,  I 
feel  sure,  will  eventually  be  established. 
The  text  of  Austria's  ultimatum  is 
already  known  in  America.  It  might 
have  seemed  at  the  time  as  if  some 
of  Austria's  demands  were  exagger- 
ated and  that  no  nation  could  have 
submitted  to  them  without  resigning 
her  national  sovereignty.  Two  clauses 
were  particularly  strong,  the  one  de- 
manding that  Austrian  officials  be  al- 
lowed to  participate  in  the  investiga- 
tions of  the  assassinations,  the  other 
that  Servia's  submission  to  the  ulti- 
matum be  published  in  the  official  Ser- 
vian war  bulletin.  These  two  clauses 
Servia  declined  and  Austria  thereupon 
broke  off  diplomatic  relations. 

WTiere  the  Kernel  Lies. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  the  trouble 
we  come  to  the  kernel  of  the  situation. 
Was  Austria  justified  in  making  these 
two  demands?  The  publication  in  the 
army  bulletin  seems  a  trivial  matter, 
and  one  might  easily  believe  that  Aus- 
tria would  have  stricken  this  from  the  l 
ultimatum  if  the  other  clause  had  been 
accepted.  The  first  question  to  be  an- 
swered, then,  in  understanding  the 
causes  of  this  war  is:  Did  Austria 
have  the  right  to  demand  the  participa- 
tion of  Austrian  officials  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  assassinations? 

The  question  at  once  oversteps  the 
Iwunds  of  pure  legality.  If  Austria  had 
the  conviction  and  a  reasonable  amount 
of  proof  that  the  Servian  bomb  throw- 
ers were  not  only  assisted  by  high 
officers  of  the  Servian  goverment,  but 
even  personally  encouraged  by  a  resi- 
dent of  the  Belgrade  palace  with  the 
support  of  certain  official  elements  in 
Russia— and  this  certainly  is  the  direc- 
tion of  Austrian  discoveries — then  it 
would  have  seemed  absurd  to  leave  the 
punishment  and  the  really  responsible 
men  to  the  Servians  themselves.  Such 
a  resignation  on  the  part  of  .\ustrla 
would  have  meant  her  own  downfall. 
The  affair  already  in  June  took  on  the 
appearance  of  a  grave  international 
plot.  And  Austria  surely  believed  that 
she  not  onlv  had  the  right  to  make  this 
demand,  but  that  this  demand  above  all 
others  must  be  acceded  to  if  war  was 
to  be  avoided.  And  this  belief  1  am 
sure,  was  shared  in  Berlin  and  Rome. 

All  Hinges  on  One  Point. 

About  this  one  point  hinges  every- 
thing which  later  grew  into  the  pres- 
ent war,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  Austrian  government  will  soon 
make  public  the  evidence  in  its  pos- 
session at  the  time  of  the  ultimatum. 
This  point  is  vital,  too,  because  upon 
it  hinges  the  moral  right  of  Germany 
to  stand  bv  her  ally  in  the  face  of 
Europe.  And  about  this  point  must 
play  every  argument  which  tries  to  lay 
upon  the  Germanic  people  or  the  Slavs 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND 


151 


the  blame  for  having  precipitated  this 
war. 

Conceding  for  the  time  being  that 
Austria,  and  consequently  the  triple 
alliance,  was  right,  we  shall  proceed 
with  a  statement  of  subsequent  events, 
with  the  hope  of  understanding  what 
happened  in  Berlin.  The  most  striking 
event  on  the  day  of  Servia's  reply  to 
the  Austrian  ultimatum  is  the  follow- 
ing :  Russia  took  the  initial  steps  for 
mobilization  against  Austria  on  that 
very  day.  My  authority  for  the  ex- 
traordinary and  signilicant  statement  is 
a  telegram  of  the  czar  of  Russia  to  the 
German  kaiser,  as  follows: 

"Peterhof,  July  30,  1914,  1:20  p.  m. 
— I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  for  your  speedy  reply.  I  am 
sending  Tatisheff  this  evening  with  in- 
structions. The  military  preparations 
now  in  realization  were  decided  upon 
five  days  ago,  and  as  defense  against 
the  preparations  of  Austria.  I  hope 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  that  these 
preparations  will  in  no  way  influence 
your  rxisition  as  mediator,  which  I 
value  very  highly.  We  need  your 
strong  pressure  upon  Austria  to  bring 
her  to  an  understanding  with  us. 

■NTCOLAUS." 

Was  the  Day  of  .Servia's  Answer. 

"Five  days  ago,"  said  the  czar,  and 
live  days  before  was  the  day  of  Servia's 
answer.  And  five  days  before  Austria 
had  not  commenced  mobilization,  not 
even  against  Servia.  And  when  Aus- 
tria did  commence  mobilization  not 
one  extra  soldier  was  sent  toward  the 
Russian  frontier  and  only  a  small  army 
was  sent  out  to  fight  Servia. 

This  telegram  of  the  czar  throws 
illuminating  light  on  the  situation,  be- 
cause it  shows  with  startling  clarity 
that  some  oue  at  the  very  start  wanted 
war.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  czar  himself  may  have  been  un- 
aware of  what  was  happening  around 
him.  but  it  is  certain  that  men  in 
charge  of  the  Russian  army  were  not 
unconscious  and  at  the  very  beginning, 
before  the  rest  of  l^urope  even  dared 
whisper  the  word  of  general  war, 
openly  had  taken  the  action  most  sure 
to  precipitate  it. 

Remembering  that  this  step  of  Rus- 
sia's was  taken  on  the  day  of  Servia's 
answer,  let  us  refer  again  to  a  state 
document. 

Sends   Message   July   29. 

Four  days  later,  on  July  29,  the  Ger- 
man military  attachi-  in  St.  Petersburg 
sent  a  message  to  his  government,  of 
which  I  quote  the  following: 

"The  chief  of  the  general  staff  has 
Just  sent  for  me  and  informed  me 
that  he  has  just  come  from  his  majesty. 
He  was  emjwwered  l>y  the  war  min- 
ister to  tell  me  that  everything  stands 
just  as  the  war  minister  declared 
things  to  stand  two  days  ago.  He  gave 
me  a  written  statement  and  also  his 
word  of  honor  for  it  that  no  moliiliza- 
tiou,  i.  e.,  the  calling  out  of  one  reserve 
or  one  horse,  had  begun  up  to  that 
verj-  moment.  ,3  p.  m.  There  are,  how- 
ever, numerous  dispatclies  reporting  the 
calling  in  of  reserves  in  various  parts 
of  the  empire,  Including  Warsaw  and 
Wilna.  I  was  forcetl,  tlierefore.  to  tell 
I  lie  general  that  I  could  not  look  upon 
his  statement  as  being  less  than  a  rid- 
dle. Hereupon  he  gave  me  his  word  of 
honor  as  an  officer  that  my  dispatches 


were  untrue  and  were  probably  trace- 
able to  false  alarms.  I  must  regard  his 
statements  as  deliberate  attempts  to  de- 
lude us  about  the  steps  already  being 
taken,  which  are  so  amply  proved 
through  my  sources  of  information." 

On  July  29,  in  the  very  midst  of 
the  kaiser's  efforts  at  mediation,  a  sig- 
nificant dispatch  was  published  from 
I'aris  which  quoted  on  excellent  author- 
ity a  conversation  said'  to  have  been 
lield  between  the  Russian  War  Minister 
Suchomlinow  with  the  German  am- 
bassador at  St.  Petersburg,  in  which 
the  German  was  at  last  told  that 
Russia  was  taking  precautionary  steps 
against  Austria,  i.  e.,  was  mobilizing 
on  the  Austrian  frontier,  and  adding 
that  similar  action  would  be  taken 
against  Germany  as  "a  prec-aution,  be- 
cause Russian  mobilization  lasts  longer 
than  in  other  countries." 

Why  Take  Precaution? 

But  why  this  precaution?  Had  Ger- 
many once  used  the  word  war?  Had 
Austria  threatened  the  Russian  em- 
pire? Was  there  any  step  being  taken 
except  by  Austria  to  punish  what  she 
had  reason  to  believe  was  an  interna- 
tional plot  to  destroy  her  empire?  With 
these  facts  liefore  any  intelligent  man, 
it  is  hard  for  him  to  come  to  any  con- 
clusion other  than  that  influential  Rus- 
sians wanted  war,  not  only  against 
Austria,  but  against  Germany  as  well. 

In  the  meantime,  in  the  midst  of 
these  military  preparations  in  St. 
I'etersinirg,  the  kaiser  was  proceeding 
with  his  mediation  efforts.  What  is 
most  astonishing,  in  tlie  face  of  the 
information  which  he  must  have  had, 
is  tliat  he  could  consent  to  undertake 
mediation  at  all.  But  it  is  an  estab- 
lished fact  that  he  did  attempt  to  bring 
pressure  to  bear  in  Vienna. 

But  in  the  midst  of  Russia's  mili- 
tary preparations  St.  Petersburg  lie- 
gan  to  send  out  more  peaceful  state- 
ments. The  hope  that  the  general  war 
niiglit  be  averted  grew  brighter  in 
Berlin. 

Draniutir    .Scene    I'layed. 

.\nd  hero  at  this  time  was  played 
a  dramatic  sceiie  of  the  most  significant 
sort.  Gen.  Von  Moltke,  chief  of  the 
general  staff,  ai)peared  at  the  palace 
of  the  German  cliancellor  and  laid  be- 
fore Herr  von  Hethmann-Hollweg 
private  dispatches  which  established 
beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that 
Russia  was  making  every  effort  to  mo- 
bilize her  forces  for  war. 

We  may  never  know  what  these  two 
leaders  said  to  each  other  In  this  In- 
terview, but  I  have  been  told  that 
Von  Moltke  demanded  German  mobil- 
ization at  once.  In  the  face  of  his 
information  he  must  have  felt  that  he 
could  submit  to  no  other  course.  And 
the  chancellor.  I  am  told,  opi)Osed  this 
radical  step  with  all  the  vigor  in  his 
ixissession,  and  he  bogged  that  this 
fateful  step  be  postponed,  even  at  con- 
siderable cost  to  the  German  nation. 
(Jermany  could  not  go  to  war  until 
every  means  to  bring  peace  had  been 
exhausted.  And  Von  Moltke.  surely 
knowing  that  the  kaiser  stood  with  his 
chancellor,  submitted. 

England  Has  Own  Prolileni. 

In  the  meantime,  Kngland  was  ob- 
sessed with  the  Ulster  problem.  The 
government,    the   entire   British    press 


and  the  English  public  were  unaware 
of  the  gravity  of  the  situation  on  the 
continent.  When  it  was  already  felt 
in  Berlin  that  general  war  might  be 
unavoidable,  London  editors,  in  some 
cases,  were  still  cabling  their  Berlin 
correspondents  to  send  the  Servian 
situation  only  briefly.  It  might  be  in- 
terpolated that  American  editors  in 
some  cases  were  guilty  of  the  same 
error  in  judgment.  When  England  fin- 
ally did  wake  up.  Sir  Edward  Grey, 
without  sending  out,  as  is  usually  done, 
a  "feeler"  to  the  other  powers,  sug- 
gested his  conference  of  diplomats. 
This  conference  was  Immediately  re- 
fused by  the  kaiser,  because  Austria 
already  had  formally  declared  war 
against  Servia,  and,  therefore,  it  was 
too  late. 

Tills  action  by  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria has,  undoubtedly,  been  construed 
in  many  quarters  as  proving  an  avid 
desire  for  war.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
French  nationalist  press  placed  this 
construction  upon  it,  and  the  Matin 
went  so  far  as  to  address  a  peace 
appeal  to  the  kaiser,  which  left  the 
general  impression  that  the  kaiser  was 
in  a  position  to  prevent  the  Austrian 
war  upon   Servia. 

3Iotives  Not  Considered. 

This  construction  upon  the  action  of 
Germany  and  Austria  does  not  take 
into  consideration  the  motives  behind 
Austria's  ultimatum.  A  conference  of 
ambassadors  would  have  meant  giving 
Russia  time,  and  Russia  wanted  only 
time  to  be  ready  to  strike  quickly.  In 
fact,  every  diplomatic  move  of  Russia's 
throughout  the  early  period  of  the 
crisis  was  a  play  for  time,  and  Ger- 
many knew  how  this  time  was  being 
utilized.  A  conference  of  ainbassadois 
also,  could  hardly  be  considered  the 
proper  court  for  trying  a  member  of 
the  Servian  royal  house  for  complicity 
in  assassination,  nor  for  tracing  his 
connection  with  Russian  oflicial  circles. 
The  action  of  Sir  Edward  Grey  was 
regarded  in  Berlin  as  precipitate  and 
unfortunate,  showing,  at  least,  a  lack 
of  understanding  of  what  the  forces 
at  play  had  already  grown  to  be. 

But  the  mediation  was  still  not  out 
of  the  question.  Austria  had  re- 
peatedly given  her  pledge  that  Servia's 
territorial  integrity  should  be  main- 
tained, and  the  (Jernian  emperor  had 
vouched  for  the  fultillraent  of  this 
pledge.  The  second  projiosal  of  Sir 
Edward  Grey  to  the  effect  that  Austria 
should  dictate  her  terms  after  the  in- 
vasion of  Servia.  with  the  intimation 
that  Russia  would  be  allowed  to  stand 
by  and  see  that  Servia's  sovereign 
aiid  territorial  integrity  was  finally 
to  be  respected,  was  handed  by  Ber- 
lin to  Vienna  with  the  strong  recom- 
mendation that  it  should  be  accepted. 
Austria  was  ready.  There  was  every 
reason  to  hope  that  Russia  would 
accept  this  solution.  Her  answer  was 
general  mobilization. 

Thinks  Mediation  Was  Offered. 

I  feel  confident  that  a  final  revela- 
tion of  all  the  facts  will  show  that  the 
form  of  mediation  above  outlined  was 
offered,  and  that  Germany  felt  that 
this  gave  Russia  every  opiwrtunity 
hononibly  to  avoid  war  If  she  really 
wished  to  avoid  war. 

In  the  midst  of  an  exchange  of  tele- 
grams between  the  kaiser  and  the  czar. 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


and  in  the  midst  of  the  mediation 
efforts  being  made  by  tlie  kaiser  on  the 
direct  appeal  of  the  czar,  the  lightning 
struck.  Kussia  announced  the  order  for 
full  naval  and  military  mobilization. 
There  could  then  be  no  doubt  in  any 
German  mind  that  Russia  wished  war. 
At  this  point  it  is  well  to  call  at- 
tention to  the  one  hopeful  symptom 
in  this  otherwise  hopeless  situation. 
It  must  stand  to  the  undying  credit 
of  the  German  kaiser  that  one  radiant 
beacon  of  idealism  shines  through  the 
darkness  of  these  times  of  national 
selfishness  and  misery,  and  that  this 
beacon  is  the  kaiser's  resolve  to 
maintain  peace  at  any  honorable 
price  so  long  as  he  could  humanely 
do  so.*  It  was  four  days  before 
German  mobilization  that  Von  Moltke 
had  gone  to  the  chancellor  with  his 
demand  for  the  fateful  order.  Von 
Moltke  had  been  right,  and  the  wait- 
ing had  cost  Germany  much,  for  It 
must  be  remembered  that  Germany's 
whole  military  action  centers  around 
the  one  plan  and  the  one  plan  alone, 
and  that  is  to  strike  quickly. 

Pour  Days  Had  Been  luost. 

Four  days  of  striking  had  been  lost, 
and,  as  every  German  knows,  the  loss 
of  four  days  can  mean  decades  of  sor- 
row for  the  German  nation.  And  this 
is  the  price  that  the  kaiser  paid  for 
the  cause  of  peace.  This  is  the  meas- 
ure of  the  progress  of  the  last  century. 
The  pessimist  may  feel  that  this  is 
small  progress  indeed,  but  the  world  is 
a  very  old  world,  and  a  hundred  years 
Is  a  very  short  time,  indeetl,  to  bring 
any  great  change  in  human  nature. 
The  spectacle  of  the  kaiser  holding 
off  his  forces  at  a  national  sacrifice 
until  the  last  hope  for  peace  had  been 
dissipated  is  one  which  must  win 
him  a  resplendent  place  in  the  an- 
nals of  modem  times.* 

The  war  between  Germany  and 
Austria  on  the  one  hand,  against  Rus- 
sian and  Servia  on  the  other  having 
become  unavoidable,  the  center  of  in- 
terest in  Gernuiny  shifted  to  the  atti- 
tude of  France  and  England.  It  was, 
of  course,  to  the  interest  of  Germany 
that  these  two  countries  remain  neu- 
tral, and  one  may  rest  assured  that 
every  fair  means  was  employed  to 
bring  them  to  such  a  decision.  No 
doubt  great  conferences  on  this  point 
were  held,  and  one  is  tempted  to  spec- 
ulate about  the  prices  and  the  prop- 
ositions offered.  Surely  the  map  of  the 
world  could  have  been  remade  in  these 
few  days. 

France  Sees  Interest. 
But  France  saw  it  to  her  interest 
to  make  war,  and  I  can  hardly  believe 
that  any  intelligent  German  foresaw 
any  other  decision.  The  French  have 
not  whetted  their  appetites  for  revenge 
these  fortv  years  not  to  be  hungry  for 
it  todav.  France  faced  overwhelming 
financi.al  losses  in  a  defeated  Russia, 
and  her  own  financial  system  was 
already  in  ruins.  To  wait  until  later 
meant  onlv  to  pay  again  this  terrific 
price.  And  the  day  of  reckoning  had 
evidently  come.  I  repeat  that  I  can- 
not conceive  of  German  intelligence 
expecting  Fr.ince  to  remain  neutral 
under  the  circumstances  of  the  moment 
and  with  1870  still  within  memory. 


•Emphasized  by  the  Editor. 


The  great  question  then  became  the 
attitude  of  England.  On  this  point 
there  is  much  hard  feeling  in  Germany, 
and  from  what  we  are  allowed  to  know 
these  hard  feelings  are  to  a  great 
extent  justified.  It  is  said  in  the  best 
informed  circles  in  Berlin  that  not  very 
long  ago  England's  king  solemnly 
pledged  that  England  should  remain 
neutral  in  event  of  a  continental  war. 
How  much  weight  can  be  given  to  the 
promise  of  an  English  king?  The  Ger 
man  fleet  and  German  business  effi- 
ciency have  for  long  ranked  in  the  Eng- 
lish mind.  The  time  to  strike,  from 
the  standpoint  of  pure  selfish  interests, 
had  come,  and  strike  England  did. 

England's  Excuse  Given. 

It  was  the  violation  of  Belgian 
neutrality  which  England  gave  as 
her  reason  for  breaking  off  diplo- 
matic relations.  Shortly  after  the 
chancellor's  speech  in  the  reichstag, 
admitting  the  imminence  of  Ger- 
many's invasion  of  Belgium,  the 
British  ambassador  called  at  the  for- 
eign office  and  asked  for  a  pledge 
that  Belgium  neutrality  would  not  be 
violated.  He  was  informed  that  such 
a  pledge  could  not  be  given.  A  few 
moments  later  he  called  again  and 
demanded  his  passes.  England  had 
entered  the  fight. 

England  may  be  able  to  induce 
part  of  the  world  to  believe  that  the 
violation  of  Belgian  neutrality  forced 
her  into  the  war.  Let  us  examine  this 
position  from  the  German  standpoint. 
In  violating  Belgian  neutrality  Ger- 
many admittedly  committed  a 
breach  of  right.  The  chancellor  in 
his  speech  in  the  reichstag  expressed 
this  opinion,  but  linked  it  with  a 
solemn  pledge  before  the  world  that 
Belgium  should  be  repaid  for  dam- 
age inflicted  upon  her  in  any  case, 
and,  in  event  of  English  neutrality, 
should  maintain  her  territorial  integ- 
rity. Why  was  Germany  willing  to 
make  this  pledge  and  at  the  same 
moment  enter  Belgium?  The  reason 
is  not  far  to  seek.  French  troops 
already  lined  the  Franco-Belgian 
frontier.  Were  these  troops  to  be 
used  against  Belgium?  The  question 
is  absurd.  Germany  was  convinced, 
and  reasonably  so,  that  these  troops 
were  eventually  to  be  used  against 
Germany. 

France  Had  Made  Pledge. 
France,  to  be  sure,  had  pledged 
herself  in  Brussels  to  observe  Bel- 
gian neutrality  as  long  as  Germany 
did  so.  But  France  could  wait;  in 
fact,  every  day  of  French  waiting 
was  a  day  gained.  If  Germany,  how- 
ever, waited  until  French  troops  vio- 
lated Belgian  neutrality,  as  French 
aeroplanes  already  had  done,  she 
would  be  at  an  immense  disadvan- 
tage. With  the  war  already  begun, 
it  at  once  became  a  war  for  national 
preservation  and  the  matter  of  Bel- 
gium's lesser  rights  must,  from  the 
German  standpoint,  remain  to  receive 
justice  later  on  rather  than  that  Ger- 
many should  risk  her  own  defeat  and 
annihilation.  Belgium,  it  seems,  is 
fated  to  be  the  world's  battlefield, 
and  the  German  army  could  hardly 
be  asked  to  hold  off  while  the  foe  en- 
tered first  and  intrenched  itself  in 
the  advantageous  position. 

Germany  cannot  credit  any  state- 
ment that  England   was   forced   into 


this  conflict.  Certainly  the  presence 
of  French  troops  in  Belgium  would 
not  have  forced  England  to  intervene 
on  behalf  of  Germany  any  more  than 
the  violation  of  Belgian  and  Dutch 
neutrality  by  French  aeroplanes  and 
French  reconnoissance  parties  forced 
England    to    intervene. 

Could  Have  Believed  Kaiser. 

England  could  easily  have  taken 
Germany's  solemnly  pledged  word, 
assured  herself  of  Germany's  sin- 
cerity in  desiring  to  repay  Belgium 
for  whatever  damage  was  inflicted 
upon  her  and  then  have  stood  ready 
with  all  the  moral  force  of  the  world 
behind  her  to  punish  Germany  if  the 
promises  were  not  carried  out  to  the 
letter.  But  England  did  not  show 
the  shadow  of  a  willingness  to  take 
this  attitude,  and  consequently  the 
German  believes  that  England,  too, 
wanted  war. 

And  so  Germany  found  herself 
faced  by  a  tremendous  foe.  In  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  the  land  of  the 
deepest  political  hatred  became  one 
united  people.  There  were  many 
ironhearted  men  who  wept  like  chil- 
dren in  the  imperial  castle,  where 
the  Kaiser  had  called  together  hia 
first  united  reichstag  and  shook  by 
the  hand  every  party  leader.  There 
were  many  who  wept,  too,  in  the 
later  session  when  the  social  demo- 
crats declared  their  patriotism  and 
for  the  first  time  in  history  cheered 
a  chancellor's  speech. 

Spirit  of  Women  Noble. 

Nor  were  these  sights  more  mov- 
ing than  the  spirit  of  the  women  and 
the  children  who  tramped  loyally  to 
the  vacated  harvest  fields  to  take  up 
the  work  of  the  men,  nor  more  than 
that  of  the  men  who  bade  tlieir  fami- 
lies farewell  and  went  to  the  wars. 
Germany  became  one  land,  with  one 
heart,  one  mind  and  one  enthusiasm! 
And  what  a  wonderful  enthusiasm! 

There  is  only  the  one  belief  in 
Germany  today.  The  nation  is  be- 
leaguered from  all  sides.  She  is  at 
war  for  her  existence  and  is  fighting 
after  making  every  honorable  effort  ^ 
to  keep  the  peace.  This  peace  has  I 
been  denied  her  by  three  great  Eu-  i 

ropean  powers,  two  of  which  cer- 
tainly will  with  difficulty  escape  the 
charge  of  duplicity.  In  Germany 
there  is  no  division  of  opinion  as 
to  where  the  right  lies.  And  her  men 
are  fighting  the  fight  most  dear  to 
the  human  heart  in  all  these  cen- 
turies of  war,  the  fight  for  justice 
and  the  fatherland. 


A    QUESTION    FOR    RCR.    KOOSE- 
V'ELT. 

Why  does  Mr.  Roosevelt  perpetu- 
ally cite  the  alleged  violation  of  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium  and  Luxem- 
berg?  What  of  the  violation  of  the 
neutrality  of  China  by  Japan  and  the 
violation  of  the  neutrality  of  Egypt 
by  Great  Britain  and  the  violation 
of  the  neutrality  of  Morocco  by 
Prance?  Coming  even  nearer  home, 
we  might  add,  as  a  chapter  of  spe- 
cial interest  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  the 
violation,  justified,  no  doubt,  but 
nevertheless  glaring,  of  the  small 
State  of  Colombia  "WHEN  I  TOOK 
PANAMA." — Reprinted  from  "The 
Fatherland," 


DErENOINC  THK  FATHERLAND 


153 


THK   <;KKMA\   CAISK  AM)  THK 
WAK. 

Thin  IK  th<  pmrth  article  of  u  scries 
on  Tin:  El  ROfEAy  WAR.  which  ap- 
peared in  the  Octoher  Number  of  THE 
ai'KS  COURT,  under  the  title  ''The 
German  Cause."  icrittcn  hy  the  Editor, 
Dr.  Paul  Cants. 

CoMtilt  the  IXnEX  for  the  complete 
scries,  and.  in  order  to  see  xchere,  in 
the  various  Chapters  of  the  book,  the 
different  articles  of  this  treatise  map 
he  fouml.  look  for  EUROPEAN  WAR 
(THE).  In  thiJi  wan  the  readi^  may 
read  the  entire  series  of  articles  in 
their  oriijinal  order,  if  he  chooses  to  do 
so.  irhile  the  present  arrantjcment  still 
gives  him  the  adruntaijc  of  hrinijing  the 
various  articles  under  their  proper,  re- 
spectire  Chapter-headings  of  the  book. 

This  i.v  a  series  of  exceptionally  fine 
articles  on  the  subject  in  question,  and 
they  hear  a  unique  and  important  rela- 
tii>n  to  each  other.  Be  sure  to  read 
them  also  in  their  original  order. — 
Editor.  "War  Echoes." 

And  what  are  the  Germans  fight- 
ing for?  Our  British  author  tells  us 
that  for  the  sake  of  securing  these 
two  hundred  million  pounds  Germany 
must  be  exterminated.  That  appeals 
to  the  thoughtless,  but  what  does  it 
mean  for  the  Germans?  It  implies 
that  the  Germans  have  to  fight  for 
their  very  lives,  and  the  Germans 
know  it.  They  feel  that  they  fight 
for  their  civilization,  for  their  right 
to  labor  and  to  earn  a  fair  living, 
for  progress  and  for  the  right  to 
progress,  for  the  right  to  do  better 
than  others,  for  the  right  to  play  a 
prominent  part  in  the  development  of 
liumanity.  for  their  homes,  their 
liearths.  their  liberty,  their  manhood, 
their  national  existence,  for  "all  they 
have  and  are." 


A   P.ItKATIlI.Nt;   SI'Hl.L 

3y  Courtesy  of  the  '•Illinois  Staats-Zfitung") 

There  have  been  so  many  lies  in 
French  and  English  papers,  e.  g..  that 
Dr.  Liebknecht,  the  Social  Democrat, 
had  been  shot,  that  a  revolution  of 
the  Social  Democrats  was  impending, 
that  the  Kaiser's  throne  was  totter- 
ing; but  the  reverse  is  true.  The  lib- 
erals, like  all  the  political  opponents 
of  the  government  and  of  the  aristo- 
cratic or  conservative  taction,  stand 
by  the  Kaiser  in  their  faithful  devo- 
tion to  the  German  fatherland,  and 
the  furor  tciitoiiicu.<i  comes  unisono 
from  all  ranks.  In  glancing  over 
journals  of  a  recent  date,  we  find  a 
poem  coming  from  the  pen  of  G. 
Tschirn  of  Breslau,  a  freethinker 
whose  political  confession  approaches 
more  nearly  that  of  a  democrat  than 
that  of  a  monarchist,  a  man  who  Is 
against  militarism  in  any  form,  an 
advocate  of  the  ideal  of  peace  on 
earth:  but  he  sees  that  Germany  is 
fighting  for  her  existence  and  so  he 
calls  his  poem  "The  Battle  Wrath  of 
the  Friend  of  Peace,"  which  ends 
thus: 

"Jetzt  gilt  es.  Notwehr  zu  iiben 
In  tapfer-tapferstem  Streit 
Fiir  alles,  was  wir  nur  lieben. 
Was    das    Dasein    zum    Leben    erst 
weiht. 

"Drum  auch  durch  Donner  und  Blitze 
Schreitet  der  Friedensheld. 
Dass  er  wahre,  rette  und  schiitze 
I'nsere  Zukunftswelt." 

I  Onward  with  courage  to  battle 
Into  the  heart  of  the  strife. 
Defending  all   that  is  dearest, 
All  that  will  consecrate  life. 

So  afar,   'mid   fire  and  slaughter 
The  guardian  of  peace  will  raise 
His  standard,  defending,  preserving 
Our  homes  for  the  oncoming  days.] 


The  Social  Democrats  are  against 
militarism  and  imperialism  and  op- 
pose war  as  a  matter  of  principle, 
but  in  the  present  case,  they  have 
declared  in  support  of  the  govern- 
ment, because  they  are  opposed  to 
the  Czar  and  his  friends.  They  do 
not  believe  that  the  Russians  and 
their  allies  take  up  arms  to  bring 
them  deliverance  from  the  yoke  of 
social  injustice,  and  they  propose  to 
fight  them,  not  to  uphold  the  Kaiser 
but  to  defend  their  homes. 

Germany,  faced  by  the  danger 
which  the  Triple  Entente  has  brought 
upon  her,  has  risen  in  all  her  great- 
ness, and  holy  wrath  has  come  over 
her.  Germany  is  seized  with  the  de- 
termination to  meet  her  foes  and  die 
rather  thdn  yield,  a  spirit  which  is 
well  expressed  in  the  following  lines: 

"For  all  we  have  and  are. 
For  all  our  children's  fate. 
Stand  up  and  meet  the  war — 
The  Hun  is  at  the  gate. 

"Our  world  has  passed  away. 
In  wantonness  o'erthrown; 
There's  nothing  left  today 
But  steel  and  fire  and  stone. 

"Though  all  we  know  depart. 
The  old  commandments  stand. 
In  courage  keep  your  heart, 
In  strength  lift  up  your  hand. 

"Once  more  we  hear  the  word 
That  sickened  earth  of  old: 
No  law  except  the  sword. 

Unsheathed  and  uncontrolled. 

"Once  more  it  knits  mankind. 
Once  more  the  nations  go 
To  meet  and  break  and  bind 
A  crazed  and  driven  foe. 


154 


THE  ALLIANCE  A^d  THEIR  ALLIES 


"Comfort,  content,  delight — 

The  ages'  slow-bought  gain — - 
They  shriveled  in  a  night. 
Only  ourselves  remain 

"To  face  the  naked  days 
In  silent  fortitude. 
Through  perils  and  dismays, 
Renewud  and  renewed. 

"Though  all  we  made  depart. 

The  old  commandments  stand. 
In  patience  keep  your  heart. 
In  strength  lift  up  your  hand. 

"No  easy  hopes  or  lies 

Shall  bring  us  to  our  goal; 
But  iron  sacrifice 

Of  body,  will,  and  soul. 

"There's  but  one  task  for  all, 
For  each  one  life  to  give. 
Who  stands  if  freedom  fall? 
Who  dies  if  freedom  live?" 

These  lines  have  been  written  by 
Rudyard  Kipling,  and  are  meant  to 
stir  English  patriotism,  yet  so  far 
they  have  not  lured  many  volunteers 
to  the  British  colors.  In  quoting 
them  we  have  changed  but  one  word 
in  the  last  line.  Inserting  "freedom" 
where  the  English  poet  writes  "Eng- 
land." Otherwise  the  poem  might 
serve  the  purpose  of  any  nation  that 
is  ready  to  defend  her  highest  ideals, 
her  liberty  and  her  very  existence, 
but  it  does  not  fit  the  English.  The 
hymn  might  have  been  sung  by  the 
Boers  when  attacked  by  the  British 
army,  it  might  inspire  the  Hindus 
when  asserting  their  independence  of 
the  English  yoke,  it  might  express 
the  patriotism  of  the  many  Irish  who 
laid  down  their  lives  for  Ireland:  it 
might  have  been  written  by  an  Amer- 
ican minuteman  when  joining  George 
Washington  in  his  fight  for  independ- 
ence, but  it  seems  out  of  place  in 
the  mouth  of  a  British  poet,  who 
ought  rather  to  have  sung  in  the 
present  case  that  they  will  fight 

"For  the  market  which  we  want, 
For  two  hundred  million  pounds. 
For  the  ruin  of  other  commerce — 
For  this  our  bugle  sounds." 

The  war  was  not  begun  by  England 
for  the  sake  of  protecting  the  Eng- 
lish nation,  but  for  ruining  the  trade 
of  brethren  on  the  European  conti- 
nent, and  it  was  begun  because  vic- 
tory seemed  easy. 

The  English  have  gradually  found 
out  during  the  course  of  the  war 
that  the  Germans  are  not  so  easily 
conquered  and  that  the  tables  might 
be  turned.  The  English  wanted  the 
Hun  to  appear  at  the  gate  of  Ger- 
many, but  suddenly  the  possibility 
rises  that  the  German  may  knock  at 
the  gates  of  England,  and  now  the 
German  is  called  the  Hun. 

Some  time  ago  the  right  to  hold 
slaves  was  declared  "liberty"  by  the 
slave-holders  of  the  I'nited  States, 
and  the  Romans  called  the  suppres- 
sion of  a  country  under  the  Roman 
yoke  its  pacification.  When  the  Celts 
were  conquered  the  Roman  historian 
used  the  phrase  Gallia  pacata.  In 
the  same  sense  the  English  poet  lau- 
reate speaks  of  England  as  "Thou 
peacemaker,"  and  this  variety  of 
peace-making  is  called  "glory"  by  the 
old  French  conquerer  while  in  Eng- 


land it  is  praised  as  "honor."  The 
Germans  having  become  ambitious  to 
develop  a  nationality  of  their  own, 
independent  of  England,  are  regarded 
as  disturbers  of  the  peace  and  are 
called  "slaves  of  monarch  Ambition." 
Here  is  the  poem  of  Robert  Bridges 
who  complains  that  England  is  too 
pleasure-loving.  Her  monopoly  is  en- 
dangered and  she  will  have  to  fight 
for  the  liberty  of  owning  slaves.  He 
says: 

"Thou   careless,  awake! 
Thou  peacemaker,  fight! 
Stand,  England,  for  honor. 
And  God  guard  the  right. 

"Thy  mirth  lay  aside. 
Thy  cavil  and  play. 
The  foe  is  upon  thee 
And  grave  is  the  day. 

'■'The  Monarch,  Ambition, 

Has  harnessed  his  slaves. 
But  the  folk  of  the  ocean 
Are  free  as  the  waves. 

"For  peace  thou  art  armed. 
Thy  freedom  to  hold. 
Thy  courage  as  iron. 
Thy  good  faith  as  gold. 

"Through  fire,  air  and  water 
Thy  trial  must  be. 
But  they  that  love  life  best 
Die  gladly  for  thee. 

"The  love  of  their  mothers 
Is  strong  to  command; 
The  fame  of  their  fathers 
Is  might  to  their  hand. 

"Much    suffering   shall    cleanse   thee. 
But  thou  through  the  flood 
Shalt  win  to  salvation 

To  beauty   through   blood. 

"Up,  careless,  awake! 

Yea.   peacemakers,   fight! 
England  stands  for  honor, 
God  defend  the  right." 

We  say  "Amen!  God  guard  the 
right  and  God  defend  the  right."  But 
we  do  not  believe  that  in  the  present 
war  the  right  is  on  the  English  side. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  when  the  Eng- 
lish have  waged  a  righteous  war. 
Was  the  Opium  War  in  China  right- 
eous? And  how  shall  we  excuse 
General  Gordon's  suppression  of 
Chinese  Christianity,  called  the  T'ai 
Ping  movement?  Was  the  Boer  war 
undertaken  for  the  protection  of 
English  homes,  and  English  liberty? 
Was  the  treatment  of  Ireland  fair? 
Was  the  sub,1ection  of  India  an  enter- 
prise for  English  honor?  And  what 
shall  we  say  of  General  Cornwallis's 
Hessian  soldiers  in  the  English  col- 
onies of  North  America? 


The  German  Cause. 

And  here  is  Mr.  Jourdaln's  reply  to 
the  Editor's  discussion  ot  this  subject. — 
Editor  of  War  Echoes. 

There  is  very  little  to  discuss  in  this 
section,  in  which  patriotic  poems  are 
quoted.  In  the  concluding  paragraph, 
however,  a  list  is  given  of  indefensible 
and     partly-defensible     EnglLsh     wars,' 


such  as  the  Opium  war  in  China,  and 
the  Boer  war  of  the  Transvaal."  All 
nations,  unfortunately,  have  some  blots 
in  their  accounts,  but  especially  Prus- 
sia, from  the  day  of  Frederick  the 
Great's  brazen  theft  of  Silesia  to  the 
cold-blooded  quarrel  with  Austria  in 
ISfiR  and  the  Franco-Prussian  war  of 
1870. which  was  contrived  by  Bismarck 
down  to  its  precipitation  by  the  falsi- 
fied Ems  telegram.'  * 


'» "Was  ttie  Boer  War  undertaken  for 
the  protection  of  English  homes  and  Eng- 
lish liberty?"  asks  the  Editor  (p.  613). t 
Certainly  it  was,  though  the  English  lib- 
erty and  English  homes  were  in  tlie  Trans- 
vaal. The  fact  that  it  was  a  foreign  gov- 
ernment that  interfered  with  thf-ir  rights 
did  not  minimize  the  responsibility  ot  Eng- 
land. 

1  In  October,  1S92,  Bismarck  said  to 
Harden  :  "It  is  so  easy  for  one  who  has 
some  practice,  without  falsification  merely 
by  omissions,  to  change  the  sense.  .A.S  the 
Editor  of  the  Ems  dispatch....!  should 
know.  The  King  sent  it  me  with  the  or- 
der to  publish  it  either  completely,  or  in 
part.  After  I  had  summarized  it  by  dele- 
tions, Moltke,  who  was  with  me.  ex- 
claimed :  '■Vorhin  war's  eine  Chamade  jetzt 
ist's  ewe  Fanfare."  "Zukuntt,"  October  29, 
1892,  p.  204  ;  and  December  3,  1892,  p.  435. 

*Your  veni,  vidi,  vici.  Mr.  Jourdain.  may 
convince  "The  Street"^  (Italy)  that  has 
just  declared  war  on  Germany,  but  for 
people  who  know  History,  who  are  not 
misled  by  a  pseudo-democracy,  you  must 
adduce  "Facts"  ! — Editor,  War  Echoes. 

tSee  the  number  of  the  magazine  of 
the  "Open  Court"  of  1914,  quoted  at 
head  of  this  discussion. — Editor,  Wto' 
Echoes. 


THE  CASE  FOR  GERMANY. 


""O.   C."  pp.   612-613. • 

•See  Jourdain  in  the  Index  for  the  full 
reference  of  this  note  9. — Editor,  War 
Echoes. 


The  Outlook,  New  York. 

W.   G.   Nasmith. 

It  was  at  the  special  request  of  a 
representative  of  The  Outlook  that  Mr. 
Nasmyth  wrote  the  following  article  pre- 
senting the  German  point  of  view.  Mr. 
Nasmyth  was  one  of  the  delegates  to  the 
Church  Peace  Congress,  which  was  to 
have  held  its  sessions  at  Constance,  Ger- 
many, during  the  week  beginning  August 
2.  A  member  ot  The  Outlook  staff,  Mr. 
Ernest  Hamlin  Abbott,  was  also  a  dele- 
gate to  that  Congress,  but.  as  explained 
in  his  editorial  correspondence,  was  un- 
able to  reach  Constance  before  the  out- 
break of  the  war.  Knowing  that  Mr.  Na- 
smyth had  spent  several  years  in  Ger- 
many, had  learned  during  that  time  to 
know  and  appreciate  the  German  people, 
was  sympathetic  with  the  German  point 
of  view,  was  an  admirer  of  German 
achievements,  and  had  grasped  the  feel- 
ings of  Germans,  particularly  of  the  in- 
tellectual class  of  Germans,  concerning 
this  war,  he  asked  Mr.  Nasmyth  to  pre- 
sent this  point  of  view  in  terms  that  would 
be  plain  to  American  readers.  This  re- 
quest was  made  in  London  within  a  day  or 
two  after  the  declaration  of  war  between 
Germany  and  Great  Britain  :  but  because 
of  the  delav  in  communication  between 
England  and  the  United  States  Mr.  Na- 
smyth's  article  was  received  too  late  for 
publication  in  any  issue  before  this.  It 
seems  to  us  to  be  tlie  strongest  and  most 
persuapi\'e  statement  of  Germany's  case 
tliat  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Nasmyth  has 
been  enabled  by  his  experience  to  under- 
stand the  point  of  view  of  many  nations. 
For  some  time  he  organized  Cosmopolitan 
Clubs  in  foreign  universities,  and  for  a 
while  was  the  head  of  the  Association  of 
Cosmopolitan  Clubs  in  this  country,  which 
comprises  clubs  in  many  colleges  and  uni- 
versities composed  of  students  of  differ- 
ent nationalities.  He  is  now  director  of 
the  International  Students'  Bureau  of  the 
World's  Peace  Foundation.  Inasmuch  <as 
the  Foundation  is  avoiding  all  appearance 
of  partisanship,  it  should  be  distinctly  im- 
derstood  that  Mr.  Nasmyth  in  this  article 
is  expressing  his  personal  view  and  un- 
derstanding of  the  German  spirit  and  is 
not  speaking  officially  for  the  Foundation. 
Most  of  the  statements  in  defense  of  Ger- 
many have  been  written  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  militarists.  The  distinctive 
characteristic   of  this   article   is   that   it  is 


DEFENDING  THE  FATHERLAND 


GERMAN  REGIMENT  CROSSING  PONTOON  BRIDGE 

(Photograph   by  the  International  News  Service) 


a  defense  of  Germany  written  from  the 
point  of  view  of  an  anti-militarist  and  an 
active  leader  in  the  peace  movement. — 
The  Editor. 

It  is  clear  that.  If  we  are  to  form  a 
just  <i|iiiuoii  of  the  issues  involved  in 
the  European  struggle,  we  must  try  to 
re:ilize  the  point  of  view  of  both 
jiartit's.  It  is  possible  that  America 
will  be  called  upon  to  play  the  n'lle 
of  mediator  at  the  end  of  the  conflict, 
and,  if  a  permanent  peace  is  to  be 
established,  it  will  be  America's  duty 
to  see  that  no  humiliating  or  crush- 
ing terms  are  imposed  upon  the  side 
wliich  suffers  defeat.  At  present  the 
people  of  the  T'nited  .States  are  getting 
practically  all  their  news  of  the  Eur- 
opean war  through  English  sources. 
It  seems  worth  while  for  us  to  make 
a  special  effort  to  realize  the  German 
point  of  view  in  the  struggle,  and  I 
shall  attempt  to  put  the  essential  facts 
of  the  case  as  I  gathered  them  from 
close  association  with  leading  Germans 
during  Ihree  years  of  study  in  the 
German  universities.  It  is  unquestion- 
able that  CT.OOO.fNX)  German  people  sin- 
cerely believe  that  they  are  in  the 
right  in  this  matter,  and  if  at  the  end 
of  the  war  Germany  should  be  crushed 
and  the  German  people  "stamped  into 
the  mud."  as  one  of  her  historians  ex- 
[iressed  the  conditions  of  a  hundred 
years  ago,  no  real  peace  could  be  estab- 
lished, but  only  a  breathing-spell  until 
I'.urope  could  gather  its  forces  for  an- 
other Armageddon. 

The  one  factor  which  seems  to  be 
forgotten  in  the  conflict  is  Russia,  and 
this  jiromises  to  be  the  most  imiiortant 
of  all.  Long  after  England.  France, 
and  Germany  are  weary  of  the  fruitless 
struggle,  Russia  will  still  be  gathering 
her    fcu'ces    and    throwing    millions    of 


peasants  into  the  theater  of  war.  An 
agricultural  country,  with  almost  no 
foreign  commerce  or  highly  organized 
Industries  to  be  destroyed,  Russia  can 
keep  up  the  war  for  months  after  the 
highly  organized  nations  of  western 
Europe  have  been  compelled  to  yield 
to  the  pressure  of  economic  forces. 

"For  Germany  it  is  the  struggle  of 
Western  civilization  against  Russian 
barbarism;  the  conflict  between  en- 
lightened Europe  and  the  half-Oriental 
Slavic  powers  of  darkness  was  inevit- 
able." said  Professor  Rudolf  Eucken  at 
Jena  University  on  the  day  that  the 
Russian  order  for  a  general  mobil- 
ization put  an  end  to  the  Kaiser's 
efforts  to  maintain  peace;  and  this  Is 
the  keynote  of  the  public  opinion  of 
educated  Germany.  The  recent  law 
for  the  re-organlzation  of  the  Russian 
army  and  navy,  the  calling  of  (500,000 
additional  soldiers  to  the  Russian  col- 
ors next  fall,  was  considered  through- 
out Germany  as  the  preiiaration  for 
the  coming  attack  on  (Jermany  by 
Russia.  Since  the  conflict  was  inevit- 
able, according  to  the  German  point 
of  view,  the  German  nation  must  pre- 
pare herself  for  the  inevitable  and  in- 
stead of  waiting  with  resignation  for 
her  fate,  must  gather  together  all  her 
power  and  go  out  and  meet  the  foe 
without  giving  it  time  to  concentrate 
its  overwhelming  forces. 

The  tragedy  of  the  conflict,  from  the 
German  point  of  view,  is  that  Europe, 
Instead  of  realizing  that  Germany  Is 
fighling  the  t)altle  of  civilization 
against  barbarism,  is  uniting  to  crush 
the  last  obstacle  to  the  Slavic  advance. 
But  yesterday  England  was  preaching 
that  the  standing  menace  of  the  West- 
ern World  was  Russia,  with  its  170.- 
000,000    of     somi-barbaric     people,    of 


whom  seven-eights  cannot  read  or 
write,  governed  on  absolute  methods 
by  a  reactionary  bureaucracy  which 
Is  frankly  militaristic.  Although  a 
Russian  soldier  has  never  set  foot  upon 
English  shores,  England  has  fought  one 
great  war  to  stop  the  progress  of  this 
nation,  to  check  her  march  towards 
English  possessions.  But  it  is  not  in 
a  distinct  possession  that  she  threat- 
ens Germany ;  it  is  on  her  own  soil. 

"Allied  with  this  Slavic  power  on 
our  eastern  frontier,"  says  the  edu- 
cated German,  "we  have  an  enemy 
on  our  west,  from  whom  we  Itave  suf- 
fered as  no  other  civilized  people 
have  .suffered  at  the  hands  of  enemies. 
You  know  the  story  of  the  wars  of 
Napoleon,  of  the  invasions  of  Eouis 
XIV,  who  cut  off  with  the  sword  Ger- 
man-siieaking  Alsace  and  Lorraine  from 
the  German  body,  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  and  all  the  rest  of  them ;  how  our 
cities  have  been  destroyed  by  the  in- 
vader, mainly  by  the  French  and  the 
Russian,  or "  his  hirelings  and  allies. 
You  know  how  they  ravaged  our  coun- 
try again  and  again,  and  actually,  liter- 
ally, cut  our  liopulation  in  half, 
stamped  it  into  the  mud.  Try  to  get 
the  perspective.  Picture  a  score  of 
your  finest  cities  wiped  out.  not  merely 
that  the  houses  were  destroyed,  but 
that  every  man,  woman  and  child 
within  those  places  had  perished,  and 
this  in  not  some  distant  past,  but  so 
near  to  you  that  your  great-grand- 
father coiild  have  told  you  the  story, 
having  got  It  from  the  mouths  of  those 
who  wltnessetl  it. 

"Of  course  you  cannot  conceive,  no 
man  can  conceive,  what  the  destruc- 
tion of  ten  million  human  beings 
means.  Yet  by  that  number  of  beings 
was    the   population   of    Germany    de- 


156 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


creased  during  these  wars.  A  state  as 
populous  as  England  when  Queen  Vic- 
toria came  to  the  throne  was  in  one 
war  reduced  to  the  population  of  Hol- 
land. What  has  any  civilized  country 
to  compare  with  this,  to  set  beside  it? 
When,  indeed,  has  any  civilized  nation 
had  to  watch  vast  uncounted  multi- 
tudes of  its  women  and  children  driven 
forth  homeless,  their  corpses  massed  in 
the  country  roads,  with  grass  in  their 
mouths,  the  only  food  the  invader  had 
left?  And  these  same  invaders,  who 
have  poured  in  devasting  floods  over 
our  land  today,  boast  that  again  they 
will  invade  us  if  and  when  they  can. 
I  say  boast.  Can  you  find  me  one 
French  public  man  who  will  say  that 
France  should  abandon  the  hope  of  at- 
tacking us?  It  is  their  declared,  their 
overt  policy. 

"So  that  is  our  situation :  on  our 
right  and  on  our  left  enemies  from 
whom  we  have  suffered  as  no  other 
civilized  country  has  suffered  in  mod- 
ern times.  The  history  of  both  is  a 
history  of  conquest — in  one  case  pas- 
sionate Insatiable  conquest  —  whose 
ambitions  England  and  Germany  have 
had    to     resist    shoulder    to    shoulder 


in  the  past,  and  that  Power  which 
was  the  enemy  of  England  for  cen- 
turies makes  no  secret  of  its  in- 
tention to  renew  the  aggression  upon 
us  when  it  can.  It  is  in  the  creed 
and  lilood  of  Frenchmen  that  they 
will  attack  us  at  the  first  opportunity. 
Oh.  yes,  they  are  a  military  people.  Do 
you  wonder?  But  we  have  fought  on 
our  own  soil,  or  returned  to  it  as 
soon  as  the  invader  was  repulsed." 

The  facts  in  the  history  of  the 
crisis  leading  to  the  present  conflict 
which  are  given  in  the  official  docu- 
ments should  he  more  widely  known 
if  the  position  of  Germany  is  to  be 
understood.  The  documents  show  that 
the  German  Emperor,  by  threatening 
to  tear  up  the  Treaty  of  Alliance  with 
Austria,  compelled  Austria  to  reopen 
diplomatic  relations  with  Russia  after 
they  had  been  broken  off,  and  to  adopt 
a  more  conciliatory  attitude  towards 
Russia's  demands.  The  negotiations 
between  Russia  and  Austria  had  prac- 
tically reached  an  agreement,  on  the 
basis  that  Servia  should  render  satis- 
faction to  Austria,  without,  however, 
sacrificing  her  autonomy  or  endanger- 
ing   her    independence.     Then,    like    a 


bolt  out  of  the  blue  sky,  came  the  Rus- 
sian order  for  a  general  mobilization, 
producing  such  a  panic  in  Germany 
that  the  Kaiser  was  compelled  to  sur- 
render the  control  of  affairs  to  the  mil- 
itary leaders.  And  now  Germany  Is 
fighting  the  battle  for  European  civil- 
ization, not  only  against  the  oncoming 
Slavic  tide,  but  against  the  other  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  blindly  allied  with  the 
greatest  peril. 

The  great  issue  of  the  conflict,  which 
will  become  clearer  to  the  outside 
world  as  events  proceed,  is  whether  the 
civilization  of  western  Europe  shall 
continue  to  exist  or  whether  Germany, 
the  last  obstacle  to  the  Slav  advance, 
is  to  be  crushed  and  the  German  lead- 
ership in  education,  science,  and  social 
organization  is  to  be  replaced  by  the 
dominance  in  Europe  of  Russia,  with 
its  mediaeval  social  conditions,  with 
its  autocratic  government  at  the  head 
of  200.000,000  ignorant  and  supersti- 
tious Slavs,  with  its  Tartars  and  Cos- 
sacks. This  is  the  choice  which  Eu- 
rope and  the  world  must  make,  and 
this  issue  the  great  conflict  will  de- 
cide. 


German  Ideals  and  German  Character  in  Action 


GERMANY  OP  TODAY. 


Charles  Tower. 

If  the  future  of  the  German  Em- 
pire lies,  as  the  German  Emperor 
maintained,  upon  the  water,  it  would 
seem  to  be  at  least  as  certain  that 
the  past  history  of  that  part  of  Cen- 
tral Europe  now  included  in  the  Em- 
pire has  been  largely  Influenced  and 
in  part  perhaps  determined  by  water: 
not  indeed  by  the  water  of  the  Baltic 
or  the  North  Sea,  but  by  the  water 
of  the  rivers,  which  now,  as  of  old, 
are  the  natural  and  cheapest  means 
of  transport,  and  at  times  have  also 
formed  natural  divisions.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  recall  such  catchwords 
and  phrases  as  "there  must  be  no  line 
of  the  Main"  (that  is  to  say,  the  par- 
ticularist  or  separatist  tendencies  of 
North  and  South  Germany  must  bi> 
made  to  disappear),  or  "the  Junkers 
East  of  Elbe"  (that  is,  the  land-own- 
ing and  ultra-conservative  squires  of 
Eastern  Prussia),  or  "the  line  of  the 
Llppe"  (which  forms  an  almost  com- 
plete division  between  the  seats  of 
the  poorer  Evangelical  and  wealthy 
Catholic  landlords  and  nobles  of 
Westphalia),  to  see  that  even  today 
rivers  play  a  great  part  not  only  in 
the  unity  of  the  Empire  but  also  In 
Its  internal  divisions  and  dissensions. 
The  Germans,  their  ambitions, 
achievements,  methods,  men  and 
manners  are  so  continuously  the 
topic  of  private  conversation  and 
public  debate  in  English-speaking 
countries,  that  sometimes  there  is  a 
tendency  to  forget  the  outlines  of  the 
map  of  the  Germany  of  today.  In 
fact,  "you  forget  the  map"  is  apt  to 
be  one  of  the  complaints  made  hy 
German  newspaper-writers  and  even 
German  statesmen  when  defending 
German  military  budgets  against  the 
charge  of  Jingoism.  So  it  is  well  to 
begin  with  the  map. 


.\T  HOME 

Oernmn  Soldiers  share  meal  with  Bel- 
gian children.  This  rings  true  of  the 
iKiine-lovhig  German  as  compared  to 
vvliMt  (Jprniany's  enemies  ti-y  to  make 
out  concerning  them 


Medern  Germany  consists,  geo- 
graphically, of  a  territory  drained  by 
the  four  rivers,  Rhine,  Weser,  Elbe 
and  Oder,  flowing  northwards,  to- 
gether with  a  southern  section 
drained,  it  is  true,  by  rivers  flowing 
in  the  other  direction,  hut  finding  its 
comltnercial  connection  northwards 
for  political  reasona.  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  modern  Empire  out  of 
the  mere  congeries  of  petty  States. 
forryed  in  part  by  watershed  divi- 
sions,  it  was  geographically   natural 


that  the  northern  States  should  be 
the  first  to  combine  and  it  was  also 
natural  that  a  struggle  should  take 
place  before  the  southern  portion  of 
the  Empire,  south  of  the  Main,  broke 
loose  from  its  geograpliically  more 
natural  connection  with  Austria  and 
found  its  outlet  northwards.  Hence 
one  might  expect  to  find  sharply  de- 
fined contrasts  between  the  portions 
of  the  Empire  north  and  south  of  the 
Main,  and  it  becomes  easy  to  bear  In 
mind  the  fact  that  all  German  de- 
velopment has  been  and  still  is  pro- 
foundly modified  by  the  contrast,  for 
example,  between  the  Bavarian  and 
Prussian  character  and  their  political, 
religious  and  economic  tendencies. 
Even  to  the  present  day  there  is 
probably  too  little  mutual  give-and- 
take  between  North  and  South  Ger- 
many: there  is  still  a  clearly  defined 
"line  of  the  Main." 

Leaving  out  of  account  for  the 
moment  certain  accretions,  such  as 
Alsace-Lorraine,  Schleswig-Holstein, 
and  Prussian  Poland,  there  is  yet  an- 
other marked  division  whereof  po- 
litically too  little  notice  is  sometimes 
taken,  the  division  marked  roughly 
by  the  course  of  the  Oder,  to  the 
west  of  which  lies  the  industrial  re- 
gion of  Northern  Germany,  to  the 
east  the  agricultural  section.  Quite 
frequently  discussions  in  England  re- 
garding "Germany"  appear  in  reality 
to  be  discussions  only  about  Prussia, 
and  even  about  one  part  of  Prussia, 
the  old  monarchy  east  of  the  Oder. 
It  is  possible  that  some  of  the  an- 
tipathy sometimes  displayed  Is  felt 
instinctively  not  for  the  German  Em- 
pire, but  the  old  Prussian  nucleus, 
whose  character,  manner  of  thought, 
and  even  political  aspirations,  are  to 
quite  a  considerable  extent  deter- 
mined by  geographical  and  geological 
conditions. 


GERMAN   CHARACTER   IN   ACTION 


West  of  the  Oder  is  Industrial  Ger- 
many, east  of  it  Agricultural.  West- 
phalia, the  Rhineland,  the  valley  of 
the  Weser,  these  are  the  districts 
which  developed  Germany's  foreign 
trade,  and  for  whose  protection  in 
their  infancy  the  high  tariff-wall  was 
partly  destined:  these  are  the  coun- 
tries interested  in  the  "open  door," 
in  the  maintenance  of  the  best  pos- 
sible commercial  relations  with  all 
foreign  countries,  and  therefore  also 
In  the  maintenance  of  good  political 
relations  throughout  the  world.  It  is 
after  the  traveller  from  London  to 
Berlin  has  passed  the  Porta  West- 
phalica,  that  picturesque  gap  in  the 
semi-circle  of  the  Teutoburg  hills, 
that  he  enters  the  long  and  dreary 
stretch  of  flat  country,  which,  at  first 
pleasantly  pastoral,  interspersed  with 
red-roofed  villages,  and  sometimes 
timbered  farm  houses,  gradually 
merges  in  the  pine-forests  and  sand- 
dunes  of  Brandenburg,  the  ungener- 
ous soil  from  which  the  East  Prus- 
sians gather  a  hard  living.  It  is,  per- 
haps, not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
predominance  of  Prussia  in  the  part- 
nership of  which  the  Empire  consists 
has  been  brought  about  precisely  by 
the  difference  of  soil  and  climate  here 
intimated.  In  East  Prussia,  for  ex- 
ample, nearly  one-quarter  of  all  the 
land  is  naturally  unproductive  sand, 
fifty-two  per  cent  is  sand  with  a 
greater  or  less  admixture  of  loam, 
and  only  sixteen  per  cent  is  good 
loam.  In  the  province  of  Branden- 
burg nearly  half  (42  per  cent)  In 
sand  and  only  ten  per  cent  loam. 
Hannover  has  forty-one  per  cent 
sand,  West  Prussia  forty  per  cent, 
Pomerania  thirty-five  per  cent,  and 
so  forth.  On  the  other  hand  West- 
phalia has  sixty  per  cent  good  loam, 
Hesse-Nassau  sixty-three  per  cent, 
and  the  Rhineland  sixty-seven  per 
cent.  These  figures  are  perhaps  more 
strikingly  characteristic  than  any 
amount  of  description. 

The  northeastern  part  of  Prussia 
knows  conditions  of  climate,  ex- 
tremes of  heat  and  cold,  almost  as 
great  as  those  of  Central  Russia. 
The  farmer  has  no  rich  black  soil  to 
deal  with,  but  largely  sand;  timber 
worth  the  cutting  must  be  grown 
carefully;  the  husbandman  cannot 
eat  such  things  as  "grow  of  them- 
selves," and  he  grows  hard  as  his 
labour,  ungenerous  as  the  soil,  stub- 
born as  the  effort  which  wins  him  his 
livelihood.  But  he  also  grows  strong 
and  wiry.  The  descent  of  a  hardy 
mountain  or  steppe-folk  into  a  soft 
country  of  luxuriant  natural  condi- 
tions, easy  subsistence,  and  abundant 
reward  of  light  labour  has  almost  al- 
ways in  history  been  followed  by  a 
slackening  of  the  national  muscles,  a 
dimming  of  the  national  keenness  of 
vision,  and  presently  a  relaxation  of 
the  national  vigilance.  That  Prussia 
is  today  the  predominant  partner  in 
the  federation  of  States  called  the 
German  Empire  may  well  be  due 
largely  to  the  fact  that  she  has  al- 
ways had  the  hardest  task  to  subsist 
at  all. 

This,  however,  is  the  next  point  to 
which  we  must  turn.  The  German 
Empire  is  neither  the  successor  of 
the  old  Holy  Roman  Empire,  nor  is 
It  Itself  a  unity.  It  is  a  federation,  a 
close    political    coalition    for    certain 


purposes,  chief  of  which  is  that  of  de- 
fense. Bavaria,  Saxony  and  Wiirt- 
temberg  are  independent  kingdoms, 
Baden,  Saxe-Coburg,  Saxe-Weimar, 
Saxe-Altenburg,  the  Mecklenburgs, 
are  Independent  Grand-Duchies,  the 
two  Reusses  are  independent  Princi- 
palities— with  their  own  legislatures, 
their  own  constitutions,  and  in  the 
case  of  Bavaria  and  Saxony  their  own 
State  railways,  in  the  case  of  Bavaria 
alone  her  own  coinage  and  postage- 
stamps.  They  levy  taxes  and  excise 
independently  both  of  Prussia  and  of 
the  Empire,  they  maintain  diplomatic 
representatives  at  each  others'  Courts 
and  expect  foreign  countries  to  be 
independently  represented  at  their 
Courts.  But  they  combine  for  the 
purpose  of  national  defense,  and  thus 
possess  an  imperial,  that  is,  a  federal 
army;  they  are  comprised  within 
one  imperial  Tariff-Union  (the  Zoll- 
verein),  they  contribute  through  their 
individual  exchequers  to  an  Imperial 
Treasury  conducted  for  imperial  pur- 
poses, and  they  recognize  as  visible 
symbol  of  this  federation,  a  federal 
chief,  the  German  Emperor,  who  is 
also  King  of  Prussia. 

The  formation  of  the  Zoll-verein 
or  Customs  Union  was  facilitated  by 
the  very  differences  of  soil,  climate, 
and  natural  resources  which  we  have 
already  noted.  The  west,  rich  in 
minerals,  needed  the  assistance  of 
the  agricultural  east;  the  little  Duch- 
ies and  States  by  the  head-waters  of 
the  rivers  needed  unrestricted  access 
to  the  sea  along  the  water-ways,  and 
the  gradually  developing  industries 
needed  an  unchallenged  market  in 
the  districts  which  are  not  industrial. 
The  combination,  which  was  not 
possessed  by  individuals,  was  pos- 
sessed by  all  together.  But  there 
was,  at  the  time,  a  still  weightier  rea- 
son why  the  various  German  king- 
doms and  principalities  should  com- 
bine in  the  form  of  a  federation, 
however  much  their  mutual  antipa- 
thies and  jealousies  might  and  did 
stand  in  the  way.  This  reason  was 
that  the  individual  States  had  for 
centuries  been  the  cockpit  of  Euro- 
pean wars,  the  victims  first  of  this 
conquering  army,  then  of  that,  the 
prize  of  victories  in  which  they  had 
no  share,  and  the  goal  of  ambitions 
in  which  they  had  no  interest.  The 
necessity  for  the  foundation  of  the 
present  Federal  Gorman  Empire  lay 
much  less  in  the  bickerings  and  quar- 
rels of  the  individual  States  now  in- 
cluded in  the  Federation  than  in  the 
quarrels  and  ambitions  of  the  neigh- 
boring powers,  the  ambitions  and 
rivalries  of  foreign  princes  and  of 
foreign  representatives  of  various 
creeds.  Perhaps  the  most  illuminat- 
ing illustration  of  the  conditions  of 
life  In  tlie  German  country  which 
ultimately  made  the  Empire  a  neces- 
sity is  to  be  found  in  a  book  called 
"Slmplicius  Simplicissimus,"  retail- 
ing the  adventures  of  a  farmer's  son 
In  the  period  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  and  recently  published  In  Eng- 
lish. The  castles  of  western  Ger- 
many have  for  the  most  part  been 
blown  up  or  burned,  not  by  the 
troops  of  opposing  political  factions, 
Roundhead  or  Cavalier,  White  Rose 
or  Red,  but  by  foreign  aggressors, 
T"»^«  rnv-"oH  no-m-nv  from  ^the 
Rhine  to  the  Vistula,  from  the  Baltic 


to  the  Giant  mountains.  That  they 
might  live  at  last  in  peace,  might  de- 
velop their  own  resources  by  mutual 
assistance,  the  States  of  modern  Ger- 
many, led  by  iron-handed  Prussia, 
came  to  found  the  modern  Empire. 

It  is  thus  geographically  clear  that 
the  new  German  Empire  might  be 
expected  to  develop  first  out  of  a  con- 
federation of  the  States  north  of  the 
line  of  the  Main.  Politically  this 
must  involve  a  dispute  between  a 
northern  and  the  chief  southern  Ger- 
manic State  for  the  hegemony,  in 
other  words,  between  Prussia  and  the 
old  hegemon  of  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire, Austria.  Such  a  dispute  in- 
volved the  break-up  of  the  loose  al- 
liance which  had  subsisted  since  the 
formal  end  of  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire in  180G.  It  follows  that,  al- 
though actually  the  present  Empire 
has  been  gradually  developed  since 
1806,  there  is  a  complete  break  of 
continuity  marked  by  the  foundation 
of  the  North  German  Confederation, 
the  nucleus  of  the  present  Empire, 
by  a  majority  vote  of  the  delegates 
on  April  16,  1867.  It  came  into 
force  on  July  1  in  the  same  year, 
which  is  therefore  the  birthday  of 
the  North  German  Confederation, 
and  in  reality  of  its  later  extension, 
the  German  Empire.  What  had  hap- 
pened is  most  briefly  expressed  in 
the  words  of  the  Treaty  of  Prague 
after  the  short  campaign  between 
Prussia  and  Austria:  "His  Majesty 
the  Austrian  Emperor  hereby  recog- 
nizes the  dissolution  of  the  existing 
confederacy  of  German  States  and 
will  not  oppose  a  new  formation  in 
which  Austria  shall  have  no  part. 
Furthermore,  the  Emperor  will  rec- 
ognize the  closer  federation  which  the 
King  of  Prussia  shall  establish  north 
of  the  Main  •  •  »  and  will  ad- 
mit of  the  formation  of  a  federation 
of  the  States  south  of  the  Main;  the 
relations  of  the  southern  federation 
to  the  northern  bund  to  be  regulated 
later  by  mutual  agreements  between 
them." 

The  northern  federation  consisted 
of  twenty-two  States,  all  the  States 
north  of  the  Main  except  the  King- 
doms of  Hanover  and  Saxony,  and 
the  Duchies  of  Kur-Hesse,  Hesse- 
Darmstadt,  and  Luxemburg. 

Subsequently  the  two  Mecklen- 
burgs.  and  Hesse,  so  far  as  it  lay 
north  of  the  Main  (note  the  sharp 
river  division),  the  elder  Reuss.  Saxe- 
Meiningen,  and  the  Kingdom  of  Sax- 
ony came  into  the  Bund,  raising  the 
number  of  States  subscribing  to  the 
terms  of  April,  1867,  to  twenty-two. 
The  next  step  was  to  bring  the  north- 
ern bund  into  relations  with  the 
States  south  of  the  Main.  The  south- 
ern confederation  provided  for  in  the 
Peace  of  Prague  was  never  formed, 
but  even  before  the  formal  publica- 
tion of  the  terms  of  the  northern 
confederation,  Prussia  had  made  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance  with 
the  southern  States,  providing  for 
the  placing  of  all  the  forces  under  the 
command  of  the  King  of  Prussia  In 
the  event  of  war.  and  also  providing 
that  all  forces  sho\iId  be  trained  on 
the  Prussian  model,  thus  ensuring 
uniformity.  A  military  federation 
was  thus  virtually  in  existence  before 
even  the  North  German  confedera- 
tion  had   been   definitely   announced, 


158 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


and  that  early  military  federation  is 
in  a  closer  form  the  basis  of  the  pres- 
ent German  army. 

We  next  turn  to  the  commercial 
federation,  the  other  great  binding 
link  in  the  Empire.  A  German  cus- 
toms union  had  been  formed  as  early 
as  1833,  and  it  still  existed  in  1866. 
In  July,  1867,  the  North  German  con- 
federation made  a  fresh  tariff  agree- 
ment with  the  southern  States,  to 
run  for  twelve  years,  and  the  affairs 
of  the  tariff  were  regulated  by  a 
Bundesrath  or  Federal  Council  and  a 


side  as  had  been  agreed,  and  the  suc- 
cessful conclusion  of  the  war  made 
the  closer  union  of  the  States  not 
only  rational  but  Inevitable.  The 
southern  States  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  an  international  relation- 
ship was  no  longer  sufficient;  a  na- 
tional relationship  must  succeed  it. 
The  Kingdom  of  Bavaria  notified  the 
presidency  of  the  northern  bund  in 
September,  1870,  that  It  did  not  con- 
sider the  international  agreement 
any  longer  sufficient,  and  "thus  it 
happened  that  in   the  latter  half  of 


form  entries  of  the  various  States 
into  the  northern  bund  on  condition 
of  certain  alterations  of  the  federal 
constitution.  It  should  be  noted,  too, 
that  they  were  not  agreements  of  all 
the  German  States  severally,  but 
agreements  between  the  northern  J 
bund  as  a  political  unit  and  the 
southern  States  severally.  The  new 
bund,  which  was  even  formally  only 
an  extension  of  the  old  northern 
bund,  was  given  a  new  title,  the  Ger- 
man Empire  (not  the  Empire  of  Ger- 
many), and  the  president,  who  con- 


Tariff  Diet.  The  Council  consisted  of 
the  Federal  Council  of  the  North 
German  Bund,  together  with  South 
German  representatives,  and  the  Diet 
or  Tariff  Parliament  consisted  of  the 
Diet  of  the  northern  bund  together 
with  eighty-five  members  elected  by 
the  south  German  States  on  the  basis 
of  manhood  suffrage  in  a  secret  bal- 
lot. The  Tariff  Council  was  practi- 
cally identical  with  the  present  su- 
preme Federal  Council  of  the  Em- 
pire, and  the  combined  Tariff  Parlia- 
ment paved  the  way  for  the  Parlia- 
ment of  the  Empire  or  Reichstag.  It 
needed  only  an  external  impulse  to 
develop  these  special  agreements  be- 
tween north  and  south  into  a  definite 
agreement  or  complete  federation. 
The  northern  bund  provided  for  this 
future  development  by  the  terms  of 
its  constitution.  Article  79  provided 
that  "the  entry  of  the  south  German 
States  or  any  one  of  them  into  the 
federation  may  ensue  upon  the  pro- 
posal of  the  presidency  of  the  federa- 
tion and  in  the  form  of  federal  legis- 
lation." 

The  agreement  for  united  action  in 
the  event  of  war  was  soon  put  to  the 
test.  The  outbreak  of  the  war, with 
France  brought  the  northern  and 
southern  troops  into  the  field  side  by 


October  representatives  of  all  the 
south  German  States  assembled  in 
Versailles  to  discuss  the  foundation 
of  a  German  Federation"  (speech  of 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Federation,  be- 
fore the  Reichstag,  December  5th, 
1870).  It  is  worth  while  to  note 
that,  in  this  report  of  the  proceed- 
ings given  to  the  Reichstag  on  De- 
cember 5th,  1870,  the  minister  (Del- 
briick)  uses  the  word  federation 
(bund)  to  describe  the  new  relation- 
ship of  all  the  German  States  to  each 
other. 

The  line  of  the  Main,  created  po- 
litically by  the  formation  of  the 
North  German  Bund  in  186  6,  disap- 
peared politically  by  the  entry  of  the 
south  German  States  into  the  north- 
ern bund  in  1870.  There  were  three 
treaties  made:  first,  an  agreement  be- 
tween the  northern  bund.  Baden  and 
Hesse,  whereby  a  German  bund  was 
formed  and  its  constitution  agreed  to. 
In  the  second  agreement  the  north- 
ern bund,  with  Baden  and  Hesse, 
made  an  agreement  with  Wiirttem- 
berg,  and  in  the  third  they  made  an 
agreement  with  Bavaria.  Bavaria  ob- 
tained a  number  of  special  privileges, 
which  will  be  detailed  later,  and 
which  are  called  the  Bavarian  "Son- 
derrechte."      The    treatises    were    in 


tinned  to  be  the  King  of  Prussia, 
was  also  given  a  new  title,  namely, 
German  Emperor  (not  Emperor  of 
Germany) . 

Such  in  brief  was  the  development 
of  the  Empire  out  of  the  close  coali- 
tion of  the  northern  States.  The  Em- 
pire remains  what  it  was,  a  federa- 
tion of  States  which  guard,  some  of 
them  with  very  great  jealousy,  the 
smallest  remaining  item  of  their  in- 
dependence, and  which  also  watch 
jealously  any  suggestion  of  accretion 
of  power  by  any  one  of  them  such  as 
might  disturb  the  balance  between 
them.  Besides  the  strictly  German 
parts  of  the  Empire,  there  are  cer- 
tain non-German  elements  which 
constitute  "problems."  Prussia  is 
chiefly  troubled  by  her  Polish  prov- 
inces, acquired  at  the  time  of  the  di- 
vision of  Poland  in  1795,  and  to  some 
small  extent  by  the  problem  of  the 
Danish  strip  acquired  by  her  victory 
over  Austria.  The  third  problem  was 
that  of  the  territory  ceded  by  France 
after  the  war  of  IS 70.  The  Alsace- 
Lorraine  territory  was  acquired  by 
the  victories  of  all  the  German  States. 
It  was,  therefore,  vested  as  a  pro- 
prietary district  in  the  new  bund, 
and  became  Reichsland,  Imperial  ter- 
ritory.    Recently  the  question  of  ar- 


GERMAN  CHAR.-\CTER   IN  ACTION 


159 


ranging  the  final  relationship  of  the 
Relchsland  to  the  Empire  became 
acute,  and  there  was  not  wanting  a 
demand  that  it  should  in  some  way 
be  more  closely  attached  to  Prussia 
than  heretofore.  The  other  States 
would  have  raised  an  exceedingly  ve- 
hement protest  had  the  proposal  ac- 
tually reached  maturity,  but  finally 
the  Relchsland  was  given  a  constitu- 
tion with  an  electoral  assembly  and 
a  second  chamber.  Its  nominal  head 
is  a  viceroy,  who  represents  the 
rights  of  the  original  federal  States, 
but  it  has  been  made  a  member  of 
the  federation  with  a  voice  in  federal 
discussions  and  agreements  and  a 
seat  in  the  Bundesrath,  or  Federal 
Council. 

Thus  the  Empire  now  consists  of 
twejity-six  States,  twenty-two  being 
monarchical,  three  being  republican 
city-States,  and  one  a  semi-independ- 
ent Viceroyalty.  That  is  the  sim- 
plest formula  for  expressing  the  na- 
ture of  the  federation  which  is  called 
the  German  Empire.  It  may  be  as 
well  to  enumerate  these  States.  They 
are:  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Saxony, 
Wiirttemberg  (kingdoms),  Baden, 
Hesse,  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  Meck- 
lenburg-Strelitz,  Oldenburg,  Bruns- 
wick, Saxe-Meiningen,  Saxe-Coburg- 
Gotha,  Saxe  -  Altenburg,  Anhalt, 
Schwarzburg  -  Rudolstadt.  Schwarz- 
burg-Sonderhausen,  Waldeck,  Reuss 
(elder  and  younger  lines),  Schaum- 
burg-Lippe,  Lippe  (the  last  seven 
principalities,  the  others  duchies  or 
grand-duchies),  Liibeck,  Bremen  and 
Hamburg  (republican  city-States), 
and  the  viceroyalty  of  Alsace-Lor- 
raine. In  a  further  chapter  we  shall 
see  how  these  States  differ  in  their 
forms  of  government  and  in  their  re- 
lations to  the  Imperial  Federation 
and  the  Federal  Government.  For 
the  present  it  is  desirable  to  note 
that  certain  of  the  old  political  divi- 
sions have  disappeared.  Prussia,  for 
instance,  has  swallowed  amongst 
other  once  independent  units  the  old 
Kingdom  of  Hannover,  which  is  now 
the  Prussian  Province  of  Hanover;  a 
portion  of  the  former  Kingdom  of 
Saxony,  the  swallowed  portion  being 
now  the  Prussian  Province  of  Sax- 
ony; Frankfurt,  which  is  now  a  Prus- 
sian city  instead  of  being  an  inde- 
pendent city-state  like  Hamburg  and 
Bremen;  and  so  forth.  Inasmuch  as 
Prussia  also  includes  now  West- 
phalia, the  Rhineland  as  far  as 
Frankfurt,  and  the  Eiffel  uplands 
west  of  the  Rhine,  it  is  by  far  the 
largest  partner  in  the  federation,  and 
stretches  "across  the  map"  from  the 
Belgian  to  the  Russian  frontiers. 
Oldenburg,  the  Mecklenburgs,  and 
the  republican  city-States  break  Its 
coast-line,  and  the  small  Duchies  in- 
tervene in  part  between  Prussia  and 
the  old  dividing-line  of  north  and 
south,  whilst  it  is  also  broken  up  by 
occasional  excrescences  like  the  Prin- 
cipalities of  Lippe  and  the  Schwarz- 
burgs.  It  should  be  added  that  the 
tendency  is  for  these  little  Principali- 
ties, whilst  retaining  their  individual 
ducal  or  princely  familes,  to  combine 
for  purposes  of  internal  revenue  and 
administration,  and  also,  as  recently 
in  the  case  of  the  Schwarzburgs,  for 
representation  in  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil. But  there  is  no  tendency  to  re- 
linquish any  kind  of  privilege  to 
Prussia. 


It  may  be  added  that  the  map  of 
the  small  central  German  or  Thur- 
ingian  States  shows  curiosities  com- 
parable only  to  the  map  of  Scotland. 
The  Duchy  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  for 
example,  is  not  even  territorially 
united;  the  Gotha  part  of  it  is  sepa- 
rated by  a  fragment  of  Saxe-Weimar 
territory,  and  a  big  strip  of  Saxe- 
Meiningen  from  its  Coburg  section. 
There  are  eleven  different  sections  of 
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach  scattered  all 
over  the  map  of  the  Thuringlan 
States,  and  even  the  two  parts  of  the 
little  Principality  of  Reuss  Elder 
Line  are  some  fifteen  miles  apart. 
Sondershausen,  the  northern  part  of 
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen,  is  at  Its 
extreme  southern  limit  twenty-flve 
miles  as  the  crow  flies  from  the  ex- 
treme northern  limit  of  Its  middle 
part  at  Arnstadt,  which  is  again 
separated  by  a  bit  of  Gotha  and  a 
trifle  of  Rudolstadt  territory  from  Its 
southern  part  at  Gehren.  A  glance 
at  a  good  colored  map  of  the  Thur- 
inglan States  *  *  *  is  itself  suf- 
ficient to  show  the  difficulties  In- 
volved in  the  self-government  of  such 
complicated  territories,  so  long  as 
there  was  no  adequate  central  au- 
thority and  no  common  protection. 
Even  County  Councils  might  find  it 
diflicult  to  carry  on  their  work  with 
one  bit  of  the  county  at  Brighton, 
another  tiny  section  in  the  middle  of 
Surrey,  and  a  third  round  Salisbury. 
Development,  one  might  suppose,  was 
only  possible  when  some  central  au- 
thority had  provided  norms  or  gen- 
eral lines  of  procedure  for  the  prin- 
cipal functions  of  self-government, 
and  had  further  removed  difficulties 
of  inter-State  communication  by  road 
and  rail.  That  is  what  was  achieved 
partly  by  Prussia  and  later  by  the 
Empire. 

DOIXG  WITHOUT  GER>IANY. 


The  Literary  Digest,  Xew  York. 

The  assertion  of  the  German  gov- 
ernment that  the  export  trade  of  that 
country  will  shortly  be  resumed 
ought  to  be  cheering  news,  for,  ac- 
cording to  The  Engineering  News 
(New  York,  September  17),  there  is 
probably  no  other  nation  in  the  world 
whose  sudden  isolation  commercially 
would  cause  such  wide-spread  loss. 
And,  more  than  any  other  nation, 
this  paper  goes  on  to  say,  Germany 
has  won  its  place,  not  by  natural 
resources  or  location,  but  by  the  skill 
and  intelligence  with  which  its  peo- 
ple have  attacked  modern  technical 
problems.  We  are  now  learning 
what  it  is  to  go  without  the  things 
that  are  "made  in  Germany."  and 
The  News  says  that  some  people  are 
having  their  eyes  opened  to  the  ex- 
tent and  importance  of  the  field  cov- 
ered by  these  articles.  While  engi- 
neers and  chemists,  we  are  told,  are 
generally  aware  of  Germany's  leader- 
ship in  science  and  technology,  the 
events  of  the  past  few  weeks  have 
been  a  great  object-lesson  to  the  gen- 
eral public.     We  read: 

"Few  have  realized  the  extent  to 
which  the  whole  world  has  relied 
upon  German  scientists,  chemists, 
engineers,  and  manufacturers  for  the 
supply  of  many  materials  necessary 
in  the  arts.     Manufacturers  in  Amer- 


ica and  in  England  who  were  con- 
gratulating themselves  on  their  en- 
larged opportunities  for  foreign  trade 
in  markets  where  the  supply  of  Ger- 
man goods  was  cut  off  have  in  not 
a  few  cases  found  their  own  produc- 
tive operations  seriously  hampered 
because  they  could  no  longer  obtain 
certain  materials  from  Germany. 

"As  is  well  known,  steel  manufac- 
turers were  greatly  worried  to  know 
what  they  were  to  do  for  their  sup- 
ply of  lerromanganese.  Manufac- 
turers of  fertilizers  have  had  to  face 
the  possible  shut-down  of  their  works 
through  the  cutting  off  of  the  rupply 
of  German  potash.  In  the  textile  in- 
dustries, manufacturers  suddenly 
realize  that  with  access  to  German 
ports  blockaded  by  warships  there 
was  every  prospect  that  the  supply  of 
dyes  and  dyeing  materials  would  be 
seriously  interfered  with.  In  the  drug 
and  chemical  trade,  prices  doubled 
and  trebled  when  it  was  realized  that, 
with  further  supplies  from  Germany 
cut  off,  the  world  would  have  to  get 
along  for  a  time  without  certain 
drugs  and  chemicals  which  have  be- 
come well-nigh  essential  both  in  the 
pharmacy  and  in  certain  industries. 

"The  above  list  might  be  greatly 
extended." 

But  can  we  not  furnish  at  home 
"something  just  as  good"  as  most 
of  these  German  products?  Possibly, 
"The  News"  thinks,  if  we  are  grant- 
ed time  enough:  but  this  would  mean 
a  very  long  time  indeed,  in  most 
cases.  It  would  take  many  years, 
for  instance,  to  bring  our  facilities 
for  supplying  potash  up  to  the  de- 
mands of  our  own  farmers  and  manu- 
facturers— what  are  they  to  do  in  the 
meantime?     Says  the  writer: 

"The  same  thing  holds  true  of  nu- 
merous materials  in  the  dye  and 
chemical  trades.  Physicians  and 
druggists  accustomed  to  use  of  some 
of  the  varied  products  of  coal-tar, 
most  of  which  have  originated  in  and 
are  solely  produced  by  Germany,  are 
in  a  quandary  to  know  what  they 
can  do  if  the  source  of  supply  is  en- 
tirely shut  off. 

"it  is  of  particular  interest  to  note, 
moreover,  that  the  manufacturers  of 
England,  Germany's  great  commer- 
cial rival  and  present  enemy,  are  al- 
most as  badly  hit  as  those  of  the 
United  States  by  the  cutting  off  of 
the  supply  of  German  products.  Our 
English  exchanges  reveal  that  while 
English  manufacturers  are  making 
large  plans  for  capturing  the  export 
trade  in  many  lands  which  Germany 
can  not  now  reach,  they  find  them- 
selves handicapped  at  every  turn  by 
the  cutting  off  of  supplies  which  they 
themselves  have  been  accustomed  to 
obtain  from  Germany. 

"Fortunately,  the  war  has  not  yet 
closed  all  the  avenues  by  which  Ger- 
many can  send  out  its  product  to 
the  world.  Through  Holland,  a  neu- 
tral nation,  shipments  from  Germany 
can  reach  tide-water  and  be  distrib- 
uted by  neutral  vessels." 

Thomas  A.  Edison,  in  "The  Iron 
Age"  (New  York),  tells  how  he  gets 
along  without  one  German  product, 
and  incidentally  offers  a  bit  of  good 
advice.     He  writes: 

"Carbolic  acid  is  not  obtainable  in 
this  country,  as  our  tars  contain 
scarcely   any;    hence  we  are  depend- 


160 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


ent  on  England  and  Germany.  I  am 
the  largest  single  user  of  carbolic 
acid  here,  and  the  embargo  placed  on 
shipments  by  England,  together  with 
the  impossibility  of  obtaining  any 
from  Germany,  has  put  me  in  a  pretty 
tight  place.  However,  by  massing  a 
big  gang  of  men  in  three  shifts,  I 
have  erected  all  the  machinery  and 
apparatus  for  making  phenol  syn- 
thetically from  benzol,  and  my  plant 
is  now  working,  but  I  shall  manu- 
facture only  for  my  own  use  in  the 
production  of  phonograph-records.  It 
occurs  to  me  that  there  are  many 
things  we  are  short  of  in  the  chemi- 
cal line  that  could  be  made  here 
quickly,  if  some  people  in  the  trade 
would  act — not  talk." 


GERMAN  SUPREMACY  IX 
AGRICULTURE. 


The  Outlook,  New  York. 

The  August  number  of  the  "Navy" 
contains  a  paper  by  Mr.  Frank  A. 
Scott,  an  influential  industrialist  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the  industrial 
progress  of  the  German  Empire  since 
the  Franco-Prussian  War.  It  was 
written  and  published  before  the 
present  European  war  broke  out,  but 
it  has  nevertheless  a  war  significance 
because  it  shows  in  a  very  clear  way 
the  industrial  domination  and  pros- 
perity which  Germany  has  risked 
destroying  for  the  sake  of  pursuing 
military  domination.*  The  area  of 
Germany,  Mr.  Scott  points  out,  with 
its  208,000  square  miles,  is  abdut 
equal  to  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  Michigan.  She  has  an  aver- 
age population  of  311  to  the  square 
mile.  The  United  States  has  a  popu- 
lation of  32  to  the  square  mile.  The 
result  of  this  intensive  population  is 
that  Germany  has  applied  her  won- 
derful scientific  research  to  the  prob- 
lem of  intensive  cultivation.  In  the 
thirty-two  years  between  1881  and 
1913,  Germany  increased  her  produc- 
tion per  acre  of  wheat  eighty-six  per 
cent,  of  rye  seventy-five  per  cent,  of 
oats  eighty-one  per  cent,  of  potatoes 
forty-seven  per  cent.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  production  per  acre  of 
these  food  essentials  in  the  United 
States  remained  practically  station- 
ary. This  is  partially  explained  by 
the  steady  bringing  into  the  agri- 
cultural field  of  undeveloped  lands  in 
this  country.  Mr.  Scott  readily  ad- 
mits that  in  the  United  States  such 
intensive  cultivation  as  is  recorded 
by  these  German  statistics  is  at  pres- 
ent impossible  in  the  United  States; 
"but,"  he  adds,  "the  German  figures 
are  interesting  to  us  as  showing  what 
can  be  done  by  a  diligent  nation  on 
a  naturally  poor  soil  in  a  rigorous 
climate." 

German  Supi-emac.v  in  Commerce 
and  Industry. 

It  is  not  merely  In  agriculture  that 
Germany  has  made  wonderful  strides 
by  applying  the  researches  of  the 
scientific  laboratory  to  the  daily  work 
of  commercial  production.  In  the 
production  of  pig  iron  Germany  to- 
day stands  second  in  the  civilized 
world,  with  an  output  of  seventeen 
million  tons.  Her  native  ore  is  poor, 
and  yet  by  scientific  methods  she  pro- 
duces one-fourth  of  the  total  pig  iron 


of  the  world,  surpassing  England  by 
over  fifty  per  cent  annually.  This 
extraordinary  production  is  largely 
aided  by  a  chemical  process  which 
dephosphorizes  the  ore,  and  the  phos- 
phate by-product  is  used  as  an  agri- 
cultural fertilizer.  By  the  applica- 
tion of  science  to  industry,  Germany 
has  not  only  increased  her  domestic 
welfare,  but  has  enormously  added 
to  her  foreign  trade.  In  twenty-five 
years  her  foreign  trade  has  increased 
one  hundred  and  eighty-five  per  cent. 
The  highest  on  her  list,  the  product 
in  which  she  has  advanced  most,  from 
1883  to  1912,  is  machinery  of  all 
kinds.  The  value  in  marks  in  1887 
of  machinery  exported  was  52,800,- 
000  marks;  in  1912  it  had  risen  to 
630,300,000  marks.  Coarse  and  fine 
iron  goods  rose  from  96,000,000 
marks  in  1887  to  581,000,000  in 
1912.  Coal — now  think  of  it — coal 
from  that  small  country,  from  79,- 
900,000  marks  to  436,600,000  marks 
in  1912.  Coke,  in  1887,  9,000,000; 
in  1912,  126,000,000.  Cotton,  wool, 
and  silk,  from  261,000,000  in  1887  to 
966,000,000  in  1912.  These  figures 
explain  to  all  of  us  who  have  been 
in  countries  where  we  seek  foreign 
markets  why  we  find  the  German 
there,  and  we  do  find  the  German 
there,  and  he  is  there  very  strongly 
intrenched,  and  he  deserves  it. 

To  promote  her  foreign  trade,  Ger- 
many employs  not  only  scientific 
methods  of  manufacturing,  but  in- 
telligence in  selling.  She  is  willing 
to  meet  the  wishes  of  a  customer; 
she  quickly  adopts  new  and  approved 
methods  of  reaching  new  markets, 
she  is  interested  in  every  question, 
historical,  ethnological,  philosoph- 
ical and  financial,  that  pertains  to 
economic  life  and  development.  "I 
am  sure,"  says  Mr.  Scott,  "that  any 
American  who  has  been  in  the  Far 
East,  or  in  South  America,  or  in 
Mexico,  or  in  any  of  the  great  coun- 
tries where  German  competition  is 
now  becoming  very  strong,  will  agree 
that  in  shipping  facilities,  in  bank- 
ing facilities,  in  social  touch  with 
the  customers,  Germany  is  rapidly 
becoming  the  leader."  This  indus- 
trial supremacy  has  developed,  not 
by  the  military  power  of  the  German 
Government,  but  by  the  energy  and 
intelligence  of  the  German  people. 
They  must  inevitably,  we  think,  be- 
gin to  realize  as  the  war  goes  on  that 
they  have  thrown  away  a  very  real 
and  constructive  leadership  in  ex- 
change for  a  chimerical  and  de- 
structive  ambition. 


*It  would  be  interesting  to  know 
whether  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott, 
Kilitor-iii-Chiof  of  the  evident  |in>- 
P.ritish  "Ontlook."  really  believes  thnt 
Gerniany  eould  have  aeooiii]ilislied  such 
wonderful  progress  without  her 
powerful  army  to  protect  her  from 
her  "friendly"  neighbors.  In  twenty- 
five  years  her  foreign  trade  has  in- 
creased one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
per  cent.  "Too  many  things  '.Made 
in  Germany'  are  the  Briton's  griev- 
ance against  her,"  Does  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  join  Great  Britain 
in  her  protest  that  Germany  should 
not  be  permitted  to  build  an  ade- 
quate navy  to  protect  her  ever- 
growing foreign  trade?  Does  the 
Rev.  Doctor  believe  that  if  the  United 


States  acquired  this  vast  foreign 
trade  of  Germany — and  to  judge 
from  some  of  the  hysterical  edito- 
rials printed  almost  daily  in  the  An- 
glo-American press,  this  will  be  an 
easy  matter  to  accomplish — that  this 
republic  would  require  no  additions 
to  its  present  navy  in  order  to  protect 
its  increased  commercial  interests  in 
distant  parts?  If  she  built  the  addi- 
tional cruisers  and  battleships 
which  the  United  States  Government 
deemed  necessary,  would  the  Ameri- 
can people  permit  it  it  Great  Britain 
tried  to  prevent  such  increase  because 
she  was  mistress  of  the  sea  and  con- 
sidered her  supremacy  challenged? 
We  believe  there  is  only  one  answer 
possible  to  such  interference  and  the 
American  Nation  would  give  it  as  one 
man.  She  would  remind  Albion  to 
mind  her  own  business.  Can  the 
American  people  claim  the  right  to 
such  a  reply  and  in  the  same  breath 
deny  this  right  to  Germany  because 
she  is  an  empire  and  not  a  republic? 

Mr.  Scott's  article,  entitled  "The 
German  Inspiriition,"*  contains  much 
of  vast  interest  for  the  American  peo- 
ple that  cannot  be  gleaned  from  the 
short  extract  made  by  "The  Out- 
look." We  believe  our  readers  will 
appreciate  our  reproducing  the  arti- 
cle in  full  on  the  following  pages.  In 
order  that  our  readers  may  not  get 
the  wrong  impression — that  an  arti- 
cle such  as  "The  German  Inspiration" 
could  only  have  been  published  in  a 
paper  friendly  to  the  cause  of  Ger- 
many in  her  present  struggle  against 
such  terrible  odds,  we  shall  not  omit 
to  state  that  "The  Navy,"  wherein 
said  article  appeared,  can  certainly 
not  be  accused  of  being  pro-German 
in  its  sentiments,  as  the  following 
excerpt  from  its  editorial  in  the  same 
issue  proves: 

"It  is  doubtful  if  the  active  intep. 
ference  by  Germany  was  anticipated 
by  the  other  European  powers  at  the 
outset.  The  German  Emperor's  arro. 
Sant  attitude  has  eliminated  any  pos- 
sibility, except  that  of  war,  and  has 
called  into  active  life  the  slumbering 
animosity  of  the  French  nation 
towards  Germany." — The  Publishers 
of  "War  Echoes." 


•The  Editor  was  recently  sorely  dis- 
appointed to  find  that  a  part  of  the 
proofs  of  this  article  had  heen  lost,  mis- 
placed or  destroyed;  it  is  quite  heyond 
his  ability  to  replace  it. — The  Editor. 


The  understanding  was  that  the 
Nobel  Prize  committee  had  about  de- 
cided to  give  this  year's  peace  prize 
to  the  Kaiser,  in  recognition  of  his 
supposed  efforts  to  avert  a  general 
European  war  at  the  time  the  Balkan 
war  was  in  progress,  but  his  name 
has  been  taken  off  the  list.  Now  it 
is  a  question  whether  the  prize  should 
go  to  President  Wilson  for  his  handl- 
ing of  the  Mexican  situation,  or  to 
Sec.  Bryan  for  his  20-odd  peace 
treaties.  The  announcement  of  the 
award  will  not  be  made  until  Decem- 
ber, and  perhaps  the  President  may 
do  some  more  peace-making  before 
then.      From    "The    Boston    Globe." 


By  arresting  all  German  residents 
Jamaica  injects  a  little  ginger  into 
the  situation. — From  the  "St.  Louis 
Globe-Democrat,"    August    18,    1914. 


GERMAN  CHARACTER  IN'  ACTION 


BISMARCK  ON  THE  PURPOSE  AXD 
POLICY  OF  THE  GERMAN- 
EMPIRE. 


The  Fatherland,  Xew  York. 
Dr.  Julius  Goebel. 

In  view  of  the  awful  designs  upon 
the  map  of  Europe,  upon  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  and  upon  the  world  in 
general  which  are  attributed  to  Em- 
peror William  by  frightened  English- 
men and  their  faithful  echo,  our 
American  newspaper  writers,  in  case 
Germany  should  be  successful  in  the 
present  war,  it  may  be  well  to  recall 
what  Bismarck  said  concerning  the 
true  purpose  and  policy  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire.  The  passage  I  quote 
In  the  following  is  taken  from  the 
"Reflections  and  Reminiscences"  of 
Prince  Bismarck,  a  book  which  may 
be  said  to  contain  his  political  leg- 
acy and  his  parting  advice  to  the 
German  people.  While  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Anglomaniacs  among  our 
journalists  the  words  of  the  arch 
foe  of  English  supremacy  will  not 
have  the  weight  of  the  prognostica- 
tions of  political  soothsayers  such  as 
Asquith  and  Grey,  they  will,  never- 
theless, be  pleased  to  learn  that  Lord 
Palmerton  used  to  say  of  Bismarck, 
"Look  out  for  that  man,  be  means 
what  he  says."  The  passage  reads 
as   follows: 

If  Germany  has  the  advantage  that 
her  policy  is  free  from  direct  inter- 
ests in  the  East,  on  the  other  side 
Is  the  disadvantage  of  the  central 
and  exposed  position  of  the  German 
Empire,  with  its  extended  frontier 
which  has  to  be  defended  on  every 
side,  and  the  ease  with  which  anti- 
German  coalitions  are  made.  At  the 
same  time  Gcrniany  is  perhaps  the 
single  (ireat  Power  in  Europe  which 
is  not  tenipte<l  hy  any  ob.jects  which 
can  only  be  nttaine<l  by  a  .successful 
war.  It  is  our  interest  to  maintain 
peace,  while  without  exception  our 
continental  neinhbors  have  wishes 
either  secret  or  ofticially  avowe<l 
which  cannot  be  fulfilled  except  by 
war.  We  must  direct  our  policy  in 
accordance  with  these  facts — that  is, 
we  must  ilo  our  best  to  prevent  war 
or  to  limit  it.  We  must  reserve  our 
hand,  not  allow  ourselves  before 
the  proper  time  to  be  pushed  out  of 
a  waiting  into  an  active  attitude  by 
any  impatience,  by  the  desire  to 
oblige  others  at  the  expense  of  the 
country,  by  vanity  or  other  provo- 
cation of  this  kind,  otherwise  plec- 
tuneur  .\chivi. 

Our  non-interference  cannot  reason- 
ably be  directed  to  sparing  our  forces 
so  as,  after  the  others  have  weak- 
ened themselves,  to  fall  upon  any 
of  our  neighbors  or  a  possible  oppo- 
nent. On  the  contrp'-y.  wo  ought  to 
do  all  we  can  to  weaken  the  bad  feel- 
inn  whicli  has  been  called  out 
through  our  growth  to  lh(>  position 
of  a  real  (Jreat  Power,  by  honorable 
and  jieaceful  use  of  our  inllueiKc, 
and  so  c<invinre  the  world  that  a 
(Jerinan  bcgeinoiiy  in  Europe  is  more 
useful  aiKl  h"-s  partisan  and  also  less 
harmful  for  the  freedom  of  others 
than  that  of  Russia,  France  or  Eng- 
land. That  respect  for  the  rights  of 
other  states  in  which  France  espe- 
cially has  always  been  so  wanting  at 
the  time  of  her  supremacy,  and  which 


EMPEROR  WILLIAM  II 

A  recent  iiictuiv  of  the  Kaiser  leaving  the  palace  to  review  the  German   troops 

(Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y. ) 

(P'rom   "The  Chicago  Tribune."   October   23,    1!U4) 


in  Kn.iiland  lasts  only  so  long  as 
Fnglish  interests  are  not  touched,  is 
made  easy  for  the  German  Empire 
and  its  policy,  on  the  one  side  owing 
to  the  practicality  of  the  German 
character,  on  the  other  by  the  fact 
(which  has  nothing  to  do  with  our 
desserts)  that  we  do  not  require  an 
increase  in  our  immediate  territory, 
and  also  that  we  could  not  attain  it 
without  strengthening  the  centrifu- 
gal elements  in  our  territory.  It 
lias  always  been  ni.v  ideal  aim,  after 
we  had  I'slablislied  our  unity  within 
the  p(i»vil)le  limits,  to  win  confidence, 
not  (inly  of  the  smaller  Euroix'an 
stales,  liut  al^o  of  the  (Jreat  Powers, 
and  to  convince  them  that  (German 
policy  will  be  just  and  peaceful,  now 
that  it  has  repaired  the  in.juris  tem- 
porum,  the  disintegration  of  the  na- 
tion. 

In  order  to  produce  this  confidence 
It  is  above  everything  necessery  that 


we  should  be  honorable,  open  and 
easily  reconciled  in  case  of  friction 
or  untoward  events.  I  have  followed 
this  recipe  not  without  some  personal 
reluctance  in  cases  like  that  of 
SchnMohle.s  (.Vpril.  ISSiTl.  Boulanger. 
Kauffraan  (September,  1887),  as  to- 
ward Spain  in  the  question  of  the 
Caroline  Islands,  towards  the  Ignited 
States  in  that  of  Samoa,  and  I  imag- 
ine that  in  the  future  opportunities 
will  not  be  wanting  of  showing  that 
we  are  appeased  and  peaceful.  Dur- 
ing the  time  that  I  was  in  office  I 
advised  three  wars,  the  Danish,  the 
Bohemian,  and  the  French,  but  every 
time  I  first  made  myself  clear  whether 
the  war,  if  it  were  successful,  would 
bring  a  prize  of  victory  worth  the 
sacrifices  which  every  war  requires, 
and  which  are  now  so  much  greater 
than  in  the  last  century.  Had  I  to 
say  to  myself  that  if  after  one  of 
these  wars,  we  should  find  some  diffl- 


162 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


culty  in  discovering  conditions  of 
peace  whicli  were  desirable,  I  should 
scarcely  have  convinced  myself  of  the 
necessity  for  these  sacrifices  as  long 
as  we  were  not  actually  attacked.  I 
have  never  looked  at  International 
quarrels  which  can  only  be  settled 
by  a  national  war,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  Goettingen  student  code 
of  honor  which  governs  a  private 
duel,  but  I  have  always  considered 
simply  their  reaction  on  the  claim  of 
the  German  people  in  equality  with 
other  great  states  and  Powers  of  Eu- 
rope, to  lead  to  autonomous  po- 
litical life,  so  far  as  it  is  i^ossible  on 
the  basis  of  our  peculiar  national  ca- 
pacity. 


GERMANY'S  PLACE  IN  THE   SUN. 

By  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler,  President 
"of  the   University   of   California, 


(Dr.  Wheeler  is  one  of  the  foremost 
educators  of  the  (lay,  and  a  scientist  of 
international  repute.  He  has  a  com- 
plete and  cowprchensire  Icnowledge  of 
conditions  in  Germany.  His  statement 
as  it  appears  hclow  is  one  of  the  most 
important  contriliHtions  yet  made  t>y  an 
American  on  the  Great  Conflict.) 

We  who  love  the  old  German  Father- 
land recognize  the  uuextiiijiuishable 
debt  which  we  as  individuals,  and  with 
us  the  entire  world  of  civilization,  owe 
to  it  for  the  enrichment  and  liberation 
of  our  single  lives  and  of  the  whole  com- 
munitv  life  uf  uian  uimiu  the  globe.  In 
the  face  of  ti.liiiiis  of  distress  and  death 
we  join  togetlu-r  at  tin-  •■all  of  the  land's 
Chief  Magistrate  to  lift  our  hearts  in 
prayer,  unspoken  or  expressed,  that 
swift  honorable  issue  may  be  found 
out  of  that  strife,  which  sweeping 
across  the  pleasant  places  of  man's 
abode,  stirs  hatred  in  the  hearts  of 
those  who  should  be  brothers,  and 
threatens,  if  prolonged,  to  annihilate 
the  accumulated  stores  of  Christendom, 
both  as  to  ideals  and  as  to  goods,  and 
leave  the  European  world  a  desert. 

Each  of  us  has  his  own  experience 
and  ties  which  make  Germany  for  him 
what  it  is;  I  must  as  an  individual 
speak  and  fast  and  pray  out  of  the 
store  of  niv  own  experience.  These  be- 
gan with  the  new  Germany  .iust  issu- 
ing forth  out  of  the  readjustments  of 
1870-71,  and  undertaken  to  give  shelter 
and  provide  security  and  dignity  to  the 
life  of  those  who  Inherited  German  tra- 
ditions and  German  speech ;  and  to  hold 
the  map  of  central  Europe  in  fixity  and 
order  by  the  erection  of  a  German  Em- 
pire guaranteed  by  unity  of  power. 

I  came  to  know  it  first  as  a  Ger- 
many of  ideas  and  intellectual  aspira- 
tions, a  spiritual  Germany,  the  Ger- 
manv  which  taught  the  world  philoso- 
phy "and  music,  philology  and  theology, 
law  and  government,  the  history  of  art, 
the  natural  sciences  and  their  applica- 
tion to  the  industrial  arts,  and  withal 
the  use  of  the  methods  of  science  In 
every  field  of  human  endeavor. 

The  Germany  I  knew  first  was  the 
Germany  of  the  universities,  I  sat  on 
the  benches  of  Leipzig.  Jena.  Heidel- 
berg and  Berlin  and  listened  to  the  pa- 
tient unfolding  of  ordered  knowledge 
from  the  lips  of  Curtius  Zarncke, 
I>ange  and  Brugmann  at  Leipzig:  Ost- 
hoff,    Wachsmuth,    and    the    Inimitable 


Kuno  Fischer  at  Heidelberg;  Delbriick, 
IlaiH-kel  and  Kluge  at  Jena ;  Scherer, 
Kirchhoff  and  Freitsehke  and  Schmidt 
at  Berlin;  but  better,  wandered  over 
the  hills  of  Jena  and  Heidelberg,  up  to 
the  Forst  and  down  the  valley  of  Ku- 
nitz,  up  the  Xeckar,  and  over  the 
Konlgstuhl  In  company  with  one  or  an- 
other of  these  men,  communing  by  the 
way  over  things  of  the  spirit,  and  learn- 
ing to  know  from  Germany  and  her 
men  what  it  means  to  stand  on  the 
frontiers  of  the  known,  to  study  at  first 
hand,  to  think  independently,  and 
above  all.  having  done  this,  to  teach 
"with  authority"— not  the  authority  of 
a  stamped  and  well-engrossed  diploma, 
but  with  the  authority  of  independent 
knowledge — to  "teach  with  authority 
and  not  as  the  scribes."  This— which 
is  the  real  Germany — I  saw  first,  then 
later  the  Germany  of  government,  law, 
order,  which  made  the  inner  life  pos- 
sible. Every  noon  as  I  left  the  Uni- 
versity of  Berlin  I  saw  the  "old  Em- 
peror" standing  at  his  window  In  the 
Palace  as  the  guard  marched  by.  Now 
and  again  I  saw  the  towering  figure  of 
Bismarck,  At  the  autumn  manoeuvres 
in  Hannover  I  saw  the  forty  or  fifty 
thousand  men  pass  In  faultless  review 
before  a  group  of  three  on  horseback, 
the  old  Emperor,  the  Crown  Prince 
Frederick  and  von  Moltke. 

Very  different  men  In  outward  guise 
were  these  trim  soldiers  from  the  bent 
and  towsled  professors  who  first  in- 
teri)reted  to  me  Germany,  but  I  came 
to  find  out  that  each  group  respected 
the  other,  and  that  both  went  to  make 


ATTACK  BY  SLANDER. 


Editorial    in    The    Chicago    Tribune, 
August    12,    1914. 

Misrepresentation  of  an  enemy's 
character  by  false  reports  of  outrages 
committed  by  his  forces  is  an  old  habit 
of  war.  It  inflames  hatred  and  keeps 
it  alive.  It  increases  passion  and 
makes  the  demand  for  revenge  im- 
pulsive. If  a  nation  has  gone  to  war 
cold,  it  can  be  aroused  to  what  is  re- 
garded as  a  fighting  spirit  by  tales  of 
cruelties  infiicted  upon  its  innocent 
countrymen  having  the  misfortune  to 
fall  into  the  enemy's  hands. 

Furthermore,  war  not  only  loosens 
the  thousand  tongues  of  rumor,  but  It 
ojiens  the  thousand  ears  of  pre.iudice. 
Little  that  fiction  can  Invent  is  incred- 
ible. 

The  basest  of  men  in  the  breaking 
down  of  everything  except  military  con- 
trol find  opportunity  for  hideous  acts. 
Thev  niav  be  in  uniform  or  not.  Life 
is  apt  to  seem  to  have  a  normal  value 
of  zero. 

When  opportunity  is  opened  for  an 
irruption  of  ruffianism  and  when  na- 
tions are  ready  to  receive,  exaggerate, 
and  believe  the  worst  that  can  be  told 
of  the  enemy's  action,  it  is  not  aston- 
ishing that  "stories  of  cruelty  get  gen- 
eral circulation. 

With  respect  to  so  much  of  these 
narratives  as  may  be  true,  it  should 
be  remembered  with  what  difficulty 
in  an  otherwise  peaceful  American 
city  an  outbreak  of  savagery  is  pre- 
vented in  a  great  strike. 

With  respect  to  the  rest  it  may  be 
regarded  as  a  habit,  if  not  the  policy 
of  war. 


up  Germany  as  the  whole.    Without  the 

professors  it  were  a  hollow  thing; 
without  soldier  and  Emperor,  without 
order  and  defense.  It  were  feeble  and 
poor,  crushed  between  the  two  jaws  of 
the  vise,  Russia  and  France,  the  Slav 
and  the  Roman. 

Now  within  the  last  four  years  by 
the  chance  of  three  visits  I  have  re- 
newed, after  an  interval  of  a  quarter 
century,  my  acquaintance  with  the  land 
and  its  people.  Forty  years  of  peace 
guaranteed  by  soldier  and  government 
had  given  full  rein  to  patient  industry 
and  scientific  orderliness,  and  brought 
to  high  fruitage  the  alliance  of  shop 
and  laboratory. 

For  twenty-flve  years  and  more  the 
present  Emperor  has  actively  sustained 
and  administered  the  prosperous  peace 
begotten  of  the  union  between  science 
and  competent  power.  He  understands 
both  and  the  mechanisms  by  which  both 
exist. 

A   few   days  before   the   twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  his  accession,   early  in 
June,  1913.  I  spent  a  memorable  even- 
ing with  him  at  Potsdam.     After  sup- 
per  in   the   garden   for   two   hours   we 
walked  up  and  down  in  the  dark  on  the 
roadway  behind  the  palace.     He  talked 
about  many  things,  but  most  about  the 
experiences  and  fruits  of  the  twenty- 
five   years,   and   some   about    problems 
and  apprehensions  for  the  future.     Of 
all   the   achievements   of   his   reign   he 
valued     highest     the    maintenance     of 
peace.     Next  came  the  development  of 
Germany's    industries    and    the   provi- 
sion  of  "a   market   for  their  products; 
then  came  the  fine  arts,  and  particularly 
architecture,    as    shown    in    the    great 
number  of  new  and  splendid  structures 
which  had  arisen  in  recent  years,  not 
only     public     buildings,     but     private 
houses,    mercantile   buildings,    and    all 
connected  with  the  creation  of  new  and 
distinctively  German  st.vles.     Then  he 
mentioned     Germany's     leadership     in 
world-wide  scientific  exploration,  such 
as  archaeological  excavations,  etc.,  and 
her  infiuence  spread  abroad  throughout 
the  world   in   such  idealistic   fields   as 
music    and    education.      Germany,    he 
said,  did  not  need  colonies  founded  on 
the  possession   of   sovereignty :   it   was 
too    late    for    that.      What    Germany 
needed   was   assurance   of   permanency 
for    her    trade    relations    so    that    her 
manufactured   wares   might    find   mar- 
kets.   This  was  to  be  made  secure  by  a 
navy.      Force    must    be    available    for 
crimes,  but  the  real  empire  which  Ger- 
many was  to  assert  in  the  world  must 
inhere  in  the  prestige,  respect,  and  in- 
fluence which  were  won  for  her  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  by  her  achievements 
in  art,  education,  nuisic,  medicine,  and 
the  like.    Germany's  well-being  was  pe- 
culiarlv    dependent   on    peace,    because 
war  would  immediately  close  to  her  all 
her  markets,  widely  distributed  over  the 
world.     I'nder  no  conditions  must  she 
think  of  increasing  her  territory  in  Eu- 
rope.    She  wanted  no  more  "sore  fron- 
tiers."    She  had  three  already.     Noth- 
ing but  trouble  could  come  of  such  con- 
ditions.   Germany  must  have  loyal  fron- 
tiers.    It  must  be  a  homogeneous  body 
standing  firm  in  the  middle  of  Europe 
persistent  to  keep  the  peace. 

The  war  which  all  have  dreaded  for 
vears  has  come.  No  man  knows  what 
"will  be  the  issue  of  it.  At  the  best  it 
is   fraught   with   disaster   and   distress 


GERMAN  CHARACTER  IN  ACTION 


163 


for  Euroi)e  and  for  that  matter  all  the 
world.  Whoever  is  responsible  for 
bringing  it  about  or  letting  it  come 
about  l)ears  before  the  high  court  of 
humanity  a  heavy  indictment.  History 
will  unerringly  assign  its  verdict.  Some 
day  all  men  will  know  who  it  was  and 
wliat  it  was.  But  whoever  it  was  and 
whatever  it  was,  and  however  the 
blame  may  be  apportioned  among  the 
various  men  and  organizations  of  men, 
this  much  can  now  be  asserted  beyond 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt :  the  war  came 
about  against  the  interests,  against  the 
desires,  and  against  the  efforts  of  the 
German  Kaiser. — The  Fatherland. 


GERMAN   CHARACTER. 


The  Vital  Issue. 

German  names  in  courts  are  low. 
The  Germans  are  not  of  a  quarrel- 
some disposition.  They  are  honest, 
upright,  and  fair.  Could  the  cousins 
of  these  German-Americans  in  Ger- 
many be  so  murderous  and  so  bar- 
barous as  some  of  the  newspapers 
have  painted  them?  Of  course  not! 
They  are  just  as  peaceful  there,  as 
they  are  here. 

Perhaps  you  despise  German  au- 
thority. On  what  then  do  you  base 
your  feeling?  The  German  Govern- 
ment is  fair,  just,  and  orderly.  It 
is  a  Constitutional,  not  a  Despotic 
Government.  It  is  not  suppressive. 
Compare  the  German  authority  over 
the  self-government  of  Bavaria,  or  of 
Baden,  or  of  Alsace,  or  of  any  Ger- 
man state  with  the  tyrannic  and  un- 
derhanded English  methods  in  Ire- 
land and  with  the  famines  in  India. 
Compare  German  education  and  Ger- 
man free  thought  with  the  creeping 
and  sneaking  British  influence  in 
Egypt.  After  a  thorough  analysis, 
your  dislike  for  the  German  govern- 
ment becomes  entirely  unwarranted. 
You  were  uninformed  or  misin- 
formed. 

You  may  have  a  peculiar  notion  of 
German  aggression?  Is  there  any 
basis  for  this  belief?  Of  course,  the 
Germans  want  to  live,  and  I  suppose 
you  will  grant  them  the  right  to  live. 
Aggression?  Show  me  German  ag- 
gression, or  unreasonable  aggression! 
Progress  they  make,  and  that  is  God's 
command.  If  they  become  too  ag- 
gressive, too  mighty,  it  will  be  then 
time  to  check  them.  But  to  con- 
demn them,  because  of  an  imaginary 
fear  is  certainly  not  fair,  especially 
when  this  fear  is  systematically  in- 
stigated by  an  enemy. 

The  history  of  the  world  has 
proved,  and  it  is  shown  everywhere 
throughout  nature,  that  individuals, 
businesses,  trusts,  and  nations  will 
rise  to  a  certain  height.  Then  they 
break  down  by  their  own  weight. 

Why  not,  on  the  other  hand,  in- 
vestigate British  and  Russian  poli- 
cies and  methods?  Here  you  will 
find  many  reasons  for  fear  and  dis- 
dain. 

Great  Britain  has  grabbed  all  the 
available  lands  throughout  the  world 
for  the  last  two  hundred  years.  They 
have  taken  India  from  the  Indians. 
They  took  North  America  from  the 
Dutch  and  from  the  French.  In  a 
sneaking  fashion  they  occupied 
Egypt.      They    snatched     the     Sudan 


from  the  French.  They  killed  the 
Orange  Free  State  because  of  gold. 
They  annexed  Transvaal  and  killed 
thousands  of  Boer  women  and  chil- 
dren because  of  diamonds.  Australia 
is  controlled  by  them.  Free  Canadi- 
ans are  under  British  influence.  The 
Irish  have  been  suppressed.  Free 
farmers  are  unknown  in  England. 
With  whom  would  you  rather  deal: 
with  a  low  type,  arrogant  English 
money-lord  or  Landlord,  or  with  a 
frank  and  just  German  or  the  Ger- 
man Government,  which  insures  ev- 
ery workman  against  death,  accident, 
and  sickness,  with  its  system  of 
schools,  with  its  tolerance  for  all  re- 
ligions, with  even  justice  for  rich 
and  poor? 

I  suppose  you  know  that  the  Brit- 
ish Government  has  for  generations 
conducted  a  systematic  campaign  of 
slander  and  has  systematically  in- 
fluenced the  press  of  various  coun- 
tries. During  the  Boer  War  it  had  a 
special  press  bureau  in  America,  and 
it  is  working  now  in  London  and  all 
over  America  to  poison  the  public 
opinion  of  America  and  Canada.  The 
British  Government  has  always 
worked  in  the  dark.  Do  you  think 
that  you  should  lend  a  helping  hand 
to  such  secret  work?  Should  you 
forfeit  yourself,  your  independence, 
and  your  newspaper  to  the  British? 

The  British  press  has  lied  so  much 
that  untold  volumes  could  be  written 
on  this  subject.  A  striking  example 
is  distortion  of  the  Belgian  Neutral- 
ity question.  There  is  no  neutrality 
treaty  at  all.  But  the  British  press 
printed  wrong  information  on  this 
subject  and  unfortunately  the  Amer- 
ican press  reprinted  it  throughout 
the  country.  It  inflamed  public  opin- 
ion against  Germany  without  a  real 
cause.  With  the  help  of  a  few  cor- 
rupt members  of  the  press,  the  work 
of  the  conspirators  has  succeeded. 
Have  you  been  duped? 

Perhaps  the  Germans  have  commit- 
ted some  acts  which  have  not  ap- 
pealed to  you,  hut  clearly  they  are  not 
as  rapacious,  as  aggressive,  or  as 
greedy  as  the  British.  This  is  clearly 
proved  by  two  strong  facts. 

First,  because  England  attacked 
Germany  only  when  she  was  fighting 
an  enemy  on  the  East  and  on  the 
West.  No  fair  sportsman,  no  man  of 
courage,  no  man  of  character,  would 
have  attacked  even  his  worst  enemy, 
when  he  Is  battling  with  two  assail- 
ants. The  declaration  of  war  by  the 
British  against  Germany  is  not  a 
praiseworthy  or  courageous  act,  no 
matter  what  the  cause  may  he. 

England  gives  "humanity  and  civ- 
ilization" as  a  pretext  for  declaring 
war.  but  in  reality  nothing  but  vile 
greed  is  the  cause.  Or  else  how 
could  "humane  and  civilized  Eng- 
land" flght  with  the  despotic  and  bar- 
barous Russians. 

But  in  the  heat  of  argument  we 
must  not  overlook  the  most  impor- 
tant and  the  strongest  points.  The 
English  Government  invited  and  in- 
cited the  .lapanese  to  declare  war 
against  Germany  and  today  the  proud 
Englishman  is  fighting  in  China  side 
by  side  with  the  yellow  men  to  kill 
his  German  cousins.  What  a  terrible 
mistake  by  a  misguided  British  Gov- 
ernment! It  should  also  be  remem- 
bered that  the  French  have  brought 


the  black  men  and  the  Turcos  from 
Africa  to  fight  the  Germans. 

But  not  enough!  Today  there  are 
passing  through  Canada  shiploads 
and  trainloads  of  peaceful  Hindus. 
Every  honorable  Canadian  is  revolt- 
ing against  this  British  crime.  Whilst 
they  are  powerless  now,  the  Cana- 
dians will  never  forget  this  British 
infamy.  It  is  offensive  to  the  ideals 
of  every  American  to  know  that  thou- 
sands of  Asiatics  are  shipped  over 
this  continent  to  fight  and  kill  our 
brothers  in  Europe. 

These  poor  men  from  a  warm, 
tropical  climate  will  die  by  the  thou- 
sands, like  flies  do  in  the  cold  weath- 
er. Chills,  cold  and  pneumonia  will 
kill  more  of  these  innocent  men  than 
cannon  balls.  This  is  a  crime  of 
ages!  Never  before  has  a  more  in- 
famous crime  been  committed  than 
this  shameful  deed.  Never  in  all  his- 
tory, as  far  as  man's  memory  goes 
back,  has  a  meaner  crime  been  com- 
mitted by  any  nation  and  these  sor- 
rowful tacts  far  over-shadow  in  im- 
portance any  of  the  smaller  occur- 
rences in  this  great  upheaval.  A 
crime  has  been  committed  against 
the  whole  White  Race! 

Are  you,  Mr.  Editor,  lending  your 
active,  passive,  or  moral  support  to 
such  a  band  of  criminals? 

W'e  hope  not.  It  goes  against  your 
conscience. 

FRANCIS  J.  L.  DORL. 
New  York,  Oct.  2. 

This  editorial  in  "The  Vital  Issue" 
was  accompanied  by  the  following 
note: 

"Dear  Reader:  In  order  to  bring  this 
article  to  the  notice  of  a  large  number  of 
newspapers,  especially  those  under  British 
influence,  we  request  you  to  forward  this 
article  at  once  to  the  editor  of  a  paper  in 
your  section.  If  you  do  not  wish  to  muti- 
late this  copv.  we  will  be  glad  to  send  you 
reprints  of  this  article  at  the  rate  of  three 
reprints  for  five  cents." 

We  also  copy  from  the  editorial 
page  of  "The  Vital  Issue"  for  Octo- 
ber 10,  1914,  the  following  informa- 
tion: 

"THE  VITAL  ISSUE  can  be  obtained 
from  any  newsdealer  in  the  U.  S.  or 
through  the  American  News  Co..  New 
York  City. 


DESERVE  HONORARY  MENTION. 


From  "The  Fatherland,"   New  York, 
Octoljer  7.  1»14. 

The  Milwaukee  "Free  Press,"  the 
Toledo  "Blade,"  the  Boston  "Trav- 
eler" and  "The  Chicago  Tribune" 
among  others  are  pre-eminently  fair 
in  their  presentation  of  war  news  and 
deserve  honorary  mention  and  sup- 
port from  all  lovers  of  fair  play. 
.\mong  the  weeklies,  the  "Literary 
Digest"  has  constantly  given  the  Ger- 
man side  a  square  deal.  The  "Sat- 
urday Evening  Post"  has  also  been 
fair.  But  "Collier's"  is  conspicuous 
for  its  prejudiced  and  tainted  atti- 
tude. The  unfairness  of  this  publica- 
tion should  be  remonihered  by  every 
lover  of  the  fatherland  and  of  fair 
play. 


The  German  crown  prince  has 
established  headquarters  near  Ver- 
dun. This  is  the  same  crown  prince 
who  was  killed  last  week  by  a  British 
censor. — From  "The  Chicago  Even- 
ing Post,"  September  12.  1914. 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


BRITISH   BLUFF   ON   RECALL   OF 
TRADE. 


Bj   Charles  A.  Colhnan. 

We've  all  been  entertained  during 
the  last  tew  weeks  by  the  announce- 
ments of  our  English  "cousins"  that 
the  British  Empire  has  placed  a  boy- 
cott on  German  goods.  The  fact  is 
proclaimed  with  a  stolid  air  of  final- 
ity, as  though  it  were  a  pronounce- 
ment of  the  death  of  German  trade. 
The  boycott  is  one  of  the  few  British 
inventions.  It  has  always  had  an 
ugly  sound  to  American  ears.  We 
have  prohibited  it  by  Federal  law, 
and  rightly,  for  it  is  a  most  foolish 
weapon  that  cuts  both  ways.  The 
trade  between  the  British  and  Ger- 
man empires  approximates  $1,000,- 
000,000  a  year.  No  modern  State 
or  aggregation  of  SUtes  could  sur- 
vive the  loss  of  a  business  of  such 
magnitued.  Should  England  end 
her  trade  with  Germany  she  would 
inevitably  affix  the  seal  to  her  own 
bankruptcy.  Well  may  the  hard 
headed  British  merchant  cringe 
under  the  indiscretion  of  the  British 
press  bureau. 

When  English  newspaper  writers 
gloat  over  the  statements  that  Great 
Britain  and  her  colonies  will  no 
longer  buy  from  Germans,  they 
ignore  the  consequence,  that,  pari 
passu,  the  Germans  will  no  longer 
buy  from  them.  Germany,  as  official 
records  show,  imported  from  the 
British  Empire  during  the  year 
ended  December  31,  1912,  more  than 
$527,000,000  worth  of  goods.  She 
sold  to  that  country  and  her  colonies 
$385,000,000  worth  of  German 
goods.  The  balance  in  favor  of  the 
British  was  $142,000,000.  The  trade 
figures  for  the  succeeding  years  are 
much  larger.  It  is  useless  for  the 
British  to  plead  that  Germany's  pur- 
chases are  mostly  in  the  shape  of 
agricultural  or  mining  products. 
There  will  be  no  other  customer  in 
sight  when  her  buying  stops.  This 
truth  has  been  unpleasantly  emphas- 
ized in  our  cotton  trade.  What  pur- 
chasers are  available  for  the  mil- 
lions of  bales  heretofore  taken  by 
England,  Germany  or  France?  The 
sole  resource  of  our  suffering  cot- 
ton growers  is  to  decrease  their 
future  acreage. 

The  outbursts  of  English  cor- 
respondents may  delude  some  of  our 
countrymen,  but  the  American  busi- 
ness man  had  better  see  to  it  that 
he  is  not  misled  by  the  suggestions 
of  his  most  hostile  competitors — the 
English.  Germany  is  our  third  best 
customer.  Our  trade  with  her  is 
worth  more  than  $.^20,000,000  a 
year.  Should  Germany  be  wiped 
out  we  would  lose  a  customer  that 
buys  from  us  above  $331,000,000 
worth  of  goods  and  produce  yearly, 
a  catastrophe  that  our  trades  and 
industries   could   not   well   survive. 

But  trade  is  not  a  matter  of  pick- 
ing and  choosing  customers,  of  prej- 
udice against  some,  of  friendship  for 
others.  Racial  likings  do  not  in- 
fluence foreign  trade.  Trade  follows 
the  same  biological  laws  that  govern 
human  development.  Contiguity 
plays  a  predominating  part  in  inter- 
national commerce.  The  French 
have  little  love  for  the  Germans,  yet 
in     1912     they    bought     from    them 


$173,000,000  worth  of  goods.  Rus- 
sia in  the  same  year  sold  to  the  Ger- 
mans $382,000,000  in  produce.  Who 
would  buy  it  from  her  should  the 
German  buying  cease?  We  Amer- 
icans may  well  bestow  some  pitying 
smiles  on  the  pretentions  of  the  4  5,- 
000,000  inhabitants  of  the  British 
Isles.  They  assert  that  the  suyrem- 
acy  of  the  seas  is  to  them  a  holy 
duty.  But  to  them  the  ambition  of 
the  120,000,000  German  speaking 
races  in  Central  Europe  to  assert  the 
hegemony  of  the  continent,  is  an 
awful  crime.  Outnumbered  in  pop- 
ulation three  to  one,  the  45,000,000 
English  sav  to  the  120,000,000  Ger- 
mans: "We  shall  no  longer  buy  from 
you." 

It  is  laughable,  for  whatever  be- 
falls, the  English,  the  Germans  and 
the  Austrians  must  remain  in  Europe 
to  the  end  of  human  time.  There  is 
no  escape  for  them.  They  must 
trade  with  one  another  or  perish. 
If  the  English  bankrupt  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  Austrians,  Great 
Britain,  the  creditor  nation,  goes 
thundering  down  into  a  bankruptcy 
from  which  she  ma  ynever  rise  again. 
Should  the  Allies  conquer  the  Ger- 
mans they  ruin  themselves,  for  Ger- 
many has  no  wealth  in  lands  or  col- 
onies to  reward  them  for  their  ex- 
penditures in  blood  or  money.  Her 
wealth  lies  solely  in  the  productivity 
of  her  people. — Reprinted  from  the 
"Xews  of  the  War  in  Europe,"  which 
are  published  2  or  3  times  weekly 
by  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York. 


"I  do  not  consider  the  German 
Emperor  to  be  only  a  great  man,  but 
I  know  him  to  be  a  good  man.  I 
pity  him  with  all  my  heart,  because 
I  know  that  he  feels  with  intense 
sorrow  that  the  war  has  broken  out. 
There  are  many  indications  that  the 
German  Emperor  is  a  peaceful  man. 
For  instance:  Years  ago  there  were 
over  120  duels  a  year  amongst  army 
officers.  The  Kaiser  mentioned  his 
dislike  against  duels,  and  advocated 
a  law  against  it.  Now  there  are  only 
10  duels  a  year.  The  Emperor  is  a 
much  broader  man  and  much  more 
religious  and  much  more  tolerant 
than  is  commonly  known.  Numerous 
laws  in  the  army  for  greater  toler- 
ance and  freedom  originated  from 
him." 


ANDREW   CARNEGIE  PRAISES 
K.AISER. 


A   FRENCH  VIEW   OF   "KULTUR.' 


From  "The  Vital  Issue,"  New  York, 
October  10.   1914. 

Andrew  Carnegie  arrived  on  the 
Cunarder  Mauretania  on  September 
2  5th,  and  gave  an  interview  highly 
favorable  to  the  German  Emperor. 
He  praised  him  as  "Peace  Lord." 

Mr.  Carnegie  is  reported  to  have 
said:  "I  have  known  the  German 
Emperor  personally  for  years.  I  have 
met  him  many  times  in  Berlin  and 
on  his  vacht.  Because  of  my  per- 
sonal acquaintance,  I  think  I  know 
something  about  the  man  and  his 
character." 

"It  is  not  the  Kaiser  who  brought 
on  this  war,  but  probably  the  Military 
Clique  who  imagine  that  they  are  in 
office  for  life.  England  is  not  fight- 
ing German  scientists,  German  art- 
ists, German  philosophers,  but  mili- 
tarism. During  the  Kaiser's  absence 
the  Military  Council  acted,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  the  Kaiser  himself  was  the 
most  sorrowful  man  In  the  world 
when  he  realized  that  the  war  could 
not  be  avoided." 

Mr.  Carnegie  continued  that  "the 
present  German  Kaiser  had  done 
more  for  Germany  than  any  other 
Emperor.  When  he  succeeded  his 
father  he  found  Germany  undevel- 
oped (a  New  York  paper  reports  that 
Mr  Carnegie  said  'uncivilized.'  but 
in  all  probability  he  said  undevel- 
oped) and  it  is  he  who  built  it  up." 
"He  has  advanced  German  culture, 
and  under  him  Germany  has  had  2  7 
vears  of  peace.  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  there  would  have  been  no  war, 
if  the  Emperor  had  been  in  Berlin." 


Kei)rinted   by   Courtesy   of   The   New 
Republic,  March  27,  1915. 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  deny  it 
[Gernian  culture — rranshitor]   and  re- 
fuse   it    a    place    in    the    evolution    of 
European  civilization,  but  I  am  one  of 
those    who    have    always    refused    to 
recognize  its  supremacy.    To  speak  the 
truth,  I  must  admit  that  I  have  never 
accorded   to  any   people  of  Europe  or 
.\merica   an   absolute   supremacy   from 
the  point  of  view  of  civilization.     In 
that  part  of  the  world  which  was  an- 
ciently   known    as    Christendom    there 
is    only    one   civilization    In   which   all 
men    participate    more    or    less.      The 
Germans,  however,  give  a   special  sig- 
nificance    to     their     "kultur,"     which 
closely  resembles  what  we  should  call 
"national  education,"  and  in  this  sense 
"kultur"  is  really  the  sum  of  the  natu- 
ral  or  acquired  qualities   proper  to  a 
German.     The   Manifesto   of   the   Ger- 
man  intellectuals  showed   to  what  an 
extent  the  German  professors,  savants, 
artists    and    writers    were    proud    of 
their  specialized  culture,  and  to  what 
an   extent   they    boasted   of   remaining 
loyal  to  it  even  when  it  had  led  to  acts 
condeumed  as  much  by  other  and  even 
neutral    nations,   as   the   massacres   of 
Dinant.    the    destruction    of    Louvain, 
and   the   general    violation   and   ravag- 
ing  of    Belgium.     The   power   of    this 
"kultur"  is  as  undeniable  as  its  legiti- 
macy  is  suspect.     But  it  has  no  rap- 
port  with   civilization,   to   which   it   is 
clearly   opposed.     While   "culture,"    in 
the  Euroijean  sense,  in  the  general  ac- 
ceptation of  the  word,  is  the  effort  of 
peoples  and  of  individuals  toward   an 
objective  sentiment   of   good   and   evil, 
"kultur"    is   a    German    effort    towards 
a     subjective     sentiment     of     German 
good  and  German  evil.     At  least  that 
is  what  I  have  gathered  from  all  the 
discussions  on  this  question.     But  the 
Germans  have  not  wholly  succeeded  in 
isolating    themselves    iu    their    pride. 
They  have  a  great  deal  of  vanity,  and 
they  have  never  renounced  their  place 
— which    they   desired    to   be   the    first 
place — in    general    civilization.      They 
have  even  imagined  that  they  had  con- 
quered  this   first   place,   and   we   have 
seen  their  intellectuals  proving  on  this 
point  the  nalvetf  of  their  infatuation. 
I,et    us   consider   this   general    civiliza- 
tion,   iind   note  what   sort   of   figure   is 
cut  therein  by  the  Gernian  genius.    The 
Gernian   genius  was  a   Romantic  prod- 
uct,   and    Romanticism    implied   liberty 


THE  GERMAN    MENACE— MILITARISM 


165 


and  fantasy.  With  the  union  of  the 
empire  liberty  has  disappeared,  and 
with  the  disappearance  of  the  con- 
sciousness of  higher  destinies  we  have 
seen  the  traditional  German  fantasy — 
the  fantasy  of  a  Goethe — vanish  from 
every  sort  of  activity.  Little  by  little 
the  genius  of  Germany  has  become  dis- 
ciplined, serious,  unanimous,  mechani- 
cal. But  it  has  not  always  been  so. 
This  transformation  is  recent.  Before 
they  became  the  prey  of  the  mad  pride 
which  has  consumed  their  sensibility, 
the  Germans  lived  and  thought  like 
men.  They  have  notably  participated 
in  universal  civilization.  I  will  take 
Frederic  Nietzsche  as  an  example. 

This  was  before  their  great  victories 
of  1S70-71.  A  few  minds,  formed,  like 
that  of  Nietzsche,  in  an  earlier  time, 
developed  after  that  period,  and 
through  them  the  old  German  Influence 
is  perpetuated  through  the  world. 
Nietzsche  is  still  a  Romantic ;  one 
might  say  that  he  is  the  most  Roman- 
tic of  the  Germans.  His  philosophic 
conceptions  were  not  addressed  to 
Germany,  which,  moreover,  was  un- 
able to  understand  them.  He  wrote 
for  all  humanity.  His  Influence  in  the 
world  only  began  when  his  ideas, 
translated  into  French,  became  acces- 
sible to  those  who  shared  in  French 
civilization.  He  fully  realized  this. 
German  thought  has  no  influence  out- 
side of  Germany,  has  no  interest  ex- 
cept for  German  brains.  As  he  desired 
to  speak  to  other  men  he  attempted 
more  than  once  to  get  his  works 
translated  into  French.  That  was  the 
object  of  his  negotiations  with  Taine. 
They  were  only  successful  after  his 
intellectual  death,  and  the  name  of 
Nietzsche  only  became  universal  at 
that  moment,  which,  as  it  happened, 
was  also  the  moment  when  the  Ger- 
mans began  to  believe  that  their  recent 
wholly  material  victories  had  given 
them  the  right  to  the  Intellectual  dom- 
ination of  the  whole  world.  Nietzsche 
had  no  part  in  this  great  German  mad- 
ness nor  had  he  in  any  way  prepared 
it.  His  imagination  soared  above  good 
and  evil,  and  his  imaginations  were 
not  the  imaginations  of  a  German  but 
of  a  demigod.  To  measure  the  dis- 
tance which  separates  his  ideas  from 
those    of  ■  Ilerr     Ostwald — who     is     a 


chemist  and  a  philosopher  as  Nietzsche 
was  a  philologist  and  a  philosopher — 
we  must  remember  that  Nietzsche,  the 
theoretician  of  the  Superman,  desired 
the  growth  of  the  individual  beyond 
the  laws  of  Christianity,  and  that 
Herr  Ostwald,  the  theoretician  of 
Energy,  desires  the  growth  of  the 
energy  of  the  German  masses  with  a 
view  to  (en  vue  de)  German  discipline, 
German  power  and  German  domina- 
tion. Ostwald's  Ideas  are  as  opposed 
to  those  of  Nietzsche  as  a  political 
thesis  is  opposed  to  a  conception  of 
the  mind.  Ostwald  himself  has  com- 
mented on  his  theories  in  a  recent  pub- 
lication which  the  University  of  Leip- 
zig has  hastened  to  disavow,  on  ac- 
count of  the  misfortunes  of  the  times. 
How  the  TTniver.slty  would  have  ap- 
proved it  if  force  had  conquered  at  the 
first  blow ! 

Nietzsche  should  not  be  considered 
as  part  of  modern  Germany.  By  his 
education,  -by  the  turn  of  his  mind — 
which  was  purely  speculative — he  be- 
longed frankly  to  a  period  of  Germany 
when  the  true  modern  German  spirit 
— all  arrogance  and  national  egoism — 
had  not  yet  blossomed  forth.  Nietzsche 
can  be  read  without  one  noticing  that 
he  was  a  German,  except  by  the  ob- 
scure turn  given  to  certain  phrases. 
Nietzsche  himself  boasted  that  he  was 
a  European.  One  of  his  favorite 
phrases  is.  "We  good  Europeans."  He 
was  absolutely  above  the  German  na- 
tional idea.  He  needed  a  larger  and 
certainly  a  freer  country.  Zarathustra 
had  to  have  a  romantic  country.  He 
would  have  been  stifled  in  the  comitry 
which  has  been  created  by  modern 
German  ideas,  the  ideas  which  grew 
uji  after  the  victories  of  1870-71.  and 
which  developed  in  the  following  years. 
But  Nietzsche  was  already  Intellectu- 
nlly  dead  when  these  ideas  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly  developed,  and  when 
the  Germans,  departing  from  European 
civilization,  shut  themselves  up  in 
their  national  culture.  He  could  write 
no  longer,  and  nothing  that  he  had 
written  was  marked  with  the  seal  of 
German  egoism.  He  is  the  last  Ger- 
man who  frankly  belonged  to  European 
civilization. 

It  has  been  said,  a  little  inconsider- 
ately.  I   think  that  Nietzsche  was  one 


of  the  educators  of  William  II.  In 
any  event  the  latter  has  profited  very 
ill  by  his  lessons,  for  Nietzsche 
preached  to  men  not  a  domination  over 
their  fellows  but  a  domination  over 
themselves.  We  must  remember  the 
portrait  he  sketched  of  the  true  phil- 
osopher, of  the  philosopher  of  modern 
times ;  we  must  reflect  on  what 
strength  of  soul  and  even  abnegation 
this  must  have  cost  him.  He  demands 
this  also  of  those  who  wish  to  con- 
trol their  fellows,  and  never,  even  in 
his  most  brutal  pages,  does  one  find 
any  eulogj'  of  force  pure  and  simple. 
Because  he  distinguishes  between  the 
morality  of  slaves  and  of  masters  we 
must  not  conclude  that  he  recognized 
the  right  to  dominate  in  those  who 
possess  nothing  but  brute  strength. 
This  admirer  of  the  Renaissance  knew 
that  the  breastplate  of  the  condottiere 
was  composed  of  many  imponderable 
elements,  and  he  knew  that  to  domi- 
nate men  requires  more  than  a  belief 
in  the  sword.  But  the  directors  of 
German  thought  have  acquired  the 
habit  of  taking  to  themselves  all  the 
writers  of  old  and  new  Germany,  and 
making  them  say  whatever  is  needed 
in  favor  of  their  thesis.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  William  II  has  read 
Nietzsche  upside  down,  and  that  the 
mystic  counsel,  "Be  hard !"  has  been 
read  by  him  in  the  letter  as  an  incite- 
ment to  cruelty.  One  might  re.ally  ad- 
vance the  theory. 

It  still  remains,  however,  that  for 
me,  at  least,  Nietzsche,  far  from  in- 
carnating certain  tendencies  of  im- 
perialism and  of  German  culture,  is 
strongly  opposed  to  them.  He  repre- 
sents a  totally  different  kind  of  civili- 
zation— the  civilization  which  started 
with  the  Greeks  and  which  unites  the 
French,  or.  to  be  less  particularist,  the 
Europeans  of  the  twentieth  century. 
Has  he  not  laughed  at  this  very  "kul- 
tur"  of  which  he  is  supposed  to  be 
one  of  the  founders?  The  man  who 
wept  at  the  news  of  the  bombardment 
of  Paris  cannot  by  any  audacity  be  im- 
plicated in  the  approbation  at  the  de- 
struction of  Louvaln ! 

Rkmy  de  Goubmont. 

— Translated    by    Richard   Aldington. 


German  Militarism  and  the  Evolution  of  the  Empire 


NATIONAL  CONSCIOrSNESS. 


Editorial,   The  Chicago  Tribune. 

Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  continues  to  be 
the  most  earnest  and  most  rhapsodic 
of  Englishmen  with  leave  to  print. 
He  supplies  half  the  opinion  we  get 
from  Europe  and  his  supplies  are  in- 
teresting. In  this  emergency  he  is 
an  unashamed  child  of  emotion,  and 
as  such  is  able  to  make  the  conveni- 
ent jump  over  everything  interven- 
ing and  arrive  at  eventualities.  The 
hurdle  is  a  possible  200.000  corpses, 
but  Mr.  Wells,  a  seer  immersed  in 
ink,  already  is  at  the  peace  confer- 
ence, seated  and  waiting  for  the  other 
commissioners  to  come  up. 

As  the  inspired  prophet  of  the 
one-way-looking        English        middle 


class,  Mr.  Wells  has  two  ideas,  one 
inconsiderate  and  the  other  noble. 
One  is  anti-Prusglan;  the  one  is  pro- 
national. 

If  Mr.  Wells  would  go  out  and 
kick  an  English  brewer  every  time 
he  wants  to  kick  a  Prussian  lieuten- 
ant or  drill  sergeant,  be  might  spread 
the  manifestations  of  his  wrath  im- 
partially. 

What  is  Prussia?  It  is  the  state 
which  gathered  the  German  Empire 
into  being  and  made  it  immune  from 
wars  exc<'pt  of  its  own  choosing'.' 
One  hundred  years  ago  dismembered 
Germany  was  th(>  <<>nv('nient  alley 
Into  wl)icli  nations  went  wlien  tliey 
had  .><<ini<'tbing  to  settle  It  is  all 
very  well  for  iM-a<'(>al>le  lljivaria  to 
sit  over  a  stein  of  IxM-r  aii<l  coiisid«'r 
pliilo.sophically  the  slat*  of  the  uni- 


verse, but  the  power  which  gave  se- 
curity to  German  me<lltation  was  the 
military  |M>wer  which  had  its  yea.st 
in   Prussia.' 

That  this  led  to  overdevelopment 
need  not  be  questioned.  The  Prus- 
sian became  obnoxious.  The  feeling 
has  disappeared  in  the  press  of  war, 
but  the  Prussian,  until  a  month  ago, 
was  as  little  liked  by  his  fellow 
Germans  as  a  Russian.  The  lieu- 
tenant and  the  nonconunissioned  did 
become  a  menace  to  Euro]iean  stability, 
agents  of  a  military  oligarchy,  crude, 
big  chested  enemies  of  civil  life,  but 
to  let  criticism  of  them  and  of  their 
order  go  galloping  without  thinking 
is  unintelligent. 


'Emphasized   in   bold    type   by   the 
publisher  of  "War  Echoes." 


166 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


Militant  Prussia  put  the  German 
Empire  on  tlie  map,  and  that  was  a 
good  thing.  It  brought  hesitant 
states  together.  It  made  an  empire. 
Mr.  Wells'  indignation  against  mili- 
tancy considers  only  its  extreme  as- 
pects and  ignores  its  good  products. 

In  the  making  of  this  and  other 
empires  nationalities  were  sub- 
merged, and  that  was  a  bad  thing. 
"Whatever  there  is  in  Schleswig-Hol- 
stein  that  is  Danish,  and  restless  to 
have  Danish  national  consciousness 
restored,  is  maltreated  by  submersion 
in  the  German  people.  The  Polish 
nation  is  one  that  ought  to  be  alive. 
If  Lorraine  and  Alsace  in  national 
consciousness  are  French,  they  ought 
to  have  the  tricolor.  The  Slavs  of 
Austria-Hungary  ought  to  have 
racial  and  national  e.xpression.  Thus 
through  all  Europe. 

National  consciousness,  which  in 
times  of  danger  flares  up  and  is 
called  patriotism,  is  a  part  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  people.  It  is  a  part 
of  the  life  separate  from  three  meals 
and  eight  hours'  sleep.  It  is  a  sacred 
thing  if  men  are  not  to  be  hideously 
materialistic. 

Germany  is  not  the  one  nation  in 
Europe  to  extinguish  it  or  to  try 
to  extinguish  it  in  subject  peoples. 
Does  Mr.  Wells  propose  that  the 
BengaJis2  of  the  Indian  empire,  a 
people  hopelessly  reaching  after  in- 
dependence, be  granted  the  national 
existence  he  asks  for  the  Slavs  In 
Austria?! 

Switzerland  is  happier  than  Po- 
land. Europe  would  be  better  di- 
vided on  nationalistic  lines.  Whether 
it  would  be  more  stable  or  not  is 
another  matter.  Mr.  Wells'  convic- 
tions are  profound,  but  may  not  be 
final.s 


2"The  Chicago  Tribune"  "over- 
looked" to  add:  The  Irish,  the  Boers, 
the  Finns,  the  Persians,  the  Egyp- 
tians, etc. — The  Publisher  of  "War 
Echoes." 

3What  the  true  Mr.  Wells  REALLY 
thought  before  his  utterances  were 
biased  by  the  present  war,  our  read- 
ers will  find  quoted  on  this  page  in 
the  article,  "Mr.  Wells  on  Germany." 
And  as  it  is  impossible  that  the 
United  States  should  ever  permit  any 
part  of  its  states  to  be  taken,  thus 
It  is  impossible  that  Germany  would 
ever  permit  any  part  of  Prussia  to  be 
taken  by  Russia.  Nothing  would 
suit,  of  course,  England  any  better 
than  to  have  Germany  divided  again, 
BO  that  either  France  or  Russia 
could  "stamp  it  into  the  mud."  But 
"der  deutsche  Michel"  is  not  the  old 
fool  any  longer  to  permit  his  coun- 
try to  be  used  as  the  battleground 
of  Europe  as  of  old.  The  blood  boils 
in  us  "barbarians"  of  German  de- 
scent when  we  read  what  the  ene- 
mies of  Germany  would  like  to  ac- 
complish. But  as  long  as  there  will 
be  a  German  left  to  defend  the 
Fatherland,  Mr.  Wells'  "New  Map  of 
Europe"  is  only  possible  in  the  imag- 
ination of  that  type  of  bigotted  Eng- 
lishmen who  consider  themselves  the 
lords  of  creation. 

"The  German  'Michel'  knows,  and 
will  forever  remember,  that  allied 
with  Russia  on  his  eastern  frontier, 
he  has  an  enemy  on  his  west,  from 


whom  he  has  suffered  as  no  other 
civilized  people  have  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  enemies.  He  knows  the 
story  of  the  wars  of  Napoleon,  of 
the  invasions  of  Louis  XIV.,  who 
cut  off  with  the  sword  German- 
speaking  Alsace  and  Lorraine  from 
the  German  body,  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  and  all  the  rest  of  them; 
how  his  cities  have  been  destroyed 
by  the  invader,  mainly  by  the  French 
and  the  Russian,  or  his  hirelings 
and  allies.  He  knows  how  they  rav- 
aged his  country  again  and  again, 
and  actually,  literally,  cut  the  popu- 
lation of  Germany  in  half,  stamped 
it  into  the  mud.  Try  to  get  the  per- 
spective. Picture  a  score  of  your 
finest  American  cities  wiped  out,  not 
merely  that  the  houses  were  de- 
stroyed, but  that  every  man.  woman 
and  child  within  those  places  had 
perished,  and  this  in  not  some  dis- 
tant past,  but  so  near  to  you  that 
your  great-grandfather  could  have 
told  you  the  story,  having  got  it 
from  the  mouths  of  those  who  wit- 
nessed it. 

"Of  course,  you  cannot  conceive, 
no  man  can  conceive,  what  the  de- 
struction of  ten  million  human  be- 
ings means.  Yet  by  that  number  of 
beings  was  the  population  of  Ger- 
many decreased  during  these  wars. 
A  state  as  populous  as  England  when 
Queen  Victoria  came  to  the  throne 
was  in  one  war  reduced  to  the  popu- 
lation of  Holland.  What  has  any 
civilized  country  to  compare  with 
this,  to  set  beside  it?  When,  indeed, 
has  any  civilized  nation  had  to  watch 
vast  uncounted  multitudes  of  its 
women  and  children  driven  forth 
homeless,  their  corpses  massed  in 
the  country  roads,  with  grass  in  their 
mouths,  the  only  food  the  invader 
had  left?  And  these  same  invaders, 
who  have  poured  in  devastating 
floods  over  our  land  today,  boast 
that  again  they  will  invade  us  if  and 
when  the.v  can.  I  sny  t)oast.  Can 
you  find  me  one  French  public  man 
who  will  say  that  France  should 
abandon  the  hope  of  attacking  us? 
It  is  their  declared,  their  overt 
policy." 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  Mr. 
Wells'  convictions  are  not  profound 
and  CANNOT  be  accepted  as  final, 
even  if  accepted  as  such  by  "The 
Chicago  Tribune." — The  Publisher 
of  "War  Echoes." 


SUTRO   ASKS   AMERICANS   TO  BE 
STRICTLY  NEITRAL. 


By    Theodore    Sutro,    Editor    of    the 
New   York    German    Journal. 

Among  the  leading  nations  of  the 
world  Germany  is  the  only  one  that 
has  had  no  war  for  the  last  forty-four 
years. 

Russia  and  Japan  were  fighting 
only  a  few  years  ago.  Previous  to 
that  Japan  had  her  war  with  China, 
and  Russia  her  war  with  Turkey. 

France  and  Italy  had  their  wars 
in  Northern  Africa.  England  had 
her  struggle   with   the   Boers. 

The  United  States  and  Spain  were 
at  war  in  1898.  Portugal  had  a  civil 
war.  Chile  and  Peru  had  their  war. 
There  was  a  civil  strife  in  Brazil. 


Bulgaria,  Servia  and  Greece  haye 
been  at  war  more  than  once.  So 
has  little  Montenegro.  Austria-Hun- 
gary had  the  occupation  of  Bosnia. 
Mexico  has  been  one  large  battlefield 
for  over  a  year. 

Germany,  alone,  among  the  big  na- 
tions of  the  world,  has  kept  peace  for 
forty-four  years.  And  for  tweniy- 
Bix  out  of  these  forty-four  years  a 
so-called  war  lord  has  been  the  em- 
peror of  Germany. 

England,  France  and  Russia  charge 
Germany  with  having  started  a  great 
European  war.  Germany  denies 
having  been  the  aggressor. 

History  will  Decide. 

History  will  decide  this  point,  and 
In  the  meantime  it  behooves  Amer- 
icans to   reserve   their  judgment. 


GERMAN       SOLDIERS       RESPECT 
WOMEN. 


High     Tribute     Paid     Them     by 
French  Writer  Who  Served  in 
1870-1871. 


From  "The  Fatherland." 

The  complaint  that  the  reports  of 
German  acts  of  violence  in  the  enemy's 
country  are  intended  to  serve  the  pur- 
pose of  prejudicing  public  opinion  in 
neutral  countries,  is  borne  out  by  the 
frequent  testimony  of  unltiased  wit- 
nesses to  the  good  behavior  of  German 
soldiers  in  Belgium,  in  France,  partic- 
ularly their  respect  for  women  and 
children.  The  Germans  have  not 
changed  their  character  since  1870. 
Two  years  after  the  war,  the  French 
writer,  G.  Mounod,  published  a  book 
under  the  title  of  "Germans  ana 
French.  Recollections  of  the  War." 
The  following  extract  from  the  work  is 
chara(;tP''istic : 

"The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the 
war  is  the  respect  in  which  women 
were  held  by  the  Germans;  it  is  a  na- 
tional trait  and  one  source  of  the 
strength  of  the  German  nation. 
Isolated  cases  of  crime  may  have  oc- 
curred, but  during  the  seven  months 
covering  my  experience  in  the  field  I 
witnessed  not  a  single  instance  nor 
heard  of  one  authentic  case. 

"On  the  contrary,  I  invariably  saw 
them  treat  women  with  exceptional 
courtesy  to  an  extent  that  excited  the 
astonishment  of  the  French  soldiers. 
'We  would  not  have  acted  like  that.'  I 
frequently  heard  them  say.  From  the 
very  first  day  the  children  made 
friends  with  the  Germans.  When  there 
was  nothing  to  eat  at  home,  and  grief 
was  expressed  on  account  of  the  chil- 
dren, the  whole  family  was  sure  of 
being  provisioned  by  the  Germans.  The 
soldiers  playe<l  with  the  children, 
walked  with  them,  learned  French 
from  them,  and  more  than  once  the 
presence  of  children  in  a  house  made 
friends  of  enemies.  Beyond  all  others, 
the  most  polite  were  the  Brandenburg- 
ers.  Saxons.  Hannovarians.  Rhine- 
landers,   and   Schleswig-Holsteinei-s." 

This  is  the  testimony  of  a  Frenchman 
in  a  work  which  at  the  time  of  its 
appearance  was  extremely  iwpular.  Is 
it  likely  that  the  German  soldiers  of 
1914-15  are  different  from  those  of 
1870-1871? 


THE  GERMAN   MENACE— MILITARISM 


167 


THE   SIGMFICAXCE   OF   GERMAN 
MILITAKISM. 

By    George    Stuart     Fullerton,     Pro- 
fessor of  Philosophy,  C'olunibla 
University. 

We  need  to  remind  ourselves  that 
militarism  is  not  jieculiarly  German. 
The  German  army  does  not  compare  in 
size  with  that  of  Russia,  and  it  must 
be  confessed  tiy  all  that  it  has  been, 
for  nearly  half  a  century  a  very  jjeace- 
ful  force.  i^iuee  its  struggle  with 
France  forty-four  years  ago,  Germany 
has  kept  the  peace  with  all  nations, 
in  spite  of  her  militarism.  During 
this  period  the  Russian  army  has  con- 
stantly been  usetl  as  weajHjn  of  ag- 
gression, Russia's  last  great  war— that 
with  her  present  ally  Japan— being 
brought  about  i)y  the  seizure  of  Chinese 
territory  to  which  she  had  no  other 
claim  than  the  desire  to  possess  It. 
Russia's  invasion  of  the  territories  sur- 
rounding her  can  only  be  compared  to 
the  inundations  caused  by  a  rising  tide. 
She  is  always  aggressive,  and  it  needs 
a  strong  bulwarli  to  hold  her  back. 

French   .Alilitarisni. 

Nor  is  France  without  an  army.  She 
has,  in  fact,  an  army  appro.xiniately 
eciual  to  that  of  Germany,  and  yet  her 
population  is  less  than  two-thirds  as 
great,  and  her  geogniphical  position  is 
a  more  fortunate  one.  for  she  can  be 
effectively  attacked  by  land  on  only  one 
side.  Each  Frenchman  has  to  pay  a 
higher  price  for  the  luxury  of  having 
an  army  and  navy  than  does  each  Ger- 
man. He  pays  less  than  does  the  Eng- 
lishman for  the  same  lu.xury,  but  the 
burden  is  great.  U(!vertheless.  And  if 
we  use  the  term  "militarism"  to  indi- 
cate, not  the  existence  of  a  great  army, 
but  the  presence  of  a  warlike  spirit! 
we  must  surely  recoguize  that  public 
opinion  in  France  has  been  for  decades 
vastly  more  militaristic  than  in  Ger- 
many. The  latter  nation  has  had  no 
desire  to  attack  France,  whereas 
tlie  present-day  Frenchman  has  been 
brought  up  to  cherish  the  thought  of 
a  revenge  to  be  attained  with  the  co- 
operation of  Russia. 

Of  Japanese  militarism  we  need 
hardly  speak.  No  nation  has  threat- 
ened the  independence  or  any  vital  In- 
terest of  Japan.  Japan  has  started  out 
npon  a  preilatory  expedition,  and  the 
alliance  with  England  leaves  her  free 
to  help  herself,  in  the  Racifie,  to  pretty 
much  what  she  pleases.  How  far  Eng- 
lish-Japanese control  of  the  Pacific  can 
be  made  compatible  witli  the  interests 
of  the  Fniteil  .'States  remains  to  be  dis- 
covered. 

British  Militarism. 
Finally,  what  shall  we  say  of  Brit- 
ish militarism?  Here  let  us  u.se  a  new 
word.  A  man  may  defend  himself  with 
a  knife,  with  a  revolver,  or  with  some 
other  weapon.  And  he  mav  iuslly  be 
regarded  as  aggressive  if  lie  attacks  his 
neighbors,  whether  near  or  remote, 
with  any  weapon  he  regards  as  most 
conveident  and  most  effective.  The 
English  are  a  practical  people,  and 
they  have  provided  themselves  most 
abundantly  with  the  weapons  which 
they  find  that  they  can  use  most  effee- 
'ively.  In  other  words.  England  has 
cultivated  "navalism"  as  no  other  na- 
tion   lias    cultivated    it,   and    that    for 


generations   past.     We  are   all   so   ac- 
customed  to   tliis   phenomenon    that    it 
excites     little     comment     even     among 
those  who  declaim  against  militarism. 
That   a    little   island   off   the   coast  of 
Europe  should  be  able  to  hold  In  sub- 
jection  vast  populations  in  Asia,  and, 
entering  into  an  alliance  with  an  Asi- 
atic  power    which    has   also,    in   quite 
recent  years,  embarked  upon  a  career 
of    navalism,    should    dictate    to   other 
nations  the  terms  upon  which  men  may 
be  allowed  to  live  and  to  tnide  in  the 
Pacific,  appears  to  be  taken  rather  as 
a  matter  of  course.     It  is  perhaps  nat- 
ural   that    there  should   not  appear   in 
the    British    journals,   along    with    the 
many   articles  against   niilitarism,   fer- 
vent jirotests  against  navalism,  a  means 
of  aggression  even  more  dangerous  to 
the   world  at  large;   but   it  is  a   little 
surprising  that,  since  Japan  has  come 
upon    the   stage,    more   should    not    be 
heard    ujion    the    subject    in    America. 
No  man  in  his  senses  would  maintain 
that   navalism  differs   from   militarism 
in    being   only    a    weapon    of    defence. 
The  British  Empire  was  not  built  up 
by  a  fleet  that  confined  Itself  to  patroll- 
ing the  coast  of  England,  nor  did  the 
Japanese    take    Corea    by    staying    at 
home  and  defending  their  own  ports. 

Militarism,  or  Its  etiuivalent,  is  not, 
then,  the  exclusive  property  of  Ger- 
many. Other  nations  may  be  accused 
of  being  even  greater  sinners  in  this 
regard.  Nevertheless,  there  is  milita- 
rism in  Germany,  and  it  is  of  interest 
to  us  .\mericans  to  hear  how  the  Ger- 
man defends  its  presence.  Does  he  re- 
gard it  as  an  evil.  and.  if  not,  why 
not?  Suppose  that  we  let  him  speak 
for  himself,  reserving  our  own  judg- 
ment upon  the  subject. 

Americans  who  have  come  much  in 
contact  with  e<Uicated  and  intelligent 
Germans  have  heard  the  reason  as  fol- 
lows: "Why  in  the  world  should  we, 
above  other  peojiles,  be  asked  to  de- 
prive ourselves  of  a  means  of  defence 
that  seems  to  us  essential  to  our  wel- 
fare, and  even  to  our  national  exist- 
ence? We  have  shown  abundantly  that 
we  wish  to  he  allowed  to  carry  on  our 
industries  in  peace.  Rut  our  great 
neighbor  to  the  north  is  not  so  civilized 
that  it  regards  a  state  of  war  with  ab- 
horrence. In  fact  it  is  always  at  war 
with  someone,  and  it  is  si  constant 
menace  to  us.  Our  neighbor  to  the 
west  is  civilized,  but  is  embittered,  and 
has  for  a  generation  made  no  secret 
of  a  hostile  intent.  Tlie  i)rivate  per- 
son who  lives  between  two  hostile  fam- 
ilies may  appeal  to  the  police  to  keep 
them  in  order.  But  where  is  the  police 
to  whom  Germany  may  appeal  to  com- 
pel Russia  to  he  civilized  and  France 
to  be  peaceable?  There  exists  as  yet 
no  such  police. 

"Moreover,  we  beg  you  to  remember 
that  the  real  reason  of  the  outcry 
which  has  been  raised  over  our  mili- 
tarism is  not  that  we  have  maintained 
an  army,  but  rather  that  we  have  built 
a  fleet.  .\  nation  not  menaced  as  we 
are.  and  which,  hence,  has  only  wanted 
enough  of  an  army  to  hold  in  subjec- 
tion nations  which  it  has  conf|uerod  in 
various  parts  of  the  earth,  has  filled 
the  world  with  clamor  because  we  have 
built  a  fleet  about  half  as  big  as  Its 
own.  It  does  not  want  other  nations 
to  sail  to  and  fro  upon  the  sea  as  it 
does,  for  it  regards  the  sea  as  its  own 


Iieculiar  projierty.     What   we  Germans 
c-annot  understand  is  by  what   reason- 
ing it  can  be  jiroved  that  English  trade 
needs   to    he  protected   liy   an    English 
fleet.  Imt  that  German  trade  should  not 
be  protected  by  a  German  fleet  at  all. 
"And,   lastly,  we  beg  you  to  bear  In 
mind  that  it  is  not  the  man  to  whom 
a  state  of  peace  is  peculiarly  profitable 
that   seeks    pretexts    for    breaking   the 
peace.      During    the   past    forty    years 
Germany    has    been    exceedingly    pros- 
perous.    The  (iermans  seem  especially 
adapted  for  the  attainment  of  success 
by  dint  of  industry  and  intelligence  and 
along  the  path  of  peaceful  comiietitlon. 
Would  it  ever  occur  to  us  to  undertake 
the  thankless  task  of  Invading  Russia? 
.\s  to  France,  we  want  the  French  to 
be    our    allies    against    the    uncivilized 
East.     .\nd   why   should   Germany   at- 
tack England?     German  trade  has,  un- 
der  existing  conditions,   been   overtak- 
ing   that    of    England    by    leaps    and 
hounds,  and  Germans  would  like  noth- 
ing better  than  a  continuance  of  such 
peaceful    conditions.      Peace    has    not 
seemed  eciually  profitable  to  other  na- 
tions, and  that  is  the  real  cause  of  the 
present  terrible  war.    War  is  a  scourge 
to  us  as  to  other  nations,  but  there  is 
something   that    would   be   still    worse. 
That  something  is  the  delivery  of  tJer- 
many    into    the    hands    of    those    who 
would  be  still  worse.     That  something 
is    the   delivery    of   Germany   into    the 
hands   of   those  wlio   would  crush   her 
with  a  view  to  tlieir  own  profit." 

So  much  for  the  German  view  of  Ger- 
man militarism.  It  is  perhaps  worth 
while  to  remind  ourselves  that  Ger- 
man militarism  is  by  no  means  all  of 
Germany.  Many  thousands  of  us  visit 
(iermany  every  year,  and  we  sec  a 
great  many  soldiers.  Rut  those  that 
we  see  are  not  soldiers  by  profession. 
They  are  young  men  who  are  devoting 
one  or  two  years  to  the  task  of  learn- 
ing how  to  defend  their  country  in  case 
of  need.  Soon  they  will  go  back  to 
their  homes  and  take  up  the  peaceful 
occupations  that  are  to  fill  their  lives; 
Germany's  real  occui)ation  is  not  war. 
Her  attention  is  given  to  agriculture, 
manufactures,  commerce,  education, 
science,  literature,  music,  painting,  and 
to  the  working  out  of  a  social  organi- 
zation that  guarantees  to  the  masses  of 
her  population  the  enjoyment  of  those 
goods  reserved,  in  some  countries  ac- 
counted civilized,  rather  for  the  few. 

In  this  her  real  work  Germany  has 
been  eminently  successful.  She  has 
served  herself,  but  she  has  also  served 
the  world,  as  every  industrious  and 
really  civilized  nation  must.  It  does 
not  follow,  however,  that  every  nation 
will  thank  her  for  these  services.  Pri- 
vate interests  Interfere  with  nnlver.sal 
judgments.  Germany's  services  to  the 
world  have  not  furthered  Russia's  de- 
sire to  svieep  down  on  Constantinople. 
They  have  not  neutralized  the  Gallic 
sentiment  of  revenge.  For  some  they 
count  as  "feathers"  when  weighed  in 
the  balance  against  British  commercial 
Interests.  The  sympathies  of  men  are 
scarcely  to  be  compelled  by  general 
considerations.  Nevertheless,  we  .\mer- 
Icans,  who  have  no  immediate  personal 
interests  at  stake,  can  afford  to  view 
the  situation  with  some  degree  of  im- 
partiality. It  inspires  us  with  a  lively 
curiosity,  and  we  may  well  be  eager 
to  hear   what   may   be  urged   by  every 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


party  to  the  great  dispute.  Arguments 
that  obviously  draw  their  force  purely 
from  the  self-interest  of  this  or  that 
party,  and  from  no  broader  considera- 
tion, we  are  in  a  position  to  weigh  more 
justly  than  the  parties  directly  con- 
cerned. —  The  "Continental  Times," 
Berlin. 


THE  "MILITARISM"  OP 
GERMANY. 


[Note: — This  last  sentence  seems  puz- 
zling: tlie  writer  very  likely  means  to 
say  that  a  disinterested  expression  is 
to  be  valued  more  highly  than  an  ex- 
pression coming  from  self-interest. — • 
Editor.] 


"WE     SHALL     WI\!"     SAVS     VON 
HIXDEXBIRG. 


From  "The  Fatherland." 

The  chief  magistrate  and  aldermen 
of  the  city  of  Magdeburg  have  record 
of  the  following  letter  from  the  Head- 
quarters of  the  army  of  the  East ; 

"With  an  admirable  generosity,  a 
large  number  of  German  cities  "have 
placed  at  my  disposal,  through  Lord 
Mayors  Mr.  Beutler,  Dr.  Wilms  and 
Town-Councillor  Dr.  Luther,  $.500,000 
as  'Hindenburg  gift  for  the  Eastern 
Army.'  with  the  object  of  procuring 
furs  for  the  troops  under  my  command 
and  protecting  them  against  the  sever- 
ity of  the  winter. 

"Magdeburg  has  taken  a  prominent 
share  in  bestowing  that  gift.  Please 
accept  my  warmest  thanks  and  those 
of  my  armies  for  that  patriotic  action. 
Fighting  for  hearth  and  home  as  we 
are.  -we  feel  proud,  happy  and  grateful 
that  those  who  are  left  behind  should 
remember  us  so  lovingly  and  endeavor 
to  make  the  privations  of  the  cam- 
paign less  keenly  felt. 

"With  God's  help  we  shall  win  the 
war  which  has  been  criminally  forced 
upon  us." 

This  was  signed  "von  Hindenburg. 
<;eneral  Field  Marshal  and  Com- 
mander-in-chief of  all  German  forces 
in  the  I-^ast." 


ENGLAND'S     WARS     .SINCE     1870. 


(From  "The  Chicago  Tribune,"  Sep- 
tember 18,    1914.) 

Chicago,  Sept.  16. — [Editor  of  The 
Tribune.] — Be  kind  enough  to  an- 
swer the  following  questions  in  the 
Voice  of  the  People:  During  the 
twenty-five  years  that  the  dreaded 
Kaiser,  the  war  lord,  has  been  on  the 
throne,  how  many  wars  has  he  pre- 
cipitated, or  been  engaged  in?  Since 
the  Franco-Prussian  war  of  forty- 
three  years  ago,  has  Germany  been 
at  war  with  any  country?  During  the 
same  length  of  time,  how  many  con- 
flicts has  England  brought  on?"  And 
has  England,  up  to  date,  ever  en- 
gaged in  war  with  a  country  of  her 
own  size?  M.  R.  E. 

(Germany,  in  the  forty-three  years 
up  to  the  present  summer,  had  no 
war  since  that  with  France  in  1870- 
71.  Since  that  time  England  has 
fought  the  Ashanti  tribes  in  1873-4 
and  1895-6;  the  Zulus  in  1879  and 
1906-7;  Arab!  Pasha  in  Egypt  in 
1882,  and  the  Madhi  in  1884  and 
1896.  In  1899-1901  occurred  the 
Boer  war.) 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 
E.  Dallmer. 

One  of  the  cheap  phrases  repeated 
with  the  intention  to  influence  the 
opinion  of  those  Americans  that  can- 
not do  their  own  thinking,  but  have 
to  rely  for  their  opinions  upon  the 
"expert"  editorials  of  the  yellow 
press  is  that  "German  militarism 
must  be  crushed  before  peace  can 
reign  in  Europe."  As  this  phrase 
has  been  repeated  again  and  again 
a  great  part  of  the  American  people, 
for  principle's  sake  opposed  to  com- 
pulsory service,  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  in  reality  nothing  but 
"German  militarism"  has  caused  the 
war  and  that  Prance,  England,  Rus- 
sia, Japan  and  all  the  smaller  allies 
ought  to  be  applauded  for  the  hu- 
manitarian service  they  render  the 
world  in  general — and  the  poor, 
down-trodden  German  people  espe- 
cially— by  delivering  them  from  the 
heavy  burden  that  the  "mad  War 
Lord"  has  put  upon  their  shoulders. 

Although  the  originators  of  this 
phrase  know  that  these  conclusions 
are  untrue,  being  based  upon  false 
assumptions,  nevertheless  —  under- 
standing well  "the  psychology  of  the 
crowd" — they  constantly  repeat  this 
and  many  other  stories  of  the  same 
character  and  reliability  with  the 
sinister  purpose  of  exciting  the 
American  public  to  such  a  degree  as 
to  force  an  intervention  of  our  Gov- 
ernment in  favor  of  the  "unholy  al- 
liance." In  the  last  few  days  not 
only  the  English  prime  minister  and 
several  of  his  colleagues,  but  the  king 
himself,  have  joined  the  ranks  of 
those  craving  our  sympathies  for 
England  against  German  militarism. 

Now,  what  is  militarism?  Our 
dictionaries  define  it  as  (1)  the  mil- 
itary spirit;  (2)  addiction  to  war  or 
military  practices;  (3)  the  mainte- 
nance of  national  power  by  means 
of  standing  armies.  The  definition 
given  last  seems  to  be  the  one  apply- 
ing in  our  case.  But  if  so,  almost 
every  country  in  the  world,  including 
our  U.  S.,  is  suffering  from  militar- 
ism. Thus  it  cannot  be  militarism  in 
itself — the  mere  keeping  of  a  stand- 
ing army — that  is  condemnable,  but 
the  exaggeration  of  militarism,  the 
keeping  of  such  an  armed  force  as  to 
become  a  burden  to  their  own  people 
as  well  as  a  menace  to  the  neighbors. 

Why  is  it  that  whenever  the  ques- 
tion of  militarism  is  raised  every- 
body refers  to  the  armies  and  no- 
body seems  to  think  of  the  navies 
which  are  just  as  important  a  part 
of  the  national  defense  as  the  land 
forces  are?  Why  is  it  that  nobody 
points  to  the  English  navy,  vastly 
superior  to  any  other  in  the  world, 
in  number  of  ships  and  enlisted  men, 
and  talk  about  militarism?  Is  Eng- 
land allowed  to  have  as  big  a  fleet 
as  she  wants?  Are  France  and  Rus- 
sia allowed  to  increase  the  strength 
of  their  armies  as  often  and  as  much 
as  they  want,  without  anybody  clam- 
oring "militarism"?  Why  is  not  the 
same  spirit  of  tolerance  shown 
towards  Germany?  Why  is  that 
country,    the    only    one,    denied    the 


right  to  "maintain  her  national 
power  by  means  of  a  standing  army" 
of  a  size  that  will  guarantee  her 
this  maintenance? 

In  the  following  table  I  give  a 
comparison  of  eight  principal  coun- 
tries, six  of  which  are  at  present  en- 
gaged in  the  war,  one  is  on  the 
verge  of  entering  the  conflict,  and 
the  last  one,  our  own  beloved  coun- 
try, needs  all  the  prudence  and 
statesmanship  of  her  President  and 
his  political  advisers  to  keep  her  out 
of  the  cataclysm  into  which  the  hire- 
lings of  England  try  to  draw  her: 


Enlistment 

(Peace 

strength. ) 

Country. 

Population. 

Army. 

NaiT. 

England 

.  45.000.000 

254,500 

137,500 

Russia  

.160.100.000 

1,290,000 

52,463 

France  

.  39.300,000 

720,000 

60,621 

Germany  

.  64.900,000 

870,000 

66.783 

United  States 

.  94.800.000 

89,604 

64,780 

Italy    

.  33.900.000 

250,000 

33,095 

Austria- 

Hungary    . . 

.  49.400,000 

390.000 

17.581 

Japan    

.  52.200,000 

250.000 

51.054 

Per 

Estimated  Expenditures  1913-14.      Capita 

Army.  Navy.  Total.        Cost. 

England   .  .$224,300,000  $224,140,000  $448,440,000  $9.97 

Russia 317.800.000    122,500,000    440.300,000    2.75 

France 191.431.580    119.571,400    311,002,980    7.91 

Germany...  183,090,000    111,300.000    294.390,000    4.54 

n.  S 94.266.145    140.800.643    235,066,788    2.48 

Italy 82,928,000      51,000,000    133,928,000    3.95 

Austria- 
Hungary.     82,300,000      42,000,000    124,300.000    2.52 
Japan 49,000.000      46.500,000     95,500,000    1.85 

From  the  above  we  see  that  Ger- 
many, occupying  the  third  place  in 
population,  stands  in  the  second 
place  in  regard  to  enlistment  in  her 
army  and  navy,  behind  Russia  and 
England,  respectively.  Her  expendi- 
tures tor  maintaining  the  armed 
force,  however,  are  surpassed  by 
those  of  England,  Russia  and  France, 
and,  in  the  case  of  the  navy,  by  those 
of  the  United  States,  also.  The  per 
capita  cost  of  her  armaments  is  $4.54, 
much  below  that  of  France  ($7.91) 
and  less  than  half  of  what  the  Eng- 
lishman has  to  pay   ($9.97). 

With  no  natural  boundaries,  e.  g., 
high  mountain  ranges,  to  protect 
her  provinces,  Germany  finds  her- 
self threatened  in  the  east  by  1,290,- 
000  Russians,  in  the  west  by  720,000 
Frenchmen,  together  over  2,000,000 
soldiers,  against  whom  she  keeps  an 
armed  force  of  870,000  men,  i.  e.. 
not  even  half  the  number  her  oji- 
ponents  have  under  arms  all  the 
time.  Yet  London  claims — and  the 
American  papers  obediently  repeat 
it — that  the  German  army  is  threat- 
ening not  only  all  of  Europe,  but 
the  rest  of  the  world  besides. 

I  believe  the  above  shows  clearly 
that  it  is  not  Germany  that  has  been 
strengthening  her  armaments  and  in- 
creasing her  forces  so  as  to  endanger 
the  peace  of  Europe;  she  has  in 
reality  done  nothing  but  follow  her 
course,  as  war  seemed  to  be  inevi- 
table. All  this  talk  about  German 
militarism  ruining  the  prosperity  of 
the  country  and  endangering  the 
world  is  so  foolish  when  one  looks 
at  the  real  facts,  that  it  is  hardly 
worth  while  to  try  to  open  the  eyes 
of  those  that  do  not  want  to  see. 
Contemptible,  however,  and  in  the 
highest  degree  dangerous  is  the  ef- 
fort of  perfidious  Albion  and  her 
American  newspaper  vassals  to  con- 
vince the  United  States  that  this  so- 
called  militarism  is  directed  against 
our    republic,    and    that    if   Germany 


THE  GERMAN   MENACE— MILITARISM 


169 


could  not  be  subdued  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  crippled  for  all  time  she  will 
war  against  America  next.  As  Ger- 
many (or  Prussia)  always  has  shown 
herself  to  be  the  only  true  and  re- 
liable friend  the  Americans  have — 
while  England  always  was  their 
greatest  enemy — this  conscienceless 
attempt  of  a  part  of  the  American 
press  is  so  much  more  despicable 
and  hardly  short  of  criminal. 

But  who  is  going  to  judge  where 
justified  militarism  ends  and  the  ex- 
aggeration begins?  In  the  first 
place,  surely  the  people  who  through 
their  representatives  in  parliament 
have  to  appropriate  the  necessary 
means  for  the  maintenance  of  army 
and  navy.  What  is  the  attitude  of 
the  German  people  in  this  respect? 
It  is  true,  they  have  been  growling 
all  these  years  when  they  paid  their 
taxes,  but  less  because  they  did  not 
think  the  armaments  necessary  than 
for  the  very  human  reason  that  no- 
body likes  to  pay  any  money  without 
receiving  Immediate  returns  for  it. 
The  Social  Democrats,  of  course — 
the  strongest  party  in  the  Reichstag 
— have  opposed  many  of  the  army 
and  navy  bills,  but  for  principle's 
sake  only  (as  their  comrades  have 
done  all  over  the  world).  Their 
true  standpoint  was  clearly  shown 
in  that  memorable  session  of  August 
4th,  when  the  Reichstag  unanimous- 
ly appropriated  1250  million  dollars 
lo  defray  the  necessary  expenses  in 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  the 
attitude  of  the  people  in  general  is 
best  judged  by  the  fact  that  when 
the  government,  a  short  time  ago, 
asked  for  the  first  rate  of  25  0  mil- 
lion dollars,  more  than  one  billion 
dollars  were  subscribed  within  a  few 
days,  with  the  subscriptions  of  all 
the  rich  men  fighting  at  present  with 
the  army  still  standing  out. 

Two  years  ago  the  government 
asked  for  a  "Wehrsteuer."  a  spe- 
cial assessment  on  property  and  in- 
come to  yield  about  2.tO  million  dol- 
lars, for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
the  peace  strength,  completing  a 
number  of  regiments,  providing  for 
more  machine  gun  companies,  etc. 
The  law  was  passed  by  a  great  ma- 
jority, even  the  Social  Democrats 
not  opposing  it  very  much,  as  the 
burden  of  this  taxation  rested  on  the 
well-to-do  classes,  while  the  poorer 
people  were  not  affected  by  it.  Their 
leaders  knew  very  well  that  France 
was  increasing  the  time  of  service 
from  two  to  three  years,  thereby  rais- 
ing the  peace  strength  of  her  army 
almost  50  per  cent:  that  she  made 
great  exertions  to  bring  army  and 
navy  to  the  highest  standard  of  effi- 
ciency, and  that  she  had  arranged 
for  a  large  loan  to  Russia  to  be  used 
in  building  out  the  strategic  rail- 
roads of  that  latter  country;  they 
knew  that  Russia  had  failed  to  let 
the  men  who  had  finished  their  ac- 
tive service  pass  to  the  reserve,  but 
kept  them  at  their  colors,  thereby 
raising  the  strength  of  the  active 
army  to  over  a  million  and  a  quar- 
ter men,  besides  mobilizing  (even  at 
that  time)  array  corps  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  especially  at 
the  Austrian  border:  they  knew  very 
well  that  something  had  to  be  done 
to  sharpen  the  German  sword  and 
that  a  strong  opposition  to  and  a  re- 
sulting defeat  of  this  bill  would  have 


been    destructive    the    Social    Demo- 
cratic party  in  Germany. 

As  said  above,  the  only  people  who 
would  have  a  reason  and  a  right  to 
protest  against  German  militarism 
are  the  Germans  themselves,  who 
have  to  pay  the  bills.  That  they  are 
not  in  opposition  to  the  Emperor 
and  the  government  in  this  respect 
could  not  possibly  have  been  shown 
any  clearer  than  in  those  great  days 
after  the  war  was  declared.  Up  to 
that  time  they  had  paid  their  taxes, 
which  for  purposes  of  armament 
amounted  in  the  last  years  to  about 
19  marks  per  head  of  the  population, 
as  an  insurance  against  war,  and 
many  times  it  was  only  this  prepon- 
derance of  Germany  that  averted  the 
catastrophe.  And  do  not  forget  that 
all  these  hundreds  of  millions  spent 
every  year  are  left  in  the  country. 
Millions  of  Germans,  men  of  all 
trades,  are  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment directly  or  indirectly  to  furnish 
all  the  necessaries  for  army  and 
navy,  and  are  paid  with  this  money, 
Where,  therefore,  is  the  loss  to  the 
country  that  is  so  loudly  proclaimed 
by  "experts"  when  they  speak  of 
the  "enormous  German  expendi- 
tures?" 

Germany  has  not  much  to  gain  in 
regard  to  enlarging  her  territory 
through  a  victorious  war,  but  all 
Germans,  from  every  walk  of  life — 
merchants  and  manufacturers,  pro- 
fessors and  students,  artists  and  pro- 
fessionals, farmers  and  laborers,  and, 
last,  but  not  least,  the  German 
princes,  quite  a  number  of  whom 
having  been  wounded  or  killed  dur- 
ing the  past  few  weeks  in  defend- 
ing their  country  (who  has  ever 
heard  of  English  princes  or  Russian 
grand  dukes  exposing  their  valuable 
person?) — in  fine,  the  whole  people 
are  united  with  the  one  purpose  to 
sacrifice  their  lives  and  their  pos- 
sessions in  order  that  this  account 
may  be  settled  once  and  for  all 
times,  so  that  the  Fatherland  may 
develop  further,  as  it  has  done  dur- 
ing the  last  decades;  that  German 
commerce  may  expand  over  the 
whole  globe  in  peaceful  competition 
with  that  of  other  nations,  and  that 
no  enemy  will  ever  again  try  to 
deny  the  Germans  their  justly  earned 
place  in  the  sun.  This  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice,  this  subordinating  of  their 
own  personality  for  the  best  of  the 
State  has  been  the  secret  of  Gei»- 
many's  success  in  the  past,  and  as 
long  as  this  spirit  is  alive  in  all 
classes  of  the  people — as  shown  by 
the  spontaneous  outburst  during  the 
first  days  of  this  August  and  ever 
since —  there  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  Germany  will  triumph  over 
her  enemies  and  will  arise  after  the 
war  like  a  phoenix  from  its  ashes. 


FIELD    MARSHAL     VON    HIXDEN. 
BURG. 

The  Chicago  Tribune  recently  pub- 
lished a  series  of  articles  by  James 
O'Donnell  Bennett  which  give  an  ex- 
cellent pen  picture  of  Field  Marshal 
Hindenburg,  Germany's  most  popular 
hero.  In  the  first  of  these  Mr.  Ben- 
nett describes  the  personal  appear- 
ance of  the  German  commander  as 
follows: 

"His  gray-white  hair  is  cropped 
close  at  the  back  and  sides  of  the 
head  and  in  a  wide,  flat  pompadour 
on  the  top,  and  that  emphasizes  the 
squareness  of  his  head.  His  fore- 
head is  low,  his  nose  smallish,  his 
complexion  pale,  and  the  skin  like 
fine  parchment. 

"The  notable  feature  of  his  face 
is  the  eyes.  It  is  they  and  the  big 
mustache  and  the  strong  jaws  that 
give  the  man  his  leonine  aspect. 
There  are  deep,  heavy,  sad  lines 
under  the  eyes  and  at  each  side  of 
the  mouth.  Even  the  large  black 
mustache  does  not  conceal  the  latter. 

"The  eyes,  too.  are  sad — small, 
sad,  searching  eyes — small,  not  won- 
derful when  the  general's  attention 
is  not  aroused,  but  at  once  startling 
and  commanding  in  their  effect  when 
he  becomes  alert.  When  he  turns 
them  on  you,  you  know  it — and  the 
realization  is  accompanied  almost  by 
a  gasp.     One  glance  searches  a  man. 

"There  is  power  in  the  well  poised 
head  and  in  the  erect  shoulders,  and 
that  impression  of  power  is  increased 
because  the  man  moves  so  little.  For 
many  minutes  he  seems  to  sit  motion- 
less, and  when  he  does  move  it  is 
with  slow  deliberation.  His  counte- 
nance is  not  stern,  but  melancholy 
and  meditative:  not  gloomy,  though, 
for  there  is  a  sweetness  in  it  that 
none  of  the  portraits  can  convey,  for 
the  painters  are  inclined  to  make 
him  burly.  It  is  the  victor  of  the 
awful  week  at  Tannenberg  whom 
they  paint  and  not  the  man  of  the 
long  years  of  patient  waiting." 


THK  GERMAN  SPIRIT. 

Men  do  not  fight  as  the  Germans 
have,  as  they  are  now  fighting;  na- 
tions do  not  bear,  suffer,  endure, 
unless  the  very  depths  of  their  spirit 
responds  to  the  call  made  upon  them 
by  their  country's  need.  Not  in  any 
record  of  history  that  we  have  has 
any  nation  given  more  supreme  evi- 
dence of  devotion,  of  courage,  than 
the   Germans   in   the  recent   months. 


MR.  WELLS  ON  GERMANY. 


From    "The   Cliicago  Tribune,"    Sep- 
tember 14,  1914. 

Chicago,  Sept.  12. —  (Editor  of 
The  Tribune.) — In  Mr.  Wells'  "So- 
cial Forces  in  England  and  America" 
(Harper  Bros.)  you  will  find  on  page 
41: 

"It  is  usual  to  regard  Germany  as 
the  common  enemy.  We  in  Great 
Britain  are  now  intensely  jealous  of 
Germany.  We  are  intensely  jealous 
of  Germany  not  only  because  the 
Germans  outnumber  us  and  have  a 
much  larger  and  more  diversified 
country  than  ours,  and  lie  In  the 
very  heart  and  body  of  Europe,  but 
because  in  the  last  hundred  years, 
while  we  have  fed  on  platitudes  and 
vanity,  they  have  had  the  energy  and 
humility  to  develop  a  splendid  sys- 
tem of  national  education,  to  toll  at 
science  and  art  and  literature,  to 
develop  social  organization,  to  mas- 
ter and  better  our  methods  of  busi- 
ness and  industry,  and  to  clamber 
above  us  in  the  scale  of  civilization."^ 


170 


THE  ALLIAN'CE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


>nLITARLS!VI. 

Very  seldom  has  the  attractiveness 
of  a  cateh-wonl  been  better  exempli- 
fied thau  liy  the  grim  sounding  phrase 
"militarism,"  and  not  often  have  the 
multitudes  been  so  impudently  be- 
fooled by  a  hollow  word,  the  mean- 
ing of  which  was  a  mystery  to  every- 
body. 

Of  course,  there  has  been  here  in 
America  a  sensible  minority  who  from 
the  beginning  saw  the  absurdity  of 
these  two  propositions : 

(1)  That  Russia,  France  and  Eng- 
land were  not  militaristic  with  armies 
and  navies  about  three  times  as  strong 
as  (Jermany's,  who  was  surrounded 
and    incessantly    threatened    by    them; 

(2)  That  England  should  call  Ger- 
many militaristic,  when  she  had  a 
fleet  over  twice  as  large  as  Germany, 
whose  army  was  not  as  large  as  the 
armies  of  Russia  and  France,  not  eren 
half  as  large,  but  only  a  little  over  a 
third  the  size  of  her  enemies'  armies. 

"Militarism,"  the  dictionary  tells  us, 
"is  that  system  or  policy  which  causes 
nations  to  Iceep  up  great  armies  (or 
navies),  and  to  pay  excessive  attention 
to  military   affairs." 

"Excessive  attention."  there  lies  the 
crux  of  the  matter  and  that  is  the 
measure  we  may  use  to  find  out 
whether  militarism  is  to  he  found  in 
Germany    or    in    any   other    country. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the 
peace  strength  of  the  different  armies 
and    navies   was   as    follows: 

Battleships  and 
Army.     Dreadnoughts. 

Germany 800.419  35 

Great  Britain.    2i)0,r)4.5  71 

France     TtiO.OOO  23 

Russia    1,246,000  — 

In  other  words  Germany  had  an  armv 
of  SOO.OOO  men,  against  2,000.000  men 
of  France  and  Russia,  by  whom  she 
was  enclosed  and  openly  threatened. 
Germany  has  thirty-five  battleships 
and  dreadnoughts  against  ninety-four 
of  England  and  France,  who  no  less 
oi^enly  had  threatened  her  for  years 
on  the  seas. 

For  centuries  France  has  been  the 
a\owed  enemy  of  Germany,  for  decades 
Russia,  for  years  England.  Ever  since 
the  time  of  Caesar  has  Germany  been 
the  battleground  of  Europe  and  "in  the 
year  1914  her  bad  neighbors  intended 
once  more  to  devastate  her  green  fields, 
to  destroy  her  treasure,  her  commerce 
and  her  industries,  to  burn  her  cities 
and  villages.  Was  there  anything  to 
do  for  (Germany  but  to  arm,  and  to  in- 
crease her  armament  with  that  of  her 
neighbors?  Time  and  again  she  has 
stretched  out  the  hand  of  friendship 
t(.wards  her  Gallic  neighbor,  but  each 
time  it  was  refused  liy  France,  latter- 
ly because  England  had  begun  to  fan 
the  smoldering  embers  of  her  hatred 
into  flames  again. 

The  (juestion,  then,  is  whether  Ger- 
many with  an  army  of  800,000  men  paid 
excessive  attention  to  military  affairs, 
when  she  was  to  use  this  army  only 
in  defense,  and  against  armies  aggre- 
gating over  two  million  men.  Can  any 
sensible  man  answer  this  question  in 
the  aflirraative?  Whoever  does,  says 
liy  it  that  two  million  is  less  than 
eight    hundred    thousand,    that    thirty- 


five  is  more  than  ninety-four.  Russia 
had  fifty  per  cent,  more  soldiers  than 
Germany.  France  had  forty  thousand 
less,  but  as  Germany  had  sixty-seven 
million,  while  France  had  only  forty 
million  inhabitants,  the  latter"  should 
have  had  only  477,000  soldiers  instead 
of  760,000,  In  other  words  283,000  sol- 
diers less  than  she  actually  had,  not 
to  have  more  in  proportion  than  Ger- 
many. 

Can  any  but  madmen  assert  that 
Germany  with  eight  hundred  thousand 
soldiers  thought  of  aggression  against 
countries  with  over  two  million  sol- 
diers? By  such  aggression  Germany 
stood  to  gain  nothing  and  to  lose  everv- 
thing,  and  it  is  a  fact,  which  every- 
body can  verify,  that  in  the  beginning 
of  the  war  nobody  thought  that  Ger- 
many (even  with  Austria-Hungary 
helping)  had  any  chance  of  victory 
even  before  England  joined  her  allies. 
And  now  let  us  consider  a  while  the 
militarism  of  England,  not  as  exhibited 
by  her  mercenaries  (before  the  war), 
but  as  represented  by  her  navy  on  a 
peace  footing.  This  instrument"  of  her 
might  consisted  In  1913  of  625  vessels 
with  2,878  heavy  guns  and  1,146  tor- 
pedo tubes,  among  them  71  dread- 
noughts and  battleships,  while  Ger- 
many had  only  35  of  the  latter.  Eng- 
land's fleet  in  time  of  peace  was  twice 
as  large  as  Germany's,  and  why  Ger- 
many with  an  army  50  per"  cent, 
smaller  thau  Russia's  should  be  called 
the  home  of  "militarism"  while  Eng- 
land with  a  fleet  twice  the  size  of  Ger- 
many's never  was,  is  one  of  those  mys- 
teries, which,  like  the  man  in  the  iron 
mask,  will  never  be  solved.  And  it 
should  be  remembered  in  this  connec- 
tion tiiat  the  militarism  of  England, 
represented  by  her  fleet,  has  been  an 
objectionable  fact  these  two  or  three 
centuries,  while  Germany  has  existed 
only  since  1871. 

And  another  point  in  this  connec- 
tion ! 

With  wars  going  on  all  around  her, 
and  giving  her  wonderful  opportunities 
of  acting  as  contemptibly  as  lilngland 
did  in  August,  1914  (we  mention  only 
the  Boer  war  and  the  Russo-Japanese 
war),  Germany  stuck  to  her  policy  of 
honor  and  peace,  and  not  once  gave 
any  sign  that  she  would  use  her  army 
for  purix>.ses  of  aggression.  England, 
on  the  other  hand,  has,  through  the 
centuries,  used  her  fleet  only  once  or 
twice  for  home  defense,  but  mostly  for 
aggression,  and  has  in  all  of  her  "wars 
discarded  the  rules  of  fairness  and  in- 
ternational law.  Similar  to  France, 
who  under  Louis  XIV  stole  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  from  Germany  when  she  was 
busy  fighting  the  Turks,  perfidious  Al- 
bion has  always  used  the  misfortune  or 
weakness  of  other  countries  to  enrich 
herself  l>\i  conquest,  until  now  she  is 
the  tyrant  of  possessions  (so-called 
colonies)  all  over  the  world,  which  she 
holds  by  right  of  might,  rules  bv  the 
whip  of  the  slave-driver,  and  blesses 
with  rum.  opium  and  a   lying  press. 

And  now.  as  to  militarism.  What  is 
the  answer?~FTom  "The  Crucible." 


Germany  is  the  only  combatant 
that  is  publishing  a  list  of  her  dead 
and  wounded.  England,  France  and 
Russia  have  stopped  counting. — - 
From  "The  Fatherland."  New  York, 
October   28,   1914. 


A    WARXIXG. 

Editorial  from  the  "Milwaukee  Free 
Press,"  September  16,  1914. 

Isn't  there  danger  that  some  of  us 
— especially  certain  newspapers — are 
adopting  a  "holier  than  thou"  atti- 
tude with  respect  to  the  nations  in- 
volved in  the  terrible  European  war? 
The  pacific  temper  of  the  American 
people  is  not  to  be  underestimated. 
We  want  peace  with  all  the  world, 
and  we  are  prepared  to  go  to  the 
farthest  lengths  in  maintaining 
friendly  relations  with  our  fellow 
peoples.  America  leads  the  world  in 
the  promotion  of  those  means  that 
make  tor  the  peaceful  settlement  of 
international  disputes. 

At  the  same  time,  there  are  certain 
facts  in  our  government  and  our  his- 
tory which  we  must  bear  well  in 
mind  before  we  attempt  hostile  crit- 
icism on  the  ground  of  militaristic 
and  warlike  tendency;  we  must  do 
this,  or  run  the  danger  of  being  ac- 
cused of  Pharisaism. 

For  instance,  take  the  current  de- 
nunciation of  militarism  in  Europe. 
Do  the  good  people  who  give  ut- 
terance to  this  know  that  of  every 
dollar  annually  appropriated  by  the 
United  States  government  nearly  63 
cents  goes  for  war?  That  this  appro- 
priation is  almost  thirteen  times  as 
great  as  the  next  largest  appropriation 
• — which  is  for  rivers  and  harbors? 

Do  they  know  that  the  congress  set 
aside  $241,302..564.91  for  armament 
and  other  military  purposes  in  1914  and 
that  the  pensions  obligated  by  past 
wars  amounted  to  $180,300,000  for  the 
same  period? 

Do  these  critics  of  Europe  realize 
that  the  United  States  today  has  the 
second  largest  navy  of  the  world,  a 
navy  that  costs  us  over  $140,000,000 
every  year? 

Do  they  realize  that,  on  top  of  all 
this  federal  expenditure,  the  militia  of 
the  states,  compelled  by  national  law, 
costs  in  the  neighborhood  of  $5,000,000 
annually? 

When  we  consider  that  the  United 
States  has  no  dangerous  foes  on  her 
borders  and  no  entangling  alliances, 
that  she  is  splendidly  -isolated  and  un- 
equalled in  her  latent  powers  of  re- 
sources, can  we  justly,  in  the  face  of 
our  tremendous  military  expenditure, 
denounce,  let  us  say,  the  militarism  of 
Germany,  a  country  surrounded  by  a 
world  of  jealous,  militant  enemies? 

There  is  the  other  criticism  that 
there  is  no  justification  of  the  Euro- 
pean war ;  the  implication  being  that 
we.  under  the  circumstances,  could 
not  have  been  drawn  into  such  a  con- 
flict. 

The  European  war  had  its  immediate 
incentive  in  the  Austro-Servian  clash. 
Then  let  us  hark  back  to  our  recent 
war  with  Spain,  and  see  if  the  condi- 
tions are  not  somewhat  analogous. 

The  United  States  objected  to  the 
intolerable  conditions  in  Cuba,  which 
were  increasingly  affecting  our  gov- 
ernment and  our  citizens.  Austria  was 
similarly  concerned  with  making  an 
end  of  the  evil  and  bloody  machi- 
nations in  Servia  that  threatened  her 
peace. 

In  our  case  it  took  the  explosion 
of    the    Maine,    in    Austria's    case   the 


THE  GERMAN  MENACE— MILITARISM 


171 


assassination  of  the  crown  prince,  to 
bring  public  opinion  to  the  striking 
pitch  iind  cuuse  the  submission  of  an 
ultimatum  by  the  government  that 
coultl  mean  but  one  thing— war. 

We  were  no  more  content  to  submit 
the  Maine  disaster  to  a  Spanish  com- 
mission than  the  Austrians  were  to  sub- 
mit the  assassination  to  Servian  in- 
vestigators. We  had  our  own  Investi- 
gation just  as  the  Austrians  had  theirs, 
and  though  our  othcial  findings,  unlike 
those  of  Austria,  refused  to  lix  respon- 
sibility for  the  disaster,  public  opinion 
proceeded  on  the  justified  assumption  of 
Spanish  guilt  and  twenty  days  after  the 
rei)ort  of  our  commission,  congress  sent 
our  drastic,  war-compelling  demand  to 
Spain. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  con- 
nection that  just  as  the  United  States 
disavowed  any  intent  of  territorial  ac- 
quisition in  (,'uba.  so  did  Austria  in  the 
case  of  Servia.  In  each  case  the  gov- 
ernment made  clear  that  it  was  actu- 
ated by  the  sole  purpose  of  putting 
an  end  to  an  intolerable  condition  and 
of  punishing  those  responsible  for  it. 

We  point  out  these  facts  because  we 
think  it  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
in  our  efforts  and  our  prayers  for 
peace,  we  procee<l  in  charity  and  con- 
sideration for  our  battling  kin  across 
the  sea,  and  with  the  fullest  recogni- 
tion of  our  own  record  with  respect  to 
war  and  the  preparations  for  war. 

The  "holier  than  thou"  attitude  will 
not  get  us  anywhere. 


AX  AWAKENED  CONGRESS. 


SUBMARINE     IN     THE     SEA     AND 
ZEI'PELIN    IN    THE    AIR. 


Editorial    from    the    "Chicago   Even, 
ing  Post,"  September  24,  1914. 

England  in  somber  dignity,  with- 
out explanation  or  reproach,  an- 
nounces the  destruction  of  three  of 
her  great  cruisers  by  German  sub- 
marines. Berlin  says  that  but  one 
submarine,  U-9,  did  it. 

The  news  has  sent  thru  Britain 
a  thrill  more  deep  than  would  have 
come  from  the  rout  of  General 
French's  whole  "expeditionary  force." 

There  is  a  reason  for  this  pro- 
found feeling. 

Before  the  war  Sir  Percy  Scott, 
one  of  the  naval  authorities  of  Eng- 
land, told  the  Times  that  the  sub- 
marine would  render  all  navies,  even 
that  of  the  mistress  of  the  seas,  out 
of   date   and   ineffective. 

England's  supreme  reliance  in 
war — her  navy — faces  a  terror  as 
unknown  as  that  from  the  first  iron- 
clad when  it  sailed  among  the  Union 
ships  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay. 

Worse  than  that,  another  specter 
rises.  If  it  is  the  logical  develop- 
ment of  the  submarine  to  render  in- 
effective the  great  sea  forces  of  war, 
may  it  not  be  the  logical  develop- 
ment of  the  airship  to  render  in- 
effective the  great  land  forces  of 
war?  May  not  the  Zeppelin  be  to 
an  army  what  a  submarine  can  be 
to  a  navy? 

Is  Germany  holding  in  reserve 
these  two  untested  engines  of  war  to 
drive  home  her  final  thunderbolts? 
Is  this  the  basis  for  her  wonderful 
confidence?     Is  this  her  real  hope? 


Editorial  from  the  "Army  and  Navy 

Journal,"  New  York,  September 

5,  1914. 

The  first  step  toward  the  enactment 
of  necessary  military  legislation  next 
session  will  be  the  creation  of  a  joint 
committee  or  commission  to  look  into 
the  needs  of  the  Army  and  Navy.  The 
dreams  of  universal  peace  which  have 
lulled  the  slumbers  of  members  of 
Congress  have  been  dispelled  by  the 
European  war.  Those  who  have  been 
giving  serious  thought  to  national 
affairs  are  now  fully  awake  to  the 
necessities  of  preparing  the  country  for 
war. 

Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the 
great  struggle  in  Europe  it  is  now 
realized  in  Congress  that  this  nation 
will  be  confronted  with  new  dangers. 
The  success  of  the  Allies  will  increase 
the  power  of  Japan  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  Furthermore,  a  great  many 
leaders  of  both  houses  are  deeply  con- 
cernetl  with  the  alliance  between  Eng- 
land and  Japan.  It  is  insisted  by  Eng- 
land that  this  is  a  defensive  alliance, 
hut  the  word  defensive  in  international 
affairs  is  very  flexible.  Japan  might 
really  force  this  country  to  make  war 
while  constructively  it  would  be  on 
the  defensive.  In  that  event  England 
would  be  forced  to  join  with  Japan 
in  a  war  with  this  country  or  violate 
her  treaty  with  Japan.  Of  course, 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  prattling  just 
at  present  about  England  being  our 
mother  country,  but  two  of  our  wars 
have  been  with  England  and  in  the 
Civil  War,  England  supported  the 
South,  not  so  much  because  she  loved 
the  Confederacy  as  for  the  evident  pur- 
pose of  splitting  the  nation  in  twain. 
At  least  this  country  cannot  safely 
depend  upon  England  to  support  it 
cither  in  peace  or  war  against  her  ally 
in  the  Orient. 

With  the  success  of  Germany  some  of 
tlie  members  of  Congress  believe  that 
this  nation  would  be  called  upon  to  de- 
fend the  Monroe  Doctrine.  There  Is  an 
impression  that  Germany  is  not  friendly 
to  this  doctrine,  especially  as  it  does 
not  preclude  England  from  holding 
Canada  and  her  other  possessions. 
Germany  insists  that  there  is  no  foun- 
dation for  this  fear  and  that  she  is  a 
better  friend  to  the  United  States  than 
any  other  European  nation.  At  pres- 
ent all  of  the  belligerents  are  pro- 
fessing friendship  and  appealing  to  the 
United  Stales  for  moral  support.  There 
is  an  impression  that  the  United  States 
will  be  a  sort  of  an  umpire  in  the 
treaty  that  will  come  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  Rut  as  peacemaker  the 
United  Stales  may  incur  the  enmity  of 
some  one  or  more  of  the  great  Powers. 
Neither  lUissia  nor  Japan  ever  appre- 
ciated what  this  country  did  In  the 
negotiations  at  the  close  of  the  Ilusso- 
Jaiianese  war.  and  there  are  others  be- 
sides the  parties  to  the  controversy  who 
regard  our  Interference  as  an  imperti- 
nent piece  of  intermeddling.  The  war 
party  in  Jajian  was  under  the  convic- 
tion' that  the  T'nited  States  robbed 
Japan  of  much  of  its  fruits  of  victory 
in  proposing  peace  at  the  time  it  did. 
This,  it  is  claimed,  has  created  un- 
friendly feeling  in  Japan  which  will 
some  time  cause  trouble  between  the 
two  countries. 


Up  to  this  time  only  a  few  members 
of  Congress  have  given  serious  con- 
sideration to  the  question  of  national 
defense.  In  a  begrudging  and  half- 
heartetl  manner  they  have  voted  for 
the  naval  program  and  have  begrudged 
evefy  cent  that  was  expended  on  the 
Army.  They  have  refused  absolutely  to 
believe  that  there  ever  will  be  any 
serious  danger  of  a  conilict  with  a  first 
class  Power.  Your  average  Congress- 
man believes  that  the  armament  of  all 
of  the  great  European  nations  is  a  use- 
less expenditure  and  that  if  we  should 
happen  to  be  drawn  Into  a  war  we 
would  depend  upon  the  patriotic  spirit 
of  the  jieople  of  the  country  to  defend 
the  nation.  But  every  engagement  in 
the  European  war  tends  to  dispel  this 
illusion.  It  does  not  recjuire  a  mili- 
tary expert  to  see  that  it  is  trained 
soldiers  that  are  winning  the  battles 
in  Europe.  The  success  of  the  German 
arm  is  now  admitted  to  be  due  to 
the  wise  military  policy  of  that  country. 

Quite  naturally,  members  of  Congress 
realize  that  it  is  now  their  duty  to 
take  up  and  solve  the  question  of  na- 
tional defense  for  the  United  States. 
They  have  paid  very  little  attention  to 
the  recommendations  submitted  by  the 
War  Department  from  time  to  time  and 
earnestly  desire  the  advice  of  the  joint 
conunission  or  committee.  This  com- 
mission will  probably  take  up  the  en- 
lire  question,  and  the  future  military 
policy  of  Congress  will  depend  largely 
uiion   its   report. 


THE     Ain     STRENGTH     OP     THE 
WARRING   N.^TIONS. 

FYom  the   "Questions  and   Answers" 

Column   in   the   "New  Yorker 

Staats-Zeitung." 

N.  C.  D.  What  is  the  air  strength 
of  Germany  and  Austria  and  of  the 
Allies?  Is  the  dirigible  a  more  serv- 
iceable war  instrument  than  the 
aeroplane? 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the 
"air  strength"  of  the  principal  par- 
ticipants  was  given   as  follows: 

Dirig's  Aerop's 

Germany 22  320 

Austria-Hungary    ...        7  100 

Totals    29  420 

France     16  834 

Russia    10  164 

England    6  250 

Belgium     2  40 

Servia 10 

Montenegro 1 

Totals    34       1,299 

It  should  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  these  figures,  though  per- 
haps the  best  available  to  the  pub- 
lic at  the  time,  are  only  approxi- 
mate. The  true  strength  of  the  vari- 
ous nations  in  ai-roplanes  and  dirigi- 
bles is  known  only  to  their  respective 
governments,  it  is  well  known,  for 
example,  that  Germany  is  much  bet- 
ter equipped  with  Zeppelin  dirigibles 
than  this  statement  infers. 

The  question  of  the  comparative 
value  of  the  dirigible  balloon  and  the 
aeroplane  as  an  Instrument  of  war 
is  still  to  be  answered.  As  far  as 
we  are  able  to  see  now,  as  a  result 
of  their  respective  performances  In 
the  present  war,  the  aeroplane  is 
better  adapted  to  scouting  operations. 


172 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


A  SWEDISH  POET   .\BOUT  THE 
GERMAN  ARMY. 


The  Crucible. 

The  Swedish  poet,  Bengt  Berg, 
who  is  one  of  the  best  known  writers 
of  the  present  generation,  is  staj^ng 
in  Berlin  at  present.  Like  his  fa- 
mous countryman,  Sven  Hedin,  he 
too  felt  the  longing  to  follow  the 
war  near  the  front  but  while  Sven 
Hedin  selected  the  western  theater 
of  war,  Berg  chose  the  East.  Here 
he  has  watched  the  operations  in  Po- 
land for  three  weeks,  and  has  lately 
returned  to  his  home.  In  an  inter- 
view he  spoke  as  follows: 

"Of  the  things  which  surprise  me 
most,  one  observation  astonished  me 
especially,  and  that  was  that  I  did 
not  notice  anything  of  the  much  ma- 
ligned militarism.  It  anj^where  and 
at  any  time  this  militarism  certainly 
should  have  shown  during  the  war 
and  in  time  of  battle,  but  1  could  not 
see  anything  of  it.  The  explanation 
of  this  seems  to  me  to  be  the  smooth 
working  of  everything  that  is  neces- 
sary. Officers  and  privates  all  seem 
to  feel  themselves  as  working  towards 
one  great  end:  The  victory  which 
must  be  won.  Everything  is  deed 
and  activity,  nothing  is  word  or  ges- 
ture. During  the  battles  near  Boli- 
mow  I  was  standing  among  a  group 
of  high  officers  who  were  directing 
the  battle,  and  had  a  good  opportu- 
ity  to  make  observations.  They  were 
all  men  of  serious  and  even  severe 
countenance,  but  I  said  to  myself: 
'not  one  of  all  these  men  seem  to 
worry  about  the  judgment  which  his 
superiors  later  on  may  pronounce 
about  his  orders,  they  all  seem  to  act 
without  fear  and  doubt  and  still, 
fully  conscious  of  their  responsi- 
bility.' 

"And  there  was  another  thing  that 
struck  me;  that  these  men  did  not 
seem  to  feel  any  hatred  against  their 
enemies.  It  is  true  when  I  stood  at 
the  batteries,  that  I  saw  the  artillery- 
men load  their  guns  as  it  were  with 
a  prayer  to  carry  death  and  destruc- 
tion into  the  ranks  of  their  enemies. 
It  is  also  true  that  the  German  sol- 
diers become  drunk  with  the  battle- 
rage  in  a  bayonet  charge.  But  as 
soon  as  the  charge  is  over  the  rage 
is  gone  and  they  know  in  the  enemy 
only  the  man  who  suffers  from  the 
horrors  of  war  exactly  as  they  do 
themselves.  And  how  could  these 
men  keep  up  their  anger  against 
these  enemies  when  they  are  help- 
less in  their  hands?  I  shall  not  speak 
here  of  the  Cossacks,  but  I  have  seen 
the  Russian  soldiers  as  prisoners. 
One  can  hardly  imagine  anything 
more  good-natured  and  gentler  than 
the  Russian  soldier,  so  that  1  had 
only  this  one  thought:  how  can  these 
big  children  be  forced  to  march 
against  the  Germans  of  whom  each 
one  knows  what  he  wants  and  what 
he  must  do?  The  Germans  are  men, 
mentally  as  well  as  physically,  and  as 
a  Scandinavian,  I  was  surprised  to 
meet  with  so  many  blond-haired  and 
blue-eyed  men.  I  have  lived  long 
on  the  Rhine  and  in  Berlin,  and  so 
I  had  no  idea  that  there  was  still 
so  much  undiluted  Germanic  blood 
in  the  veins  of  the  German  people. 
These  soldiers  are  well-nourished  and 


even  out  in  the  field  they  are  want- 
ing for  nothing.  On  the  occasion  of 
the  Emperor's  birthday  I  spent  the 
evening  in  one  of  the  foremost 
trenches  where  they  had  fixed  them- 
selves up  quite  comfortably  although 
the  Russians  did  not  give  us  any 
peace.  We  had  quite  a  little  feast, 
and  there  was  plenty  of  everything. 
What  I  saw  on  the  table  in  that 
trench  might  have  awakened  the  envy 
of  many  a  well-situated  family.  Don't 
misunderstand  me,  though!  There 
were  no  luxuries,  only  plain  things, 
but  in  splendid  quality  and  in  abund- 
ance. 1  wish  their  enemies  could  see 
how  well  the  German  soldiers  are 
cared  for,  and  that  they  could  throw 
a  glance  into  the  stores  in  Tilsit 
where  eatables  are  sold.  Since  I 
have  seen  all  this  I  can  understand 
how  vain  an  endeavor  it  must  remain 
to  starve  Germany.  And  as  to  con- 
quering her — the  very  idea  is  ab- 
surd." 


XAVALIS.M    VS.    MILITARIS.M. 


THE   COST  OF  .\RMAMENT. 


Eflitorial  from  the  "Milwaukee  Free 
Press,"    September   17,    1914. 

A  reader,  referring  to  our  editorial 
of  yesterday,  "A  Warning,"  asks  for 
figures  on  the  cost  of  maintaining  the 
armies,  navies  and  other  military  de- 
fenses of  the  European  powers  as 
compared  with  those  of  the  United 
States. 

The  estimated  cost  of  the  British 
military  and  naval  establishment,  not 
including  fortifications,  for  the  fiscal 
year  1913-14  amounts  to  $448,440,- 
000. 

The  military  and  naval  budget  of 
Russia,  for  the  same  period,  com- 
plete, calls  for  $440,300,000. 

The  estimated  military  expenditure 
of  France  for  1913  is  $191,431,580, 
while  her  navy  for  1914  is  placed  at 
$119,571,400.  A  fair  total  estimate 
for  the  fiscal  year  is,  therefore,  $312,- 
000,000. 

The  cost  of  the  German  army  in 
1912-13  amounted  to  $183,090,000, 
while  the  German  naval  estimate  for 
1913-14  is  $111,300,000.  A  total  of 
.$29.5,000,0  00  is  therefore  fair. 

The  appropriations  of  the  LTnited 
States  for  army,  navy  and  other  mili- 
tary purposes  for  the  fiscal  year 
1913-14  exceeds  $241,300,000,  which 
does  not  include  some  $5,000,000 
spent  on  state  militia  and  the  cost 
of  military  training  at  state  univer- 
sities and  private  military  schools. 

Italy  expected  to  spend  $133,928,- 
000  on  army  and  navy  during  the 
year;  Austro-Hungary  $124,300,000, 
and   Japan   about   $95,500,000. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  United 
States  ranks  almost  as  the  equal  of 
Germany  as  a  military  nation;  judged 
from  the  standpoint  of  expenditure; 
they  occupying  respectively  fourth 
and  fifth  place  in  the  list. 

We  leave  it  to  our  readers:  Which 
of  these  nations  has  the  most  and 
which  has  the  least  warranty  for 
these  astounding  expenditures  in 
preparation  for  war? 


(From  "The  Chicago  Tribune,"  Sep- 
tember 18,   1914.) 

Chicago,  Sept.  11. —  [Editor  of  The 
Tribune.] — Sir  Edward  Grey  con- 
tends that  Britain  is  at  war  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  German  mili- 
tarism. What  does  he  mean  by  this? 
Is  militarism  analogous  with  con- 
scription? All  continental  powers 
have  conscription,  Russia,  France, 
Italy,  etc.,  as  well  as  Germany. 

Does  militarism  mean  an  abnor- 
mally large  standing  army?  The 
standing  army  of  Germany  is  about 
800,000  strong,  that  of  France  780,- 
000,  that  of  Russia,  1,500,000.  Of 
those  liable  to  military  service,  87 
per  cent  had  to  undergo  military 
training  in  France;  in  Germany  only 
58  per  cent. 

Great  Britain  has  always  claimed 
that  she  needed  a  navy  double  the 
size  of  any  other  nation.  Is  this  not 
navalism?  British  claimed  that  she 
needed  this  navy  for  home  defense. 
But  in  every  war  of  her  history  she 
has  used  this  navy  for  aggression, 
and  the  destruction  of  German  trade 
proves  today  the  same  old  story. 

Is  British  navalism  better  than 
German  militarism?  Is  Russian  or 
French  militarism  better  than  Ger- 
man? Dr.  C.  Dencker. 


OUR  OWN  BATTLE. 


France  has  long  specialized  In 
submarines.  What  is  it  going  to  do 
with  them?  —  From  "The  Daily 
News."  Chicago,  September  28,  1914. 


By    Harlowe    Randall    Hoyt,    in    the 
"Milwaukee  Free  Press,"  Sep- 
tember  15,    1914. 

It   was  a  summer's  evening. 
Old  Caspar's  work  was  done, 
And  he  within  a  beer  saloon 
Called  for  another  one. 
A  newsboy  passing  by  just  then 
Cried  out  an  "Extra!"  loud; 
And  Caspar  bought  one  for  a  cent. 
And  read  it  to  the  crowd. 

"They   say    the   Germans    have   been 

licked, 
And  all  were  put  to  rout; 
Prance  claims  another  victory 
With  many  a  cheer  and  shout; 
Yes,  Germany  is  licked,  but  still 
Goes  on  toward  Paris  with   a  will." 

"They  say  the  English  cleaned  them 

up, 
And  forced  them  back  again; 
That  Russia  shattered  up  their  line, 
And  caused  the  kaiser  pain; 
That  Germany  is  licked,  but  still 
Goes   on   toward   Paris  with  a  will." 

"They  say  it  was  an  awful  fight 

That   put  the  foe  to  rout; 

(I'd  give  a  dollar  if  I  knew 

What  this  is  all  about.) 

The   kaiser's   troops   are   licked,    but 

still 
Go  on  to  Paris  with  a  will." 

"I  wish  you  would  explain  it,  please. 

To  those  assembled  here." 

Spoke  up  a  man,  and  ordered  up 

Another  round  of  beer. 

"Explain  it?"    Caspar  cried,  "Search 

me! 
But  'twas  a  famous  victory." 


THE  GERMAN   MENACE— MILITARISM 


173 


The  German  Menace  as  Seen  Through  British  Eyes 


Note  on  the  European  War. 


The  Open  Conrt. 

By  Philip  E.  B.  Jourdain. 

This  note  is  not  meant  to  blame 
those  responsible  for  the  war,  nor 
even — usuallj'  a  stage  reached  long 
after  this  process,  to  find  out  who 
were  responsible  or  to  investigate  the 
causes  of  the  war.  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  all  the  people  of  Great  Brit- 
ain are  thoroughly  convinced  that 
they  have  come  into  this  war  for  two 
reasons  and  two  only.  The  first  is 
an  obligation  of  honor:  an  obligation 
to  protect  the  neutrality  of  Belgium. 
They  believe  firmly,  and  on  good  au- 
thority, that  the  German  statements 
that  France  intended  to  violate  this 
neutrality,  and  that  Great  Britain 
would  have  meekly  allowed  her  to 
do  so,  are  false.  The  second  is  a 
love  of  liberty,  and  consequent 
hatred  of  militarism.  To  the  outside 
world,  Britain  may  possibly  appear 
to  be  a  country  largely  governed  by 
a  king  or  queen  and  an  aristocracy 
of  birth.  This  is  not  true.  When  a 
king  of  England  thought  he  was  ap- 
IMiiiited  by  God  and  consequently  op- 
pressed his  people,  the  people  bore 
it  much  longer  than  reasonable  peo- 
ple ought,  but  at  last  they  cut  off 
his  head.  Ijong  ago,  when  peers 
were  respected  far  more  than  they 
are  now,  a  Lord  Ferrers,  in  a  high- 
handed way,  murdered  a  servant  of 
his.  He  was  tried  and  condemned  to 
death.  To  show  proper  respect  to 
the  aristocracy,  he  was  allowed  to 
drive  to  the  gallows  in  his  coach  and 
four.  .  .  .  but  he  was  hanged. 
Britain  is  a  pleasant  place:  there  is 
a  court  and  gay  ceremonies  which 
cost  a  lot  of  money  and  an  aristocracy 
which  is  toadied,  and  yet  nearly  all 
Britons  are  republicans;  the  rest  are 
social    democrats. 

Then  think  how  the  British  now- 
adays show  that  they  know  the  value 
that  others  put  on  liberty.  Look 
how  properly  South  Africa  and  Aus- 
tralia have  been  treated  lately.  I 
think  that  all  thoughtful  British  peo- 
|iii'  would  a«roc  that  all  the  British 
possessions  will  be  made  self-govern- 
ing when  they  have  shown  themselves 
to  be  fit  for  it,  even  though  it  should 
cost  the  mother  country  some  sacri- 
fices. If  Britons  and  their  nominal 
ruler  had  all  been  as  sensible  in  the 
reign  of  George  III,  Britain  would 
never  have  lost  the  United  States. 
Britons  do  not  believe  that  Germany 
has  the  ability,  experience  or  broad- 
mindedness  necessary  for  dealing 
with  colonies.  German  ideals  would, 
they  think,  be  forced  on  German  pos- 
sessions as  German  military  ideals 
are  forced  on  the  German  people. 
And  this  brings  me  to  the  chief  point 
of  this  note. 

Let  us  consider  one  aspect  of  the 
war:  the  aspect  of  the  possible 
spread  of  German  civilization  where 
Russian,  French,  Belgian  or  British 
civilization  now  is.  Whether  or  no 
the  necessity  for  this  propaganda  is, 
as  General  Bernhardi  seems  to  think, 
a  cause  of  the  war,  I  am  not  con- 
cerned to  inquire.  If  the  Germans 
are  ultimately  victorious,  the  spread 


in  question  will  certainly  be  an  ef- 
fect, and  may  possibly  be  an  effect 
which  is  a  fulfillment  of  an  ideal  that 
made  the  war  seem  a  righteous  one 
to  the  Germans.  It  so,  the  ideal  is 
not  worthy  of  the  sacrifice  of  even 
a  small  part  of  a  nation's  honor  or 
life  or  even  prosperity.  We  can 
neither  shut  our  eyes  to  the  disgrace- 
ful brutalities  that  war  must  neces- 
sarily involve,  nor  to  the  fact  that 
such  brutalities  are  exaggerated  by 
enemies  and  hidden  or  excused  by 
friends.  It  is  the  custom  of  people 
to  speak  as  if  they  were  far  more 
bloodthirsty  than  they  really  are.  The 
British  are  usually  supposed  to  be 
very  reserved,  and  yet  I  have  heard 
a  wish  expressed  by  a  kindly  old 
woman  in  an  omnibus  that  a  certain 
foreigner  who  attempted  to  shoot  a 
policeman  in  London  should  be  boiled 
in  oil.  Another  story  illustrates  the 
essential  calmness  and  good  humor 
of  the  British  disposition,  in  spite  of 
alarming  words.  An  American  visi- 
tor was  listening  to  a  very  high- 
sounding  oration  in  Trafalgar  Square. 
The  speaker  was  referring  to  some 
one  now  dead  and  who  was  a  prom- 
inent member  of  the  English  royal 
family.  "  'K  ought  to  be  shot,  the 
swine  I"  said  the  orator.  The 
American  visitor  said  in  an  awe- 
struck voice  to  a  policeman  who 
was  standing  by:  "There,  do  you 
hear  that?  What  are  you  going  to 
do  about  it?"  The  policeman  just 
smiled:  "Lor'  bless  you,  sir,"  he 
.said.  •"  'e  don't  mean  no  'arm."  The 
policeman's  view  was  quite  correct. 
It  is  nearly  always  misleading  to 
draw  distinctions  between  national 
characteristics;  at  the  bottom  all  na- 
tions are  very  much  alike.  The 
ability  of  doing  noble  things  in  an 
emergency  is  common  to  all;  the 
willingness  to  make  a  great  sacrifice 
and  to  beSr  it  through  tedious  years 
without  making  a  noise  about  it,  is 
not  confined  to  any  particular  nation 
or  group  of  nations.  All  nations  are 
riddled  through  and  through  w-ith 
vanity  and  snobbery.  Indeed, 
broadly  speaking,  snobbishness  seems 
to  be  the  main  thing  that  differenti- 
ates civilized  peoples  from  uncivil- 
ized ones.  We  all  have  a  love  of 
home  and  comfort.  In  the  upper 
classes  and  among  men  and  women 
of  genius,  a  straining  after  ideals  is 
often  a  more  powerful  desire  than 
the  wish  for  comfort;  but  martyrs, 
musicians,  poets  and  scientific  men 
are  not  the  monopoly  of  Teutonic 
or  Slav  or  Anglo-Saxon  nations.  I 
do  not  suppose  that  good  humor  is 
a  peculiarity  of  one's  own  nation. 
The  only  things  that  seem  to  be 
possibly  a  national  peculiarity  are 
.iokes;  but  even  here  liability  to 
laugh  at  the  jokes  of  other  nations 
does  not  necessarily  mean  that  the 
jokers  of  one's  own  nation  are  the 
only  amusing  jokers  there  are. 
Probably  Americans  and  Britains 
have  more  or  less  the  same  sense  of 
humor,  and  this  may  be  due  to  their 
common  origin.  The  two  sayings 
about  the  war  which  appeal  uni- 
versally to  Englishmen's  sense  of 
humor   were   both,   if  I   am  not  mis- 


taken, first  said  by  Americans.  One 
is:  "Nobody  seems  to  be  on  the  side 
of  the  German's  except  God,  and  we 
have  only  the  Kaiser's  word  for 
that."  The  other  is:  "There  is  only 
one  thing  that  the  Germans  could  do 
which  would  be  worse  than  the  de- 
struction of  Rheims  Cathedral,  and 
that  is  its  restoration."  As  further 
evidence  that  the  American  and  Eng- 
lish senses  of  humor  are  fundamen- 
tally alike,  these  two  facts  should 
be  remembered:  first,  Mark  Twain 
is  appreciated  in  England;  secondly, 
no  American  laughs  at  "Punch," 
and  no  Englishman  does 
either. 

Since  all  nations  have  a  good  deal 
of  common  ground  on  which  to  build 
up  a  friendship,  it  is  necessary  that 
each  nation  should  use  that  under- 
standing which  discovers  the  lova- 
bility  of  the  people  one  knows  to 
make  the  thought  of  each  nation  well 
understood  by  all  other  nations.  It 
is  a  great  mistake  to  imagine  that 
any  of  us  can  do  merely  with  that 
part  of  the  civilization  of  a  particu- 
lar people  which  finds  expression  in 
print,  music  or  pictures;  and  this 
truth,  which,  as  it  happens,  Ameri- 
cans have  grasped  more  firmly  and 
put  into  practice  more  fully  than  any 
other  nation,  I  shall  try  to  illustrate 
by  considering  shortly  those  con- 
tributions of  Germany  to  civilization, 
with  which  I  am  acquainted.  I  think 
that,  if  one  wishes  to  say  anything  of 
the  least  value,  it  is  to  be  recom- 
mended that  one  should  not  stray  out 
of  the  narrow  domain  of  what  one 
knows. 

I  shall  then  leave  out  of  serious 
consideration  the  realms  of  art  and 
most  of  the  realms  of  science.  Most 
of  us  know,  with  some  reason  for 
knowing,  that  almost  the  whole  of 
the  art  of  music  is  due  to  Germany, 
and  that  hardly  anything  in  the  arts 
of  sculpture  and  painting  is  due  to 
Germany.  In  literature,  it  is  a 
platitude  that  Germany  stands  far 
below  almost  every  other  civilized 
European  nation.  In  philosophy,  it 
is  a  debatable  point  whether  the  Ger- 
mans can  be  put  above  the  British: 
they  can  undoubtedly  be  put  above 
all  other  nations.  We  come  to  the 
sciences. 

In  the  first  place,  every  one  must 
admit  that  the  bulk  of  the  tremen- 
dously valuable  work  of  the  organi- 
zation of  research  and  reports  of  re- 
searches during  the  last  fifty  years 
has  been  done  by  Germany.  In 
mathematics,  physics,  chemistry  and 
other  natural  sciences,  it  is  to  Ger- 
man iHdustry,  German  talent  and 
German  organization  that  we  are  in- 
debted for  abridged  and  permanent 
records  of  nearly  everything  that 
has  happened  in  science  over  the 
whole  world,  and  which  otherwise 
would  probably  have  been  quite  lost. 
Also — and  what  is  far  more  import- 
ant— there  have  been  many  eminent 
Germans  who  have  supplied  the  ideas 
that  other  men  write  about.  In 
mathematics  during  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  work  of  German  mathe- 
maticians like  Gauss,  Grassmann, 
Dirichlet,       Riemann,       Weierstrass, 


174 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


Steiner  and  Georg  Cantor  is  certainly 
more  important  than  the  work  done 
by  the  mathematicians  of  any  other 
nation.  In  physics,  any  candid  In- 
quirer must  admit  that  the  most  im- 
portant worli  has  been  done  by  the 
pliysicists  of  Great  Britain.  If  any 
of  the  physical  worlds  of  that  original 
and  open-minded  man  Ernst  Mach  be 
examined,  we  shall  find  almost  on 
every  page  warm  and  unstinting 
praise  given  to  men  like  Maxwell, 
Kelvin  and  Joule.  And  Mach's 
praise  is  worth  having.  As  a  critic, 
he  is  just  and  penetrating,  as  witness 
his  estimate  of  Dalton's  achieve- 
ments in  his  "Principles  of  the  The- 
ory of  Heat"  or  of  Newton's  achieve- 
ments  in   his   "Mechanics." 

In  a  branch  of  science  which  is 
now  very  closely  allied  to  mathe- 
matics— I  mean  modern  logic — the 
part  played  by  Germany  is  extraordi- 
narily unimportant.  It  is  true  that 
one  of  the  greatest  of  Germans, 
Leibniz,  may  be  said  to  have  orig- 
inated modern  logic,  but  the  majority 
of  his  writings  on  it  remained  un- 
published for  more  than  two  hundred 
years.  The  beginnings  of  it  were  re- 
discovered about  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  by  two  English- 
men, George  Boole  and  Augustus  De 
Morgan;  developed  importantly  by 
an  American,  Charles  Peirce;  and 
developed  less  importantly  and  sys- 
tematized in  a  work  of  incredible  pro- 
lixity by  a  German,  Ernst  Schroder. 
I  omit  all  lesser  names.  Then  came 
the  truly  great  work  of  a  German, 
Gottlob  Frege,  which  only  began  to 
be  appreciated  about  ten  years  ago, 
and  is  not  yet  properly  appreciated 
by  any  German  logician  or  mathema- 
tician. Scliriider,  indeed,  quite  mis- 
understood the  purpose  of  Frege's 
work.  Later  on  came  the  work  of 
the  Italians,  Giuseppe  Peano  and  his 
school.  Schroder  misunderstood 
them  and  showed  a  miraculous  ob- 
tuseness  in  asserting  over  and  over 
again  that  he  could  not  accept  a  dis- 
tinction of  ideas  pointed  out  by 
Peano.  Peano's  distinction  is  quite 
easy  to  see  when  it  is  pointed  out. 
At  present  the  chief  cultivators  of 
modern  logic  are  English,  but  im- 
portant parts  have  been  taken  by 
Americans,  Italians  and  Frenchmen. 
Germany  has  hitherto  taken  no  part 
in  one  of  the  most  important  philo- 
sophical movements  there  can  be, 
giving  as  it  does,  definite  information 
about  the  foundations  of  the  exact 
sciences. 

These  lines  have  served  to  show, 
by  a  very  important  example,  that 
if  we  confine  ourselves  to  German 
science  we  miss  a  very  important 
part  of  what  has  been  done.  There 
is  not  even  an  intelligent  account 
of  the  principles  of  the  exact  sciences 
published  in  the  whole  of  Germany. 
In  this  respect  the  Germans  have 
shown  unexampled  obtuseness.  This 
is  not  national  prejudice,  nor  is  it 
my  intention  to  depreciate  the  noble 
work  the  Germans  have  done  in 
many  other  branches  of  science.  But 
1  merely  wish  to  express  strongly  my 
feeling  that  discovery  of  the  truth 
is  only  to  be  reached  by  promoting 
the  mutual  understanding  of  nations. 
One  of  the  features  of  the  science  of 
the  last  ten  years  has  been  the 
growth  of  international  journals  de- 


voted to  the  discussion  of  scientific 
subjects.  To  this  end  both  "The 
Open  Court"  and  "The  Monist"  con- 
stantly contribute;  and  only  by  the 
help  of  a  growth  of  understanding 
between  nations  and  the  perception 
that  we  are  all  really  very  much  alike 
and  all  seek  very  much  the  same  ends 
can  a  lasting  peace  be  secured. 


>IR.     JOVRDAIN'S    NOTE    OX    THE 
WAR. 

By  the  Editor. 
The  Open  Court. 

When  the  editor  of  "The  Open 
Court"  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  present  crisis  in  international 
politics  should  be  discussed,  he 
thought  at  once  of  having  an  article 
published  whicli  would  represent  the 
position  opposite  to  his  own.  He 
himself,  who  has  always  been  a 
strong  and  outspoken  friend  of  the 
English,  has  taken  the  German  posi- 
tion and  has  done  so  for  reasons  set 
forth  in  the  October  issue  of  "The 
Open  Court."  There  is  scarcely  any- 
thing gained  by  attempting  to  de- 
fend either  Russia  or  France,  for 
their  motives  in  entering  into  the 
war  are  plain.  We  are  interested  to 
learn  the  reasons  which  have  moved 
England  to  join  Russia  and  France 
in  this  tremendous  struggle. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  Open 
Court  Publishing  Company  has  been 
in  correspondence  with  Mr.  Philip 
E.  B.  Jourdain,  a  scholar  of  English 
training  in  close  touch  with  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge,  and  we  take 
pleasure  in  presenting  on  another 
page  his  "Note  on  the  European 
War,"  but  must  confess  that  the 
amiable  character  of  Mr.  Jourdain 
has  prevented  him  from  speaking  out 
his  mind  with  special  vigor,  though 
he  feels  very  strongly  the  justice  of 
England's  cause.  We  quote  from  a 
private  letter  the  following  passage: 
"For  myself,  the  whole  of  the  pro- 
ceedings which  led  to  the  war  seems 
to  me  to  bear  so  strongly  against 
Germany  that  I  cannot  believe  that 
England  can  be  considered  as  an  in- 
stigator of  the  war  or  to  have  en- 
tered the  fight  through  any  but  hon- 
orable motives." 

In  another  letter  Mr.  Jourdain  re- 
gards as  the  main  reason  of  the  war 
the  difference  between  the  English 
and  the  German  people,  saying  that 
the  English  are  superior  to  Germany 
in  the  development  of  individualism 
and  have  an  innate  dislike  for  Ger- 
man militarism.  Mr.  Jourdain  has 
strong  English  sympathies,  and  I  as- 
sume as  a  matter  of  course  that  the 
large  majority  in  England  feel  as 
strongly  as  he,  if  not  more  so,  that 
English  politics  are  just.  The  edi- 
tor of  "The  Open  Court"  himself  feels 
just  as  vigorously  that  Great  Brit- 
ain has  done  wrong,  and  if  the 
people  of  England  do  not  know  why 
Germany  feels  so  bitter  against  Great 
Britain,  it  is  simply  because  they  are 
not  sufficiently  informed  about  the 
secret  treaties  and  the  motives  which 
have  led  the  British  cabinet  to  de- 
clare war. 

Mr.  Jourdain  expresses  the  con- 
viction of  the  English  people  as  to 
the  causes  of  the  war  as  follows: 
"The  first  is  an  obligation  of  honor. 


an  obligation  to  protect  the  neutral- 
ity of  Belgium."  Certainly  it  is  an 
obligation  of  honor  to  Belgium  to 
declare  war,  in  view  of  prior  prom- 
ises and  the  inducements  offered  her 
to  join  the  Triple  Entente  against 
Germany.  If  the  documents  found 
at  Brussels  and  Antwerp  which 
prove  a  secret  understanding  be- 
tween England  and  Belgium  are  not 
falsified  by  the  German  authorities 
who  claim  to  have  them  in  their 
possession,  the  English  were  indeed 
in  honor  bound  to  come  to  the  rescue 
of  Belgium.  But  was  it  right  to 
enter  into  this  secret  understanding? 
The  English  government  did  it,  not 
the  English  people.  The  English 
people  knew  nothing  of  it  and  can- 
not be  accused  of  having  made  these 
promises  with  France  and  Russia 
and  afterwards  with  Belgium.  I  feel 
strongly  convinced  that  the  people 
would  have  objected  to  all  of  these 
entangling  alliances. 

In  England  the  spread  of  democ- 
racy is  apparent,  not  real.  The  Eng- 
lish government  has  taken  care  to 
make  the  people  believe  in  the  preva- 
lence of  democracy  among  them,  but 
democracy  does  not  exist  in  fact.  In 
Germany  the  people  take  a  much 
greater  part  in  politics  and  are  a 
factor  which  the  government  must 
reckon  with,  while  in  England  the 
people  can  easily  be  ignored;  in  fact 
it  is  ignored  and  the  masses  of  the 
people  are  absolutely  indifferent  to 
the  foreign  policy  of  the  empire.  Lib- 
erty in  England  is  a  fiction  and  only 
concerns  the  personal  freedom  of  a 
man  in  his  house — what  he  shall  eat 
and  drink  and  how  he  shall  amuse 
himself,  the  laws  which  touch  the 
price  of  bread,  and  labor  questions. 
In  imperial  matters  the  people's  in- 
terest scarcely  goes  beyond  the  ques- 
tion of  home  rule  in  Ireland. 

1  do  not  doubt  the  love  of  liberty 
in  England.  Nor  do  I  doubt  that 
every  man  there  is  free  to  pursue 
his  business,  and  every  farmer  is 
master  of  his  own  fields  and  deter- 
mines what  he  shall  sow  and  what 
he  shall  do  with  his  earnings;  but  he 
has  no  right,  not  even  the  slightest 
chance,  to  influence  the  politics  of 
the  country.  He  is  kept  in  ignorance 
and  is  satisfied  to  be  told  that  Great 
Britain  is  the  freest  country  in  the 
world. 

The  English  hate  militarism  be- 
cause they  dislike  the  idea  of  service 
in  the  army.  In  my  opinion  it  would 
be  as  good  for  the  English  as  for 
any  other  people  in  the  world  to 
serve  in  the  army  and  be  educated 
in  strict  obedience  to  duty  whatever 
that  duty  may  be.  to  learn  something 
of  manhood  and  be  ready  to  come  to 
the  defense  of  their  country.  No 
doubt  the  English  aspire  to  be  gen- 
tlemen, and  I  must  confess  that  great 
numbers  of  them  become  gentlemen, 
which  makes  it  so  pleasant  to  deal 
with  them;  but  it  would  be  to  their 
own  interest  if  they  would  attain  to 
the  higher  ideal  of  becoming  "men," 
and  military  service  is  a  very  practi- 
cal method  of  imparting  manhood  to 
both  the  over-refined  dude  of  the 
city  and  the  awkward  son  of  the 
farmer. 

German  militarism  has  been  mis- 
represented in  English  periodicals 
all   over  the  world.      Above  all,  it  is 


THE  GERMAN   MENACE— MILITARISM 


175 


not  known  that  German  militarism 
makes  the  German  people  peaceful. 
It  is  one  of  the  falsest  statements  to 
picture  the  Germans  as  aggressive 
and  war-like.  There  is  no  German 
father  or  mother  in  the  empire,  nor 
any  person  of  responsibility,  who 
would  not  prefer  to  keep  peace  even 
at  a  sacrifice,  for  they  know  that 
their  own  sons,  their  own  brothers, 
their  own  sons-in-law,  have  to  go  to 
war  to  defend  the  country.  It  is  a 
gross  misstatement  of  the  truth  to 
represent  Germany  as  going  to  war 
simply  for  the  sake  of  waging  war, 
either  for  glory,  or  in  sheer  aggres- 
siveness, or  for  conquest.  The  pres- 
ent enthusiasm  for  the  German  cause 
is  to  be  lauded  the  higher  since  there 
is  no  one  in  Germany  who  does  not 
have  to  make  sacrifices  of  the  gravest 
kind.  How  many  families  have  lost 
their  only  sons!  and  Germans  of  high 
culture,  as  young  professors  at  the 
universities,  are  compelled  to  face 
the  guns  and  sabres  of  the  negro 
Turkos  in  the  west  or  of  the  savage 
Cossacks  in  the  east. 

The  Germans  are  fully  convinced 
that  it  is  England's  policy  that  has 
encouraged  both  France  and  Russia 
to  start  the  war,  and  only  those  who 
do  not  know  the  significance  of  the 
military  institutions  in  Germany  can 
expect  that  militarism  should  be 
abolished.  If  England  possessed  the 
same  institutions  of  militarism  as 
exist  in  Germany,  the  British  Gov- 
ernment would  never  have  dared  to 
start  the  war,  for  the  people  would 
have  censured  it  severely. 

As  to  Mr.  Jourdain's  statement 
that  the  king  of  England  is  merely 
"nominal,"  I  will  say  that  the  Ger- 
man emperor  and  king  of  Prussia 
has  no  more  rights  than  the  king  of 
England,  and  infringes  as  little  upon 
the  liberty  of  the  people.  On  the 
contrary,  in  case  of  war  he  cannot 
begin  a  war  without  the  consent  of 
all  the  people,  including  his  political 
opponents,  the  social  democrats  who 
fiirni  ;ili(iut  one-third  of  (he  Rriclis- 
tdij:  ;iiul  Iho  idoii  that  lie  is  .-i  tyrant 
who  forces  his  people  is  utterly  un- 
founded, for  the  social  democrats 
would  not  fight  unless  they  felt  the 
necessity  of  going  to  war.  The  Kai- 
ser is  not  purely  nominal;  he  has 
serious  duties  to  perform.  We  may 
grant  that  he  still  regards  himself  as 
wea.lng  the  crown  by  God's  grace, 
but  whatever  errors  he  may  still  en- 
tertain as  to  his  divine  rights,  we 
must  recognize  that  he  is  deeply  im- 
pressed with  his  responsibility,  and 
he  interprets  his  office,  thus  held  by 
the  grace  of  God,  as  an  obligation, 
a  sacred  trust,  a  religious  duty,  a 
right  in  which  he  is  accountable  to 
his  conscience  before  God.  Not  even 
\\\A  enemies  doubt  that  the  Emperor 
is  sincere,  and  that,  however  mis- 
taken he  may  be  in  his  views,  he  Is 
honest  and  attends  fearlessly  to  duty. 
It  is  easy  enough  to  ridicule  the 
Kaiser  for  his  frequent  use  of  the 
word  "God,  "  and  I  would  not  deny 
that  he  lays  himself  open  to  criti- 
cism, but  the  impartial  observer  who 
has  followed  his  life  cannot  but  in- 
terpret this  habit  as  the  expression 
of  a  deep-seated  conviction.  The 
word  "God"  is  no  hypocrisy  on  the 
lips  of  the  Emperor.     It  is  a  truth- 


ful    expression     of    his    attitude    of 
heart. 

Militarism  has  not  been  forced  on 
the  German  people  by  the  Kaiser, 
but  historic  conditions,  mainly  by 
the  danger  which  has  threatened 
Germany  from  France,  just  as  the 
origin  of  the  German  navy  was  due 
to  the  conviction  that  one  of  these 
days  Great  Britain  would  fall  upon 
Germany,  exactly  as  she  has  now 
done. 

The  German  authorities  saw  the 
growth  of  the  German  mercantile 
fleet  and  encouraged  it;  knowing 
how  Great  Britain  had  dealt  with 
Holland  in  former  times,  they  felt 
that  a  navy  was  needed  for  the  de- 
fense of  their  colonies.  If  they  were 
wrong,  was  it  not  wrong  for  the  Brit- 
ish to  reserve  for  themselves  the 
right  to  have  a  navy?  Never  and 
nowhere  has  Germany  shown  any  in- 
tention of  falling  upon  English  col- 
onies as  England  tell  upon  New  Am- 
sterdam in  North  America  and  Cape 
Town  in  South  Africa. 

Liberty  of  speech  as  it  exists  in 
England,  so  humorously  character- 
ized by  Mr.  Jourdain  in  the  permis- 
sion given  a  violent  orator  to  have  his 
say  in  Trafalgar  Square,  is  being 
tried  in  all  Germanic  countries,  but 
there  is  a  most  serious  other  side, 
and  England  has  naturally  been 
forced  now  and  then  to  restrict  free 
speech,  while  Germany  has  learned 
to  allow  it.  Yet  have  not  the  violent 
speeches  of  reckless  orators  caused 
much  harm  in  the  world?  I  will  only 
remind  our  readers  of  the  assassina- 
tion of  President  McKinley,  who  was 
shot  by  a  Slav  that  had  been  incited 
by  violent  anarchistic  speeches  to 
commit  the  deed.  Who  is  the  real 
criminal,  the  inflammatory  orator 
who  put  the  idea  into  the  degenerate 
brain  of  Czolgosz,  or  the  assassin 
himself? 

Considering  such  incidents  I  do  not 
blame  a  government  for  restricting 
free  speech  under  certain  conditions, 
and  I  remember  that  this  was  done 
in  England  at  the  time  of  the  Boer 
war.  At  that  time  I  was  passing 
through  London  and  attended  a 
meeting  of  protest  held  in  club  rooms 
of  a  liberal  society,  where  the  Brit- 
ish government  was  denounced  in 
the  most  violent  terms.  I  tried  to 
speak  up  for  England  and  England's 
glory  in  preserving  the  ideal  of  lib- 
erty of  speech,  when  I  was  hooted  at 
and  could  not  finish.  The  audience 
shouted,  "There  is  no  freedom  in 
F^ngland!"  and  informed  me  that 
mass  meetings  had  been  broken  up 
by  the  police;  members  of  the  club 
declared  they  had  been  ejected  from 
meeting  halls  and  bodily  injured. 

I  have  always  spoken  up  for  Eng- 
land. I  like  English  people  and  en- 
joy their  company.  It  is  but  natural 
that  I  have  always  justified  their  po- 
sition when  possible  or  at  least  made 
excuses  for  them  against  accusations 
that  had  some  basis  in  fact.  I  have 
preached  friendship  for  England  in 
Germany  and  the  ITnited  States  and 
have  encouraged  the  establishment 
of  a  Triple  Alliance  between  the 
three  countries  in  the  interest  of  uni- 
versal peace  on  earth.' 

I  recognize  the  superiority  of  Eng- 
land   in    many    points,    especially    in 


her  successful  methods  of  building 
up  colonies  which  the  Germans  have 
yet  to  learn;  I  admire  the  executive 
ability  of  the  English,  and  their  far- 
reaching  but  often  questionable  diplo- 
macy, in  which  the  Germans  are 
solely  lacking;  and  I  have  also  un- 
stinted praise  for  the  English  lan- 
guage, originally  a  Saxon  (that  is  to 
say  a  Low  German)  dialect  which  is 
unsurpassed  in  its  simplicity  of  con- 
struction. But  with  all  my  admira- 
tion for  the  British  I  cannot  help 
thinking  that,  like  most  of  England's 
prior  wars,  the  present  war  is  not 
only  a  great  wrong  but  a  great  blun- 
der, for  it  will  prove  a  dire  calamity 
to  Great  Britain.  How  foolish  it  was 
for  Edward  VII  to  originate  the  anti- 
German  movement  at  the  time  of 
the  formation  of  the  Triple  Entente, 
was  brought  home  to  ine  when  I 
saw  in  an  American  Sunday  issue 
an  article  on  the  German  family 
that  has  ruled  England  ever  since 
the  Hanoverian  kings  were  called 
to  ascend  the  throne.  There  in  a 
cartoon  stood  Tommy  Atkins,  full 
page  size,  gaudy  in  his  red  uniform, 
holding  on  his  hand  a  little  figure 
of  Lilliputian  size  representing  Ger- 
man royalty  on  the  English  throne. 
Admiral  Battenberg  had  to  quit  the 
service  because  he  is  of  German 
descent.  Why,  the  article  said, 
should  not  George  V  follow  him,  on 
the  ground  that  his  grandfather 
was  of  German  birth  and  his  grand- 
mother's family  was  imported  from 
Hanover? 

I  will  not  enter  into  the  details  of 
Mr.  Jourdain's  exposition,  although 
I  differ  from  some  of  them,  for  in- 
stance his  statement  as  to  art,  music 
and  science.  I  believe  that  Ger- 
many ranks  high  in  music,  but  the 
latest  development  in  Russia  ought 
not  to  be  overlooked  nor  the  prior 
merits  of  Italy.  Germany  is  not 
the  only  country  where  music  has 
been  developed.  On  the  other  hand 
I  do  not  believe  that  "hardly  any- 
thing in  the  arts  of  sculpture  and 
painting  is  due  to  Germany."  I  be- 
lieve that  Germany  still  ranks 
higher  than  France;  and  the  sculp- 
ture in  public  places  in  England  can 
scarcely   be   classed  as  art. 

Germany  has  always  been  highly 
appreciative  of  the  accomplishments 
of  other  nations,  and  I  believe  there 
is  no  country  in  the  world  where 
the  latest  books  of  merit  of  all  coun- 
tries are  so  frequently  translated  and 
so  widely  read  as  in  Germany.  Next 
to  Germany  ranks  England,  and  I 
will  further  add  that  all  the  other 
Germanic  nations  rank  very  high  and 
surpass  the  Romance  nations  consid- 
erably in  many  respects. 

Certainly  no  one  can  regret  the 
war  more  than  myself,  but  I  will  add 
that  according  to  a  practical  consider- 
ation of  all  the  facts  and.  as  far  as 
that  be  possible,  from  an  impartial 
standpoint,  I  blame  England  first  of 
all  for  the  outbreak.  It  is  plain  to 
ine  that  lOngland  has  created  among 
English  speaking  people,  the  United 
States  not  excepted,  an  anti-German 
movement.    England  has  founded  the 


'  See  for  Instance  my  addres.<!  before  the 
flr.st  congress  of  the  Terein  alter  di^iitscken 
StHilenten,  published  In  the  Proceedings 
of  the  society. 


THE  ALLIANXE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


11   AUKILN    (11'    1  111'; 


.KKMA.N   8TAFF   I M  iKU  ('(IVER  NEAR  (;UI 
(Photograph  by    the   International   News  Service) 


-IAN  POLAND 


Triple  Entente,  which,  although  it  is 
not  in  the  interest  of  England,  allies 
England  with  two  nations  naturally 
antagonistic  to  her.  Russia  did  not 
even  discontinue  her  intrigues 
against  Great  Britain  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Triple  Entente,  in 
Tibet  as  well  as  in  Persia,  Afghanis- 
tan and  even  India,  but  the  men  who 
hated  Germany  have  set  aside  every 
other  consideration  for  the  sake  of 
crushing  Germany  first.  I  believe 
that  the  ill-will  created  by  the  war 
among  the  different  European  nation- 
alities is  a  great  misfortune  and  will 
not  so  easily  be  set  aside  even  after 
the  conclusion  of  peace;  and  Eng- 
land will  reap  a  very  sorry  harvest. 
That  the  French  do  not  love  the  Eng- 
lish became  apparent  in  the  treat- 
ment Sir  Edward  Grey's  brother  re- 
ceived from  his  fellow  prisoners.  The 
famous  German  chant  of  hatred 
proves  that  whereas  the  German 
fight  against  France  and  Russia  is  a 
sportsmanlike  affair — a  shot  for  a 
shot  and  a  blow  for  a  blow — England 
is  blamed  as  giving  a  shot  in  the 
back.  England  has  become  the 
hated  foe,  and  I  fear  it  will  be  a 
long  time  before  this  sentiment  can 
be  outgrown. 

I  deem  it  highly  necessary  for  the 
development  of  mankind  that  we 
have  several  great  nationalities,  and 
that  in  addition  we  have  a  number  of 
smaller  states  which  are  independent 


and  follow  their  own  free  govern- 
ment. The  different  nationalities 
complement  each  other,  and  the 
smaller  states  have  frequently  con- 
tributed very  important  ideas  or  in- 
terpretations of  life  to  the  develop- 
ment of  humanity;  and  I  will  say 
that  the  German  empire  has  prac- 
tically solved  the  problem  of  having 
a  strong  union  combined  with  indi- 
vidual development  of  the  different 
small  German  states.  The  unity  of 
the  German  empire  has  beyond  any 
question  been  established  through 
the  political  needs  of  self-defense, 
but  the  Bavarian  considers  himself 
very  different  from  the  Prussian,  the 
Swabian  again  is  different  from  his 
neighbor,  the  inhabitant  of  Baden, 
and  likewise  even  the  different  prov- 
inces of  Prussia  cling  each  to  its  own 
peculiar  individuality.  In  the  same 
way  this  individualistic  development 
in  Germany  is  carried  into  the  fam- 
ily lite,  and  I  have  nowhere  in  the 
world  found  such  a  variety  of  char- 
acter and  of  conviction  as  in  the  Ger- 
man fatherland. 

I  must  insist,  therefore,  that  the 
present  characterization  of  German 
conditions  in  English,  and  often  also 
in  American  papers,  is  very  unfair, 
and  as  it  seems  to  me,  due  to  an 
intentional  misrepresentation  in  order 
to  create  a  prejudice  against  Ger- 
many. 

Mr.  Jourdain  concludes  his  article 


with  an  appreciation  of  "The  Open 
Court"  and  "The  Monist,"  and  I  have 
not  ventured  to  remove  it  in  order 
to  let  his  article  be  as  independent  as 
I  intended  that  it  should  be.  If  I 
had  known  that  he  would  praise  my 
work,  I  would  have  asked  him  to 
omit  it,  but  as  he  has  done  so,  I 
wish  my  readers  would  regard  it  as 
but  a  manifestation  of  our  author's 
amiability. 

In  conclusion  I  will  repeat  that  I 
am  not  anti-British.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  am  in  a  sense  pro-British. 
But  while  I  am  a  friend  of  the  Eng- 
lish, while  I  fully  appreciate  their 
good  qualities,  I  have  a  decided  and 
well-founded  conviction  that  the  Brit- 
ish government  is  guilty  of  this  war, 
that  this  war  will  not  bring  any 
blessings  to  Great  Britain,  in  short, 
that  it  is  against  all  the  interests  of 
the  British  Empire,  of  Great  Britain 
and  of  the  English  people.  It  will 
prevent  the  progress  of  civilization 
and  the  peaceful  co-operation  of  the 
three  most  powerful  countries  of  the 
world,  Germany,  Great  Britain  and 
the  LTnited  States,  and  is  greatly  to 
be  deplored.  It  is  not  Germany  that 
is  guilty  of  the  war,  but  the  men  who 
brought  about  the  Triple  Entente, 
an  understanding  which  made  it  in- 
evitable that  England  should  feel  in 
honor  bound  to  inflict  injury  upon 
Germany — an  injury  which  will  re- 
coil upon  her  own  head. 


THE  GERMAN  MENACE— MILITARISM 


177 


THE  TRUCE  OF  THE  BEAR. 


Rudyard  Kipling. 

(Alfred  Noyes,  William  Watson  and 
Robert  Bridges  have  defended  Eng- 
land in  driveling  verse.  England's 
one  great  poet,  Kipling,  has  not 
been  hear<l  from.  Perhaps  the  fol- 
lowing poem  which  first  appeared 
in  1898  explains  Mr.  Kipling's  si- 
lence. Evidently  Mr.  Kipling  can- 
not approve  of  an  alliance  with 
Russia,  for  Adam-zad  means  Rus- 
sia and  Matun,  the  old  blind  beg- 
gar,  is  England.) 

(Reprinted  from  "The  Fatherland," 
New  York,  August  31,   1914.) 

Yearly,  with  tent  and  rifle,  our  care- 
less white  men  go 

By  the  pass  called  Muttianee,  to  shoot 
in   the   vale  below. 

Yearly  by  Muttianee  he  follows  our 
white  men  in — 

Matun,  the  old  blind  beggar,  band- 
aged from  brow  to  chin. 

Eyeless,  noseless  and  lipless — tooth- 
less,   broken    of    speech, 

Seeking  a  dole  at  the  doorway  he 
mumbles  his  tale  to  each; 

Over  and  over  the  story,  ending  as  he 
began: 

"Make  ye  no  truce  with  Adam-zad — 
the  Bear  that  walks  like  a  man !" 

There  was  a  flint  in  my  musket — 
pricked  and  primed  was  the  pan. 

When  I  went  hunting  Adam-zad — the 
Bear  that  stands  like  a  man. 

1  looked  my  last  on  the  timber,  I 
looked  my  last  on  the  snow. 

When  I  went  hunting  Adam-zad  fifty 
Summers  ago! 

1  knew  his  times  and  his  season,  as 

he  knew  mine,  that  fed 
By   night   in    the   ripened    maizefield 

and  robbed  my  house  of  bread; 
I  knew  his  strength  and  cunning,  as 

he   knew    mine,    that   crept 

At   dawn    to    the   crowded   goat-pens 

and    plundered    while    1    slept. 

Up  from  his  stony  playground — • 
down  from  his  well-digged  lair — 

Out  of  the  naked  ridges  ran  Adam- 
zad   the  Bear; 

Groaning,  grunting  and  roaring, 
heavy  with   stolen   meals, 

Two  long  marches  to  northward,  and 
1  was  at  his  heels! 

Two  full  marches  to  the  northward, 

at  the  fall  of  the  second  night, 
I  came  on  mine  enemy  Adam-zad  all 

panting  from  his  flight. 
There   was   charge   in   the   musket — 

pricked    and    primed    was    the 

pan — 
My  finger  crooked  on  the  trigger — 

when  he  reared  up  like  a  man. 

Horrible,  hairy,  human,  with  paws 
like  hands  in  prayer, 

Making  his  supplication,  rose  Adam- 
zad   the  Bear! 

I  looked  at  the  swaying  shoulders,  at 
the  paunch's  swag  and  swing, 

And  my  heart  was  touched  with  pity 
for  the  monstrous,  pleading 
thing. 

Touched  with  pity  and  wonder,  I  did 
not  fire  then 


I  have  looked  no  more  on  women — I 
have  walked  no  more  with  men. 

Nearer  he  tottered  and  nearer,  with 
paws   like  hands   that  pray — 

From  brow  to  jaw  that  steel-shod 
paw,  it  ripped  my  face  away! 

Sudden,    silent,    and   savage,    searing 

as  flame  the  blow — 
Faceless   I   fell  before  his   feet,   fifty 

Summers  ago. 
I    heard    him    grunt   and    chuckle — I 

heard   him   pass   to   his   den. 
He    left    me   blind    to    the    darkened 

years    and    the    little    mercy    of 

men. 

Now    ye    go    down    in     the    morning 

with  guns  of  the  newer  style. 
That  load  (I  have  felt)  in  the  middle 

and    range     (I    have    heard)     a 

mile? 
Luck    to   the  white  man's   rifle,   that 

shoots  so   fast  and   true. 
But — pay,  and  I  lift  my  bandage  and 

show  what  the  Bear  can  do! 

(Flesh  like  slag  in  the  furnace, 
knobbed  and  withered  and 
gray — 

Matun,  the  old  blind  beggar,  he  gives 
good   worth   for  his   pay.) 

Rouse  him  at  noon  in  the  bushes, 
follow   and  press  him  hard — 

Not  for  his  ragings  and  roarings 
flinch   ye  from   Adam-zad. 

But  (pay,  and  I  put  back  the  band- 
age)  this  is  the  time  to  fear. 

When  he  stands  up  like  a  tired  man, 
tottering  near  and  near-; 

When  he  stands  us  as  pleading,  in 
wavering,   man-brute  guise. 

When  he  veils  the  hate  and  cunning 
of  the  little  swinish  eyes; 

When  he  shows  as  seeking  quarter, 
with  paws  like  hands  in  prayer. 

That  is  the  time  of  peril — the  time  of 
the  Truce  of  the  Bear. 

Eyeless,  noseless  and   lipless,   asking 

a  dole  at  the  door, 
Matun,  the  old  blind  beggar,  he  tells 

it  o'er  and  o'er. 
Fumbling     and     feeling     the     rifles, 

warming  his  hands  at  the  flame. 
Hearing  our  careless  white  men  talk 

of  the  morrow's  game; 
Over  and   over  the  story,  ending  as 

he   began; 
"There   is   no   truce   with   Adam-zad, 

the  Bear  that  looks  like  a  man!" 


And  after  this  the  blind  beggar 
made  a  truce  with  the  Bear  in  Per- 
sia, and  what  the  Bear  did  there,  he 
will  try  to  do  again  in  Turkey — if 
Germany  does  not  stop  him — but 
she  will. — "The  Fatherland." 


KIPLING    BRANDS  GERMANY 
MEN.^CE* 

Virginia     Editor    Writes     It     Would 

Threaten  U.  S.  if  Victorious 

Over  Allies. 

(From  "The  Chicago  Tribune,"  Sep- 
tember   26,    1914.) 

Staunton,  Va.,  Sept.  25  (Special). 
— On  Sept.  5  the  Staunton  News 
printed  some  verses  by  Dr.  Charles 
Minor  Blackford,  an  associate  editor, 
addressed  to  Rudyard  Kipling,  call- 
ing attention  to  the  apparent  incon- 
sistency of  his  attitude  of  distrust  of 
Russia  as  shown  in  his  poem,  "The 
Truce  of  the  Bear,"  and  his  present 
advocacy  of  the  alliance  between 
Russia  and  Great  Britain. 

Reply  from  Kipling. 

A  copy  of  the  verses  was  sent  to 
Mr.  Kipling  and  the  following  reply 
has  been  received  from  him: 

"Bateman's  Burwash,  Sussex — 1 
am  much  obliged  for  your  verses  of 
Sept.  5,  'The  Truce  of  the  Bear.'  to 
which  they  refer  was  written  six- 
teen years  ago.  It  dealt  with  a  sit- 
uation and  a  menace  which  has  long 
since  passed  away  and  with  issues 
that  are  now  quite  dead. 

"The  present  situation,  as  far  as 
England  is  concerned,  is  Germany's 
deliberate  disregard  of  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium,  whose  integrity  Germany 
as  well  as  England  guaranteed.  Ger- 
many has  filled  Belgium  with  every 
sort  of  horror  and  atrocity,  not  in 
the  heat  of  passion,  but  as  a  part  of 
the  settled  policy  of  terrorism.  Its 
avowed  object  is  the  conquest  of 
Europe  on  these  lines,  as  you  may 
prove  for  yourself  if  you  will  con- 
sult its  literature  of  the  last  genera- 
tion. 

C«.lls  Germany  Menace. 

"Germany  is  the  present  menace 
not  to  Europe  alone  but  to  the  whole 
civilized  world.  If  Germany  by  any 
means  is  victorious,  you  may  rest 
assured  that  it  will  be  only  a  short 
time  before  it  turns  its  attention  to 
the  United  States. 

"If  you  could  meet  the  refugees 
from  Belgium  flocking  into  England 
and  have  the  opportunity  of  check- 
ing their  statements  of  unimaginable 
atrocities  and  barbarities,  stvidiously 
committed,  you  would,  I  am  sure, 
think  as  seriously  on  these  matters 
as  we  do,  and  in  your  unpreparedness 
for  modern  war  you  would  do  well  to 
think  very  seriously,  indeed." 


"After  the  (Russian)  mobiliza- 
tion became  known  in  Berlin,  the 
Imperial  Ambassador  at  St.  Peters- 
burg was  ordered  on  the  afternoon 
of  July  31  to  advise  the  Russian 
Government  that  Germany  had  de- 
clared a  state  of  war  as  a  counter 
move  to  the  mobilization  of  the 
Russian  Army  and  Navy,  which 
would  have  to  be  followed  by  mobil- 
ization unless  Russia  ceased  her 
military  preparations  against  Ger- 
many and  Austria-Hungary  within 
twelve  hours  and  so  advise  Germany. 


•To  show  our  readers  what  Mr. 
Kipling  REALLY  thought  before  his 
utterances  were  biased  by  the  present 
war,  we  reprint  on  this  page  "The 
Truce  of  the  Bear."  Every  unbiased 
reader  will  know  what  value  to  attach 
to  Mr.  Kipling's  present  utterances, 
i.  e.,  that  "The  Truce  of  the  Bear," 
written  sixteen  years  ago,  dealt  with 
a  situation  and  a  menace  which  has 
long  since  passed  away  and  with  Is- 
sues that  are  now  quite  dead.  Haw! 
Haw!  It's  comical  how  men,  even 
of  the  type  of  Mr.  Kipling,  repudi- 
ate their  former  writings  when  It 
comes  to  whitewashing  England's 
new   bedfellow — Russia. — Editor. 


178 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


GERMANY'S  FOES  AND  THE  WAR. 

This  is  the  fifth  article  of  a  series 
on  THE  EUROPEAy  M'AR,  which  ap- 
peared in  the  October  Numlier  of  THE 
OPEN  COURT,  under  the  title  "Oer- 
mcni/'s  Foes,"  written  hy  the  Editor, 
Dr.  Paul  Cams. 

Consult  the  INDEX  for  the  complete 
series,  and,  in  order  to  see  where,  in 
the  various  Chapters  of  the  book,  the 
different  articles  of  this  treatise  man  tic 
fiiunil.  look  for  EUROPEAX  WAR 
(THE).  In  thi^  way  the  reader  may 
read  the  entire  series  of  articles  in 
their  original  order,  if  he  chooses  to  do 
so.  while  the  jirr.ti  hI  nrrnnnciiiint  xtill 
gires  liini  the  ml nnilm/r  of  hriniiing 
the  various  artirli  s  iimh  r  their  proper, 
respective  Chapter-headings  of  the 
book. 

This  is  a  series  of  exceptionally  fine 
articles  on  the  subject  in  question,  and 
they  bear  a  unique  and  important  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  Be  sure  to  read 
them  also  in  their  original  order. — 
Editor.   ''War  Echoes." 

The  plan  of  the  English  govern- 
ment has  for  a  long  time  been  to 
make  other  nations  carry  on  wars 
intended  to  benefit  Great  Britain.  A 
short  time  ago  this  method  caused 
them  to  use  Japan  for  the  purpose 
of  humiliating  Russia,  and,  soon 
after  the  Russo-Japanese  war,  the 
same  principle  led  to  the  formation 
of  the  Triple  Entente  between  Eng- 
land, Russia  and  Prance. 

In  her  anxiety  for  revenge  France 
has  looked  for  an  ally  ever  since 
1871,  and  has  courted  Russia,  al- 
though the  French  know  very  well 
that  Russia  is  in  every  respect  an- 
tagonistic to  French  ideals  of  repub- 
licanism, liberty  and  progress.  Yet 
it  was  a  foregone  determination  that 
should  Russia  ever  attack  Germany, 
France  would  fall  upon  her  enemy 
from  behind. 

Russia  is  an  inveterate  enemy  of 
England,  for  Russia  endangers  the 
spread  of  English  influence  by  subtle 
intrigue  so  characteristic  of  Russian 
policy,  which  has  shown  itself  in 
Persia,  Afghanistan,  Tibet  and  China, 
and  even  in  India.  It  was  considered 
very  clever  of  Edward  VII  to  make 
Russia  join  England,  and,  in  com- 
pany with  France,  to  establish  the 
Triple  Entente.  The  English  people 
should  have  known  that  Russia  would 
never  abandon  her  intrigues  against 
England,  and  it  is  excluded  that  she 
would  help  to  establish  England's  su- 
premacy on  the  sea:  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  Russians  have  never  ceased 
to  continue  their  anti-British  policy. 
Russia  meant  to  use  the  English  for 
her  own  advantage,  just  as  Edward 
VII  hoped  to  make  Russia  sub- 
servient to  England.  The  English 
have  not  yet  learned  that  smart 
tricks    are    boomerangs. 

France  was  easily  Induced  to  join 
Great  Britain  and  Russia,  for  France 
is  a  monomaniac  nation  dominated 
by  the  hope  for  revenge. 

The  English  claim  that  the  T'ai  Ping 
possessed  a  spurious  Christianity,  for  the 
T'ai  Ping  believed  only  in  the  sermon  on 
the  mount :  according  to  Chinese  notions 
they  called  Christ  the  Elder  Brother,  1.  e., 
the  authoritative  son  who  represents  God 
the  Father.  They  worked  out  a  Chinese 
conception  of  Christianity  and  did  not  be- 
long to  the  Anglican  church.  That  was 
enough  to  condemn  their  Christianity  as 
spurious. 


The  French  are  like  big  children. 
They  are  amiable  and  really  lovable. 
They  are  enthusiastic  and,  like  their 
Gallic  ancestors,  excitable  in  char- 
acter. Caesar  found  it  easy  to  sub- 
due them  because,  like  children,  they 
were  unsteady,  and  lacked  the  seri- 
ous insistency  of  their  Teutonic 
neighbors. 

The  Romans  used  the  same  meth- 
ods in  Germany  that  Caesar  employed 
in  Gaul,  and  were  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent quite  successful,  but  when  the 
Germans  discovered  that  a  Romaniza- 
tion  of  Germany  meant  an  end  of 
German  institutions,  of  German  lan- 
guage, and  of  a  development  of  the 
characteristic  traits  of  German  na- 
tionality, they  became  roused  to  the 
danger  and  beat  the  Romans  in  the 
battle  fought  in  the  Teutoburg 
Forest,  a  battle  which  saved  not  only 
Germany,  with  its  germs  of  a  national 
civilization,  but  also  England.  It  will 
be  well  for  the  English  to  remember 
that  England's  fate,  too,  depended  on 
the  victory  of  Arminius,  for  at  that 
time  the  Saxons  were  still  living  in 
Northern  Germany,  and  if  the  Ger- 
mans had  been  Romanized,  England 
would  never  have  risen,  and  the  very 
roots  from  which  English  speech  de- 
veloped would  have  been  destroyed 
458  years  before  they  were  trans- 
planted to  British  soil. 

France  is  no  longer  purely  Celtic 
in  blood,  but  the  conquerors  of  the 
country,  first  the  Romans,  then  the 
Franks  and  other  Teutonic  invaders, 
have  changed  into  Gauls,  and  even  to- 
day the  people  who  settle  in  France, 
mostly  Germans,  acquire  the  Celtic 
characteristics.  France  has  become 
Teutonic  in  all  the  most  important 
spots,  but  the  childlike  nature  of 
their  inhabitants  remains  the  same. 
Charlemagne  was  a  Frank,  his  chil- 
dren and  children's  children  behave 
like  Celts.  The  Visigoths  settled  in 
the  southwest,  the  Burgundians  in 
the  southeast,  other  German  tribes 
in  Lorraine,  the  Norsemen  in  the 
north,  but  all  of  them  acquired  the 
childlike  gayety  of  the  Celts;  and  the 
same  can  be  observed  today.  There 
is  a  continuous  stream  of  German 
immigration  going  on  still,  but  the 
children  of  the  German  immigrants 
are  indistinguishable  from  their 
French  fellow  citizens,  while  the 
French  Huguenots  have  become  Ger- 
mans in  Germany. 

The  French,  like  big  children,  are 
vain.  Flatter  them  and  you  can  dupe 
them  easily.  They  are  also  theatri- 
cal. Note  for  instance  how  theatri- 
cal was  the  deportment  of  the  great 
Gallic  chief,  Vercingetorix,  when  he 
surrendered  to  Caesar,  and  also  how 
Thiers  behaved  when  he  signed  the 
peace  treaty  in  1871.  All  proclama- 
tions made  by  the  French  government 
to  the  French  people,  of  any  event, 
even  of  the  enemy's  progress,  are  ap- 
peals to  their  vanity.  They  are  as- 
surances of  French  greatness,  even 
when  retreats  or  defeats  are  an- 
nounced. They  praise  French  gal- 
lantry, French  triumphs,  French 
deeds  of  valor  and  prophesy  ulti- 
mate victory.  Read  for  instance  the 
transfer  of  the  capital  from  Paris  to 
Bordeaux.  There  we  gain  the  im- 
pression that  the  Germans  are 
beaten  and  that  the  French  army  is 


intact,  but  the  government  prefers  a 
change  of  air  for  the  good  of  the 
country  and  so  it  moves  to  Bordeaux. 

The  great  Corsican,  Napoleon  the 
First,  brought  up  in  France,  was  a 
typical  Frenchman,  at  least  in  vanity, 
and  it  was  his  vanity  which  proved 
ruinous  to  him  when  dealing  with  the 
Czar.  When  these  two  most  power- 
ful monarchs  of  the  age  met  at  Er- 
furt in  1812  Czar  Alexander  was 
bent  on  outwitting  the  great  emperor, 
and  he  succeeded  by  flattering  his 
enemy.  When  the  two  met,  Alexan- 
der turned  round  to  his  aide-de- 
camp and  whispered,  careful  at  the 
same  time  to  be  overheard  by  Napo- 
leon, "How  beautiful  he  is.  If  I 
were  a  woman  I  would  fall  in  love 
with  him."  In  further  conversation, 
Alexander  pretended  to  be  over- 
whelmed by  admiration  for  Napo- 
leon's genius  and,  sitting  at  his  feet, 
he  pretended  to  be  his  faithful  dis- 
ciple. It  was  this  attitude  of  Alex- 
ander which  influenced  Napoleon's 
plan  of  the  Russian  campaign.  Napo- 
leon thought  that  a  victorious  battle 
or  a  bold  rush  into  the  interior  of 
Russia  or  some  display  of  his  dash- 
ing genius  would  most  easily  convert 
Alexander  to  make  peace.  So  he  ven- 
tured to  capture  Moscow  and — lost 
the  war. 

The  French  clamor  so  much  for  re- 
venge that  the  world  has  become  ac- 
customed to  it,  and  whomsoever  it 
suits,  he  encourages  his  clamor.  But 
let  us  see  first  what  right  the  French 
have  to  demand  revenge. 

First,  as  to  the  war  of  18  70-71: 
Was  it  not  a  war  undertaken  by  Na- 
poleon III  with  the  loudly  expressed 
acclamation  of  the  people  who  pa- 
raded through  the  streets  of  Paris 
shouting  "<)  Bcrlin"f  And  the  cause 
of  the  war  was  the  unjustifiable  de- 
mand that  the  King  of  Prussia 
should  humiliate  himself  before  the 
French  Emperor.  He  should  beg 
pardon  for  a  Hohenzollern  prince  of 
an  entirely  different  line  because  the 
Spaniards  had  offered  to  the  latter 
the  crown  of  Spain.  As  Napoleon 
was  beaten  he  received  the  fate  he 
had  deserved,  and  the  French,  having 
approved  the  war,  have  lost  their 
right  to  complain  about  their  defeat. 

Secondly,  as  to  the  conditions  of 
peace:  The  surrender  of  Alsace  and 
a  small  piece  of  Lorraine  was  de- 
manded by  the  victors  for  the  sake 
of  rounding  off  the  lines  of  Ger- 
many's defense,  and  incidentally  it 
was  remembered  that  the  people  of 
Alsace  were  Germans,  that  Alsace 
had  belonged  to  the  German  empire 
and  its  people  even  in  the  year  1871 
were  still  speaking  German.  The 
French  had  appropriated  Strasburg 
and  other  cities  some  time  previously, 
without  even  taking  the  trouble  to 
apologize  for  their  robbery.  But 
having  taken  Alsace-Lorraine,  and 
having  held  it  in  their  possession  for 
almost  two  and  one-half  centuries, 
the  French  claim  to  be  justified  in 
their  sentiment  of  revenge. 

If  that  revenge  were  proper,  why 
should  not  England  constantly 
clamor  for  revenge  because  the 
United  States  were  once  English 
colonies?  Why  should  not  the  Span- 
ish clamor  for  revenge  to  regain 
Gibraltar?      Why  should  not  Sweden 


THE  GERMAN'   MENACE— MILITARISM 


IN  THE  PRISONERS'  CAMP  AT  OHRDRLF 
Note  the  relative  Intelligence  of  the  Different  Types 

(By   Courtesy   of   the   "Chicago   Abendpost") 


use  every  opportunity  to  drive  the 
Russians  out  of  Finland?  There  is 
no  need  of  swelling  the  number  of 
instances  from  the  books  of  history, 
ancient  and  modern,  but  the  French 
policy  of  revenge  and  the  clamors  of 
the  French  people  for  the  re-occupa- 
tion of  Alsace-Lorraine  have  surely 
the  very  slightest  foundation. 

The  real  interest  of  France  would 
naturally  lie  in  an  alliance  with  Ger- 
many. France  and  Germany  have 
common  interests  in  the  establish- 
ment of  mutual  business  relations 
and  a  mutual  protection  of  their  colo- 
nies against  England.  This  has 
often  been  recognized  by  the  Ger- 
mans, but  the  French  are  blinded 
by  their  vanity,  their  vainglorious- 
nesB  and  their  narrow-minded  hope 
for  revenge.  Like  big  children,  they 
became  an  easy  prey  to  the  British 
King  who  ensnared  them  to  fight  the 
battles  of  Albion,  and  to  suffer  more 
than  the  English  themselves,  for 
whose  benefit  they  are  willing  to 
sacrifice  themselves  only  in  the  ex- 
pectation that  England  and  Russia 
will    support   their   lust    for   revenge. 

Even  to-day  the  French  are  the- 
atrical and  vain.  Every  defeat  is 
represented  as  a  glorious  retreat, 
and  every  German  victory  is  a  dis- 
grace to  the  enemy.  In  their  rhetori- 
cal style  the  surrender  of  a  fortress 
always  appears  as  a  deed  of  valor, 
a  patriotic  act  for  the  glory  of 
France,  and  is  sure  to  lead  to  ulti- 
mate  victory.      Every   position  aban- 


doned is  an  advantage  gained,  and 
the  forts  either  taken  by  the  enemy 
or  evacuated  are  of  no  strategic  im- 
portance. When  it  can  no  longer  be 
denied  that  the  enemy  marches  into 
the  interior  ot  the  country,  we  are 
informed  that  his  advance  will  lead 
him  into  a  trap,  where  he  is  sure  to 
be  annihilated.  The  Germans  seem 
to  lack  intelligence,  for  they  walk 
into  the  French  traps;  but  instead 
ot  being  caught,  they  somehow 
smash  the  trap  to  pieces.  Even  their 
victories  are  symptoms  of  the  bar- 
barism  of  these  hordes. 

The  French  well  know  why  they 
have  their  war  news  ornamented 
with  a  most  exaggerated  optimism, 
for  they  know  that  under  the  gloom 
of  truthful  reports,  their  troops  are 
not  likely  to  display  overmuch  cour- 
age, and  a  little  lie  is  condoned  if 
it  buoys  up  the  soldiers  in  battle. 
For  assuring  the  publication  of  the 
desired  variety  of  reports  the  office 
of  a  strict  censorship  has  been  in- 
stituted. 

It  is  strange  that  the  English  have 
learned  from  their  allies  this  princi- 
ple in  spreading  war  news.  Though 
the  English  people  are  gradually  be- 
ginning to  resent  this  kind  of  cen- 
sorship, it  is  still  most  faithfully  ad- 
hered to,  and  the  war  news  coming 
from  Paris,  London  and  Petrograd 
has  proved  so  unreliable  that  in  cer- 
tain circles  in  the  Ignited  States  it 
is  now  accepted  as  a  joke. 

It    is   interesting   to   note   the   con- 


tradictory character  of  the  war  news. 
So  for  instance  the  Prussian  guards 
have  three  times  been  absolutely  an- 
nihilated, but  they  are  fighting  still; 
and  "The  Scoop,"  the  organ  of  the 
Chicago  Press  Club,  publishes  a 
humorous  poem  by  J.  F.  Luebben 
ot  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  on  the  treatment 
of  the  German  army  in  newspaper 
reports.  We  read  in  "The  Scoop" 
for  Saturday,  Sept.  26,  p.  1068: 

"The     German     soldiers,     strenuous 
men, 

In  peace  and  war  and  thunders. 
Have   not   been   killed   by   French   or 
Russ, 

But  by  newspaper  blunders. 
Ten  thousand  they  must  die  a  day 

(They   cut   such    funny   capers); 
They   do   not   die   from   cannon   balls. 

But    from   big   wads  of   papers. 
Ten   thousand   dying   day   and   night, 

According    to    the    guesses — 
They  dip  them  all  in  printer's  ink. 

And  squeeze   them   in  the   presses. 
Five  million  Germans  In  the  war. 

With  officers  and   chattels, 
What  will  the  press  soon  do  for  men 

To  fight  the  German  battles? 
The  German,  every  inch  a  man, 

Is   doing  some  good   walking. 
He's  fighting  now  to  beat   the   band. 

And  lets   us   do   the   talking. 
Now   news  comes  flying  through   the 
air, — 

Although  they've  cut  the  cables, 
The  Germans  found  the  wireless, 

.\iid   that  may   turn  the  tables." 


180 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


The  Franco-British  reports  praise 
the  English  and  the  French  troops. 
They  speak  of  the  superiority  of  the 
French  artillery  and  the  excellence 
of  French  gunners;  yet  by  sheer  luck 
the  Germans  hit.  The  Germans  are 
inferior  in  every  respect,  they  are  re- 
pulsed, they  have  heavy  losses;  they 
are  losing  battle  after  battle.  And 
yet  they  advance.  It  is  almost  a 
miracle,  and  we  newspaper  readers 
in  the  far  west  wonder  how  a  de- 
feated army  can  take  one  position 
after  another  and  enter  into  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  victors! 

Germany  is  at  such  a  tremendous 
disadvantage;  why  must  ^ies  also 
be  employed  to  run  down  that  poor 
nation?  And,  as  if  it  were  not  enough 
to  be  faced  by  the  three  greatest 
powers  of  the  world,  England,  France 
and  Russia,  not  to  mention  Belgium, 
which  has  been  in  the  fight  from 
the  start,  there  is  still  in  the  distant 
Orient  the  little  nation  of  the  farth- 
est East,  Nippon,  who  plays  the  pick- 
pocket on  Germany,  and  steals  the 
Kaiser's  possessions  while  his  hands 
are  full  and  he  cannot  whip  the  little 
urchin  for  his  impudence.  Japan's 
behavior  is  cowardly,  but,  encouraged 
by  England,  the  bold  Asiatic  feels 
that  he  can  act  with  impunity.  Such 
are  thy  allies,   proud  Albion! 

It  is  strange  that  the  English  boast 
of  their  own  free  institutions  and 
characterize  the  Germans  as  abject 
slaves,  but  any  one  who  knows  Eng- 
land will  understand  that  the  poor  of 
England  have  scarcely  any  influence 
on  the  British  government.  Not  so 
the  Germans!  The  Reichstag  is 
elected  by  universal  suffrage.  The 
Germans  know  what  they  are  fight- 
ing for,  and  they  are  willing  to  fight. 
Young  men  in  Germany  who  had 
formerly  been  rejected  from  military 
service  have  offered  themselves  at 
the  recruiting  stations  to  the  number 
of  one  million  three  hundred  thou- 
sand, while  in  England  about  one 
hundred  thousand  joined  the  colors 
when  volunteers  were  urgently  re- 
quested. 

The  emperor  has  been  character- 
ized as  an  autocrat,  a  czar,  a  tyrant, 
but  one  thing  is  certain:  among  all 
the  monarchs  of  the  world  the  Kaiser 
is  most  closely  in  touch  with  his  peo- 
ple, much  more  closely  than  King 
George  is  with  the  English  people; 
and  the  reason  is  this,  that  no  one 
doubts  that  the  emperor's  soul  is 
filled  with  the  idea  of  duty;  even 
where  he  errs  he  acts  with  the  in- 
tention of  doing  the  work  that  God 
requires  him  to  do,  and  he  feels  the 
responsibility  of  his  high  position. 

The  Foes  of  Germany. 

This  is  the  reply  to  Dr.  Carus  by  Mr. 
Jourdain  on  the  sub.iect  of  Germany's 
Foes. — The  Editor   of   War  Echoes. 

An  accusation  is  made  against  Eng- 
land of  stirring  others  to  war  and  keep- 
ing out  of  it  herself,^  "making  other  na- 
tions carry  on  wars  intended  for  her 
benefit."'  As  an  illustration  of  the 
first  policy  the  attitude  of  England 
during  the  Schleswig-Holstein  compli- 
cation is  quoted  as  follows : 

"In  1864  England  encouraged  Den- 
mark to  resist  Prussia  and  Austria  on 


account  of  Schleswig-Holstein,  and  the 
Danes  relying  on  English  assurances, 
refused  any  compromise,  the  result 
being  that  they  lost  their  duchies.  A 
Danish  friend  of  mine  expressed  him- 
self very  vigorously  in  condemning 
British  statecraft,  saying  that  the  war- 
fare of  Prussia  was  square  and  honest, 
but  the  attitude  of  Euglaud  was  un- 
pardonable." 

Though  some  of  England's  diplomacy 
in  the  past  has  been  both  weak  and 
blundering,  her  action  in  this  affair 
compares  favorably  with  Germany's. 
The  succession  to  the  duchies  received 
international  sanction  by  the  protocol 
of  London  (May  8,  1S52),  signed  by 
the  five  great  powers  and  Norway  and 
Sweden.  In  IStiS,  Frederick,  Duke  of 
Augustenburg,  son  of  the  prince  who 
in  1S52  had  renounced  the  succession 
to  the  duchies,  next  claimed  his  right 
on  the  ground  under  the  style  of  Duke 
Frederick  VIII.  With  "this  folly,"  as 
Bismarck  termed  it,  Austria  and  Prus- 
sia would  have  nothing  to  do.  It  was 
clear  that  they,  as  signatories  to  the 
1852  protocol  must  uphold  the  succes- 
sion as  fixed  by  it,  and  that  any  action 
they  might  take  in  consequence  of  the 
violation  of  that  compact  by  Denmark 
must  be  so  "correct"  as  to  deprive 
Europe  of  all  excuse  for  interference. 
"From  the  beginning,"  Bismarck  ad- 
mitted later,  "I  kept  annexation  stead- 
ily before  my  eyes."*  Ou  December  28, 
a  motion  was  introduced  in  the  Diet 
by  Austria  and  Prussia  calling  on  the 
confederation  to  occupy  Schleswlg  as 
a  pledge  for  the  observance  by  Den- 
mark of  the  compacts  of  1852.  This 
was  rejected  by  the  Diet,  and  Austria 
and  Prussia  thereon  decided  to  act 
in  the  matter  as  independent  European 
powers  (January,  18(34).  "Had"  the 
Danes  yielded  to  the  necessities  of 
the  situation,  and  withdrawn  from 
Schleswig  under  protest,  the  European 
powers  would  probably  have  restored 
Schleswig  to  the  Danish  crown,  and 
Austria  and  Prussia  as  European 
powers  would  have  no  choice  but 
to  prevent  any  attempt  upon  it  by 
the  Duke  of  Holstein.  To  prevent  this 
possibility,  Bismarck  made  the  Copen- 
hagen government  believe  that  Great 
Britain  had  threatened  Prussia  with 
intervention  should  hostilities  be 
opened,  though  (he  admitted)  as  a 
matter  of  fact  England  did  nothing  of 
the  kind.  The  cynical  strategem  suc- 
ceeded ;  Denmark  remained  defiant, 
and  the  Prussian  and  .Austrian  forces 
crossed  the  Eider."  This  explains  the 
fact  that  Denmark  is  in  favor  of  Eng- 
land today,  and  anti-German  in  its 
sympathies. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  England 
used  Japan  for  the  purpose  of  humiliat- 
ing Russia.'  The  talk  of  inveterate 
enmity  between  England  and  Russiii  is 
by  no  means  justified.  The  entente 
with  Russia  is  an  indication  that  Eng- 
lish and  Russian  policies  were  not  ir- 
reconcilable. As  to  national  symjia- 
thies,  England  is  quick  to  appreciate 
the  qualities  of  that  "profound  and 
humane  people." 

The  Editor  describes  the  French  as 
theatrical  and  vain,  unsteady  and  lack- 
ing   "the    serious    insistency    of    their 


"•O.   C,"  p.    604.* 
'  "Thid  .'■  D.   613. 


"Ibid.."  p.  613. 
•See  Index   for   complete   article,    giving 
full   reference  to  notes. — Editor. 


<  "Reflections,"  Vol.  II..  p.   10. 

'  I  quote  here  the  resume  of  the  que-stion 
in  the  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  "Schles- 
wig-Holstein Question,"  11th  edition,  Vol. 
XXIV,  p.   329. 

»"0.   C,"  p.   613. 


Teutonic  neighbors,'"  and  dominated  by 
the  idea  of  "revenge."  "The  French 
are  blinded  by  their  vanity,  their  vain- 
gloriousness,  their  narrow-minded  hope 
for  revenge.  Like  big  children  they  be- 
came an  easy  prey  to  the  British  king 
who  ensnared  them  to  fight  the  battles 
of  Albion."  The  Editor's  Freuch  type 
reminds  one  of  the  comic  Frenchman 
of  fiction.  But  how  are  we  to  explain 
the  fact  that  the  German  army  has 
moved  backward  from  the  Marne,  and 
has  vainly  attempted  to  break  through 
the  lines  of  their  vain,  decadent  and 
vainglorious  enemy?  The  Freuch  idea 
of  revenge  is  circulated  by  Germany, 
but  little  has  been  heard  of  it  in  France 
in  recent  years.  There  is  evidence  that 
French  statesmen  looked  on  war  with 
Germany  as  one  of  the  greatest  evils 
that  could  befall  a  nation,  and  the 
events  of  1905  and  1911  are  a  proof 
that  she  was  prepared  to  pay  a  price 
to  avert  the  ill-will  of  Germany.  As 
French  statesmen  speak  of  the  launch- 
ing of  five  threats  of  war  against  them 
by  Germany  since  1870 — the  first  in 
1875  when  Moltke  wished  to  bleed 
France  white,  the  fifth  in  1911 — it  is 
hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  French 
should  have  adopted  the  point  of  view 
that  "the  real  interest  of  France  would 
naturally  lie  in  an  alliance  with  Ger- 
many .  .  .  this  has  often  been  rec- 
ognized by  Germans,  but  the  French 
are  blinded  by  vanity  and  their  nar- 
row-minded hope  for  revenge."' 

The  war  has  come;  the  French  who 
know  their  history  no  doubt  remember 
the  war  of  1870-71.  Of  this  war  in 
which  Napoleon  III  was  a  mere  puppet 
in  Bismarck's  hands,  the  Editor  writes, 
"Was  not  the  cause  of  the  war  the 
unjustifiable  demand  that  the  king  of 
Prussia  should  humiliate  himself  be- 
fore the  French  emperor?  He  should 
beg  pardon  for  a  Hohenzollern  prince 
of  an  entirely  different  line  because  the 
Spaniards  had  offered  to  the  latter  the 
crown  of  Spain.""  Prince  Leopold  of 
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen  was  advised 
by  Bismarck  to  "abandon  all  scruples 
and  accept  the  candidature  in  the  in- 
terests of  Germany,"  and  as  "a  red 
rag  to  the  Gallic  bull."  Prince  Bis- 
marck worked  the  German  press  to 
inflame  opinions  against  France.  On 
the  evening  of  July  8,  the  French  am- 
bassador Benedetti  reached  Ems  under 
instructions  to  ask  King  Wilhelm  to 
secure  the  withdrawal  of  Prince  Leo- 
pold. The  King  wrote  privately  to 
Sigmaringen  ;  on  the  10th.  Prince  Karl 
Anton,,  father  of  Prince  I^eopold,  said 
it  was  too  late  to  draw  back,  but  on 
the  12th,  Prince  Leopold  actually  with- 
drew, and  the  news  was  published  in 
the  "Kolnische  Zeitung."  Benedetti  re- 
ceived orders  to  demand  an  undertak- 
ing from  King  Wilhelm  that  the  can- 
didature would  never  be  renewed.  The 
old  king  refused  but  added  that  he 
had  no  hidden  designs,  and  had  reason 
to  hope  the  question  was  closed.  The 
German  ambassador  in  Paris  sent  to 
Ems  for  approval  a  draft  note  stating 
that  the  king  of  Prussia  bad  meant 
no  offense  to  France.  Though  irritated, 
the  king  sent  an  aide-de-camp  to  Bene- 
detti to  report  that  he  had  received  the 
official  withdrawal  from  Sigmaringen 
and  approved  of  it.  The  aide-dp-canij) 
added  that  Benedetti  might  oome  to  the 


'  "Ibid.,"  pp.  613-615. 
'  "Iliid,,"   p.    616. 
'"Ibid.,"   p.   615. 


THE  GERMAN   MENACE— MILITARISM 


181 


station  at  Ems  to  salute  His  Majesty 
oil  his  (ieparture  for  Cobleutz.  As 
Beuedetti  liore  witness  at  Ems  "there 
was  neither  insulter  nor  insulted." 
Bismank,  as  is  well  known,  falsifled 
tlie  tele^'ram  summarizing  the  conver- 
sation with  Benedetti ;  and  this  "news" 
made  public  rendered  the  continuance 
of  peace  impossible.  This  was  not  an 
affair  in  which  French  diplomacy 
shone,  but  what  of  the  Prussian? 

With  regard  to  the  conditions  of 
peace  after  the  French  defeat,  the  Edi- 
tor writes  that  the  surrender  of  Alsace 
and  a  small  piece  of  Lorraine  was  de- 
manded for  rounding  off  the  lines  of 
Germany's  defense,  and  "incidentally  It 
was  remembered  that  the  people  of  Al- 
sace were  Germans,  that  Alsace  had 
belonged  to  the  German  empire,  and 
its  people  even  in  the  year  1S71  were 
still  speaking  Germau,"'"  therefore  the 
French  should  not  resent  this  settle- 
ment. 

This  account  avoids  the  cruelty  of 
the  annexation  of  these  provinces  by 
Germany.  Thougli  largely  German  In 
speech  and  race  their  inhabitants  were 
for  the  most  part  passionately  attached 
to  France.  In  accordance  with  the 
Treaty  of  Frankfort  the  inhabitants 
were  allowed  to  choose  between  French 
and  German  nationality,  but  all  who 
chose  the  former  had  to  leave  their 
country.  Some  50,000  did  so  before 
October.  1S72,  and  settled  In  France. 
Even  after  this  exodus,  when  in  1S74 
the  provinces  were  enabled  to  elect 
members  for  the  Reichstag,  the.v  sent 
fifteen  deputies  who  delivered  a  formal 
protest  against  the  annexation  and  re- 
tired from  the  House,  they  formed  no 
party  and  took  little  part  in  the  pro- 
ceedings except  on  Imjxirtant  occasions 
to  vote  against  the  government.  Gort- 
chakoff  gave  warning  that  the  annex- 
ation would  leave  a  wound  that  would 
long  be  a  menace  to  Europe,  while  Bis- 
marck is  reported  to  have  said  "one 
does  not  mutilate'  with  impunity.  To 
take  Metz  and  a  [lart  of  Lorraine  was 
the  worst  of  political  blunders."  It 
will  be  seen  from  this  account  of  the 
feelings  of  the  two  iirovinces,  that  the 
cases  imagined  l>y  the  Editor,  of  Eng- 
land clamoring  for  revenge  because  the 
I'nited  States  were  once  English  col- 
onies, and  Spain  clamoring  to  regain 
Gibraltar,  are  not  parallel. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  why  the  English 
nlliance  with  Japan  (which  has  for 
some  time  lieen  recognized  by  the  pow- 
ers as  a  civilized  power),  is  condemned' 
by  the  Editor,  while  Germany's  alliance 
with  the  oriental  and  unspeakable  Turk 
is  welcomed  with  enthusiasm  at  Berlin. 
To  the  German  mind  Japanese  inter- 
vention is  cowardly,  the  Turkish  glor- 
ious. 


•RUSSIA'S   BLIGHTING 
INFLUKNCE. 


How  This  Same  Prussia  Has  Culti- 
vated the  Democracy  i>l'  tlie 
Three  Republics  in  tlie 
(ieriiiun  Empire. 


■""Ibid.."  p.   filG.* 
'  "Ibid.."  p.  618. 

•See  Index  for  full  reference  to  notes- 
fCdltor. 


Japan's  Broken  Pledges. 

Japan  violates  the  neutrality  of 
China.  Not  a  voice  is  raised  in  pro- 
test. Japan  violates  her  word  of 
honor  to  restrict  her  action  to  Kiau- 
chau.  She  seizes  the  Jauluit  Island, 
dangerously  near  to  the  Pacific  pos- 
sessions of  the  United  States.  Uncle 
Sam  says  nothing.  He  even  smiles. 
But  he  is  doinp;  some  deep  tliinklng. 
— From  "The  Fatherland."  New 
York,    October   21,    1914. 


The  Fatlierland,  >'ew  York. 
Frederick  F.  Schrader. 

Of  the  many  insidious  attempts  of 
the  English  press  to  poison  public 
sentiment  against  Germany  no  topic 
is  more  often  harped  upon  just  at 
this  time  than  that  the  German  sys- 
tem of  government  spells  the  sup- 
pression of  liberty  and  individual 
freedom  for  all  upon  whom  its  blight- 
ing influence  may  fall.  "The  vic- 
tory of  Germany  in  this  war  means 
the  retardment  of  democracy,"  is  the 
cry  raised  in  a  number  of  Anglo- 
phile American  newspapers.  One 
London  Journal  exploits  this  deli- 
cious fiction  under  the  eloquent  head- 
ing, "The  Barbarians,"  in  which  Ger- 
many is  put  down  in  the  lower  list 
of  uncivilized  nations. 

This  unique  way  of  poisoning  pub- 
lic sentiment  in  this  country  stands 
self-refuted;  but  coming  from  a  coun- 
try which  has  but  recently  divided 
Persia  with  Russia,  destroyed  two 
flourishing  republics,  for  centuries 
oppressed  and  persecuted  Ireland, 
stolen  Egypt,  seized  Cyprus,  invaded 
Tibet  and  is  now  holding  India  in  a 
state  of  abject  subjection,  its  appeal 
to  the  ignorance  of  the  masses  is 
only  added  proof  of  its  hopeless  hy- 
pocrisy. It  cannot  possibly  affect  the 
thinking  class  of  American  citizens. 

Let  us  take  a  few  concrete  exam- 
ples of  proof,  positive,  which  brand 
this  presumption   as  utterly  false. 

How  many  are  aware  that  three  of 
the  States  in  the  German  Empire  are 
republics  and  have  a  complete  form 
of  republican  government? 

And  how  have  these  borne  their 
political  relations  to  Germany,  the 
Kaiser,  and  in  particular,  to  Prussia? 
We  refer,  of  course,  to  the  free 
states  of  Hamburg,  Bremen  and  Lue- 
beck. 

Let  us  take  Hamburg  for  example: 
"a  state  and  city  of  the  German  Em- 
pire" (Universal  Encyclopedia);  com- 
prising the  city  of  Hamburg,  the 
neighboring  territory  of  Bergedort 
and  some  smaller  districts,  and  Ritze- 
buettel,  including  Cuxhaven,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Elbe. 

In  121.")  it  was  made  a  free  city 
by  the  Emperor  Otto  IV.  It  prac- 
tically remained  a  free  city  until 
1810,  when  Napoleon  destroyed  its 
liberties  and  incorporated  it  with 
France.  With  the  downfall  of  the 
Corsican  tyrant  it  resumed  Its  re- 
publican form  of  government,  and 
has  remained  a  tree  city  ever  since. 
Remarkable  to  relate,  Hamburg  is 
entirely  surrounded  by  Prussia.  Has 
Prussia,  has  the  German  Empire,  or 
the  Kaiser,  at  any  time  curtailed  the 
liberty  of  Hamburg,  or  of  Bremen, 
or  of  Luebeck,  in  the  slightest  po- 
litical sense?     Let  us  see. 

Today,  as  always,  Hamburg  is  gov- 
erned as  a  republic  by  a  Senate  and 
House  of  Burgesses,  and  a  first  and 
second  burgomaster  chosen  annually 
by  secret  ballot. 


Now  what  has  been  the  blighting 
influence  of  the  Prussian  political 
system  on  its  destiny? 

In  1870  Hamburg  had  a  popula- 
tion of  250,000.  That  was  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Franco-Prussian  war. 
In  1914  Hamburg  has  a  population  of 
one  million,  and  only  last  year  it 
wrested  the  supremacy  from  London 
and  Liverpool  and  became  the  larg- 
est harbor  in  the  world. 

Much  of  this  wonderful  change  in 
the  history  of  the  German  republic 
may  have  been  due  to  the  far-seeing 
policies  and  enterprise  of  its  govern- 
ment; a  vast  deal  is  due  to  the  be- 
nevolent care  exercised  in  behalf  of 
its  development  and  growth  by  Prus- 
sia, Germany,  and  the  Kaiser  in  par- 
ticular. None  of  the  states  in  the 
German  Empire  are  more  loyal  than 
those  of  Hamburg,  Bremen  and  Lue- 
beck. Much  of  the  fighting  at  Liege 
was  done  by  the  troops  of  the  repub- 
lics. 

No  state  In  Germany  has  benefited 
more  directly  by  the  friendship  and 
personal  intercession  of  the  Kaiser 
than  has  Hamburg.  With  its  consti- 
tution unimpaired,  it  has  grown  un- 
der the  fostering  care  of  the  Prus- 
sian government  and  the  German 
Empire  as  no  other  city  in  Europe. 
Nowhere,  as  he  repeatedly  has  pub- 
licly expressed  it,  has  Emperor  Wil- 
liam felt  so  much  at  home  as  in  "my 
beloved  Hamburg."  His  receptions 
in  Hamburg  have  literally  been  ova- 
tions. 

Why?  Because  the  good  burghers 
of  Hamburg  but  too  well  realized  not 
only  that  their  treasured  republican 
institutions  were  in  no  danger  from 
"the  blighting  influence  of  Prussian 
diplomacy,"  but  that  its  enormous  ex- 
pansion, its  wealth,  its  staggering 
tonnage  and  shipping  were  the  result 
of  the  influence  directly  exercised  by 
Prussia  and  the  Kaiser. 

It  laid  the  foundation  of  its  su- 
premacy in  the  European  continent 
when  in  1888  it  joined  the  Zoll-Ve- 
rein  and  expended  $30,000,000  on 
the  enlargement  of  its  harbor.  Of 
this  amount  the  German  Empire  con- 
tributed $10,000,000,  largely  through 
the  good  offices  of  Emperor  William. 

And  what  is  true  of  Hamburg  is 
relatively  true  of  the  two  other  re- 
publics nestling  directly  under  "the 
blighting  shadow  of  Prussia's  politi- 
cal system."  Wherever  the  German 
eagle  has  spread  its  wings  prosperity 
has  grown  up,  poverty  has  been  re- 
duced to  the  minimum,  beggary  has 
been  abolished,  industry  has  flour- 
ished and  invention  fostered.  It  was 
said  by  an  English  writer  in  1891 
that  "Germany  has  done  more  tor  Al- 
sace-Lorraine in  twenty  years  than 
France  did  in  two  hundred." 

It  has  been  said  that  one  of  the 
severest  shocks  encountered  by  the 
French  was  the  disappointment  In 
finding  so  little  response  to  the  bom- 
bastic appeal  to  the  people  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  which  General  Joffre  ad- 
dressed to  them  when  he  invaded 
their  territory  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war.  Such  theatrically  worked- 
up  affairs  as  that  of  Zabern  by  an 
active  gang  of  French  irreconcil- 
ables  was  taken  as  a  sign  of  general 
disloyalty  to  Germany. 


182 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


Wounded  French  officers  related  in 
Paris  tliat  while  they  were  received 
with  signs  of  hearty  welcome,  secret- 
ly the  population  of  Alsace-Lorraine 
was  betraying  the  quarters  of  French 
troops  to  the  Germans  and  signalling 
where  German  artillery  could  be  most 
effectively  employed  to  destroy 
French  invaders. 

The  rank  and  file  of  the  people 
were  German:  in  their  hearts  they 
realized  that  France  and  Russia  had 
provoked  the  war;  and  it  is  entirely 
safe  to  say  that  they  will  be  more 
loyal  to  Germany  hereafter  than 
ever. 

So  much  for  this  blighting  influ- 
ence in  that  section. 


Even  in  Denmark,  which  next  to 
France  imagined  itself  more  ag- 
grieved by  Prussia  than  any  other 
country  in  Europe  because  of  the  loss 
of  Sclaleswig-Holstein,  there  is  a 
growing  sentiment  for  Germany,  and 
quite  recently  the  Danish  Colony  in 
Berlin  published  the  following  ad- 
dress to  their  countrymen: 

"We  who  have  lived  here  for  many 
years  appeal  to  our  countrymen  to 
stand  by  our  German  friends  in  this 
hour  of  trial  with  heart  and  soul  in 
order  that  we  may  substantially  prove 
our  own  friendship  and  sympathy." 

Which  of  the  oppressed  and  threat- 
ened nations  are  praying  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Allies? 


Is  Finland?  Is  Poland?  Is  Swed- 
en? Is  Holland?  Is  Egypt?  Is  Per- 
sia? Is  India?  Are  the  Boers  pray- 
ing for  the  defeat  of  Germany? 
Hardly.  Not  for  England,  which  1& 
employing  the  Oriental  in  his  cam- 
paigns. Not  for  France,  which  has 
sent  the  uniformed  negro  savages  of 
Africa  against  the  white  race.  Not 
for  Russia,  which  has  set  a  new  mark 
in  barbarity  in  its  invasion  of  Prus- 
sia by  cutting  off  women's  breasts 
and  impaling  the  five  children  of  one 
woman  upon  fence  pickets.  (Dispatch 
September  2.) 

"The  blighting  influence  of  Ger- 
many" means  civilization,  culture, 
prosperity  and  progress! 


The  Kaiser — What  Great  Men  Know  of  His  Character, 
Motives  and  AbiHtv 


EMPEROR  WILLIAM,  THE  MAN. 


Everybody's  Magazine. 

Professor  Hugo  Mueiisterberg. 

I  remember  distinctly  one  evening 
when  the  emperor  stood  by  the  open 
fireplace,  telling  me  laughingly  what 
"the  boy,"  that  is  the  crown  prince, 
had  just  written  from  his  hunting- 
trip  through  India.  I  felt  suddenly, 
like  a  thrill  through  my  mind,  the 
wish  that  instead  of  me  the  whole 
American  nation  could  see  this  won- 
derful man  in  the  buoyancy  of  his 
fatherly  joy,  in  the  sprightliness  of 
his  humor,  in  the  incomparable 
charm  of  his  mood  as  host. 

I  felt  it  because  I  know  how  most 
Americans  fancy  the  man  as  stiff 
and  forbidding  and  awe-inspiring,  as 
the  war  lord  with  the  helmet,  as  the 
severe  dictator  whose  command 
moves  millions  of  soldiers.  This 
harsh,  unsympathetic  picture  of  Wil- 
liam II.  with  the  formidable  mus- 
tache of  the  cartoonist,  has  wrought 
havoc  with  our  American  public  opin- 
ion in  these  excited  weeks  of  the 
European   war. 

If  anything  could  bring  the  man 
still  nearer  to  us  than  does  his  sense 
of  humor,  it  is  the  beauty  of  his 
family  life.  His  six  splendid  sons 
and  his  favorite  child,  the  daughter, 
are  always  in  his  mind;  and  the  chiv- 
alrous way  in  which  he  makes  his 
wife  the  leading  personage  present 
is  really  fascinating.  In  the  family 
circle,  when  she  talks,  his  eye  rests 
on  her  with  that  perfect  delight 
which  means  a  true  home  happiness. 

It  is  indeed  the  simplest  house- 
hold life,  in  spite  of  all  the  brilliant 
splendor  of  the  surroundings.  I  saw 
the  empress  in  a  magnificent  even- 
ing gown,  wearing  her  long  chains  of 
superb  pearls,  sit  down  at  the  em- 
peror's side  after  dinner  and  do  cro- 
chet work  for  a  Christmas  bazaar, 
while  the  talk  between  the  two  and 
their  two  guests  flitted  hither  and 
thither. 

In  such  a  small  circle  you  also  see 
best  that  the  emperor's  efforts  for 
temperance  are  not  only  words  ad- 
dressed to  others,  but  maxims  se- 
verely applied  to  himself.  He  hardly 
alps  at  a  glass  of  wine,  and  even  the 


William  II— -Emperor  of  Germany 


festival  banquets  which  in  the  rich 
Berlin  private  houses  fill  many  hours 
of  over-luxurious  feasting,  are  served 
in  the  palace  with  lightning  rapid- 
ity. In  the  same  way  his  ideas  about 
sport  and  physical  exercise,  with 
which  he  has  rejuvenated  the  Ger- 
man people,  are  carried  out  in  his 
own  simple  and  active  lite.  He  takes 
his  daily  long  walks,  rides  horseback, 
or  goes  hunting.  Whenever  state- 
craft  allows  it,   he  takes  an   outing. 

Yet  his  chief  interest  lies  in  cul- 
ture. It  is  simply  marvelous  what  a 
multitude  of  topics  are  familiar  to 
him.  Every  science  and  art,  every 
branch  of  technique  and  of  practical 
life,  every  movement  in  social  reform 
or  religion  holds  his  attention,  makes 
him  think,  and  stirs  his  desire  to 
know   more   about  it. 

In  America  I  have  seen  only  one 
person  succeed  in  an  effort  to  meet 
every  one  in  his  own  field,  and  that 
was  Theodore  Roosevelt.  After  the 
congress  of  arts  and  sciences  during 


the  St.  Louis  world's  fair,  which  was 
attended  by  more  leading  European 
scholars  of  all  scientific  denomina- 
tions, the  international  party  went  to 
Washington,  and  I  had  the  honor  to 
introduce  each  individual  to  the 
President,  who  received  them  in  the 
East  room.  He  really  talked  with 
philologists  about  philology,  with 
naturalists  about  natural  science, 
with  historians  about  history,  with 
geographers  about  geography  and 
with  lawyers  about  law.  Yet  six 
years  later  I  had  the  feeling  that  the 
Kaiser  outdid  him. 

It  was  at  the  hundredth  anniver- 
sary of  Berlin  university.  The  schol- 
arly master-spirits  of  the  world  had 
come  as  delegates.  After  a  great 
banquet  in  the  gala  halls  of  the  Ber- 
lin castle,  the  emperor  received  the 
foreign  scholars  personally,  and  I 
happened  to  stand  quite  close  behind 
him.  It  was  an  intellectual  delight 
to  watch  the  versatility  with  which 
he  met  every  man  with  interest  in 
his  particular  subject.  But  the  feat 
became  the  more  fascinating  as  he 
addressed  every  one  in  his  own  lan- 
guage, speaking  especially  French 
and  English  with  exactly  the  same 
ease  as  German. 

And  yet  this  is  the  man  about 
whom  so  many  Americans  fancy  that 
he  has  no  other  thought  and  no  other 
idea   than   the  army  and   militarism. 

He  has  his  own  opinions  and  sticks 
to  them  firmly.  This  naturally  means 
that  there  are  many  from  whom  he 
stubbornly  differs,  and  who  there- 
fore may  have  the  impression  that 
he  is  one-sided,  and  in  some  fields 
more  prejudiced  than  they  like.  That 
has  been  noticed  most  often  in  mat- 
ters of  literature  and  art  and  music. 
He  has  decidedly  a  personal  aversion 
for  radicalism  in  the  field  of  beauty. 
Anything  eccentric,  decadent,  inten- 
tionally harsh  and  repellent  in  the 
content,  or  bizarre  and  unnatural  in 
the  form,  appears  to  him  foreign  to 
the  mission  of  art.  He  wants  art 
and  literature  really  to  strengthen 
man's  joy  in  life  and  to  bring  hap- 
piness to  every  one.  He  wants  in- 
spiration from  a  drama,  and  not 
muck-raking;  he  wants  to  see  God's 
glory  in  a  landscape,  and  not  freak- 
ish  esthetic  experiments. 


THE  KAISER'S  CHARACTER  AND  MOTIVES 


183 


Yet  when  a  really  great  individual 
talent,  who  has  something  entirely 
new  to  tell  the  world,  produces  de- 
cisive works,  the  emperor  is  the  first 
to  suppress  his  personal  reluctance 
and  to  honor  the  genius.  Richard 
Strauss,  whose  music  must  be  con- 
trary to  the  emperor's  instincts,  is 
director  at  the  kaiser's  court  opera. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
kaiser  has  a  distinct  feeling  for  mel- 
lowed beauty,  and  the  nation  has 
often  profited  from  his  natural  tact 
in  matters  of  art.  I  may  point  to  a 
case  which  concerns  America.  When 
Germany  was  to  exhibit  at  the  St. 
Louis  World's  fair,  the  architects  had 
drawn  the  sketches  for  a  great  Ger- 
man house  in  the  spirit  of  the  newest 
German  progressive  art.  The  kaiser 
disliked  having  Germany  represented 
in  a  foreign  land  by  a  building  which 
emphasized  the  radical  innovations 
■of  newest  architecture.  As  witnesses 
told  me,  in  a  few  minutes  he  had 
replaced  it  by  a  new  plan.  He  drew 
in  a  few  lines  a  sketch  of  the  well- 
known  old  castle  in  Charlottenburg 
and  indicated  how,  omitting  the 
wings,  the  central  part  could  be 
slightly  modified  and  used  as  a  model 
which  would  stand  for  the  noblest 
traditions  of  German  architecture. 
And  so  it  did. 

This  conservative  attitude  surely 
characterizes  also  his  own  ideas  about 
his  position  in  the  state,  and  his 
task  for  his  country.  This  is  so 
easily  misunderstood.  The  carica- 
tures make  him  appear  a  pompous 
man.  who  talks  in  a  medieval  and 
mystical  way  about  his  divine  rights 
which  lift  him  above  mankind.  In 
reality,  there  is  not  the  least  hauti- 
ness  in  the  kaiser.  He  is  genial  and 
cordial   and   thoroughly    human. 

But  how  does  he  feel,  then,  about 
his  royal  nMe?  He  certainly  does  not 
take  himself  as  a  human  being  above 
others.  He  is  far  too  sincere,  too 
deeply  religious  to  exalt  himself  as 
a  person.  But  it  is  different  with  the 
office  which  has  come  to  him  by  in- 
heritance. 

This  is  most  fittingly  expressed  if 
in  religious  language  the  royal  office 
is  treated  as  if  it  were  God-given. 
The  crown  is  of  divine  grace,  just  as 
the  wedding-ring  is  of  divine  grace. 
Of  course,  if  you  are  radical,  the 
wedding-tie  does  not  mean  any  more 
to  you  than  a  contract,  binding  until 
yon  decide  to  have  a  divorce.  If  your 
mind  tends  more  toward  a  conserva- 
tive view,  the  wedding-tie  is  some- 
thing sacred.  The  emperor  would 
certainly  take  this  latter  view  of 
marriage,  and  so  he  takes  the  con- 
servative view  of  the  office  of  king. 

But  do  not  forget:  Of  the  office, 
not  of  the  man!  The  king  is  more 
than  the  citizen  only  as  the  bearer 
of  the  office;  but  if  this  is  under- 
stood, then  it  expresses  the  view 
which  not  only  the  emperor  has  of 
himself,  but  which  practically  every 
German  has  of  the  meaning  of  roy- 
alty. As  soon  as  the  monarch  Is 
functioning  in  his  inherited  role,  the 
German  wants  to  see  in  him  the 
bearer  of  a  sacred  symbol  from 
which  springs  a  higher  power  than 
co\ild  come  from  any  elective  office, 
which  necessarily  remains  dependent 
upon  the  will  of  the  majority.   •      * 


THE  KAISER  VINDICATED. 


New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung, 
New  Vork. 

Herman  Ridder. 

The  present  war  has  been  made  the 
occasion  for  renewed  outbreaks  on 
the  part  of  the  press  throughout  the 
world  against  the  Kaiser.  Ever  since 
the  day,  twenty-six  years  ago,  when 
Wilhelm  II.  ascended  the  throne  of 
his  fathers,  he  has  been  the  subject 
of  constant  editorial  attack.  The 
mass  of  calumnies,  of  distorted  mo- 
tives and  of  petty  vituperation  that 
has  been  leveled  at  him  has  been  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  measure  of 
the  success  which  has  attended  his 
efforts  for  the  peaceful  promotion  of 
the  legitimate  interests  of  his  people. 

I  have  followed  the  career  of  the 
emperor  from  the  day  of  his  acces- 
sion, through  the  long  years  when 
Germany  struggled  for  a  greater  na- 
tional existence,  down  to  the  present 
day  of  storm  and  stress.  I  have  felt 
honored  by  his  acquaintance  and  by 
his  friendship.  I  am  a  sincere  ad- 
mirer of  his  extraordinary  ability  and 
resourcefulness.  I  can  understand 
the  devotion  of  his  German  people 
and  their  complete  unity  of  purpose 
under  his  leadership.  Whether  the 
standard  be  German  or  American,  the 
answer  is  inevitable,  the  Emperor  is 
a  man  with  all  that  such  a  term  im- 
plies. He  is  a  great  man,  a  just  man 
and    a    well-beloved    man. 

The  Emperor  has  almost  a  relig- 
ious conviction  in  regard  to  his  duty 
towards  his  country.  No  personal 
motives  play  any  part  in  his  scheme 
of  life.  He  is  as  much  devoted  to  his 
particular  calling  of  governing  and 
brings  the  same  point  of  view  towards 
his  profession  as  the  young  man 
towards  the  vocation  of  priesthood. 
The  Emperor  believes  that  he  has 
been  called  to  perform  a  great  work 
and  he  brings  a  noble  sense  of  duty 
towards    its    fulfillment. 

Less  than  any  man  whom  I  have 
studied  does  he  yield  to  the  prejudice 
of  any  particular  group  that  happens 
temporarily  to  surround  him.  He 
favors  the  army,  "his  beloved  army," 
because  the  army  is  the  staff  upon 
which  Germany  leans  in  times  of 
peril.  Imagine  where  Germany 
would  be  today  without  an  army  to 
defend  her  borders  from  the  enemies 
that  are  being  hurried  from  all  parts 
of   the  world   against   her. 

The  confidence  of  the  Emperor  in 
the  German  army  has  not  been  mis- 
placed. It  is  a  great  machine  and 
has  proven  itself  capable  of  great 
deeds.  When  the  history  of  the  cam- 
paign of  France  is  written  it  will 
show  that  von  Moltke  was  not  "an  ac- 
cident," as  so  many  American  papers 
delight  In  saying.  The  first  rush  for 
Paris  did  not  succeed,  but  the  next 
advance  will  have  en  entirely  dif- 
ferent character.  There  have  been 
no  German  routs,  no  great  reverses. 
Fortunately  the  reports  from  London 
and  Paris  do  not  alter  the  facts  of 
the  case.  Regardless  of  the  coloring 
given  at  the  time,  sooner  or  later  the 
facts  appear.  As  the  London  Times 
naively  remarks,  "The  truth  must 
out." 


The  advice  of  Dr.  Dernburg,  given 
in  a  speech  at  a  benefit  performance 
for  the  German  Red  Cross,  is  well 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  German- 
Americans: 

"How^  can  you  help  the  Fatherland 
in  this  most  difficult  situation? 
Above  all  by  a  quiet  demeanor  and 
dignified  attitude.  It  accomplishes 
no  useful  purpose  to  quarrel  because 
the  American  people  have  no  sym- 
pathy for  that  sort  of  thing.  In  the 
days  of  our  victories  we  will  rejoice, 
but  we  will  not  whine  when  we  suf- 
fer the  reverses  which  the  fortunes 
of  war  may  bring.  We  will  empha- 
size the  justness  of  our  cause  in  those 
circles  where  it  is  worth  while.  We 
have  too  much  respect  for  ourselves 
to  answer  the  attacks  of  our  oppo- 
nents, lie  for  lie  or  exaggeration  for 
exaggeration.  We  refute  with  con- 
tempt, but  nevertheless  with  modera- 
tion of  expression,  the  charges  of 
German  cruelties  which  we  know  to 
be  foreign  to  our  civilization  and 
our  temperament.  Your  own  charac- 
ter and  your  own  experience  in  this 
country  "furnish  the  best  evidence  of 
that  fact. 

"What  we  should,  however,  bring 
home  to  the  American  people  are  the 
facts  of  our  mutual  ideals,  our  mu- 
tual commercial  interests  and  a  cen- 
tury of  friendship  between  the  United 
States  and  Germany.  If  they  hold 
the  term  "militarism"  before  you, 
ask  them  which  other  nation  in  the 
world  always  had  more  than  one 
enemy  to  protect  itself  against,  and 
if  they  assert  that  the  German  peo- 
ple through  this  "militarism"  were 
led  into  a  war,  then  you  can  point  to 
the  fact  of  the  unity  of  the  German 
people  and  in  what  a  firm  and  noble 
manner  it  is  fighting  its  battle. 

"I  consider  the  4th  of  August  of 
this  year  as  one  of  the  most  inspiring 
days  that  it  has  been  my  fortune  to 
live  At  the  opening  of  the  German 
Reichstag  in  the  Palace  of  Berlin,  1 
stood  in  the  first  row  and  saw,  calm 
and  determined,  the  elected  represen- 
tatives of  the  German  people,  assured 
and  stern  the  generals,  and  simple 
and  alone,  without  decoration  or  at- 
tendance, the  Emperor  in  his  field 
uniform.  With  hope  and  confidence 
in  his  voice,  the  Kaiser  read  his 
speech.  As  this  man  in  this  hour  held 
the  responsibility  for  the  history  of 
Germany  in  his  hands,  as  this  man 
stepped  from  the  platform,  he  said 
those  few  words  which  will  always 
have  an  immense  importance  in  Ger- 
man political  history:  'What  I  told 
my  beloved  people  of  Berlin  from  the 
balcony  of  the  palace,  1  repeat  to 
you:  From  today  1  know  no  distinc- 
tion in  rank,  no  diversity  of  parties, 
no  difference  of  religions.  I  am  a 
German  with  my  German  people  and 
I  call  on  the  leaders  of  all  parties  to 
swear  the  same  oath  with  me  and  to 
confirm  it  by  laying  their  hand  in 
mine.'  As  these  men  stepped  for- 
ward to  shake  the  hand  of  the  Em- 
peror, the  spirit  of  a  great  hour  fell 
over  the  assembled  thousands  and  as 
we  sang  the  National  Anthem,  I  can 
assure  you  it  sounded  different  from 
a  school  festival  or  a  veterans'  anni- 
versary." 


184 


THEJALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


IS  THE  KAISER  GLORY-MAD? 


THE   IRON   CROSS 
The  Order  of  the  Iron  Cross  for  Mili- 
tary Merit  was  founded  by  the  Kaiser's 
great-grandfather   during   the   wars   of 
German   Liberation 


THE   KAISER'S   NEW  YEAR. 
GREETINGS. 

To  the  German  Army  and  the  German 
Navy : — 

After  five  months  of  long,  difficult 
and  violent  fighting,  we  enter  into  the 
New  Year, 

Brilliant  victories  have  been  won, 
great  successes  attained.  The  German 
army  stands  in  the  enemy's  territory 
almost  on  every  side.  Repeated  at- 
tempts of  the  enemy  to  flood  the  Ger- 
man soil  with  their  multitudinous 
armies  have  met  with  failure.  My 
ships  have  covered  themselves  with 
fame  on  all  seas.  Their  crews  have 
proven  that  they  can  not  only  fight 
their  way  to  victory,  but  that  they  are 
able,  when  overwhelmed  by  superior 
numbers,  to  meet  death  heroically. 

Behind  the  army  and  the  fleet  stands 
the  German  people  in  unexampled 
unity,  ready  to  offer  their  dearest  pos- 
sessions for  the  sacred  domestic  hearth, 
which  we  are  defending  against  wan- 
ton attacks. 

Much  has  happened  in  the  old  year. 
But  the  enemy  has  not  yet  been  van- 
quished. Fresh  armies  are  constantly 
being  hurled  against  our  faithful 
troops  and  those  of  our  ally.  But  their 
numbers   do   not   frighten    us. 

Although  the  present  time  is  an 
earnest  one,  the  t'ask  which  lies  before 
us  most  difficult,  we  may  look  into  the 
future  with  firm  confidence. 

After  God's  all-wise  leadership,  I 
place  my  trust  in  the  incomparable 
bravery  of  the  army  and  navy  and  I 
know  that  I  am  one  with  the  entire 
German  people. 

Let  us  therefore  go  forward  undavmt- 
edly  to  meet  the  New  Year — to  fresh 
deeds — to  new  victories  for  the  beloved 
Fatherland. 

(Signed)     "WILHELM,  I.  R. 
Chief  Headquarters,  Dec.  31,  1914, 


Editorial,  Array  and  Navy  Journal, 
New  York. 

It  is  well  to  call  attention  to  a  few 
facts  which  lie  close  to  the  surface  in 
this  titanic  Euroi^ean  upheavel  and 
which  should  be  especially  instructive 
to  all  military  men.  First,  one  hears 
on  all  sides  in  the  United  States  that 
the  German  Kaiser  is  glory-hungry  and 
that,  in  a  mad  desire  to  achieve  a  name 
like  Frederick  the  Great  or  Napoleon, 
he  has  flung  his  great  army  in  the  face 
of  Europe,  When  the  Boulauger  excite- 
ment was  at  its  height  in  France,  one 
of  Boulanger's  partisans  arose  in  the 
House  of  Deputies  and  shouted  to  the 
opposition :  "How  do  you  know  that 
General  Boulanger  will  not  punish  you 
all  with  a  coup  d'etat?"  "Because,'^ 
hissed  back  an  opponent,  "he  is  too  old," 
Boulanger  was  then  fifty-one.  So  it 
may  be  said  of  the  German  Kaiser. 
Born  in  1859,  he  is  now  fifty-five  years 
of  age,  A  gray-haired  grandfiither  does 
not  seek  military  glory  at  an  age  three 
years  greater  than  that  at  which  Na- 
poleon died  and  when  twenty-two  years 
older  than  was  Frederick  the  Great, 
when  by  the  treaty  of  Dresden,  in  1745, 
he  obtained  possession  of  Silesia  for  the 
second  time  and  by  his  military  genius 
had  "raised  himself  to  a  great  position 
in  Europe." 

The  Kaiser  has  so  well  kept  the  peace 
of  Europe  during  the  twenty-six  years 
of  his  reign  that  Mr.  Carnegie  only  a 
few  months  ago  presented  to  him  a  trib- 
ute as  an  expression  of  the  admiration 
of  peace  lovers  the  world  over  for  the 
magnificent  work  he  had  done  to  pre- 
vent war  in  Europe  during  his  years  of 
power.  Now  to  say  that  he  has  plunged 
nations  into  war  for  a  mere  freak  is  to 
misjudge  entirely  those  racial  currents 
which  for  centuries,  like  some  deeply 
hidden  stream  that  undermines  moun- 
tains and  brings  the  loftiest  peak  level 
with  the  plain,  have  torn  through  all 
conventions  and  diplomatic  agreements 
and  made  their  way  in  blood  to  the 
attainment  of  their  ultimate  object. 
There  has  been  more  than  one  occasion 
when  the  German  Emperor,  if  he  had 
been  glorv-mad,  could  have  thrown  his 
sword  into  the  balance  with  far  more 
chance  of  achieving  success  than  at 
the  present  time,  "When  the  Russian 
Empire  was  in  that  fierce  grapple  with 
Japan,  Wilhelm  was  ten  years  younger 
than  he  is  today,  and  should  have  been 
more  eager  to  achieve  military  fame 
than  when  only  fifteen  years  away  from 
the  three-score  years  and  ten  which  are 
supposed  to  round  out  the  life  of  the 
average  mortal.  When  he  took  the 
throne  in  18S8,  France  was  only 
seventeen  years  removed  from  the  dis- 
astrous debacle  of  the  Naix)leonic  re- 
gime. Then  the  Kaiser  was  a  young 
man  and  glory  should  certainly 
have  seemed  more  alluring  than  now, 
when  grandchildren  are  prattling  on 
his  imperial  knees.  He  had  scarcely 
been  on  the  throne  a  decade  when 
the  Dreyfus  agitation  broke  out  in 
France  and  the  name  of  the  Kaiser  was 
brought  into  the  controversy  that  rent 
France  asunder  with  discord.  Then,  if 
he  had  sought  only  his  own  glory,  he 
could  have  manufactured  a  casus  belli 
out  of  the  allegations  so  frequently 
heard  that  Germany  had  played  a  base 
part  in  the  "affaire."    Again  at  the  time 


of  the  Agadir  incident  in  Africa  a  splen- 
did opiwrtunity  presented  itself  for 
creating  a  reason  for  going  to  war,  but 
the  Kaiser  sat  firm  and  the  war  clouds 
blew  over.  Why,  then,  should  the  con- 
clusion be  jumped  at  that  the  German 
Emperor  has  no  other  ambition  now 
than  to  achieve  glory?  Emperors  at  his 
age,  iu  history  of  the  world  generally, 
have  already  established  their  reputa- 
tions and  have  been  content  to  pass  the 
remaining  years  of  their  reign  in  peace. 
The  case  of  Napoleon  III,  who  was 
fifty-two  when  he  entered  upon  the  war 
with  Prussia  in  1870,  is  not  an  instance 
in  point,  for  he  was  an  adventurer  who 
held  his  emperorship  by  virtue  of  a 
coup  d'etat  and  with  whom  the  coun- 
try was  becoming  dissatisfied,  a  situa- 
tion that  made  war  an  apparently  easy 
way  to  distract  popular  attention  from 
troubles  at  home.  The  German  Kaiser, 
on  the  contrary,  is  the  regular  successor 
of  a  beloved  Emperor  and  his  country 
is  at  the  height  of  its  prosperity,  with 
no  home  troubles  clouding  his  adminis- 
tration of  his  imperial  heritage. 

We  also  hear  it  said  that  the  great 
army  of  the  Kaiser  has  led  him  on 
to  challenge  the  military  strength  of 
the  Triple  Entente  and  that  his  alleged 
eagerness  to  go  to  war  is  another  reason 
for  general  disarmament,  since  without 
his  large  army  he  would  not  have  been 
tempted  to  go  to  war.  Here  the  as- 
sertion is  that  the  possession  of  a  huge 
fighting  machine  made  him  imperious 
and  unreasonable  and  that  it  lulled  him 
into  a  false  sense  of  security.  But  the 
facts  do  not  bear  out  this  assertion.  In 
another  column  we  print  a  summary  of 
a  book  by  Lieut.  Col.  W.  von  Bremen, 
a  German  officer,  which  was  recently 
published,  and  which  aimed  to  show 
the  Germans  their  weakness  from  the 
viewpoint  of  military  preparedness.  In 
it  will  be  found  little  to  give  confidence 
to  the  Kaiser,  as  it  shows  Germany  and 
Austria  would  be  outnumbered  by 
nearly  2,000,000  men  without  counting 
Great  Britain,  while  Italy  could  not  be 
relied  upon  to  stand  by  the  Triple  Al- 
liance. Emperors,  unless  they  are  mili- 
tary geniuses  like  Napoleon,  are  not 
eager  to  rush  into  war  when  outnum- 
bered by  more  than  a  million  men  on 
land  and  completely  overshadowed  on 
the  sea, 

Americans,  not  having  been  placed 
in  an  environment  where  they  could 
feel  the  pressure  of  rival  races,  natur- 
ally form  the  opinion  that  the  great 
military  establishment  of  the  German 
Emperor  is  responsible  for  this  war, 
and  they  cannot  understand  how  a 
thing  that  appears  so  small  to  them 
as  the  Austro-Servian  imbroglio  should 
result  in  this  pan-European  conflagra- 
tion. This  attitude  on  their  part  is  due 
to  their  ignorance  of  conditions  that 
have  obtained  in  their  own  country. 
Only  a  few  months  ago  the  United 
States  invaded  territory  of  Mexico  and 
seized  her  greatest  port  because  a  cer-  * 
tain  salute  was  not  given  to  the  Amerl-  ■ 
can  flag.  Doubtless  the  American  peo-  T! 
pie  would  have  been  much  aggrieved  If 
Europe  had  mocked  them  for  entering 
upon  hostilities  for  such  a  trivial  cause. 
Americans  are  inclined  to  condemn  the 
strenuous  methods  adopted  by  Austria 
to  punish  Servia  for  the  assassination 
of  the  heir  to  the  Austrian  throne,  yet 
our  own  government  refused  to  recog- 
nize the  authority  of  Huerta  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  implicated  in  the 


THE   KAISER'S  CHAR.ACTER  AND  MOTIVES 


185 


alleged  assassination  of  Madero,  a 
Mexican — a  refusal  that  resulted  even- 
tually in  the  invasion  of  Mexican  terri- 
tory. 

If  one  of  the  European  nations  hav- 
ing island  possessions  near  the  Carib- 
bean terminal  of  the  Panama  Canal 
should  dispose,  by  a  perfectly  legal  sale, 
of  her  islands  or  island  to  another  na- 
tion, the  United  States  under  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  would  enter  a  protest  and, 
we  doubt  not,  would  be  ready  to  go  to 
war.  Twenty  years  ago  this  country 
was  on  the  verge  of  war  with  England 
over  Venezuela  and  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine. Could  not  Europe  very  justly 
ridicule  our  clinging  to  the  intangible 
thing  called  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which 
has  no  place  in  international  law?  To 
the  European  the  Doctrine  may  seem 
very  insignificant  Indeed,  but  to  Ameri- 
cans it  appears  to  be  vital  to  the  future 
welfare  of  the  Republic  and  something 
for  which  the  nation  is  justified  In  go- 
ing to  war.  We  who  watch  over  the 
Doctrine  with  nervous  care  are  scarcely 
in  a  position  to  shout  "militarism"  at 
the  Germans  or  Austrians  when  they 
rislc  the  arbitrament  of  war  for  a  prin- 
ciple of  racial  homogeneity  that  may 
have  just  as  solid  a  basis  in  the  needs 
of  the  people  as  has  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine. One  very  important  thing  the 
.^.nierican  people  should  learn  is  that 
each  continent,  each  people,  has  issues 
peculiar  to  itself,  and  that  it  is  not 
proper  for  a  country  thousands  of  miles 
away  to  evoke  from  the  depths  of  its 
isolation  a  sneer  or  a  criticism  for  peo- 
ple who  may  be  just  as  faithfully  living 
up  to  the  necessities  of  their  national 
existence  as  did  the  American  people  in 
ls(ii  when  they  preferred  to  precipitate 
the  greatest  civil  war  in  history  rather 
than  see  part  of  their  federation  with- 
draw to  form  a  separate  nation. 


10.000  GERM.4\S  CABLE  KAISER 
LOVE. 


Stirring    Meeting    .Al.so    Vrgcs 

.Americans    to    Delay 

Verdict  on  War. 


The  Chicago  Tribune. 

Ten  thousand  of  Chicago's  Ger- 
man-Americans gathered  in  and 
about  the  Auditorium  theater  last 
night  in  a  war  demonstration. 

From  this  meeting  and  its  several 
overflow  meetings  messages  of  as- 
surance and  sympathy  were  sent  to 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  and  Emperor  Franz 
Joseph. 

Resolutions  were  adopted  calling 
on  the  public  and  the  press  of  the 
United  States  to  consider  the  situa- 
tion conservatively,  thoughtfully, 
cautiously. 

5,000  Parade  Streets. 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting,  mem- 
bers of  the  audience  and  the  large 
gatherings  in  Grant  Park,  C!ongress 
street  and  Michigan  boulevard  pa- 
raded the  streets  more  than  r),noo 
strong  behind  the  German  colors  and 
the  American  flag  chanting  "Die 
Wacht  am  Rhein."  At  the  North 
Side  Turner  Hall  the  paraders  held  a 
second  meeting,  where  a  collection 
for  the  German   cause  was  taken. 


Austria-Hungary  was  strongly  rep- 
resented in  the  meeting. 

Cable  to  Rulers. 

The  cables  dispatched  from  the 
meeting  were  voted  by  acclamation 
from  the  cheering  audience.  The 
first  read: 

"To  His  Imperial  Majesty  Kaiser 
Franz    Joseph    of    Austria-Hungary: 

"In  the  largest  German  mass  meet- 
ing ever  held  in  Chicago  the  Ger- 
mans and  Austrians  of  this  world 
city  assure  your  imperial  majesty, 
whose  venerable  brow  ever  inspires 
all  men  to  love  and  veneration,  of 
undying  love  and  affection." 

This  message  was  approved  and 
greeted  with  "bravos"  as  the  chair- 
man rose  to  read  the  following  mes- 
sage: 

"To  His  Majesty  Wilhelm  II.,  Ger- 
man Kaiser,  Berlin: 

"The  German-American  citizens  of 
Chicago,  assembled  in  as  great  a 
mass  meeting  as  this  world  city  has 
ever  seen,  assure  your  majesty  in 
the  name  of  the  2,000,00n  Germans 
in  Illinois  of  our  unchangeable  love 
for  home   and   fatherland." 

The  meeting  was  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  German-American 
alliance,  with  Ferdinand  Walther, 
president,   presiding. 

Patriotic  Music  Stirs  Crowd. 

The  fervor  of  the  audience  gath- 
ered fire  from  the  music  of  Ball- 
man's  orchestra,  playing  marches 
sacred  to  the  memory  of  many  a  field 
of  German  victory. 

The  Rev.  Alfred  Meyer  spoke  for 
more  than  an  hour,  discussing  the 
significance  of  the  controversy  and 
the  treatment  of  the  news  in  the 
American  newspapers. 

"We  have  war  because  of  English 
jealousy,"  he  said,  as  nearly  as  his 
rapid  flre  German  may  be  translated 
into  English  text.  "The  trade  of 
Germany  has  increased  two  and  a 
half  times  in  five  years.  England 
has  seen  that  only  war  might  dis- 
turb the  balance  of  trade." 

Kaiser's  Peaceful  Instincts. 

The  minister  spoke  of  the  peace- 
ful instincts  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  and 
pointed  to  the  forty  years  of  Ger- 
man peace.  He  charged  England 
had  added  flre  to  the  ancient  hatred 
of  the  French  and  laid  at  the  foot 
of  the  English  throne  the  blame  for 
the  world  war. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Meyer's  utterances 
drew  wild  applause  from  the  audi- 
ence. Women  enthused  with  the 
love  of  fatherland  stood  up  in  their 
seats   to  wave   kerchiefs  and   gloves. 

The  orchestra  struck  up  "Radctz- 
ki,"  the  march  made  memorable  by 
the  conflict  of  Dueppel  in  Denmark 
in  1864.  The  auditorium  roared  with 
cheers. 

Former  Judge  Michael  F.  Girten 
presented  an  analysis  of  the  war  situ- 
ation in  German  phrase,  which  most 
accurately  might  be  translated  as  an 
issue  of  "meat  and  murderers."  He 
attacked  the  right  of  Servia  to  as- 
sume affront  at  the  demands  of 
.Vustro-IIungary  on  account  of  the 
anti-.\ustrian  plots  and  of  the  assas- 
sination of  the  heir  to  the  .Austrian 
throne. 


"Austria  has  sent  inspectors  to 
look  into  the  food  imports,  to  search 
for  diseased  cattle  and  unwholesome 
meats,"  he  said,  "and  Servian  honor 
was  not  affronted.  Should  any 
nation  be  criticised  for  wanting  an 
inspection  of  diseased  men,  reputed 
murderers? 

"Assassinations  are  contagious. 
They  must  be  kept  down  by  all  civ- 
ilized peoples  ot  the  world." 

Cites  Belgian  Incident. 

Judge  Girten  recounted  the  inci- 
dent of  the  Belgian  plot  of  Du  Chose 
against  the  life  of  Bismarck  and  cited 
the  promptness  with  which  Belgium 
suppressed  the  society  and  the  peri- 
odicals held  responsible. 

The  judge  praised  the  Kaiser  as  a 
man  of  peace,  declaring  in  German 
idiom  that  he  had  "backed  down"  fre- 
quently in  the  last  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury to  avoid  war.  He  charged  Eng- 
land and  France  could  have  avoided 
war  by  refusing  to  let  Russia  go  on 
with  an  extension  ot  "that  protection 
of  a  certain  brand  that  has  been  ex- 
tended   to   the   Finns   and    Poles." 

Bothmann  Defends  Germany. 

William  Rothmann,  only  speaker 
of  the  night  to  deliver  an  address 
in  English  spoke  in  behalf  of  the 
German  club.  His  address  was  a  de- 
fense of  the  position  of  Germany  In 
world  politics.  H.  O.  Lange  also 
spoke. 

Carl  Zwanzig  of  Ottawa,  HI.,  presi- 
dent Des  Deutsch-Amerikanischen 
Press-Vereins  von  Illinois,  spoke  In 
behalf  of  the  German  press  of  the 
State. 

The  overflow  meetings  In  the 
streets  about  and  the  lobby  of  the 
theater  were  addressed  by  E.  G.  F. 
Brill,  former  Judge  Girten,  August 
Lueders  and  others. 

More  than  6,000  persons  were 
turned  away  by  the  police  and  fire- 
men assigned  to  the  protection  of 
the  theater.  Charles  Christian  led 
a  crowd  to  Grant  Park,  where  the 
enthusiasts  formed  in  tiers  north  of 
Congress   street. 


A  similar  meeting  as  this  was 
held  by  German-Americans  of  Boston 
in  Faneuil  Hall  on  August  30th.  For 
details  see  reprinted  report  on  an- 
other page  under  the  head  of  "Fan- 
euil Hall  Rocks  As  Germans  jVsk 
Fair  Play  From  the  Press."  "The 
Boston  Evening  Transcript"  says  this 
was  "as  lacking  in  legitimate  ex- 
cuse, as  it  was  harmful  in  example," 
and  that  "the  German-Americana 
there  assembled  emphasized  by  their 
speeches  and  resolutions  how  hyphen- 
ated is  their  citizenship." 

"It  is  against  them  and  their 
brand  of  patriotism,"  "The  Trans- 
cript" continues,  "that  President  Wil- 
son has  protested  more  than  once 
and  his  admirable  counsel  regard- 
ing our  neutrality  as  a  nation  in  this 
war  was,  we  believe,  intended  par- 
ticularly for  those  who,  in  their  sym- 
pathy for  the  sorrows  of  the  land 
they  left,  forget  not  only  their  rea- 
sons for  leaving,  but  their  solemn 
obligations  to  the  land  of  their  adop- 
tion." 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 

Germanv's  Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity — Patriotism  and  Duty 


Die  Wachl  am  Rhein. 


Max  Schneckenburger.  (1840.) 


Allegro  maestoso. 


f.    Ks   braiist  ein  Riif   wie 
3.  Durch   Hiin.deil-tau.'.end 
3.    Er    blickt   hin-acf     in 
4     So     lanf '    ein  Trop.feii 
5.  Der  Schwur  crschallt.die 


Carl  Wnhelro.(I854) 


Don. iier. hall,  wie  Srhwertge.klirr  und  Wo.  scnprall:  zum 

zuckt es.schrKlJ,niid        al  .  ler    All  -  g'en  blit.zenhell;   der 

Hira.mels-aun,   da        Ilcl.den -va  .  ler  nie . derschaim  iinrt 

Bliit  nochgliiht,niich      ei  .  ne  Faust  den  De -gen  zieht.iind 

Wo  .  ge    rinnt.dio       Fah.ncn  flat. tern  hoch  imWind:  am 


1.  Rhein,  zum  Rhein, zura  dent. schen  Rhein!    wer     will     des  .  Stro  .  mes  Hii.ter     sein! 

2.  Deut.  sche,  bie  .  der.fromm  nnd- stark,    be  .  schiitzt  die     beil  .  ge  Landes.Mark.  I 

3.  srhwort  mit  stol  .  zer  Kamp.fes  .    lust:  „Dn,   Rhein,bteibstdeutschwiemei.ne    Brust!">  Lieb 

4.  noch    ein   Arm    dieBiicn.se      spannt,  be  .  Iritl    kein   Feind    hierdei.nen  Strand!  I 

5.  Rhein,  am  Rhein, am  dent. schen  Rhein,    wir       al    .   le       wol  .  len  Hii.ter    sein!    / 


1 .  B. Va.ter.lanS.magst    ru  .hig  sein,  lieb      Va.ter.land,niagst   ru.higsein:         fest steht  nnd 


THE    WATCH    O'ER    THE    RHINE. 


(Translation  of  the  German  National 
Anthem,  which  is  printed  above.) 

1 

With  thunder  shout  the  air  is  rent, 
Like  roar  of  waves  and  sword-clash 

blent; 
"Now  of  the  German  Rhine  so  free, 
Who  will   the   river's  guardian   be?" 


(Chorus: ) 

Dear  Fatherland,  mayst  tranquil  be. 
Thy    faithful    sons    will    watch    o'er 

thee; 
Steadfast    and    true    each    son,    each 

son  of  thine. 
Stands    sentry    o'er    our    Rhine,    our 

noble  Rhine. 


The  people  hear  that  mighty  cry, 
Like    lightning    flashes    ev'ry    eye. 


That  landmark  ev'ry  heart  will  keep. 
And  watch  unsleeping  o'er  the  deep. 

(Chorus.) 

3 
The  waves  re-echo  back  the  cry. 
The  standard  in  the  breeze  doth  fly, 
The    Rhine,    the    German    Rhine    so 

free. 
Yes!   we  will  all  thy  guardians  be. 

(Chorus.) 


A  SACRED  TRUST— PATRIOTISM  AND  DUTY 


GERMAN   PATRIOTISM. 

Maximiliiin  Harden,  one  of  the  fore- 
most German  journalists,  writes  in 
""Die  Zuliunft"  as  follows : 

"Our  foes  in  East  and  West  are 
drunk  with  joy — 'In  Germany  the  food- 
stuffs have  tieen  placed  under  Govern- 
ment control,  that  is  the  beginning  of 
the  end.'  We  reply,  'It  is  the  end  of  a 
beginning  of  which  we  at  home  dis- 
approved mightily.  It  means  divesting 
ourselves  of  all  shams,  whose  reign 
could  not  continue  without  woeful 
harm.' 

"Do  our  enemies  rejoice  that  we 
have  taken  this  step?  They  may  rest 
assured  we  have  desired  it  for  a  long, 
long  time.  Government  supervision  of 
supplies  is  a  necessity.  It  cannot  be 
sutlieiently  severe  where  the  merest 
I)ossibllity  of  eventual  dearth  exists. 
We  do  not  complain  because  every 
man,  woman  and  child  is  meted  out  an 
Iron  portion  of  provisions,  of  meat, 
eggs,  butter,  bread.  No  one  knows  how 
long  the  war  may  continue.  And  the 
fear  of  starvation  must  not  be  allowed 
to  curtail  the  icar  by  the  fraetion  of 
■a  daii.  That  is  the  business  of  those 
that  rule.  It  is  their  duty  to  see  that 
tlie  national  larder  remains  replete." 

If  Englishmen  were  as  willing  to 
make  sacrifices,  Germany  might  view 
the  future  with  concern,  hut  drink-sod- 
den England  is  not  capable  of  such  pa- 
triotism. 

There  is  a  handwriting  on  the  walls 
of  England  and  the  voice  of  the 
prophet  is  sounding  in  her  streets. — 
From   "The  Crucible." 


THE     DUTY     OP    PREPAREDXESS 
FOR  WAR. 


By   Charles  Richniond   Henderson. 

Head  of  the  department  of  eccle- 
siastical sociology,  University  of  Chi- 
cago, editor  of  the  American  Journal 
of  Theology,  editor  of  the  American 
Journal  of  Sociology. 


Prom    the    Editorial    Page    of    "The 

Chicago  Tribune,"   Xoveniber  8, 

1914. 

[An  extract  from  the  "Russell 
Lecture"  for  1914  Tufts  college,  Bos- 
ton, delivered  by  Dr.  Henderson.] 

We  have  no  reason  to  abandon  in 
this  terrible  hour  our  confidence  in 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  reason  and 
justice;  nor  to  surrender  to  the  de- 
testable doctrines  of  Machiavelli  and 
his  contemporary  disciples:  nor  to 
look  for  our  deities  in  Valhalla,  in 
a  world  "beyond  good  and  evil."  Our 
first  and  supreme  duty  as  a  people 
is  to  deserve  peace;  to  avoid  every 
just  occasion  for  attack;  to  be  fair 
to  our  own  workingmen,  to  Japan, 
and  to  China.  No  pacifist  has  ever 
stated  that  obligation  too  strongly. 

But  the  American  people  have  re- 
cently been  startled  into  consider- 
ation of  a  reality  which  they  have 
not  faced  before  since  the  awful 
years  of  the  war  for  the  union  and 
for  liberation  of  our  slaves.  We 
have  been  taught  to  trust  in  the 
ocean;  the  Emden,  the  Karlsruhe, 
and  other  swift  men  of  war.  shelling 
Madras.  Calcutta,  and  threatening 
other  ports,  have  destroyed  that  de- 
lusion. 

We  have  trusted  to  treaties  of  civ- 
ilized nations,   and  now  we  are  told 


(IX  iii;i:.-<.s  rAKAni: 

Imperial  Guard  passing  in  review  before  their  Emperor,  who  has  just  declared 

war.     The  same  dignified  and  uniform  appearance  of  German  Soldiers  is  seen 

everywhere ;  they  may  be  mistaken,  but  they  certainly  "mean  it"  I 


by  the  highest  authorities  that  good 
faith  and  honor  are  the  reliance  of 
weaklings  and  fools,  when  "interest" 
calls  for  treachery  and  destruction. 
We  have  been  taught  by  certain  bril- 
liant economists  that  the  bankers  of 
the  great  financial  centers  would  stop 
war  by  refusing  credits;  and  the 
money  princes  of  conquered  cities 
are  hostages  for  the  payment  of 
enormous  ransoms,  while  the  bankers 
of  Paris,  Berlin,  and  London  obey 
the  commanders  of  armies  without 
protest  or  power  to  lift  a  little  finger. 

We  have  been  taught  by  the  pres- 
ent horrors  that  we  can  rely  on  no 
power  but  our  own.  We  love  Tol- 
stoi and  the  Friends  for  their  ami- 
able dispositions  and  their  ideals  for 
the  future,  but  at  the  same  time  we 
set  steel  bars  before  our  windows 
and  arm  the  police  to  protect  us  from 
burglars  and  assassins.  Each  man 
must  adjust  his  theology  to  the  facts 
as  well  as  he  can,  and  the  mystery 
is  confusedly  baffling;  but  facts  must 
be  counted  if  we  are  to  have  a  phil- 
osophy which  will  actually  prevent 
unscrupulous  ruffians  from  ruling  the 
world. 

We  have,  as  educated  people, 
learned  to  trust  experts,  as  physi- 
cians, engineers,  legal  advisers,  in- 
vestors; but  we  have  not  only  dis- 
trusted our  military  specialists,  we 
have  permitted  them  to  be  defamed 
and  covered  with  opprobrium.  The 
only  men  who  really  knew  how 
strong  a  navy  and  army  were  needed 
have  begged  for  a  hearing  in  vain. 
The  danger  now  is  that  we  shall 
rush  to  another  extreme  and  accept  a 
policy  of  imperial  conquest.  Hope 
lies  in  heeding  moderate,  sane,  coun- 
sels. One  thing  is  sure  as  daylight: 
We  must  be  a  nation  in  arms;  our 
youth  must  be  taught  the  necessity 
of  sacrifice;  we  must  surrender  part 
of  our  wealth,  comfort,  leisure,  lux- 
ury, and  sport  to  the  demands  of 
patriotism;   we  must  put  a  powerful 


citizen  soldiery  under  discipline  of 
trained  soldiers. 

Then,  and  then  only,  will  the  terri- 
tory, the  institutions,  and  the  civil- 
ization which  we  inherited  from 
soldier  ancestors  be  secure.  Then 
only  will  peace  be  guaranteed. 

We  have  no  revenge  to  wreak  on 
any  people;  we  are  not  land  hungry 
for  a  "place  in  the  sun";  we  respect 
the  rights  of  weaker  peoples.  But 
it  would  be  better  to  sell  the  Pan- 
ama zone,  the  Philippine  islands,  and 
Hawaii  for  a  song  to  any  nation 
which  can  defend  them  than  to  hold 
them  without  power  to  protect  them, 
so  inviting  invasion,  humiliation,  and 
ruin.  With  San  Francisco,  Seattle, 
Boston,  Charleston,  New  York,  and 
New  Orleans  at  the  mercy  of  a  first 
class  power,  we  are  recreant  to  our 
trust,  and  mistake  cowardice  for 
moral  ideals,  it  we  fail  to  heed  the 
call  of  our  army  and  navy,  on  which 
at  present  we  are  imposing  a  duty 
which  tliey  cannot  fulfill.  There  is 
yet  time  to  awake  from  our  dream 
of  smug  comfort  and  insure  our 
peaceful  and  unquestioned  posses- 
sion of  the  lands  our  ancestors  paid 
for  with  courage,  toil  and  the  full 
measure  of  devotion.  If  our  govern- 
ment, after  a  scientific  investigation, 
asks  every  tenth  young  man,  selected 
by  lot,  to  prepare  for  their  national 
defense,  and  distributes  equitably 
the  economical  burden,  we  can  count 
on  a  response  worthy  of  our  history. 
But  so  long  as  great  teachers  con- 
tinue to  lull  us  all  into  a  false  con- 
fidence, the  forces  of  danger  are 
arming  against  us,  and  our  youth 
are  drugged  into  the  same  un- 
natural slumber.  Without  question- 
ing the  noble  motives  of  such  teach- 
ers, their  influence  is  that  of  the 
disloyal,  of  public  enemies,  and  must 
be  sharply  challenged  by  those  who 
would  give  justice  a  sword,  as  well 
as  an  olive  leaf,  for  national  pro- 
tection. 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


GER»L\N  RACE  WARS  FOR  LIFE. 


With    Great   Britain    it    is    Simply    a 

Business  Proposition — Cold-Blooded 

Baron  Munini,  Bitter  at  Britain, 

Cites  Slav  Menace  in  Interview 

Authorized  by  Berlin. 


The  Chicago  Tribune. 
Joseph  Medill  Patterson. 

Berlin,  Aug.  26. — The  following 
remarkable  authorized  interview  was 
granted  today  by  the  German  foreign 
office — comparable  to  the  state  de- 
partment in  Washington — to  your 
correspondent. 

The  interview  was  held  directly 
with  Baron  Mumm,  adviser  to  the 
German  foreign  office  in  American, 
Chinese  and  Japanese  affairs. 

Baron  Mumm,  who  speaks  English 
fluently,  was  secretary  of  the  lega- 
tion in  Washington,  1888-1892,  and 
minister  pro  tem  to  the  United  States, 
1899.  He  was  minister  to  China, 
1900-1906,  in  the  six  difficult  and 
critical  years  succeeding  the  boxer 
rebellion,  and  ambassador  to  Japan 
in  1906-1911. 

When  the  interview  was  completed 
it  was  typewritten  and  submitted  to 
the  German  foreign  office  for  ap- 
proval. This  approval  was  very  hard 
to  get.  In  fact,  the  German  foreign 
office  at  first  entirely  disapproved  of 
the  article,  rather  on  account  of  its 
manner  than  because  of  its  substance, 
which  it  was  acknowledged  had  been 
faithfully  interpreted. 

But  the  way  in  which  the  inter- 
view was  written,  in  American  news- 
paper style,  caused  some  of  the  older 
secretaries  of  state,  accustomed  to 
the  formal  phraseology  of  less  hur- 
ried and  more  dignified  days,  to  gasp. 
However,  Baron  Mumm,  with  his 
deeper  knowledge  of  how  things  are 
done,  written  and  said  in  the  Llnited 
States,  persuaded  his  confreres  that 
the  informality  of  the  conversation 
as  reported  would,  if  anything,  cause 
it  to  be  more  widely  read  in  America. 

On  that  plea  the  foreign  office 
finally  and  in  considerable  perplexity 
assented  to  the  interview,  stamped  it 
with  the  official  stamp,  and  it  appears 
herewith. 


How  Germany  is  Cut  Off. 

I  first  explained  to  Baron  Mumm 
that  the  American  public  had  so  far 
heard  little  but  the  Anglo-French  side 
of  the  catastrophe  now  taking  place  in 
Europe,  owing  to  the  control  by  those 
governments  of  the  Atlantic  cables  to 
the  United  States,  the  control  of  the 
Russian  and  Japanese  governments  of 
the  Pacific  cables  to  the  United  States, 
and  the  practical  stopping  of  mail  from 
Germany. 

The  answer  was  that  the  German 
government  understood  the  situation 
perfectly  and  regretted  it  greatly,  be- 
cause it  was  its  wish  to  have  the  en- 
tire facts  in  the  matter  laid  freely  be- 
fore the  American  public. 

Baron  Mumm  continued  that  the 
German  government  realized  that  the 
Impression  had  been  spread  In  Amer- 
ica that  Germany  and  the  German 
emperor  had  wished  for  this  world- 
wide war.  provoked  it,  and  precipitated 
It,  whereas  Germany  had  made  every 
possible    effort,    first,    to    keep    Russia 


from  fighting  Austria ;  second,  to  keep 
France  neutral  in  the  event  of  a  Russo- 
German  war;  third,  to  keep  England 
neutral  in  the  event  Germany  found 
itself  forced  to  fight  at  two  frontiers, 
and  fourth — obviously — it  hoped  that 
the  Japanese  would  be  able  to  restrain 
themselves  from  the  raid  on  Kiau-Chau 
in  China. 

"Germany  Xot  Insane." 

"Germany  is  not  insane."  declared 
Baron  Mumm  vigorously,  "and  unless 
you  think  us  insane,  how  can  you  be- 
lieve that  we  wislied  to  fight  the  world 
just  for  the  fun  of  it?  No.  the  emper- 
or's quarter  century  of  peace  gives  the 
lie  to  that  impossible  conception.  Rus- 
sia fought  us  because  we  are  the  out- 
post of  the  west  and  she  is  the  outpost 
of  the  east  of  Europe — just  as  you  are 
tlie  outpost  of  the  west  on  the  Pacific 
and  Japan  of  the  east. 

"Russia  supported  her  Slav  broth- 
ers in  Servia  and  we  were  forced  to 
support  our  German  Iirothers  In  .\us- 
tria.  Race  against  race,  people  against 
people,  Occident  against  orient,  civil- 
ization against  semi-barbarism — such 
things  have  always  been  In  history, 
perhaps  always  will  be.  But  when  the 
west,  when  England  and  France  at- 
tacked us  in  the  rear — O.  the  d.ny  may 
soon  come  when  they  regret  that !" 

"Then  this  is  not  a  dynastic  war,  a 
quarrel  of  kings."  T  asked,  "when  kings 
play  the  sport  of  kings  to  see  who 
plays  the  best?" 

"T  could  properl.v  be  offended  at  such 
n  question."  was  the  grave  answer. 
"hnt  T  will  endeavor  not  to  be.  because 
T  see  it  is  impossible  you  could  believe 
pvpii  tnonientnrily  such  a  niniistrous 
thing. 

Germany  a   Fighting  Pit. 

"To  go  hack  to  the  beginning,  we 
stood  in  the  center  of  Europe,  with 
n  hostile  nation  on  each  side  of  us. 
For  centuries  we  were  the  maneuver- 
ing ground  for  foreign  armies.  Snan- 
inrds.  Dutch.  English.  Russians.  Poles. 
Roliemians.  but  esoeciallv  the  French, 
hnve  drenched  our  soil  with  each 
others',  with  their  o\vn.  and  with  our 
blnnd  for  centuries.  That  was  when  the 
sport  of  kings  was  played,  if  you  like, 
and  we  were  the  playground. 

"Finally  we  Germans  became  self- 
conscious.  We  realized  after  a  long, 
long  time  that  we  must  fight  beside 
each  other,  not  against  each  other 
for  one  party  of  invaders  or  another. 
Prussia  was  the  nucleus  whence  this 
spirit  spread  over  what  is  now  the 
empire.     Xapoleon's   iron   heel    trod   its 


W.  R.  P.  Is  it  not  anomalous  that 
England  should  so  strongly  oppose 
her  "democracy"  against  the  "autoc- 
racy" of  Germany,  when  Lord  Mor- 
ley,  John  Burns,  Keir  Hardie,  Ram- 
say McDonald  and  the  rest  of  true 
democrats,  abandoned  her  on  ac- 
count  of  the  war? 

It  is  anomaloiis.  But  on  the  part 
of  England  the  war  Itself  Is  an  an- 
omally.  It  is  in  no  sense  of  the 
word  a  "people's  war,"  but  the  play 
of  the  oligarchical  party — perhaps 
its  last. — From  the  "Questions  and 
Answers"  column  In  the  "New 
Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,"  November  7, 
1914. 


iron  into  our  souls,  and  with  tears  and 
mistakes  and  blood  we  slowly  made 
progress.  In  1S70-71.  under  the  first 
Emperor  Wilhelm — the  Great,  we  call 
him — and  Bismarck,  the  German  Em- 
pire was  born.  In  commerce,  arts  and 
science,  the  works  of  peace,  it  has 
grown,  perhaps  as  fast  as  your  own 
country,  certainly  faster  than  any 
other." 

"Certainly  faster  than  ours  In  the 
arts,"  I  suggested,  "If  not  also  in  com- 
merce and  science." 

Sees  English  Jealousy. 

"That  is  the  explanation,  the  down- 
right fundamental  explanation,  of  Eng- 
land's entrance  into  this  war,"  he  ex- 
plained. "We  are  forging  ahead  of 
England  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences 
of  peace,  so  In  our  difficulty  she  de- 
termined to" — he  hesitated,  then  chose 
his  words  carefully — "she  determined 
to  try  to  destroy  our  sea  borne  com- 
merce with  her  navy.  She  couldn't 
beat  our  merchants  with  her  own, 
therefore  she  hopes  to  beat  our  mer- 
chants with  her  dreadnoughts.  Ah, 
well,"  he  said,  "It  was  her  only  chance. 
English  business  men  work  six  hours 
a  day  five  or  even  four  days  a  week — 
three  day  week-ends  have  become  quite 
the  custom  over  there  now — and  Ger- 
man business  men  work  nine  hours  a 
day  six  days  a  week.  Is  it  any  wonder 
she  finds  she  needs  to  subsidize  her 
commerce  with  13.5  Inch  shells?  Read 
your  Mahan,"  he  said. 

"Read  Mahan?" 

"Yes — his  history  of  the  Influence  of 
sea  iKiwer  upon  history.  He  shows 
how  ever  since  the  Spanish  armada 
England  has  considered  all  the  oceans 
belonging  to  her.  She  has  resented  to 
the  point  of  war  the  commercial  suc- 
cess on  the  ocean  of  any  other  nation. 
She  has  always  either  outbuilt  her 
rivals,  or  when  opportunity  offered, 
Instead  of  outbuilding  her  rival's  navy, 
she  has  attacked  It  before  It  could  be- 
come too  large.  She  considers  the  five 
oceans  belong  to  her. 

Saw  Germany  a  Competitor. 

"We  dared  to  share  them  with  her 
and  so  she  has  attacked  us  in  our  dif- 
ficulty—just  as  she  took  advantage  of 
your  Civil  War  to  fit  out  Confederate 
privateers  and  sweep  your  ocean  com- 
merce from  the  seas. 

"Do  you  realize."  he  asked,  "that 
it  was  precisely  during  the  four  years 
of  your  Civil  War  that  you  lost  your 
ocean  commerce  and  England  picked 
it  up?  In  the  same  way  England  de- 
stroyed the  navies,  first  of  Spain  and 
took  her  commerce,  then  when  the  navy 
and  commerce  of  Holland  grew  large, 
England  destroyed  her  navy  and  took 
her  commerce:  then  when  the  French 
attempted  colonial  expansion  and  trade 
under  Louis  XIV  and  XV.  England  de- 
stroyed the  French  navies  and  took 
French  commerce.  This  happened 
several  times.  Whenever  French  com- 
merce showed  signs  of  reviving  Eng- 
land promptly  cut  to  the  ground  again. 
Then,  in  the  X'apoleonic  wars.  England 
destroyed  all  other  navies,  including 
yours,  and  took  their  trade.  It's  a 
fine  game  they  play  in  Westminster 
— that  the  five  oceans  belong  to  them 
— but  some  day  the  rest  of  Europe 
and  you  In  America  may  grow  as 
weary  of  It  as  we  have  already." 

"Then  you  don't  believe  it  was  to 
protect  the  neutrality  of  a  weaker  coun- 


A  SACRED  TRUST— PATRIOTISM   AND   DUTY 


try,  Belgium,  to  defend  her  against  a 
powerful  aggressor,  as  the  English 
papers  assert?" 

"Oh,  that — that,"  he  said,  "is  in  your 
expression,  simply  monumental.  Since 
when  have  the  English  themselves  re- 
spected the  neutrality  of  smaller  na- 
tions? Since  their  South  African  ad- 
venture? All  other  nations  in  the 
world  put  together  have  not  violated 
the  neutrality  of  weaker  countries  one- 
half  as  much  as  England  has.  Her  ex- 
isting empire  of  11,000,000  square  miles 
is  evidence  enough  of  that.  She  went 
into  the  Transvaal  and  Orange  Free 
State  because  her  financiers  wanted 
the  diamond  mines  there.  We  went 
into  Belgium  as  a  matter  of  military 
necessity  in  a  fight  for  our  lives." 

"May  I  interject,"  I  asked,  "that 
the  German  invasion  of  Belgium  was 
not  particularly  popular  in  the  United 
States?" 

"I  know  it,"  he  answered,  "and  I 
am  sorry.  It  was  not  particularly  pop- 
uhir  here,  either.  But  self-preserva- 
tion is  the  first  law.  You  know,  for 
instance,  that  mobilization  means  war 
— and  why " 

"Why?"  I  asked. 

Had  to  Strike  First. 

"Because  it's  like  winding  up  a 
great  spring  that  must  unwind.  The 
reserves  leave  their  work  and  put  on 
uniforms  and  shoulder  guns  and  take 
the  trains  to  the  frontier  one  behind 
the  other.  Then  the  first  ones  at  the 
frontier  cross  it  to  make  room  for 
the  ones  behind,  to  carry  the  war  in 
the  enemy's  country  to  hit  him  first. 
Germany  can  mobilize  in  a  week, 
France  in  a  fortnight,  Russia  in  four  or 
six  weeks.  If,  after  mobilizing,  we  had 
waited  while  the  diplomats  talked  and 
the  otiier  countries  were  using  that 
time  to  mobilize  against  us,  we  would 
have  lost  our  advantage,  and  we  can 
afford  to  lose  no  advantage  in  a  war 
at  two  frontiers,  with  England  on  the 
sea  ;  yet  we  waited  five  days  after  we 
knew  Russia  had  begun  its  mobiliza- 
tion before  we  began  ours;  five  days 
we  were  risking  our  safety  in  the 
hope  of  peace.  'Then  when  we  saw  war 
with  Russia  must  come,  we  demanded 
categorically  from  France  an  answer 
as  to  whether  she  would  observe  neu- 
trality and  received  their  answer  from 
iiur  ambassador  .\ugust  1  at  1  :0.")  p.  m. 
I  quote  the  official  document :  'I'fion 
my  repeated  definite  inquiry  whether 
Frame  would  remain  neutral  in  the 
event  of  a  Russo-German  war,  the 
prime  minister  declared  France  would 
do  that  which  her  interests  dictated.' 

France's  Meaning  Clear. 

"In  the  language  of  diplomacy,  and 
considering  France's  alliance  with  Rus- 
sia, that  could  have  but  one  mean- 
ing, and  so  we  knew  we  must  strike 
as  hard  and  as  quickly  as  possible  at 
France.  The  way  in  which  we  could 
strike  France  hardest  and  quickest 
was  through  Belgium,  and  hence  we 
took  that  way.  If  Belgium  had  per- 
mittee! us  free  passage  we  would  have 
[laid  cash  for  every  mouthful  and  left 
its  territory  intact.  Bnt  Belgium  chose 
to  appeal  to  the  god  of  battles  and 
must  abi<le  t)y  the  result.  With  Russia 
on  one  side  and  P'rance  on  the  other 
and  England  on  the  oceans,  what  else 
could  we  do  t)ut  strike  as  hard  and  as 
oM'^kir  as  we  could?     I-et  history  de- 


cide which  was  the  most  necessitous, 
and  hence  excusable — our  invasion  of 
Belgium  or  England's  of  the  Trans- 
vaal." 

"But" — I  reverted  to  the  horror  of 
it  all — "all  this  for  the  murder  of  a 
royal  couple  in  Austria?  Why  must 
millions  die  for  them  now?  They  are 
already  dead  and  cannot  return  to 
life." 

Cit«s  Allegory  in  U.  S. 

"Suppose,"  said  he,  "that  the  Mex- 
icans had  been  conducting  an  anti- 
.\merican  campaign  along  your  south- 
ern boundary  for  thirty  years  with 
the  ol).iect  of  detaching  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico  from  the  I'nited  States 
and  returning  them  to  Mexico;  sup- 
pose this  propaganda  was  connected 
with  the  ojien  connivance  of  the  Mexi- 
can government  and  firess  and  with 
the  active  assistance  of  Mexican  army 
officers.  Sufipose  then  that  the  next 
highest  official  in  your  country,  a  man 
who  corresponded  to  a  combination  of 
vice-firesident.  secretary  of  state,  and 
general  in  the  army,  were  sent  to  the 
troubled  region  on  a  jwlitical  mission 
to  reftort  on  what  steps  should  be 
taken  to  (luell  this  propaganda,  and 
supfiose  further  that  he  was  there  as- 
sassinated with  his  wife  by  a  Mexican 
with  bombs  manufactured  in  a  Mexi- 
can goveriunent  arsenal  and  furnished 
him  by  Mexican  officials  and  army  of- 
ficers, and  suppose,  as  I  have  said,  this 
was  not  an  outrage,  hut  the  culmina- 
tion of  thirty  .vears  of  anti-American 
attack,  then  would  the  .\meriean  people 
consider  a  punitive  expedition  against 
Mexico  unreasonable? 

"I  rather  think  not.  They  would 
insist  on  it.  The  arrest  of  six  Ameri- 
can marines  resulted  in  your  capture 
of  Yera  Cruz,  did  it  not?  The  blow- 
ing uji  of  the  Maine,  by  causes  yet  un- 
known, in  the  taking  of  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico,  and  the  Philippines?  Yet  Aus- 
tria did  not  wish  to  take  any  of  Servia. 
It  officially  agreed  not  to  do  so.  It 
wanted  only  a  cessation  of  this  pan- 
Servian  propaganda  of  the  bomb.  If  it 
did  not  insist  on  that  it  must  abdicate 
its  very  sovereignty  in  its  own  terri- 
tory." 

"Then  whv  not  let  them  fight  it 
ont?" 

Russia   Forced   Action. 

"Heaven  knows  that  we  wanted  to 
lot  them  fight  it  ont— and  the  figlit 
would,  as  I  said,  have  simmered  down 
(o  a  punitive  expedition.  But  Russia 
refused.  Against  our  prayers  Russia 
insisted  on  taking  the  side  of  the 
Scrtis.  the  Slavs  against  our  allies.  So 
we  had  no  alternative." 

"Why?  Why  couldn't  you  let  Aus- 
tria and  Russia  fight  without  entering 
the  strife?" 

"For  one  reason,  we  have  a  treaty. 
But  the  treaty  is  not  a  rather  mystic 
I>iece  of  parchment  between  kings  as 
perhaps  you  think."  he  smiled.  "It  is 
not  a  dynastic  affair  at  all.  Our  em- 
peror is  related  more  closely  by  blood 
to  Ihe  czar  of  Russia  and  the  king  of 
Knsland  than  to  the  emperor  of  .\ns- 
Iria-Hungary.  The  treaty  means  this; 
That  the  Germans  in  the  German  em- 
fiire  and  the  Germans  in  .\ustria-Hini- 
irarv  nnist  stand  together,  especially 
against  the  Slavs,  who  are  always 
firessing  west  and  south — and  also 
against  their  other  enemies. 


"We  (iermans  have  certainly  learned 
this  lesson  well — and  never  again  will 
forget  it— that,  situated  as  we  are  in 
the  middle  of  Europe,  we  must  stand 
firmly  together.  If  we  let  Austria- 
Hungary  be  crushed  or  weakened,  by  so 
much  is  our  own  strength  enfeebled. 
Our  support  of  Austria-Hungary  is  but 
enlightened  self-interest,  necessary  to 
Germanic  civilization." 

"What  is  the  difference  between  Slav 
and  Teuton?  How  would  the  world 
suffer  if  the  Slav  did  press  westward?" 

Germany  Had  to  Object. 

"I  suppose."  he  smiled  again,  "it  is 
natural  for  us  Germans  to  consider 
first  how  we  ourselves  would  suffer  if 
the  Slavs  pressed  westward  into  Ger- 
many. How  the  world  would  suffer 
by  our  extinction?  That  is  the  ques- 
tion rather  for  tlie  philosoplier  than 
the  politician.  Politicians  and  people 
generally  object  to  their  own  extinc- 
tion, and  if  they  don't  object  strenu- 
ously enough  they  are  not  fit  to  live 
and  do  not  live  as  a  sovereign  people. 
But  to  answer  your  question.  The 
Slav  civilization  is  lower,  more  brutal, 
more  primitive,  and  less  complex  than 
ours  in  Germany  or  yours  in  America. 
The  individual  Slav  is  less  an  indi- 
vidual than  the  individual  Teuton.  He 
is  more  of  an  undifferentiated  speci- 
men of  the  great  agglomerate  mass.  He 
is  one  of  a  herd,  a  single  insect  in  a 
swarm.  Of  course,  this  is  true  of  all 
of  us.  in  a  measure,  but  it  is  truer  of 
orientals  than  of  westerners  and  never 
forget  the  Slav  is  always  a  semi- 
oriental.  Perhaps  the  Japanese  have 
really  a  finer  civilization  than  you. 
Personally  I  do  not  think  so,  but  per- 
haps time  will  say  they  have.  How- 
ever, be  that  as  it  may.  you  in  Amer- 
ica would  resist  fiercely  a  Jai)anese 
attempt  to  supplant  your  civilization 
with  theirs.  So  have  we  and  do  we 
and  will  we  resent  the  attempt  to  sup- 
plant in  any  territorj-  now  held  by 
Germans  our  civilization  by  that  of 
the  Slavs." 

"Was  Japan's  entrance  Into  the  war 
against  you  a  surprise?" 

"Japan's  raid  was,  of  course,  not  an 
entire  surprise.  It  may  he  a  bitter 
thing  for  England  in  the  end.  however. 
For  on  the  heart  of  the  Japanese  is 
written  '.Asia  for  Asiatics.'  " 

"You  think  we  are  next  on  the  list?" 
I  asked — "the  Philippines?" 

Sees  Japan  Our  Rival. 
"How  long  do  you  think  Japan  would 
hold  her  hand  from  you,"  he  answered 
my  question  with  another,  "if  you  found 
yourself  in  a  war  against  three  great 
and  two  little  powers?  Yes.  England 
sowed  dragons'  teeth,"  he  said,  "drag- 
ons' teeth  for  the  white  skins — 'Asia 
for  the  Asiatics'  is  written  on  the 
hearts  of  all  the  Japanese." 

"In  your  opinion,  can  that  affect 
England  herself?  She  has  taken  more 
land  and  more  people  under  her  flag 
in  .\sia  than  all  the  white  people  to- 
gether. Will  there  be  stirrings  In 
India  from  this?" 

".Tapan  is  supposed  to  guarantee  In- 
dia to  England."  he  answered. 
"And  yon  doubt  her  good  faith?" 
"I  am  firmly  convinced  that  Japan 
will  maintain  her  faith  with  England 
as  long  as  England  doesn't  need  her 
belli.       But     should     England     find     a 


190 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


Macedonian  opportunity  iu  India  or  the 
Malay  Peninsula — ah  !  that  we  cannot 
tell  till  that  event." 

"What  chance  is  there  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan caliph  declaring  a  holy 
war  in  the  Soudan,  Egypt,  India,  and 
Malaysia  and  other  points  north, 
Bouth,  east  and  west  against  the 
Christians?" 

"Who  can  tell?"  said  he.  "What 
chance  did  there  seem  of  this  Euro- 
pean devastation  two  short  months 
ago?  The  more  troops  England  sends 
against  us  the  fewer  she  will  have  in 


cousinship  with  a  degree  of  warmth 
in  direct  ratio  to  your  degree  of 
strength.  Because  she  has  the  only 
thing  in  the  world  you  really  need  to 
round   out   your   boundaries." 

"You  mean  Canada?" 

"I  mean  Canada?  Of  course,  I  re- 
alize it  Is  inconceivable  you  will  ever, 
or  at  least  soon,  attempt  to  take  it. 
But  why?  Because  Great  Britain  has 
realized  so  cleverly  that  the  only  pos- 
sible way  in  which  she  can  defend  it 
is  by  making  you  her  friend  and  put- 
ting you  on  honor. 


supremely  pre-eminent,  diplomacy, 
they  make  little  mention.  They  be- 
lieve the  seas  belong  to  them  by  di- 
vine right  and  most  of  the  yellow, 
black  and  brown  races  for  exploita- 
tion. Yet  when  we  strive  for  our  fair 
place  in  the  sun  they  go  to  war  with 
us  the  first  time  our  hands  are  full 
and  blame  us  for  the  war ;  and  your 
people,  reading  their  cable  dispatches, 
applaud  them.  However,  we  shall 
conquer  this  unholy  alliance  against 
us,"  he  concluded,  "for  Germany  Is 
one  in  its  determination  to  live." 


THE  KAISER  WILHELM   CANAL 

The  Possession  of  which   gives   the  German   Fleet   unrestricted  Access  to   both 

the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea 

(By  Courtesy  of  the  "World's  Work") 


her  colonies  in  case  of  such  a  'holy 
war,'  as  you  call  it.  That  is  a  plain 
sum  in  arithmetic.  Perhaiis,  after  all, 
your  taking  of  the  Phllipiiines  marked 
the  high  water  mark  of  the  white  race 
and  recession  has  begun.  Port  Arthur 
was  No.  1  for  the  Japanese,  Klau- 
Chau  No.  2.     What  will  be  No.  3?" 

Calls  British  Subtle. 

Reverting  to  the  English,  he  ex- 
claimed: "You  In  America  are  accus- 
tomed to  think  of  the  English  as  a 
bluff,  hearty,  downright,  unsubtle 
race,  fond  of  sport  and  the  open  air. 
Well,  all  I  can  say  to  that  is  that  they 
are  certainly  fond  of  sport  and  the 
open  air.  There  has  never  been  a 
race  of  diplomats  their  equals  in 
shrewdness,  subtlety  and  a  sleepless 
eye  on  the  main  chance. since  time  be- 
gan." 

"Please    Illustrate." 

"Well,  then,  there  Is  no  disguising 
the  fact  that  for  a  time  at  least,  prior 
to  the  growth  of  the  Japanese  ques- 
tion in  your  country,  you  considered 
us — shall  we  say? — your  chief  political 
rivals.  Now  you  have  shifted  that 
feeling  to  the  Japanese,  and  all  this 
time  you  have  considered  England 
your  first  friend." 

I  said:  "She  made  herself  so." 

"Precisel.v  my  point.  She  made  her- 
self   so;    she    began    to    talk    of    your 


"You  are  the  only  people  who  can 
get  at  Eagland  while  she  commands 
the  sea,  and  she  has  disarmed  you  by 
this  comparatively  recent  friendship. 
When  Canada  is  filled  up  with  DO,- 
000,000  or  60,000.000  [leople  and 
you  have  a  3,000  mile  border,  most 
of  it  without  natural  defense,  and 
you  begin — as  you  will  unless  human 
nature  changes  vastly — to  tax  your- 
selves on  both  sides  of  that  imagi- 
nary line  for  soldiers  and  forts  and 
more  soldiers  and  more  forts,  until 
at  last  a  spark  sets  off  the  conflagra- 
tion— in  that  day  you  or  your  sons 
w-ill  agree  with  my  feelings  now,  that 
when  It  comes  to  diplomatic  affairs, 
England  Is  quite  alone  in  a  class  all 
by  herself.  She  comliined  Europe 
against  Louis  XIV,  against  Louis  XV, 
against  Napoleon,  against  Russia  in  the 
Crimea,  and  now  against  us. 

Combines  Against  Rivals. 

"Whoever  her  first  rival  has  been 
she  has  combined  Europe  against  him. 
She  fought  you  when  you  were  weak ; 
she  lent  her  aid  to  the  effort  to  split 
your  republic  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
now  that  you  are  strong  and  her  do- 
minions are  yours  for  the  taking  she 
is  your  best  friend.  She  sets  Japan 
on  us  and  uses  Japan  to  guard  India. 

"The  English  take  credit  to  them- 
selves for  many  excellent  qualities, 
hut  of  that  quality   in  which   thoy  are 


"If  you  are  shut  from  the  seas,"  I 
asked,  "how  long  can  you  subsist  on 
yourselves?" 

Foor  Until  Next  Harvest. 

'Tntll  the  next  harvest  is  In,"  he 
answered.  "That  has  all  been  gone 
into  carefully.  Our  enemies  who  have 
deluded  themselves  into  the  hope  we 
shall  starve  will  be  disappointed  in 
that  as  in  other  things.  We  shall  lack 
somewhat  in  tea,  coffee,  cocoa  and 
other  tropical  products,  but  of  bread, 
meat,  potatoes  and  sugar  we  have  am- 
ple on  hand  till  the  next  harvest.  We 
would  like  some  of  your  cotton, 
though,  and  copper.  But  we  have 
plenty  of  hides  and  leather,  coal,  iron, 
petroleum,  lumber,  and  chemicals." 

"How  will  you  finance  the  war?" 

"Within  ourselves,  by  war  taxes  and 
internal  laws.  For  instance,  we  have 
never  had  an  inheritance  tax.  Now 
we  shall.  Likewise  heavier  e.xcise  du- 
ties on  beer  and  tobacco." 

"You  will  make  no  external  loans, 
borrow  no  money  from  abroad?" 

"No,  none." 

"As  to  a  war  indemnity  from 
France,  If  you  occupy  Paris?" 

"France  chose  to  appeal  to  the  god 
of  battles,"  he  answered.  "We  asked 
her  to  stay  out;  she  chose  war,  and 
now  she  shall  have  It  with  all  its  con- 
sequences." 


A  SACRED  TRUST— PATRIOTISM  AND   DLTV 


A.\  A.MKKKAX  SYMPATHIZER 
WITH    GERMANY.' 


The  Open  Court. 

My  Dear  M.: 

I  have  your  letter  expressing  your 
astonishment  and  dismay  at  learning 
that  my  sympathy  is  with  the  Ger- 
mans in  this  conflict,  and  giving  what 
you  allege  to  be  "incontrovertible 
facts"  that  challenge  the  soundness 
of  my  position. 

You  charge:  . 

1.  "That  the  Germans  represent 
a  military  system  which  has  long 
threatened  the  peace  of  Europe,  and 
which  will  dominate  the  world  if  they 
win." 

2.  "That  to  give  support  to  them 
is  to  'glorify  the  hideous  doctrine 
that   might   makes   right.'  " 

3.  "That  any  impartial  considera- 
tion of  the  official  documents  sub- 
mitted by  the  various  contending  par- 
ties must  convince  any  one  that  Ger- 
many could  have  prevented  this  war 
had  she  sincerely  wished  to  avoid  hos- 
tilities at  this  time." 

4.  "That  the  cause  of  free  insti- 
tutions and  of  civilization  makes  it 
imperative  that  England  and  France 
should  win." 

You  point  to  the  fact  that  no  news- 
paper of  any  character  or  influence  in 
the  East  pretends  to  conceal  its  sym- 
pathy for  the  allies,  and  that,  of  all 
your  acquaintances,  save  those  con- 
nected with  Germany  by  ties  of  blood 
or  marriage,  you  know  of  no  other 
person  who  takes  the  side  of  Ger- 
many, except  J.  S.,  w'hom  you  "have 
regarded  for  several  years  as  being 
unbalanced." 

.\ccept  my  assurances  that  I  am 
prompted  to  write  you  now,  at  some 


'  The  writer  of  this  article  prefers  not 
to  have  his  name  mentioned,  for  reasons 
which  need  not  be  set  forth  in  detail  ;  but 
for  the  benefit  of  our  readers  we  state  the 
following  facts  concerning  his  identity; 

He  is  of  pure  Anglo-.\m>Tican  extrac- 
tion and  has  neither  direct  nor  indirect 
relation  to  Germany,  either  in  his  own  an- 
cestry or  that  of  his  wife's  family.  At  the 
same  time  he  is  of  high  social  and  profes- 
sional standing  in  his  native  state,  his 
father  having  served  In  the  Court  of  Ap- 
peals and  in  other  public  services  of  the 
state  for  over  thirty  years.  He  himself 
holds  high  rank  in  the  legal  profession,  so 
that  by  heredity  and  training  he  is  well 
equipped  to  be  impartial. 

His  reasons  for  writing  his  views  are 
explained  in  a  personal  letter  to  the  editor 
as  follows:  "I  and  my  wife  and  daugh- 
ters are  among  the  few  persons  of  English 

descent  in  whose  sympathies  have 

been  with  the  Germans  in  this  conflict. 
My  wife  and  my  daughters  found  them- 
.selves  beset  on  every  side  by  their  friends 
and  acquaintances  whose  sympathies  were 
not  with  the  Germans.  The  arguments 
that  thev  most  frequently  were  called 
upon  to  meet  were  those  set  out  on  the 
first  page  of  the  manu.scrlpt.  and  the 
article  was  prepared  with  a  view  to  for- 
tifying them  In  their  position,  and  en- 
abling them  to  advance  arguments  to 
meet  the  contentions  of  their  acquaint- 
ances The  article  has  been  thrown  Into 
the  form  of  a  letter  to  make  It  more  col- 
loquial, and  in  the  hope  that  thereby  It 
would  be  more  readily  grasped  and  under- 
stood bv  the  average  per.son." 

Friends  of  the  author  of  this  letter  who 
were  Impressed  with  the  clearness  of  his 
judgment  urged  him  to  make  public  hl.s 
statement  of  the  case,  and  It  was  In  this 
way  that  his  manuscript  reached  "The 
Open   Court." 

We  do  not  doubt  that  there  are  many 
of  our  readers  who  will  be  glad  to  receive 
from  a  purely  American  source  a  fair  and 
unbia.sed  statement  of  the  case  for  Ger- 
many written  bv  a  man  whose  scholarship 
and  "training  fit  him  for  judging  the  merits 
of  both  sides  of  the  case. — Ed. 


length,  not  because  of  any  anxiety  at 
being  seriously  classed  by  you  among 
the  mentally  deficient,  but  solely  be- 
cause I  believe  that  the  intimacy 
which  has  characterized  our  friend- 
ship for  so  many  years  entitles  you 
to  know  why  I  sympathize  with  the 
Germans,  whilst  the  vast  majority  of 
our  friends  and  acquaintances  can 
only  see  the  other  side. 

To  begin  with,  I  feel  confident  that 
the  difference  in  our  viewpoints  may 
be  largely  explained  by  a  failure  to 
agree  on  the  facts,  or  inferences  to 
be  deducted  from  the  facts. 

I. 

Take  your  first  allegation,  namely: 
"That  the  Germans  represent  a 
military  system  w^hich  has  long 
threatened  the  peace  of  Europe,  and 
which  will  dominate  the  world  if  they 
win." 

This  statement  I  believe  to  be  in 
the  main  correct,  but  I  fail  to  see  why 
the  Germans  should  be  condemned 
for  this  situation.  The  reason  the 
German  military  system  has  threat- 
ened the  peace  of  Europe  is  because 
the  Germans  have  made  it  so  eflScient 
that,  together  with  their  navy,  they 
have  upset  the  balance  of  power  in 
Europe,  which  the  other  European 
governments,  and  more  especially 
that  of  England,  have  sought  to  main- 
tain with  so  much  concern  ever  since 
the  battle  of  Waterloo.  The  German 
military  system  has  threatened  the 
peace  of  Europe  not  because  of  its 
existence  as  a  military  system,  but 
because  the  other  powers  of  Europe 
have  come  to  see  that  it  is  the  most 
efficient  probably  in  the  world  to- 
day. France,  Russia,  England,  each 
has  a  military  system,  but  none  of 
these  nations  has  been  willing  to 
make  the  sacrifice  in  time  and  money 
necessary  to  bring  their  respective 
military  establishments  to  the  point 
of  excellence  that  has  been  reached 
by  the  Germans. 

In  addition,  each  of  these  nations 
has,  of  course,  a  naval  establish- 
ment. The  policy  sedulously  fol- 
lowed bv  England  with  respect  to  her 
naval  establishment  for  years  has 
been  that  it  must  be  equal  in  power 
and  efficiency  to  that  of  the  combined 
fleets  of  any  other  two  powers  in  Eu- 
rope. This  policy  England  has  fol- 
lowed simply  because  no  other  state 
in  Europe  was  strong  enough  to  chal- 
lenge her  right.  \Vhen,  however,  the 
strength  of  Germany  on  land  and  sea 
is  descried  looming  higher  and  higher 
on  the  horizon  by  the  other  military 
powers, — they  see  protection  by  alli- 
ances, offensive  and  defensive,  that 
would  have  been  wholly  unnecessary 
had  they  each  set  for  themselves  the 
same  standard  of  efficiency  that  the 
Germans  have  striven  for  so  success- 
fully in  the  last  forty  years. 

Now,  I  submit  that  it  is  not  only 
the  inherent  right  but  the  paramount 
duty  of  every  sovereign  state  to  main- 
tain such  military  and  naval  estab- 
lishments as  its  people  may  deem 
necessary  for  the  proper  protection 
of  their  interests  on  land  and  sea. 
This  right  has  been  accorded  to 
France.  Russia  and  England  without 
question.  If  the  German  military  es- 
tablishment had  been  characterized 
by    the    morale    which    characterized 


the  Russian  army  prior  to  its  conflict 
with  Japan,  had  its  naval  estab- 
lishment been  characterized  by  the 
morale  which  is  generally  held  to 
characterize  that  of  Russia  and 
France  at  the  present  time,  nothing 
would  have  been  heard  in  regard  to 
the  danger  to  the  peace  of  Europe,  so 
far  as  Germany  is  concerned. 

Is  it  right  then  that  Germany 
should  be  penalized  for  having  ap- 
plied successfully  the  doctrine  of  effi- 
ciency to  her  military  and  naval  es- 
tablishments, when  the  other  powers 
have  been  unwilling  to  make  the  sac- 
rifices to  the  same  end;  and  if  the 
balance  of  power  in  Europe  has  been 
upset  as  a  result,  should  she  be  de- 
stroyed? 

Whilst  I  agree  with  you  that  her 
military  system  has  threatened  the 
peace  of  Europe,  I  cannot  admit  that 
that  threat  has  been  accompanied  by 
any  act  of  aggression  on  her  part  up 
to  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  pres- 
ent hostilities. 

The  development  of  her  military 
and  naval  establishments  has  gone 
hand  in  hand  with  a  commercial  de- 
velopment and  expansion  that  has 
been  unequaled  in  modern  times. 
The  German  people  have  excelled  in 
peaceful  pursuits  under  conditions 
that  find  no  parallel,  not  even  in  this 
country,  and  whether  they  succeed  or 
not,  I  confidently  believe  that  the 
efficiency  which  they  have  striven  for 
will  be  the  goal  set  by  the  other  pro- 
gressive nations  of  the  world. 

By  this  I  do  not  wish  to  be  under- 
stood to  mean  their  military  system 
in  detail.  What  I  do  mean  is  that 
other  nations  will  be  taught  that  if 
they  are  to  give  a  good  account  of 
themselves  when  their  rights  are 
challenged,  they  must  see  to  it  that 
their  military  and  naval  establish- 
ments are  efficient. 

In  this  sense,  and  in  this  sense 
only,  I  agree  that  the  German  mili- 
tary system  will  dominate  the  world 
until  such  time  shall  arrive  when 
some  method  can  be  substituted  for 
deciding  international  disputes,  other 
than  that  which  has  hitherto  been 
employed,  namely,  the  arbitrament  of 
arms. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  see  any  men- 
ace in  the  persistence  of  the  German 
military  system  for  the  future,  unless 
you  ask  me  to  subscribe  to  the  doc- 
trine of  those  well-intentioned  but 
misguided  persons  who  demand  that 
armies  and  navies  shall  from  now  on 
be  abolished.  On  the  contrary,  I 
hold  that  by  enforcing  a  system  mak- 
ing for  efficiency  Germany  will,  in 
the  end,  win  the  lasting  gratitude  of 
those  nations  that  at  the  present  time 
spend  enormous  sums  of  money  on 
their  military  and  naval  establish- 
ments without  getting  results  in  any 
way  commensurate  with  the  same. 

Did  you  see  the  editorial  in  the 
New  York  "Evening  Sun"  of  Novem- 
ber .")th,  on  the  defense  of  Kiao  Chau? 
For  fear  you  did  not,  let  me  quote 
the  following: 

"British  statesmen  and  journals 
have  delighted  to  tell  the  world  that 
Great  Britain  is  making  war  to  save 
the  German  people  from  militarism, 
to  bring  independence  to  the  op- 
pressed Teutons.  Was  there  ever  a 
more  complete,  a  more  crushing  an- 


192 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


swer  to  such  cant  than  that  supplied 
by  Kiao  Chau,  by  the  response  of  the 
Germans  of  the  East  to  a  call  not  to 
battle  but  to  disaster,  to  a  summons 
not  to  possible  victory,  but  to  inevit- 
able defeat  and  destruction." 
So  much  for  German  militarism. 

II. 

Now,  as  to  your  second  charge: 

By  this,  I  presume,  you  refer  to 
the  violation  of  Belgian  neutrality. 
I  do  not  permit  my  sympathies  for 
the  misfortunes  of  the  Belgians  to  ob- 
scure the  view  of  the  general  ques- 
tion relating  to  the  violation  of  their 
neutrality. 

Conceding  that  Germany  was  a 
party  to  the  treaty  of  1839,  through 
the  signatory  participation  of  Prus- 
sia, and  conceding  the  adherence  of 
Germany  to  the  Hague  declarations 
as  to  the  inviolability  of  neutral  terri- 
tory, I  am  not  prepared  to  grant  that 
she  was  bound  to  respect  the  neutral- 
ity of  Belgium  in  the  face  of  mili- 
tary necessity  affecting  her  national 
safety.  National  safety  is  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  world.  No  nation 
can  bargain  away  irrevocably  its  sov- 
ereignty in  the  form  of  a  treaty  or 
by  any  other  instrument  that  has 
ever  been  devised.  Such  a  treaty  is 
binding  only  so  long  as  the  sovereign 
powers  signatory  to  it  are  willing  to 
be  so  bound.  Its  force  and  effect  is, 
as  the  lawyers  say,  simply  and  solely 
in  tcrronm.  At  lenst  two  sound  rea- 
sons can  be  advanced  to  support  this 
contention.  One  is  that  to  which  I 
have  adverted,  viz..  No  nation  has 
the  power  or  right  to  bargain  away 
its  sovereignty,  so  as  to  bind  poster- 
ity for  all  time. 

It  seems  curious  that  there  should 
be  so  much  public  misapprehension 
on  this  subject,  and  it  all  comes 
about  because  people  have  confused 
a  treaty  between  sovereign  nations 
with  a  contract  between  individuals. 
A  treaty  between  nations  is  essen- 
tially different  from  an  ordinary  con- 
tract between  individuals,  and  yet 
there  are  certain  things  that  even  an 
individual  cannot  make  the  subject 
of  a  binding  contract. 

The  principle  that  a  state  cannot 
bargain  away  its  supreme  rights  is 
the  same  in  its  fundamental  concept 
as  the  principle  recognized  and  en- 
forced in  private  municipal  law — that 
an  individual  cannot  bargain  away 
his  supreme  rights. 

You  could  not,  my  dear  M.,  bar- 
gain away  your  right  to  live,  or  to 
engage  in  a  lawful,  gainful  pursuit 
to  enable  you  to  live,  by  the  most  sol- 
emn instrument  ever  devised  by  a 
Philadelphia  lawyer.  It  would  be  at 
best  a  mere  "scrap  of  paper."  So 
with  this  treaty  respecting  Belgium's 
neutrality.  This  treaty  could  not 
bind  the  Germans  under  circum- 
stances which  affected  their  national 
safety. 

Now,  I  do  not  mean  to  beg  the 
question;  I  hear  your  protest  before 
you  even  voice  it — the  question  is, 
did  the  military  necessity  exist? 
Frankly,  I  cannot  say.  How  can  any 
one,  until  all  the  facts  are  disclosed? 

I  am  willing  to  suspend  judgment 
until  all  the  facts  are  in  our  posses- 
sion, which  an  interrupted  communi- 
cation   with    Europe    and    especially 


with  Germany,  apart  from  other  rea- 
sons, make  it  impossible  now  to  se- 
cure. 

The  second  reason  for  supporting 
the  contention  that  nations  are  not 
bound  irrevocably  by  treaties  to 
which  they  are  parties,  is  this: 

Nations  frequently  enter  into 
treaties  under  the  compulsion  im- 
posed by  the  military  supremacy  of 
the  other  powers  to  the  treaty.  A 
nation  can  hardly  be  irrevocably 
bound  by  a  treaty  which  it  is  forced 
to  sign.  This  principle  also  finds  its 
analogy  in  private  municipal  law.  As 
you  well  know,  no  one  is  bound  by 
the  terms  of  any  agreement  which  is 
signed  under  the  compulsion  of  su- 
perior physical  force. 

This  last  reason.  I  must  admit,  can- 
not be  availed  of  by  any  signatory 
power  to  the  articles  of  the  Hague 
Convention.  It  can  hardly  be  claimed 
that  they  were  entered  into  under 
the  compulsion  of  a  superior  physi- 
cal force.  I  do  hold,  nevertheless, 
that  no  state  has  the  power  to  make 
a  binding  agreement,  even  through 
the  instrumentalities  of  a  Hague 
Convention,  that  will  result  in  im- 
periling its  national  safety. 

If  the  doctrine  that  the  safety  of 
the  state  is  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land  is  to  give  way,  and  a'dmit  of  de- 
nial, as  is  now  contended  for  in  some 
quarters,  I  can  only  say  that  it  has 
never  been  questioned  before,  and 
Germany  can  hardly  be  held  censur- 
able for  regarding  it  in  full  force 
and  effect  when  the  demand  was 
made  for  peaceful  passage  over  Bel- 
gian territory. 

I  accordingly  submit  that  entrance 
into  France  through  Belgium  cannot 
lip  regarded  ipxo  fncto  ns  unwarranted 
by  the  Germans,  nor  as  an  assertion 
of  the  doctrine  that  "might  makes 
right." 

If  the  military  necessity  affecting 
her  national  safety  existed,  I  con- 
tend that  not  only  was  it  the  right, 
but  the  supreme  duty  of  Germany  to 
violate  Belgian  neutrality,  despite 
any  treaties  that  may  have  been  pre- 
viously entered  into  by  her  or  on  her 
own  behalf,  and  despite  any  views 
to  the  contrary  which  may  now  be 
entertained  as  the  result  of  a  newly 
awakened  attitude  toward  inter- 
national obligations. 

III. 

I  now  come  to  the  third  contention. 
This  has  to  deal  with  the  so-called 
"White  Papers." 

The  only  value  of  these  official 
documents,  to  my  mind,  is  in  dis- 
closing the  occasion  and  the  imme- 
diate events  leading  up  to  the  out- 
break of  hostilities.  If  one  is  to  fix 
the  responsibility  for  this  war,  one 
must  be  familiar  not  only  with  the 
occasion  but  also  with  the  causes 
which  brought  it  about.  There  ex- 
ists much  confusion  in  the  public 
mind  between  the  occasion  and  the 
causes  of  the  war.  It  is  not  sufficient 
to  fix  the  blame  for  the  occasion  of  a 
conflict  of  this  kind.  It  seems  to  me 
that  every  fair-minded  person  in 
dealing  with  the  question  of  respon- 
sibility must  have  respect  rather  to 
the  causes  than  to  the  occasion. 
Now.  if  the  causes  of  the  war  be 
analyzed,  it  will  be  found  that  a  train 


of  events  had  been  set  in  motion 
many  years  ago  which  had  gathered 
such  momentum  that  they  could  be 
no  longer  controlled. 

It  is  well-nigh  impossible  with  this 
titanic  conflict  at  its  height  to  project 
oneself  sufficiently  into  the  future  to 
view  the  situation  as  it  will  appear 
to  the  historian  of  tomorrow,  and  yet, 
unless  one  is  willing  to  set  aside  one's 
predilections  in  favor  of  one  side  or 
the  other,  and  to  strive  to  assume  an 
attitude  of  strict  impartiality,  no 
sound  judgment  can  be  reached. 

Mucli  hostile  criticism  was  directed 
at  the  Kaiser,  at  the  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities. Many  persons  blamed  him  for 
the  war.  It  was  claimed  that  the 
German  people  were  the  victims  of 
an  oppressive  military  system  fas- 
tened upon  them  by  selfish  class  legis- 
lation; that  they  did  not  want  war 
and  were  reluctant  to  fight.  The 
argument  was  that,  as  the  Kaiser 
declared  a  state  of  war  in  Germany, 
it  was  equally  within  his  power  to 
have  refrained  from  so  doing. 

In  the  publication  of  the  White 
Papers  of  England  and  Germany  per- 
sons have  found  what  they  consider 
satisfactory  proof  of  the  charge  that 
the  Kaiser  must  bear  the  blame  for 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities.  I  am 
convinced  that  the  historian  of  the 
future  will  not  fix  the  blame  for  this 
war  on  the  Kaiser,  nor  find  in  him 
either  its  cause  or  occasion.  When 
the  secrets  of  the  several  chancel- 
leries shall  have  been  disclosed  the 
cause  of  the  war  will  be  found  in 
a  sequence  of  events  beginning,  per- 
haps, with  the  victory  of  Germany 
over  Prance  in  1870  and  culminating 
in  the  ambitious  projects  for  Servian 
hegemony  in  the  Balkans,  and  the 
murder  of  the  successor  of  Francis 
Joseph  in  June  last. 

United  Germany  has  been  em- 
ployed during  these  forty-four  years 
in  developing  its  resources  and  ex- 
panding a  marvelously  active  and 
successful  overseas  commerce,  only 
to  find  herself  completely  isolated  by 
an  alliance  offensive  or  defensive  be- 
tween the  three  most  powerful  na- 
tions of  Europe,  who  have  viewed 
with  suspicion  and  apprehension  for 
many  years  her  development  into  a 
great  power  on  land  as  well  as  on 
sea.  Rightly  or  wrongly  it  had  be- 
come an  obsession  with  the  German 
peoples  that  these  powers  were  pre- 
pared at  the  first  favorable  oppor- 
tunity to  attempt  to  accomplish  by 
force  that  which  they  had  long 
wished  for  and  frequently  attempted 
by  moral  suasion,  viz.,  the  curtail- 
ment of  her  power  to  fight  on  land 
and  sea.  The  Germans  had  come  to 
believe  that,  if  their  national  destiny, 
whatever  it  might  be,  was  to  be 
achieved,  it  must  be  by  the  arbitra- 
ment of  arms  taken  up  in  defense 
of  their  national  integrity.  These, 
briefly,  are  the  main  causes  leading 
up  to  the  war. 

Now,  for  the  occasion: 

I  hold  that  the  conviction  existed 
in  Germany  that  in  furthering  the 
aims  of  the  Serbs  in  the  Balkans, 
Russia  had  formulated  plans  which 
must  inevitably  bring  disaster  to  the 
dual  monarchy  on  the  death  of  the 
aged  Francis  .loseph.  Through  Rus- 
sian   machinations    the    break-up    of 


A  SACREU  TRUST— PATRIOTISM  AND  DUTY 


Austria-Hungary  had  been  tremen- 
dously promoted  by  the  removal  of 
the  Crown  Prince.  The  immediate 
question  for  Germany  to  decide  was 
whether  she  should  espouse  the  cause 
of  Austria-Hungary,  which  demanded 
that  for  the  preservation  of  the  integ- 
rity of  the  dual  monarchy  a  mortal 
blow  be  struck  at  Servia's  preten- 
sions; or  wait  until  these  pretensions 
should  assume  a  yet  more  definite 
form  of  hegemony  in  the  Balkans 
and  thus  risk  being  deprived  of  the 
assistance  which  her  ally  was  in  a 
position  to  give  at  this  time. 

Austria  was  in  duty  bound  to  seek 
reparation  for  the  blow  aimed  at  her 
by  a  counter  blow  calculated  to  smash 
the  plans  that  had  been  conceived 
against  her  sovereign  and  territorial 
integrity.  Should  she  hesitate  to  do 
this,  she  must  face  with  certainty  the 
progressive  and  successful  develop- 
ment of  the  plans  secretly  formulated 
against  her  by  Servia,  and  fomented 
and  promoted  by  Russian  diplomacy. 
Strike  she  must,  or  be  stricken  in 
turn. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  sub- 
mit that  it  was  not  only  incumbent 
upon  Germany  to  support  her  ally's 
position,  but  equally  necessary  to  her 
own  safety. 

If  you  entertain  the  idea  at  this 
stage  of  the  conflict  that  this  is  not 
the  war  of  the  German  people,  but 
is  the  war  of  the  Kaiser,  let  me  call 
your  attention  once  more  to  the  edi- 
torial in  the  "Evening  Sun"  (New 
York)  from  which  I  have  already 
quoted: 

"It  is  no  longer  possible  for  any 
but  the  wilfully  blind  to  mistake  the 
fact  that  it  is  not  the  machine  that 
is  making  German  armies  potent  in 
an  attack  still  continuing.  The  songs 
of  the  boy  conscripts  of  1914  are  but 
the  echo  of  the  songs  of  those  other 
boys  of  181.3  and  1814  who  freed 
Europe  from  Napoleon  and  saved 
Germany  from  complete  subjugation. 
It  is  inconceivable  that  there  should 
remain  a  single  person  who  could 
honestly  believe  that  the  German 
phenomenon  which  tills  Europe  to- 
day is  less  than  the  complete,  solidi- 
fied, fused  resolution  of  a  whole 
nation." 

People  have  commented,  with  a 
sneer,  on  the  fact  that  the  life  of 
a  Crown  Prince  should  be  of  suffi- 
cient importance  to  bring  on  a  world- 
war.  It  can  hardly  be  necessary  to 
point  out  to  you  that  under  any  exist- 
ing form  of  government,  whether  re- 
publican, monarchical,  imperial,  ab- 
solute, or  otherwise,  the  person  who, 
for  the  time  being,  is  the  head  of  the 
government  is  an  integral  part  of  its 
sovereignty,  together  with  all  other 
persons  designated  by  law  in  imme- 
diate succession.  No  self-respecting 
power,  hoping  to  retain  its  voice  in 
the  council  of  nations,  can  permit  its 
ruling  head  or  his  immediate  succes- 
sor to  be  assassinated  by  a  citizen  of 
another  power  without  taking  such 
steps  as  it  may  decide  are  necessary 
to  vindicate  the  principle  of  sover- 
eign integrity. 

No,  my  dear  M.,  this  is  not  the 
Kaiser's  war,  nor  is  the  Kaiser  either 
the  cause  or  the  occasion  of  it.  The 
causes     I    have    briefly     referred     to 


above.  The  occasion  will  be  found 
in  the  brutal  murder  of  the  successor 
to  the  aged  Francis  Joseph,  and 
Russo-Servian  designs  upon  the  in- 
tegrity of  Austria-Hungary. 

IV. 

Finally,  you  claim  that  the  cause 
of  free  institutions  and  civilization 
makes  it  imperative  that  England 
and  France  should  win. 

I  yield  to  no  one  in  paying  un- 
grudging tribute  to  the  debt  which 
we  all  owe  to  England  and  to  France 
as  well,  for  what  they  have  done  to 
advance  the  sum  of  human  happiness 
in  the  largest  sense  in  which  that 
word  can  be  used.  The  science  of 
government,  the  security  of  life  and 
property,  the  advancement  of  learn- 
ing, the  development  of  art,  scientific 
research — all  the  countless  things 
that  go  to  make  life  worth  living, 
in  this  year  of  grace  1914; — the  lead- 
ers in  thought  which  they  each  have 
produced,  the  deeds  of  valor  in  which 
the  history  of  these  peoples  is  re- 
plete, none  of  these  things  I  forget 
or  overlook. 

But  if  you  ask  me  what  nation  In 
Europe  today  stands  in  the  forefront 
of  progress,  and  whose  welfare  means 
more  to  the  immediate  civilization  of 
the  world,  and  the  free  institutions, 
which  are  the  most  precious  posses- 
sion of  that  civilization,  I  would  say 
unhesitatingly,  Germany. 

I  contend  that  the  great  questions 
of  the  future,  not  immediately  con- 
nected with  national  defense,  with 
which  we  will  be  most  concerned,  are 
those  relating  to  the  distribution  of 
wealth,  and  the  socialization  of  in- 
dustries. These  are  the  problems 
with  which  we  are  struggling  in  this 
country,  which  have  caused  England 
so  much  disquietude,  and  which  will 
surely  sooner  or  later  vex  France. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  the  best 
social  legislation  of  the  age  is  that 
which  has  been  devised  and  first  put 
in  practice  in  Germany.  Germany  is 
liut    .-mother   word    for    cfflricnrti. 

In  letters  and  science,  in  the  arts, 
in  governmental  activities,  and  espe- 
cially in  legislation  designed  to  pro- 
mote so-called  social  justice,  she  is 
the  leader  in  the  world  today.  Her 
destruction  would  be  an  incalculable 
loss  to  the  world. 

If  we  are  to  have  progress  we 
must  have  creative  work. 

I  presume  you  will  admit  that 
those  individuals  make  most  for  the 
progress  of  any  community  who  are 
engaged  in  creative  work.  It  is 
cquiilly  true  that  those  nations  are  do- 
ing most  for  civilization  whose  ac- 
tivities at  the  moment  can  be  charac- 
terized  as   creative. 

England  and  France  have  not  been 
for  the  past  two  decades  leaders  in 
creative  work.  Their  places  have 
been  taken  by  the  United  States,  by 
Germany  and  by  Japan.  In  this  sense 
England  and  France  have  exhibited 
unmistakable  signs  of  decay,  England 
perhaps  more  than  France.  Ever 
since  the  battle  of  Waterloo  she  has 
lauded  it  over  Europe  and  the  world; 
sated  with  power  and  the  riches  that 
come  with  power,  she  sees  her  place, 
hers  the  foremost  in  the  seats  of  the 
mighty,  challenged  by  a  young  and 
lusty  power.     That  the  coming  of  age 


of  this  young  state  spells  disaster 
for  her  she  senses  with  unfailing 
accuracy,  resulting  from  years  of  ex- 
perience in  world  affairs.  Confident 
in  the  supremacy  of  her  naval  arm, 
but  unwilling  or  unable  to  strengthen 
her  military  arm,  she  accommodates 
her  quarrels  with  her  age-old  ene- 
mies and  strengthens  it  with  the  sup- 
port of  the  Latin  and  Slav.  Thus 
she  girds  herself  to  readjust,  it  neces- 
sary through  armed  conflict,  the  bal- 
ance of  power,  which  has  kept  her 
supreme  in  the  affairs  of  Europe  for 
a  hundred  years,  and  to  dictate  peace 
in  terms  which  will  secure  to  her  a 
quietude  that  for  her  advanced  age, 
her  reduced  vitality  and  her  yearning 
to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  an  active  and 
phenomenally  successful  youth  and 
middle  age,  seem  so  greatly  to  be  de- 
sired. 

England  faces  the  setting  sun,  Ger- 
many faces  the  rising  sun.  These, 
dear  M.,  are  some  of  the  reasons  that 
persuade  me  that  the  cause  of  free 
institutions  and  of  civilization  are 
safer  in  the  keeping  of  Germany  to- 
day than  they  are  in  that  of  England 
and  France. 

I  have  not  mentioned  Russia.  I 
know  your  views  too  well  to  find  it 
necessary  to  answer  any  claim  ad- 
vanced in  behalf  of  this  young  and 
powerful  barbarian  to  be  the  cham- 
pion of  free  institutions  and  of  civil- 
ization. As  to  the  little  yellow  fel- 
low, whose  ambition  is  to  be  the 
Britisher  of  the  Orient, — well,  we 
shall  see  what  we  shall  see! 
As  ever  sincerely, 

E.   P. 


A  PIECE  OF  KVIDENCK. 


Editorial,  Hartford  Daily  Courant. 

Count  von  BernstortT,  the  German 
ambassador  to  this  country,  in  the 
course  of  a  conversation  with  Ed- 
ward Marshall  last  week  which  was 
printed  In  yesterday's  "New  York 
Times,"  said  among  other  things 
this: — 

"It  would  have  been  a  sign  of 
madness  in  the  entire  German  people 
if  they  had  done  as  they  have  done 
without  good  reason.  But  they 
merely  rose  to  save  their  own,  as  all 
men  who  are  worthy  will  arise.  They 
had  been  attacked  by  Russia.  They 
were  determined  to  withstand  at- 
tack. 

"It  has  been  said  here  (in  the 
United  States)  that  the  sentiment  in 
Germany  is  much  divided  and  that 
there  is  large  opposition  to  the  war. 
This  is  not  the  case.  Indeed,  It  is 
an  absolute  misstatement. 

"There  are  many  Socialists  in  the 
German  Reichstag.  Socialism  de- 
cries militarism  and  declares  its  ab- 
horrence of  war.  But  the  war  cred- 
its passed  the  Reichstag  without  one 
dissenting  vote. 

"Does  that  seem  to  you  to  indicate 
that  the  people  of  the  German  na- 
tion have  been  forced  into  a  war 
which  they  have  no  wish  to  fight? 
No  individual,  high  or  low,  con- 
nected with  the  German  government 
made  this  war,  or,  even  after  Russia 
had  made  it,  entered  Into  it  autocrat- 
ically. 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


•'The  Socialist  leader  in  the  Reichs- 
tag said: — 

"  'Notwithstanding  the  dislike  of 
Socialists  to  war,  on  general  princi- 
ples, the  entire  Socialistic  party  in 
the  Reichstag  votes  for  these  war 
credits  because  Germany,  without 
reason,  has  been  attacked  by  the 
most  autocratic  power  in  the 
world.' 

"So,  as  far  as  Germany  is  con- 
cerned, it  Is  a  people's  war,  not  a 
rulers'  war,  is  it  not?  Remember, 
this  was  the  speech  of  the  leader  of 
the  Socialists,  who  are  opposed  to 
war." 

From  the  nature  of  the  case  the 
public  statement  in  the  Reichstag  of 
a  responsible  Social  Democrat  is  evi- 
dence as  to  the  origin  of  this  Euro- 
pean war.  The  German  Social  Dem- 
ocrats have  often  proved  that  they 
keep  well  informed  as  to  the  secret 
moves  of  the  German  government. 
They  may  not  know  about  these 
moves  at  the  exact  moment,  but  they 
know  about  them  at  practically  the 
exact  moment  afterward.  How  they 
do  it  nobody  knows  except  them- 
selves, but  of  the  fact  itself  there  Is 
no  doubt;  the  imperial  ministers 
have  too  often  showed  consternation 
and  embarrassment  at  this  knowl- 
edge of  what  was  supposed  to  be 
confidential  matters  of  diplomacy 
to  leave  any  question  as  to  the 
promptness  and  accuracy  with  which 
the  Social  Democrats  get  hold  of  the 
details  of  these  matters.  In  the  or- 
dinary course  of  events  In  the  Ger- 
man Empire  the  Social  Democrats 
acquire  this  knowledge  in  order  to 
use  it  against  the  government.  No 
one  can  pretend  that  they  like  the 
German  government,  whether  Wil- 
liam II.  be  taken  as  the  German  Em- 
peror or  as  the  King  of  Prussia. 
Politically  they  exist  to  down  him 
and  he  exists  to  down  them.  The 
German  Social  Democrats  carry  their 
opposition  to  the  present  political 
constitution  of  the  German  empire 
a  good  distance  outside  the  limits  of 
an  ordinary  political  opposition.  The 
mass  of  them  do  not  accompany  the 
Reichstag  members  of  other  parties 
to  the  white  hall  of  the  Berlin  pal- 
ace when  Kaiser  Wilhelm  addresses 
them  in  what  may  be  called,  after 
the  English  model,  the  "speech  from 
the  throne" — a  speech  which,  still 
following  the  model  of  that  read  by 
the  English  King  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  is  written  by  the  German 
ministers — and  such  of  them  as  now 


and  then  do  attend  these  proceed- 
ings go  in  their  ordinary  clothes, 
without  regard  to  court  regulations. 
When,  at  the  close  of  a  Reichstag 
session,  it  is  the  custom  to  cheer  the 
Emperor,  the  Social  Democrats  get 
up  and  file  out  of  the  chamber 
leaving  the  members  of  the  other 
parties  in  that  body  to  do  the  cheer- 
ing. So  we  might  go  on  with  the  re- 
lations existing  between  the  Social 
Democrats  and  the  German  police 
to  show  that  the  former  are  in  real 
opposition  to  the  German  govern- 
ment every  day  in  the  week  and 
from  the  ground  up,  but  it  Is  not 
necessary.  No  one,  who  has  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  these  details  of 
the  daily  political  life  of  Germany, 
doubts  it. 

We  say,  then,  that  statements 
made  in  the  Reichstag  by  Social 
Democrats  as  to  the  origin  of  this 
present  war  are  evidence — intelli- 
gent evidence — as  to  the  facts  of  that 
matter;  just  as  much  as  the  state- 
ment of  Sir  Edward  Grey  in  the 
House  of  Commons  are  evidence  as 
to  why  England  went  into  the  war, 
and  more  so,  in  fact,  than  Sir  Ed- 
ward's statements,  because  Sir  Ed- 
ward was  setting  forth  his  own 
and  the  British  government's  view, 
whereas  the  German  Social  Demo- 
crats approved  the  acts  of  a  govern- 
ment which  they  have  always  op- 
posed, and  which  has  always  opposed 
them. 

Of  course,  we  are  assuming  that 
Count  von  Bernstorff  has  not  forgot- 
ten or  mistranslated  the  words 
quoted  by  him  as  spoken  in  the 
Reichstag  in  support  of  the  war  cred- 
its by  the  Social  Democratic  spokes- 
man.* What  he  quotes  agrees  with 
similar  citations  made  by  us  earlier 
from  English  sources.  It  is  also  to 
be  remembered  that  a  story  went 
through  our  press  after  the  war 
broke  out  that  Dr;  Liebknecht.  a  So- 
cial Democrat  of  high  standing  but  a 
hard  political  fighter,  had  been  shot 
in  Berlin  tor  refusing  to  go  into  the 
German  army.  That  story  appears 
now  to  have  been  started  out  of  pure 
partisan  malice.  There  is  no  need 
to  get  hot  over  the  question  of  Ger- 
man responsibility  or  Russian  re- 
sponsibility. It  is  purely  a  question 
of  evidence,  and  history  will  finally 
have  to  decide  on  the  evidence.  If 
it  is  a  fact  that  the  German  Social 
Democrats  openly  supported  the 
course  taken  by  Germany  in  bring- 
ing her  armies  into  the  field,  on  the 


ground  that  "Germany,  without  rea- 
son, has  been  attacked  by  the  most 
autocratic  power  in  the  world," 
meaning  Russia,  this  is  evidence  that 
no  intelligent  man  can  disregard.  It 
must  be  directly  disproved  or  ac- 
cepted. 


♦That  Count  von  Bernstorff  did 
"not  forge  or  mistranslate"  the 
words  quoted  by  him  has  been 
proven.  We  refer  our  readers  to  an 
article  entitled  "Loyalty  of  German 
Socialists,"  reprinted  on  another  page 
of  this  book. 

We  quote  from  page  31  of  Mr. 
Charles  Tower's  "Germany  of  To- 
day" (Williams  &  Norgate,  London) 
the  following: 

"The  General  Election  of  1913  left 
the  strength  of  the  parties  (In  the 
Reichstag  or  Parliament  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire)  as  follows:  Social 
Democrats,  110;  Centre,  99;  Con- 
servatives, 56;  National  Liberals,  46; 
Radical,  43;  Poles.  18;  Reichspartei 
(usually  voting  with  the  Conserva- 
tives), 15;  Independents,  etc.,  10." — 
Editor. 

We  also  refer  our  readers  to 
the  pamphlet  just  issued  by  The 
Germanistic  Society  of  Chicago,  en- 
titled, "The  Session  of  the  German 
Reichstag  on  August  the  fourth, 
1914,"  which  contains  the  speeches 
of  the  Imperial  Chancellor  von  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg,  of  Dr.  Kaempf,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Reichstag,  and  of  Mr. 
Haase,  Representative  of  the  Social- 
ist Party,  compiled  and  translated 
into  English  by  Mr.  Alexander  R. 
Hohlfeld,  Professor  of  German  at 
the  University  of  Wisconsin. 

In  the  closing  paragraph  of  his  in- 
troduction In  this  pamphlet.  Profes- 
sor Hohlfeld  says: 

"Every  speech  made,  as  well  as 
the  general  attitude  manifested  by 
all  the  representatives  of  the  German 
people  at  the  session  of  August  4, 
prove  beyond  the  shadow  of  doubt 
that  the  entire  German  nation  has 
from  the  start  stood  squarely  and 
enthusiastically  behind  the  Emperor 
and  his  advisors.  Not  one  word  of 
disapproval  came  from  any  quarter 
in  regard  to  the  steps  taken  by  the 
government.  The  Socialists  might 
easily  have  censured  the  government 
severely  for  not  having  done  all  in 
its  power  to  prevent  this  disastrous 
war — and  still  have  voted  the  neces- 
sary equipment  for  war  defense. 
— Editor. 


Germany's  Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity 
Her  Defense 


"MISTRESS  OP  THE  SEAS"  IN 
WAR  TIME. 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 
European  Correspondent. 

The  greatest  navy  in  the  world  Is 
doing  nothing.  Yet  she  is  losing 
some  of  her  best  ships  to  the  Ger- 
mans,   but   outside  of   these   dubious 


activities  the  vaunted  navy  of  Great 
Britain  is  chiefly  conspicuous  for  its 
complete  silence. 

Never  before  did  the  brazen  bully- 
ing of  the  English  in  regard  to  the 
rule  over  all  the  seas  claimed  by  them 
manifest  itself  so  plainly  as  during 
the  course  of  the  present  European 
war.  The  bold  announcement  of 
England  that  with  the  declaration  of 


war,  Germany  would  also  suffer  the 
annihilation  of  her  fleet  by  British 
war  ships,  proved  to  be  a  common 
bluff,  and  the  end  result  of  the  first 
two  months  the  loss  of  three  times 
as  many  British  as  German  warships, 
although  the  English  openly  violated 
the  rules  of  international  law  in  war- 
fare at  sea.  The  German  war  fleet 
lost    about    six    small    ships,    aggre- 


KAISER  WILHELM  CANAL 

(From  "The  Navy.'  WashinKton.  Septcmlxir.  litU) 


A  SACRED  TRUST— GERMANY'S  DEFENSE 


gating  20,000  tons,  while  the  losses 
of  England  up  to  September  26,  as 
published  by  the  English  papers, 
were  as  follows: 


Name.  Built. 

Abouklr  1900 

Hogue    1900 

Cressy    1900 

Warrior   1905 

Arethusa     1913 

Hawke   1891 

Gloucester  1909 

Fearless    1912 

Pathllnder  1904 

Amphion   1911 

Druid    1912 

Laertes    1913 

Plioenli    1912 

Speedy   1889 

FIsgard    2 


Displacement 
Class.  Tons. 

.Armored    Criiiscr 12,200 

Armiired    Cruiser 12.200 

.\rmored    Cruiser 12.200 

Armored    Cruiser 13.700 

Protected    Cruiser 3.600 

Protected    Cruiser 7.800 

Protected    Cruiser 4.900 

Protected    Cruiser 3.500 

Protected    Cruiser 3,000 

I'rotected    Cruiser 

Torpedo  Boat  Destroyer. 
Torpedo  Boat  Destroyer. 
Torpedo  Boat  Destroyer. 
Torpedo  Boat  Destroyer. 
Schoolship     


3.:m 

770 


Total. 


The  success  of  the  German  ships 
whenever  they  set  out  for  an  attack 
has  been  splendid.  The  bombard- 
ment of  Libau,  the  checkmate  of  the 
Russian  Baltic  fleet  in  the  Gulf  of 
Finland  and  the  unchallenged  rule 
over  the  Baltic  formed  the  prelude 
to  German  success  on  the  seas.  Then 
followed  the  brilliant  advances  made 
in  the  North  Sea:  German  cruisers 
and  submarine  boats  forged  ahead  as 
far  as  the  Shetland  Islands  while  a 
small  auxiliary  cruiser  laid  mines 
right  in  the  mouth  of  the  Thames, 
resulting  in  the  blowing  up  of  several 
English  ships.  At  the  same  time  the 
cruisers  "Goeben"  and  "Breslau"  ap- 
peared off  the  African  coast,  bom- 
barded the  naval  depots  of  Algiers 
and  threatened  French  communica- 
tions with  their  main  colonies.  Pur- 
sued by  English  and  French  war- 
ships, these  bold  "sea-hussars"  suc- 
ceeded in  breaking  the  blockade  of 
Messina  and  escaping  unmolested 
through  the  Dardanelles.  Besides, 
already  in  the  beginning  of  the  war 
varied  splendid  successes  of  the  Ger- 
man squadron  in  the  Pacific  and  At- 
lantic Oceans.  The  "Dresden"  on  the 
Brazilian  coast,  the  "Koenigsberg" 
on  the  cast  coast  of  Africa,  and  in 
particular  the  "Emden"  in  East  India 
waters  and  the  "Karlsruhe"  in  Amer- 
ican waters  scored  a  number  of  sur- 
prising successes.     »      •      » 


A  GERMAN  GIBHALTAR. 


Why    Was   Helgoland    Ceded   by 

England  in  Recent 

Years? 


The  Boston  Herahl. 

The  Island  of  Helgoland  is  called 
the  Gibraltar  of  the  North  Sea.  It 
dominates  the  approaches  to  all  Ger- 
man seaports  on  the  North  Sea  and 
the  Kiel  Canal*  and  constitutes  the 
greatest  menace  to  the  British  fleet 
If  It  attempts  a  cloao-in  blockade  of 
Oerman  ports.  It  was  ceded  to  Ger- 
many by  England  as  recently  ae 
1890  In  compensation  for  territorial 
concessions   in    Africa   by   Germany. f 

Discussion  of  the  strategic  value 
of  the  little  Island  less  than  a  square 
mile  In  extent,  which  lies  2r)  miles  o/t 
the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  waged  back 
and  forth  between  English  military 
authorities  while  the  bill  for  its  ces- 
sion was  under  discussion  In  Parlia- 
ment. Some  asserted  that  It  would 
be  worth   a  fleet  to   England   In   case 


THE  SUNS  UF  THE  GERMAN  CROWN  PRINCE 

The  Stork  is  said  to  have  brought  them  a  companion  recently — but   we  are  not 
informed  if  a  sister  or  another  brother 


of  war  with  Germany.  Others  con- 
tended it  was  of  no  value  as  a  coal- 
ing station  for  a  blockading  force. 
Its  nearness  to  the  mainland  would 
expose  it  to  the  risk  of  capture  im- 
mediately upon  declaration  of  war, 
they  said,  and  In  case  of  war  with 
any  other  power  It  would  require  a 
fleet  to  defend  it.  German  and 
French  critics  both  agreed  that  in 
the  event  of  war  between  their  coun- 
tries, possession  of  the  little  island 
would  set  free  an  army  corps. 

Helgoland  from  the  middle  of  the 
tenth  century  was  an  independent  re- 
public of  Frisians,  but  became  the 
possession  of  the  Dukes  of  Schleswig 
in  the  fourteenth  century.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 
Denmark  captured  it.  It  was  taken 
from  Denmark  in  1807  by  the  Eng- 
lish, who  used  it  during  the  late  Na- 
poleonic wars  as  a  storehouse  from 
which  to  smuggle  goods  to  the  con- 
tinent. By  the  Treaty  of  Kiel  it  was 
ceded  to  England  by  Denmark  In 
1814.  The  British  Government 
wished  to  retain  It  then  because  of 
its  proximity  to  Hanover,  then  united 
to  England  In  the  person  of  the  sov- 
ereign, and  because  of  its  supposed 
cession  to  Germany  It  was  used  as 
the  headquarters  of  the  English  fish- 
ing fleets  in  the  North  Sea  and  was 
also  a  favorite  watering  place  for 
Germans  and  Danes. 

After  the  formation  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire,  Bismarck  made  many 
liberal  offers  to  England  for  the  pur- 
chase of  the  island,  and  the  desire 
for  Its  possession  by  the  Germans 
was  ardent.  When  the  bill  for  Its 
cession  came  up  In  1890  In  the  Brit- 
ish House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Glad- 
stone and  Sir  W.  Vernon  Harcourt, 
with  many  of  their  followers,  re- 
fused to  vote,  declaring  that  the  Con- 
servative Ministry  had  tampered 
with  the  constitution  and  abandoned 
the  treaty-making  prerogative  of  the 
Crown  by  submitting  the  question  of 
a  cession  of  territory  to  two  Houses 
of  Parliament. 


The  weight  which  the  Germans  at- 
tached at  the  time  to  the  acquisition 
of  Helgoland,  after  Prince  Bismarck 
had  repeatedly  made  offers  of  sub- 
stantial compensation,  suggested  the 
suspicion  when  the  island  was 
handed  over  to  William  II.,  after  his 
dismissal  of  the  old  Chancellor  for 
apparently  inadequate  cause,  that 
some  secret  pact  or  alliance  was  at 
the  foot  of  the  matter.  The  British 
subjects  on  the  island  opposed  the 
transfer,  saying  that  they  would  lose 
their  fishing  and  bathing  privileges 
when  Germany  started  building  her 
fortifications  on  their  home.  Their 
rights  as  British  subjects  were  to 
have  been  preserved  in  the  trans- 
action. 

On  August  8,  1890,  the  British 
Governor,  Arthur  C.  S.  Barkly,  re- 
ceived the  German  representative 
Herr  von  Botticher,  and  the  next  day 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  landed,  hoisted  the 
German  flag  and  informally  took  pos- 
session, declaring: 

"This  island  is  chosen  as  a  bul- 
wark of  the  sea,  a  protection  to  Ger- 
man fisheries,  a  central  point  for  my 
ships  of  war,  and  a  strong  place  and 
harbor  of  safety  in  the  German  ocean 
against  all  enemies  who  dare  to  show 
themselves  upon  it." 


•The  correct  name  is  Kaiser  WU- 
holiii    Canal     (Cmistilt    map         Kditor. 

fThe  compensation  was  the  Island 
of  Zanzibar  off  the  coast  of  German 
East  Africa. — -Editor. 


THE  DIFFICILTY  OF  DIGGING 

OUT  THE  (JERMAX 

NAVY. 


Editorial,  New  York  .Sun. 

The  destruction  of  three  cruisers 
of  12,000  tons  In  the  North  sea  by 
a  German  submarine  occurred  as 
EiiijIlshiiuMi  were  uiifoldiiig  llieir 
morning  newspapers  to  read  Mr. 
Churchill's  speech  at  Liverpool,  In 
which  he  declared  that  "if  they  (the 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


Eitel    Freikn.  I,  Ad;ilbcH 

THE  GERMAN  EMI'EKOR  AND  HIS   SIX  SONS 


Germans)  do  not  come  out  and  fight 
In  time  of  war  they  will  be  dug  out 
like  rats  from  their  holes."  On  the 
Bame  day  the  English  people  learned 
the  bitter  truth  that  one  small  unit 
of  the  Germany  navy  had  taken  the 
Initiative  with  direful  results  to  the 
blockading  fleet;  three  fine  ships  had 
been  sent  to  the  bottom,  and  no  less 
than  sixty  officers  and  more  than 
1,000  men  had  died  futilely  for  Eng- 
land, despite  her  command  of  the 
sea.  The  humiliation  was  intolera- 
ble, and  men  clamored  from  one  end 
of  the  country  to  the  other  for  the 
execution  of  Mr.  Churchill's  threat. 
About  three  years  ago  Prof.  Wil- 
liam Hovgaard,  who  had  been  com- 
mander of  the  Royal  Danish  navy, 
wrote  an  elaborate  paper  upon  the 
subject  of  "Naval  Strategy  in  a  War 
Between  England  and  Germany."  A 
perusal  of  it  at  this  time  would  de- 
press those  countrymen  of  the  sport- 
ing first  lord  admirality  who  are  cry- 
ing that  the  enemy  must  be  dug  out 
of  his  hole  and  be  made  to  fight  the 
British  fleet.  It  is  comparatively 
easy  to  blockade  the  stretch  of  Ger- 
man coast  from  Borkum,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Ems,  to  Cuxhaven, 
where  the  Elbe  pours  its  water  to  the 
sea,  but  bringing  the  German  navy 
to  battle  is  a  very  different  thing, 
chiefly  because  the  Kaiser  Wilhelm 
canal  gives  it  a  wide  and  deep  wa- 
terway to  the  Baltic  sea.  The  canal 
was  opened  just  in  time  to  baffle  the 
British  naval  strategists  in  the  event 
of   war    between    the    two    countries. 


It  is  extraordinary  how  many  things 
happened  in  the  first  six  months  of 
1914  to  make  the  undertaking  of  a 
great  war  by  Germany  propitious. 

To  understand  the  naval  problem 
which  England  finds  herself  con- 
fronted with  one  must  know  how  by 
connecting  canals,  naval  bases,  tor- 
pedo boat  stations  and  fortifications 
Germany  has  been  preparing  for  "the 
day";  almost  as  important  is  a 
knowledge  of  the  waters  and  chan- 
nels north  and  east  of  Denmark. 
The  topography  of  Denmark,  by  the 
way.  is  almost  as  great  a  safeguard 
to  Germany  as  the  Kiel  canal.  The 
German  North  sea  coast  forms, 
roughly,  a  right  angle,  containing,  fif- 
ty miles  out  from  the  great  naval  base 
of  Wilhelmshaven,  the  outpost  of 
Helgoland,  formerly  a  British  posses- 
sion and  parted  with  in  an  evil  hour 
by  a  short-sighted  statesman.  The 
old  English  batteries  were  some  time 
ago  displaced  by  armored  turrets 
mounting  guns  of  the  heaviest  cali- 
ber, and  a  base  for  torpedo  craft  was 
recently  constructed  at  a  cost  of  %&,- 
000,000.  Very  precious  to  Germany 
is  Helgoland's  little  surface  with  a 
frontage  of  one  mile. 

The  coast,  of  which  Helgoland  is 
the  vigilant  sentinel,  has  a  length 
from  Borkum  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Elbe  of  about  100  miles.  It  is  irreg- 
ular.  Between  the  River  Ems  on 
the  extreme  west  to  the  principal 
naval  base,  Wilhelmshaven,  on  Jade 
bay  is  a  broad  peninsula  through 
which  runs  the  Ems-Jade  canal,  nav- 


igable for  destroyers.  Between  Wil- 
helmshaven and  Cuxhaven  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Elbe  is  a  bay  thirty 
miles  in  width,  into  which  flows  the 
Weser.  Almost  at  the  Weser's  mouth 
is  Bremerhaven,  and  forty  miles  up 
the  river  the  port  of  Bremen.  On 
the  Ems  at  Emden  is  a  torpedo  boat 
station.  Forty  miles  due  north  of 
strongly  fortified  Cuxhaven,  guard- 
ing the  mouth  of  the  Elbe  and  Ham- 
burg, is  another  torpedo  base  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Elder  in  Holstein,  a 
river  that  is  connected  with  the  Kiel 
canal.  Cuxhaven  is  not  the  only 
protection  of  Hamburg  and  the  Kiel 
canal.  On  the  south  side  of  that 
dreadnaught  waterway,  and  between 
Brunsbuettel  and  Kudensee,  a  new 
naval  station  costing  $8,000,000  has 
just  been  finished.  Thus  it  will  be 
seen  that  there  are  abundant  "holes" 
for  submarines  and  destroyers  from 
Borkum,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ems, 
to  the  Eider,  and  no  less  than  three 
interior  waterways  to  give  them  time- 
ly passage,  while  at  Wilhelmshaven 
and  Cuxhaven,  also  at  Kiel,  the  Bal- 
tic entrance  to  the  canal,  the  whole 
German  fleet  can  lie  at  anchor.  An 
attack  upon  the  defences  of  the  Ger- 
man North  sea  coast  would  therefore 
be  likely  to  cost  the  British  fleet  dear, 
and  would  probably  be  vain  and  fu- 
tile. Digging  out  the  enemy  has  the 
look  of  a  forlorn  hope.  Moreover, 
he  cannot  be  dug  out  if  he  doesn't 
want  to  fight.  He  can  withdraw 
through  the  great  canal  to  Kiel  on 
the   Baltic. 


A  SACRKL)  TKl  SI— (lERMANVS   DKFKNSE 


It  is  obvious  that  if  the  British 
navy  plans  to  trj-  its  fortunes  in  the 
Baltic,  the  fleet  must  be  divided,  be- 
ing most  perilous  tactics.  What  of 
the  passage  round  the  north  of  Den- 
mark to  the  Baltic?  To  get  at  Kiel 
the  British  warships  would  have  to 
traverse  the  Skagerak,  a  deep  body 
of  water  sixty  miles  wide,  and  the 
Kattegat,  of  about  the  same  width, 
to  the  east  of  Denmark.  They  would 
then  have  to  pass  through  the  chan- 
nel of  the  not  very  broad  Great  Belt, 
which  can  be  easily  mined  or  domi- 
nated by  torpedo  boats.  Even  in  the 
wider  Kattegat  large  warships  have 
to  move  cautiously,  navigation  being 
difficult,  and  the  German  navy  by 
using  mines  and  submarines  would 
have  a  tremendous,  almost  insuper- 
able advantage.  A  British  fleet 
might  get  as  far  as  the  eastern  en- 
trance of  the  Skagerak  without 
great  risk,  for,  according  to  Prof. 
Hovgaard,  it  cannot  be  mined,  but 
beyond  it  every  mile  of  the  way 
would  bristle  with  hidden  perils  and 
ambushes.  High  Admiral  von  Tirpitz 
would  probably  ask  nothing  better 
than  invasion  of  the  Baltic  by  Ad- 
miral Jellicoe. 

In  conclusion  there  seems  to  be 
nothing  for  the  British  navy  to  do 
but  to  patrol  the  North  sea  and 
blockade  the  German  coast,  and  be 
content  to  bottle  up  the  German 
battle  fleet,  and  thus  control  the  sev- 
en seas  with  the  consequence  that 
the  enemy  can  get  no  food  and  sup- 
plies  from   abroad. 


THE  U.9 — THE  BEGINNING  OP 
THE  END. 


New  Yorker  Staats-ZeitunK, 
New  York. 

Herman  Kidder. 

The  destruction  by  submarine  tor- 
pedoes of  three  of  Great  Britain's 
armored  cruisers  is  Germany's  an- 
swer to  the  blatant  threat  of  Winston 
Churchill,  First  Lord  of  the  Admir- 
alty, that  unless  the  German  fleet 
comes  out  and  fights  in  the  open  sea 
it  will  be  dug  out  "like  rats  from 
holes." 

The  loss  of  the  Cressy,  Hogue  and 
Aboukir  may  not  be  an  overwhelm- 
ing disaster  to  the  British  navy,  re- 
garded from  the  point  of  view  of 
ships  as  such,  but  its  effect  can  not 
be  limited  to  tons  of  metal.  The 
New  York  "Times"  is  inclined  edi- 
torially to  minimize  the  German 
achievement  in  the  statement  that 
"three  of  Great  Britain's  oldest  and 
least  valuable  armored  cruisers  have 
been  sunk  by  German  torpedo  boats." 
The  "Herald,"  on  the  other  hand,  and 
the  "Herald"  is  by  no  means  pro- 
German  in  its  sentiments,  says:  "The 
loss  of  these  armored  cruisers  Is  too 
serious  to  be  minimized  by  any  de- 
claration that  they  were  obsolete. 
•  •  •  But  the  vessels  were  far 
from  obsolete,  as  they  were  laid  down 
between  1899  and  1901.  and  should 
have  had  on  an  average  of  six  years 
further  good  work  before  them." 
When  such  discussions  occur  in  the 
camp  of  the  enemy,  what  are  we  to 
expect? 


The  material  fact  is  this:  Great 
Britain  has  lost  three  armored  cruis- 
ers of  12,000  tons  each,  with  the 
greater  portion  of  their  combined 
personnel  of  2,200  men.  The  more 
important  fact  is  that  British  naval 
prestige  has  been  sorely  wounded. 
There  can  be  no  cry  here  of  atro- 
cities, barbarism  or  want  of  fair 
play.  The  German  navy  worked  with 
tools  with  which  the  enemy  is  super- 
abundantly equipped.  Initiative  won 
the  day. 

Those  who,  like  Winston  Church- 
ill, wish  to  see  the  German  fleet 
emerge  from  its  protected  base  and 
try  the  chances  of  war  on  the  open 
sea  with  a  fleet  which  outnumbers 
it  three  to  one,  certainly  are  friends 
neither  of  Germany  nor  of  fair  play. 
The  German  fleet  is  but  a  unit  In 
the  military  defenses  of  the  Empire, 
and  its  utilization  is  subject  to  the 
general  necessities  of  the  war.  To 
send  it  out  to  meet  the  British  squad- 
rons at  the  present  time  would  be 
but  poor  strategy.  The  question  of 
valor  or  of  the  ship-to-ship  qualities 
of  the  two  fleets  does  not  enter  into 
the  present  situation.  The  German 
fleet  is  hopelessly  outnumbered  and 
therefore  compelled  to  play  a  defen- 
sive game.  Only  the  most  desperate 
straits  would  warrant  the  abandon- 
ment of  such  a  policy. 

If  any  adverse  criticism  is  In  place 
at  this  juncture,  it  should  be  directed 
not  against  the  German,  but  against 
the  British  naval  leaders.  If  Great 
Britain  is  to  "dig  German  warships 
out  like  rats  from  holes"  it  is  about 
time  that  she  commenced  her  fer- 
reting operations.  As  long  as  the 
British  fleet  is  content  only  to  main- 
tain a  blockade  in  the  North  Sea, 
it  will  be  open  to  attacks  similar  to 
that  which  has  already  occurred.  One 
by  one  its  ships  will  be  whittled  down 
until  its  numerical  superiority  over 
the  enemy  ceases  to  be.  Then  it  will 
have  to  meet  the  German  fleet  in 
open  battle,  under  circumstances  dic- 
tated by  the  foe,  and  the  outcome 
will  not  necessarily  be  as  London 
fain  would  have  it. 

A  reef  must  be  taken  in  the 
vaunted  fighting  qualities  of  the 
British  navy.  It  may  be  a  cruel 
thought,  but  the  daughter  may  some- 
times teach  the  mother.  When  Far- 
ragut  broke  out  from  the  mast-head 
of  his  fiagship:  "Damn  the  torpedoes 
— go  ahead,"  he  spoke  for  heroic  men 
of  all  times.  When  Commodore 
Dewey  ran  the  mine-strewn  channel 
of  Corregidor,  the  words  of  Farra- 
gut  were  his  motto.  It  may  be  ex- 
pecting too  much,  however,  to  think 
that  the  British  fleet  commanders 
should  profit  by  such  lessons.  When 
three  years  or  so  ago  the  text-books 
In  London  schools  were  scanned  to 
see  how  much  pro-American  senti- 
ment could  be  deleted  from  them,  it 
is  probable  that  Farragut's  signal 
and  Dewey's  achievement  met  the 
same  fate  as  the  biographies  of 
Washington,  T.,incoln  and  other  prom- 
inent Americans. 

The  destruction  of  the  three  Brit- 
ish cruisers  discloses  not  simply  the 
German  naval  policy,  but  also  the 
fact  that  Germany  is  beginning  to 
realize  who  her  most  Irreconcilable 
enemy   Is.     The  Russian   danger  can 


be  handled  in  the  open — although 
one  of  first  importance  it  is  at  the 
same  time  one  which  can  be  dealt 
with  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  no 
German  fears  for  the  outcome.  But 
too  much  has  developed  recently  of 
the  insidiousness  of  British  diplo- 
macy to  permit  of  anything  but  the 
most  retaliatory  measures  against 
Great  Britain.  We  may  expect,  there- 
fore, to  see  Germany's  major  efforts 
from  now  on  directed  toward  the 
humiliation  of  this  proud  mistress  of 
the  seas.  Sir  Edward  Grey  has  an- 
nounced that  there  can  be  no  peace 
until  Germany  is  humbled.  This  self- 
constituted  spokesman  for  the  Allies 
has  dictated  Germany's  policy.  If 
I  am  not  mistaken.  It  will  be  Eng- 
land, and  not  Germany,  that  will  cry 
out  in  its  humiliation  for  peace. 
England  had  her  warning — Sir  Ar- 
thur Conan  Doyle  has  told  us  so. 
The  operations  of  the  German  sub- 
marines against  the  British  fleet  and, 
when  the  time  comes,  the  operation 
of  the  German  dirigibles  will  bring 
home  to  the  British  people  the  fact 
that  war  is  not  simply  a  commercial 
scheme  in  which  "our  allies"  go  to 
their  death  in  order  that  British 
purses  may  wax  fat. 

When  the  British  army  in  Belgium 
and  France  ran  away  from  the  Ger- 
man, it  was  a  "strategic  retreat" — 
characterized,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
as  "brilliant."  When  the  German 
submarines  destroy  three  British 
cruisers  the  Ofiicial  Press  Bureau  in 
London  class  the  lost  vessels  as 
"comparatively  obsolete."  The  truth, 
however,  will  not  down  that  the 
British  fleet  has  been  imbued  with  a 
wholesome  fear  of  the  enemy  and 
that  the  British  people  are  coming 
to  see  in  the  initiative  of  the  Ger- 
man sailor  something  to  respect.  A 
few  more  exploits  of  this  sort  and 
the  tenor  of  the  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty  may  be  altered. 

The  names  of  the  destroyed  British 
cruisers  have  a  certain  significanoo 
in  this  war  of  British  commercial  ag- 
gression. All  three  were  named  for 
victories  over  the  French  dupes  of 
present  day  British  diplomacy.  At 
Aboukir,  Lord  Nelson  destroyed  a 
French  fleet;  off  La  Hoguo,  Edward 
Russell,  with  his  Dutch  ally,  anni- 
hilated the  fleet  of  Louis  XIV.;  and 
at  the  battle  of  Cressy,  England, 
under  the  third  Edward,  placed  her 
mailed  fist  so  well  upon  France  that 
it  remained  for  Jeanne  d'Arc  to 
wriggle  from  under  it.  Today  France 
is  fighting  on  the  side  of  England. 
Germany  has  nothing  against  France. 
She  respects  her  and  pities  her.  Only 
as  the  ally  of  England  and  Russia 
has  she  called  down  the  wrath  of  war 
upon  her  own  head.  Germany  would 
spare  France  if  she  could.  There  is 
but  one  enemy  from  now  on,  one  ir- 
reconcilable, determined  and  com- 
merciallv  motived  enemy,  England, 
and  against  her  the  German  attack 
will  be  directed.  The  breach  has 
been  opened,  three  British  cruisers 
have  been  sent  to  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  and  that  is  only  the  beginning 
of  the  end.  When  England  started 
out  to  effect  the  destruction  of  Ger- 
man commerce,  German  culture  in 
Europe  and  the  world  at  large,  she 
struck   her  own   death-knell. 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


WON'T  PLAY  AXY  MORE. 


Translation   of  Editorial   Which   Ap- 
peared   in    the    "Illinois    Staats- 
Zeitung"  Chicago,  Septem- 
ber 25,   1914,   in  German. 

For  ten  years  both  England  and 
France  boasted  of  their  great  lead 
over  Germany  in  the  construction  of 
submarine  boats.  The  cautious  Tir- 
pitz  was  saying  the  costly  expense 
of  experiments  for  whicli  the  two 
western  powers  were  throwing  mon- 
ey out  of  the  windows.  But  when 
the  German  marine  office  finally  de- 
cided to  complete  the  German  navy 
by  an  addition  of  submarines,  we 
could  rest  assured  that  the  type  of 
boats  built  by  the  Germans  met  the 
requirements  of  the  most  critical. 
But  of  course  the  British-French  lead 
could  not  be  overtaken  and  because 
of  the  six-fold  superiority  of  their 
submarines,  London  and  Paris  felt 
they  had  every  reason  to  boast.  Only 
until,  however,  half  of  the  Cressy 
class  of  cruisers  had  been  sent  to 
the  bottom  of  the  North  sea  by  Ger- 
man submarine  boats.  Then  sud- 
denly the  authorities  in  London  dis- 
covered the  brutality  of  this  sort  of 
warfare  and  cried  for  treaties  and 
agreements  that  would  be  stamped 
with  the  humanity  of  the  age.  Brit- 
ish logic.  British  insolence.  After 
England  has  felt  the  stick  on  its  own 
body  no  one  else  should  get  hold 
of  it.  London  pleads  for  humanity? 
The  German  minister  to  Copenhagen 
has  just  published  sworn  statements 
of  German  sailors,  to  the  effect,  that 
at  the  seat  fight  off  Helgoland,  Eng- 
lish seaman  had  sunk  boatloads  of 
rescued  Germans  by  the  use  of  hand 
grenades.  This  London  admits,  but 
claims  that  the  British  sailors  were 
provoked. 

Thus  English  humanity!     And  new 
treaties,  new  agreements?     There  is 
hardly    an    article    of    the    treaty    of 
The  Hague  or  the  London  Naval  act. 
that  has   not  been   violated  by   Eng- 
land  in   this   war.      England   cut  the 
German   cable,   England    ignored   the 
stipulations    in    reference    to    private 
property   in   naval   warfare.   England 
intercepted   ships   belonging   to    neu- 
tral nations,  boarded  them  and  car- 
ried    off    German    subjects,    England 
ignominiously     disregarded     the    stipu- 
lations  governing   contraband   of   war. 
"and    England    confiscated    in    and   out- 
going    Gorman      mail      aliiiard     Dutch 
vessels.     No,  it  is  no  longer  possible 
to    arrange    treaties     with     England, 
and   the   wall   of  the  Times  will   die 
away  without  an  echo.      The  Britons 
desire  an  extension  of  the  naval  act, 
but    have    just    shown    by    the    sink- 
ing    of     the    "Kaiser     Wilhelm     der 
Grosse"    in    neutral   waters,    that   aJl 
declarations     and      restrictions     are 
naught   to  them,  whenever   they  are 
not  to  their  advantage. 

The  German  steamer  was  lying  at 
Rio  del  Oro  flying  the  black-white- 
red  colors,  at  a  distance  on  a  little 
fort  could  be  seen  the  red-yellow 
stripes  that  formerly  ruled  the  world, 
what  cared  the  commander  of  the 
"Highflyer"  for  the  neutrality  of 
the  roads.  The  seas  belong  to  the 
pirates  of  King  George  the  unctuous, 
moral   and   piety  soaked.      Damn  in- 


ternational rights  and  all  silly  para- 
graphs. Hoist  the  red  flag  of  piracy 
and  then  let  the  six-inch  guns  play 
against  unprotected  broadsides.  "The 
work  of  five  minutes,"  the  London 
papers  say  in  their  accounts  of  this 
heroic  deed.  The  Spanish  govern- 
ment naturally  protested,  but  the 
protest  was  smilingly  chucked  away 
in  a  file  marked  "Rubbish,  don't 
answer."  The  piratical  feat  at  Rio 
del  Oro  and  the  destruction  of  life 
boats  at  Helgoland  will  give  all 
doubters  a  right  idea  of  English  hu- 
manity. These  filibusters  have  now 
been  struck  and  with  their  own  wea- 
pons and  they  will  be  forced  to  stay 
in  this  bloody  game  to  the  finish, 
which  will  be  decided  by  Germany 
and  not  by  them. 


prevented   the  feeding  of  bread   grain 
to  cattle. 

"The  present  order  gives  us  the  cer- 
tainty that  our  enemies'  plan  to  starve 
Germany  will  be  upset  and  assures  us 
of  plentiful  bread  until  the  next  har- 
vest." 


G  E  K  M  A  X  Y     WILL     SEIZE     ALL 
GBAIX  IX  XATIOX. 


Xew  Orders  for  Conservation  of  Food 

Are  Proclaimed  by  Federal 

Council. 


MEAT     SUPPLY     IS     SET     ASIDE 


Distributing     Offices    Regulate     Con- 
sumption— "Plan  to  Starve  Ger- 
many Will  Be  Upset." 


(By  the  Associated  Press.) 

From  "The  Daily  News,"  January 
26,  1915. 

Berlin,  Germany  (by  wireless  to  Lon- 
don). Jan.  20. — The  federal  council  has 
put  into  effect  sweeping  regulations  for 
the  conservation  of  the  food  supply,  as 
follows : 

1.  All  stocks  of  corn,  wheat  and 
flour  are  to  be  seized  by   Feb.   1. 

•i.  Business  transactions  in  these 
commodities  are  forbidden  after  today. 

3.  All  municipalities  are  charged 
with  the  duty  of  setting  aside  suitable 
supplies  of  preserved  meats. 

4.  Owners  of  corn  are  ordered  to 
reiiort  their  stocks  immediately,  where- 
upon confiscation,  at  a  fixed  price,  will 
follow. 

.").  A  government  distributing  office 
fur  tile  regulation  of  consumption  will 
he  estalilished,  distribution  being  made 
;uc(>riliiig  to  the  number  of  inhabitants. 

"Xecessity  for  the  Xation." 

Tlie  Imperial  Gazette  today  pub- 
lishes the  following  notice  regarding 
the   confiscation  of  grain: 

•■There  is  no  doubt  that  the  measure 
ordered  cuts  much  deeper  into  the  eco- 
nomic life  of  our  people  than  all  the 
economic  regulations  hitherto  adopted 
by  the  federal  council  during  the  war. 
It  is.  however,  necessary  in  order  to 
make  certain  the  sufficient  and  regular 
supply  of  our  people  with  breadstuffs 
until" the  next  thrashing  of  the  new 
harvest,  and  is,  besides,  a  necessity  of 
life  for  the  government  and  nation! 

Previous  Efforts  Not  Effective. 

"The  steps  heretofore  taken  have 
proved  themselves  not  far  reaching 
enough  to  bring  alwut  the  sparing  use 
of  our  limited  supplies  of  breadstuffs, 
which,  however,  are  in  reality  sufficient 
for  our  needs.  In  particular,  the 
measures  hitherto  introduced  have  not 


JOBLESS     IX     (JERMAXY     FEWER 
THAX    YEAB    AGO. 


Unemployment  Is  Decreasing  Despite 

Industrial  Upheaval  Caused  by 

the  War. 


Revival  in  Industries. 


Railway  Income  .Almost  Xormal,  Al- 
though Troops  Travel  Free — Few 
Luxuries  Sold. 


By  Oswald  F.  Schuette — Special  Cor- 
respondence of  "The  Daily  Xews." 

From    "Chicago    Daily    Xews,"    Feb., 
1915. 

Berlin,  Germany,  Feb.  1. — Unem- 
ployment in  Germany  is  steadily  de- 
creasing in  spite  of  the  revolutionary 
industrial  changes  that  have  resulted 
from  the  war.  Figures  have  been  is- 
sued concerning  the  unemployment  in 
1914.  For  December  the  statistics 
show  a  marked  decrease  from  the  fig- 
ures for  earlier  months  of  the  war. 
This  condition,  it  is  asserted,  has 
continued.  In  Berlin  the  demand  for 
labor  has  been  increasing  steadily, 
until  the  municipal  officials  have  is- 
sued a  warning  against  giving  charity 
to  unemployed  men  who  are  capable 
of  work. 

The  figures  concerning  the  condi- 
tion of  the  labor  market  put  the  num- 
ber of  positions  vacant  in  December, 
1914,  at  297,000,  with  390,000  ap- 
plicants— an  average  of  136.31  for 
each    100    positions.      In    December. 

1913.  there  were  445,000  applicants 
for  228,000  positions — an  average  of 
195.17  for  each  100  places.     In  July, 

1914,  the  number  was  342,000  appli- 
cants for  237,000  positions,  or  144.30 
for  each  100. 

In  August,  1914,  the  first  month  of 
the  war,  the  number  of  the  applicants 
jumped  to  706,000  for  299,000  posi- 
tions. But  this  condition  quickly 
changed.  In  September  there  were 
645,000  applicants  for  330,000  posi- 
tions, an  average  of  195.45  for  100; 
in  October,  568,000  for  348.000 
places,  or  163.2  for  100,  and  in  No- 
vember. 491,000  for  326,000  places, 
or  l.%0.61  for  100. 
Railroad  Receipts  Almost  Normal. 
Another  interesting  feature  of  the 
condition  of  Germany  in  the  war  is 
given  by  the  railroad  statistics.  Al- 
though the  export  and  import  busi- 
ness, which  naturally  is  a  heavy  part 
of  the  traffic,  has  virtually  been  elim- 
inated from  the  freight  receipts,  al- 
though the  tourist  business  has  been 
similarly  cut  off  and  although  mili- 
tary transportation,  which  frequently 
ties  up  an  entire  system  for  days  and 
weeks,  is  not  paid  for  at  all,  the  De- 
cember freight  receipts  showed  a  de- 
crease of  little  more  than  8  per  cent 
from  December,  1913,  while  the  pas- 
senger receipts  showed  a  decrease  of 
only  16.33  per  cent.  The  November 
passenger  figures  showed  even  a  more 
interesting  result,  as  they  were  only 


A  SACRED  TRUST— SPIRITUAL  VALUES 


6.87  per  cent  below  those  of  Novem- 
ber, 1913.  These  figures  back  up 
the  statement  made  by  German  indus- 
trial leaders  that  the  industries  of 
Germany  are  practically  doing  the 
business  which  formerly  was  done  by 
foreign  exporters. 

The  industry  which  suffered  the 
least  from  the  war  was  the  textile 
industry.  In  many  ways  it  made 
notable  increases  over  the  preceding 
year.  According  to  the  labor  figures 
of  this  industry.  28.2  per  cent  of  the 
textile  workers  in  Germany  were  on 
the  unemployed  lists  at  the  end  of 
August,  At  the  end  of  September 
this  percentage  had  fallen  to  17.1, 
by  the  end  of  October  to  9.1,  and  by 
the  end  of  November  to  4.9. 

Mining  Industry  Revives. 

In  the  coal  mining  industry  pro- 
duction is  gradually  resuming  a  nor- 
mal tonnage.  The  potash  production 
is  about  one-half  of  that  preceding 
the  war.  In  the  iron  and  steel  in- 
dustry  the   production     has    suffered 


heavily  through  the  paralysis  of  the 
export  business  and  the  available  fig- 
ures show  an  activity  ranging  from 
4.'>  to  .55  per  cent  of  that  which  pre- 
ceded the  war — although  in  the  lines 
particularly  affected  by  the  demand 
for  war  supplies  there  has  been  a  no- 
table increase. 

The  war  also  depressed  the  ma- 
chinery industry  and  many  plants  are 
on  short  time,  without  immediate 
prospects  of  betterment.  Some  of  the 
automobile  factories,  under  the  pres- 
sure of  war  business,  report  in- 
creases; others,  however,  have  lost 
considerably. 

Falling    Off    in    Luxuries. 

In  lines  devoted  to  luxury  the 
losses,  of  course,  have  been  heaviest. 
This  includes  the  manufacture  of 
musical  instruments,  particularly 
pianos. 

The  depression  which  the  war 
brought  to  the  export  phases  of  the 
electrical  industries  has  been  largely 
offset  by  the  ability  with  which  these 


companies  have  been  able  to  devote 
their  plants  to  the  manufacture  of 
other  lines,  particularly  of  war  ma- 
terial. The  result  has  done  much  to 
ease  the  labor  markets  in  cities  which 
otherwise  would  have  suffered  heav- 
ily under  the  war. 

I  have  taken  these  statistics  and 
opinions  largely  from  the  summary 
which  is  soon  to  be  issued  by  the  Dis- 
conto  Gesellschaft,  one  of  Germany's 
most  important  banks.  It  adds  this 
comment: 

"From  these  items  it  may  be 
plainly  seen  that  the  social  economy 
of  Germany  has  not  only  evidenced  its 
health  and  its  strength  in  the  last 
few  months,  but.  thanks  to  the  scien- 
tific and  thorough  foundation  of  its 
general  output  and  to  the  high  effi- 
ciency and  tireless  diligence  of  Ger- 
man technical  achievement,  it  has 
been  able  to  meet  revolutionary  cir- 
cumstances with  wonderful  elasticity 
and  at  least  to  a  great  degree  avert 
the  damage  of  war." 


Germany's  Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity 
Spiritual  Values 


GERMANY'S  DECLARATIOX. 


IIIinoi.s  Staats-Zeitung,  Chicago. 
Ftlitorial,   Horace  L.  Brand. 

Germany  declares  that  it  is  bat- 
tling to  preserve  Western  culture  and 
civilization  from  conquest  by  the 
Slav.  Let  us  analyze,  as  far  as  is 
In  our  limited  power  and  knowledge, 
this  declaration. 

Germany  showed  most  remarkable 
progress  in  art,  literature,  science 
and  commerce — in  fact,  in  practically 
every  branch  of  human  thought  and 
energy — which  we,  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  define  as  civilization. 
Fairly  judged  we  cannot  and  can- 
didly confessed  we  do  not  deny  that 
Germany  represents  the  brightest 
type  of  western  culture  and  civiliza- 
tion. By  admitting  this  we  do  not 
detract  nor  subtract  anything  from 
the  claims  of  England  or  France  that 
these  two  nations  also  represent  the 
highest  type  of  western  culture  and 
civilization. 

\A'hy,  then,  this  war  among  similar 
nations? 

The  only  plausible  answer.  In  the 
last  analysis,  is  fear  of  Russia.  This 
giant  Slav  power,  which  already  con- 
trols more  people  and  more  land 
than  any  other  nation  in  the  world, 
is  the  ever  alert  menace  to  peace, 
because  it  is  ever  eager  to  enlarge 
the  sphere  of  Influence  of  the  Slav. 
Thus,  England  and  France  should  be 
allies  of  Germany  against  the  com- 
mon   enemy — Russia. 

That  this  is  not  the  case  Is  due  to 
causes — although  important  by  them- 
selves, still  minor  to  the  main  under- 
lying cause  of  the  giant  struggle  of 
Slav  against  Teuton,  of  oriental  civili- 
zation   against    occidental    culture. 

Thus.  Germany  is  fighting  in  a 
righteous  cause,  if  it  Is  right  to  stop 
the  westward  march  of  Russia  and 
all  that  Russia  stands  for,  rlghteoua 
if   it  is  right   to  advance  the  sphere 


KKLNCII    PRISONERS  OF   W.Mt 

.\iil witjisl.-iiiiliii;;  Mil  reports  Hint   Germany  has  niistrentod  her  prisoners  of  wa 

this  |ili(>tiigr:iiili.  taken  of  the  interior  of  the  Ziissen   Barracks,  shows  how  W( 

they  are  cared  for,  judging  from  their  appearance 


of  influence  of  art,  literature,  science 
and  commerce,  such  as  Germany  has 
developed  and  given  to  the  world 
with  which  to  alleviate  human  suffer- 
ing, to  lessen  human  toll  and  increase 
human   enjoyment. 


\VIL\T  THE  TEUTON  1>EI'KM>S. 

The   Milwaukee   Free  Press. 

IIitIxtI    Sanliorn,    I'rolpssor    of    I'hi- 
liisciphy  in  X'andorbill  University. 

The    recent    letter   of    Dr.    Charles 
Eliot,  as   well   as  the  vehement  pro- 


tests of  several  well-meaning  clergy- 
men against  the  German  Emperor, 
show  plainly  enough  how  little 
thought  the  majority  actually  gives 
to  the  real  problems  of  civilization. 
Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  I  have 
not  yet  read  a  single  protest  that  has 
not  laid  bare,  even  in  the  case  of 
clergymen,  the  purely  materialistic 
philosophy  of  the  individual  making 
it.  Underlying  all  such  protests 
there  is  the  dread  of  some  form  of 
physical  pain  or  physical  loss  of  vari- 
ous kinds,  together  with  the  false 
assumption  that  the  idealistic  Schil- 
ler repudiated  once  for  all   when  he 


THE  ALLIANCE  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 


said:  "Das  Leben  ist  der  Gueter 
Hoechstes  nicht" — the  claim  of  the 
martyr  throughout  the  ages.  Of 
course,  not  all  materialists  nor  only 
materialists  would  like  to  see  univer- 
sal peace,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
only  they  see  nothing  worth  fighting 
for  and  that  only  they  are  in  favor 
of  peace  and  at  cost. 

The  unintelligent  and  almost  crim- 
inally dangerous  agitation  for  uni- 
versal arbitration  proceeds  upon  the 
monster  fallacy  of  assuming  that  in- 
ternational justice  is,  at  the  present 
stage  of  barbarism  and  Philistinism 
of  the  world  as  a  whole,  a  possibility. 
It  cannot  be  realized  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  vast  majority  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  like  the  vast 
majority  of  individuals  in  most  na- 
tions, does  not  clearly  apprehend  the 
highest  aims  of  civilization,  nor  the 
fact  that  Christianity  must  advance 
beyond  materialism  and  Philistinism 
before  it  can  become  a  safe  guard- 
ian of  culture.  It  would  be  ex- 
tremely dangerous  to  the  real  aims 
of  life  to  allow  the  majority  of  the 
nations  (who  demands  of  civiliza- 
tion merely  panem  et  circenses)  to 
determine  the  justice  of  the  most  im- 
portant claims,  and  for  that  reason 
all  nations  that  do  apprehend  those 
alms  and  who  are,  furthermore,  well 
aware  that  most  nations  do  not,  will 
always  refuse  to  permit  certain  quea» 
tions  to  be  settled  by  the  mob.  Truth 
and  justice  cannot  yet  be  determined 
by  majority  vote. 

Most  individuals,  even  in  enlight- 
ened America,  believe  that  the  real 
purpose  of  civilization  Is  the  acquisi- 
tion of  material  wealth.  If  asked 
what  this  is  for,  they  can  answer 
only  In  terms  of  luxury  or  at  the 
best  in  terms  of  this  or  that  improve- 
ment of  the  physical  well-being  of 
the  community.  Others  will  think 
of  material  wealth  as  a  foundation 
for  "education,"  but  they  think 
nevertheless  of  "education"  as  some- 
thing strictly  vocational,  as  some- 
thing merely  instrumental  to  "get- 
ting on  in  the  world"  and  the  like. 
The  individual,  as  Ruskin  says  of 
his  compatriots,  desires  that  educa- 
tion shall  enable  him  to  "ring  with 
confidence  the  bell  at  the  double- 
belled  doors  and  then  after  awhile 
to  have  a  double-belled  door  for  him- 
self." 

Of  course  this  is  all  quite  neces- 
sary as  a  mere  preliminary  to  self- 
development,  and  dangerous  only 
when  it  comes  to  be,  in  the  indi- 
vidual or  in  society,  the  only  aim 
conceived,  then  civilization  degener- 
ates into  mere  luxury  or  into  the 
mad  scramble  for  ever-increasing 
wealth. 

Now  when  we  study  the  various 
movements  of  history,  we  find,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  superficial  causes  that 
he  who  runs  may  easily  discern,  cer- 
tain antitheses  of  real  principles  in- 
volved. Our  own  Revolutionary  war, 
for  example,  appears  to  those  who 
merely  contemplate  the  surface  of 
events  as  a  revolt  against  the  taxa- 
tion imposed  by  England  on  her 
colonies,  but  in  reality  this  revolu- 
tion was  merely  one  phase  of  an  op- 
position between  the  principles  of 
autocracy  and  democracy,  which  was 
at  work  then  and  much  later  in  Eng- 
land herself.     In  laying  a  tax  on  the 


American  colonies,  the  crown  was 
merely  trying  out  a  policy  destined 
chiefly  to  be  carried  out  in  the  home 
country. 

From  one  point  of  view  the  war 
of  the  Revolution  had  for  its  aim 
the  defeat  of  England  and  the  free- 
ing of  the  colonies,  but  from  another 
point  of  view  the  struggle  meant  and 
resulted  in  the  union  of  what  had 
previously  been  separate  units.  The 
colonies  were  not  fighting  for  union 
consciously,  but  that  is  what  they 
were  really  fighting  for  without  be- 
ing aware  of  it.  The  union  against 
a  common  enemy  revealed  to  them 
how  much  they  j-eally  had  in  com- 
mon. This  real  struggle  for  a  more 
perfect  union  is  seen  again  clearly 
In  the  transition  from  the  govern- 
ment under  the  articles  of  confed- 
eration to  the  constitution  and  again 
in  the  struggle  of  the  civil  war;  in 
fact,  our  whole  history  may  be 
summed  up  as  a  continuous  struggle 
toward  a  more  nearly  perfect  union 
— a  struggle  toward  self-conscious- 
ness. So  it  is  with  many  other  move- 
ments of  history;  their  inner  mean- 
ing is  not  fully  realized  by  most  peo- 
ple  at   the   time  of   their   occurrence. 

That  which  will  go  down  in  hist- 
tory  in  the  present  struggle  is  the 
unquenchable  patriotism  of  Ger- 
mans throughout  the  world:  I  doubt 
if  there  has  ever  been  a  war  waged 
where  there  has  been  such  a  united 
people,  and  it  seems  as  though  this 
tact  alone  should  give  those  who  go 
on  prattling  about  the  "despotic  kai- 
ser" and  the  "struggle  between  au- 
tocracy and  democracy"  some  food 
for  reflection,  particularly  when  we 
stop  to  consider  what  people  this  is. 
This  is  not  the  war  of  one  man  or  a 
clique  of  men,  but  the  war  of  the 
whole,  peace-loving,  home-loving 
German  people,  naturally  the  most 
phlegmatic,  deliberative,  and  reflec- 
tive race  of  the  world.  If  we  tell 
them,  as  England's  representative 
Mr.  Wells  does,  that  much  learning 
hath  made  them  mad,  I  am  sure  that 
they  can  with  perfect  right  make 
the  answer  that  Paul  did  to  Festus. 
They  are  not  mad  and  the  kaiser  in 
whom  they  trust  is  not  mad;  these 
descendants  of  Luther,  Kant,  Pichte, 
Schelling.  Hegel,  etc.,  know  far  bet- 
ter than  their  horror-stricken  critics 
that  they  are  waging  war  for  that 
which  is  dearer  to  them  than  life  it- 
self and  something  no  peace  confer- 
ence of  all  the  nations  would  be  will- 
ing or  competent  to  adjudicate 
fairly. 

In  an  article  in  the  last  number 
of  the  "Fatherland"  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  point  out  that  the  contest  for 
material  values  which  has  precipi- 
tated this  war  between  Germany  and 
the  rest  of  the  world  can  only  be 
judged  fairly  when  we  consider  what 
claims  the  various  nations  involved 
can  put  forward  to  justify  their  pos- 
session of  material  values. 

Germany  has  beaten  England  fair- 
ly and  peacefully  in  the  commercial 
contest  for  the  markets  of  the 
world,  and  hence  England  has 
sought  to  ensnare  and  deliver  her 
over  to  those  who  are  her  enemies 
for  this  and  similar  reasons.  It  is 
not  unneutral  to  say  this,  for  Eng- 
land herself  has  admitted  it  time  and 


again,  both  before  and  since  the  war 
began.  A  recent  article  in  Boston 
and  New  York  papers  entitled  "Why 
England  Fights,"  makes  it  clearer 
than  ever  that  England  is  bent  on 
the  commercial  ruin  of  Germany. 

Apparently  England's  claim  to  the 
exclusive  possession  of  this  com- 
merce, which  she  has  acquired  by 
means  of  a  chain  of  fortunate  acci- 
dents of  history,  can  have  before 
the  parliament  of  man  no  more  jus- 
tification than  the  right  of  Germany 
to  secure  it  if  she  can;  but  when 
we  inquire,  from  a  higher  point  of 
view,  what  this  wealth  in  the  two 
cases  is  to  be  used  for  England's 
claims  vanish  into  trivial  signifi- 
cance, as  compared  with  those  of 
this  teacher  of  the  nations.  We  then 
see  plainly  that  it  is  a  struggle  ul- 
timately of  the  highest  aims  known 
to  the  human  races  against  the  sordid 
aims  of  races  merely  veneered  by 
culture. 

England  and  all  the  other  nations 
of  Europe  desire  material  wealth  for 
luxury  and  a  purely  materialistic 
life.  England,  France  and  Italy,  as 
is  well  known,  have  degenerated 
from  Shakespeare  to  Shaw,  from 
Descartes  and  Moli&re  to  Zola,  and 
from  Dante  to  d'Annunzio;  whereas 
in  Germany  Shakespeare,  Dante  and 
Molifere  still  live,  so  that  in  Munich 
for  example,  more  plays  of  Shakes- 
peare are  given  in  a  year,  according 
to  statistics  than  in  all  England  and 
America  taken  together?  The  Ger- 
man university  is  still  incomparable, 
and  in  the  midst  of  her  great  mate- 
rial prosperity,  and  in  spite  of  oc- 
casional inroads  of  French  and  Eng- 
lish materialism,  Germany  has  never 
as  a  people  forgotten  the  reason  tor 
which  alone  material  values  exist. 
Germany  is  consecrated  to  the  devel- 
opment of  the  highest  spiritual 
values;  in  Germany  material  values 
are  consciously  and  unremittingly 
transmitted  into  culture. 

It  is  because  she  is  as  a  people 
conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  other 
nations  of  the  world  either  have  had 
or  have  ceased  to  have  this  aim  that 
she  will  never  submit  to  the  decision 
of  the  majority  concerning  its  value. 
For  her  it  is  the  supreme  aim  of  life, 
that  for  which  material  wealth  is 
merely  the  means.  For  this  reason 
she  has  armed  to  defend  herself 
from  the  barbarian  and  the  no  less 
dangerous  Philistine,  and  she  per- 
ceives more  clearly  than  the  latter 
that  even  on  the  material  plane  the 
horrors  of  peace  may  well  outweigh 
the  horrors  of  war. 

Those  who  corner  wheat  and 
meat  on  the  stock  exchange,  who 
carry  on  Erie  and  New  Haven  and 
Hartford  deals,  refuse  sufficient  pro- 
tection against  fire  in  crowded  in- 
flammable factory  buildings,  are 
among  those  who  are  apt  to  protest 
most  loudly  against  the  horrors  of 
war.  They  seldom  see  their  own 
mute  and  inglorious  victims — the 
tuberculosis  patients  from  the 
crowded  tenements,  the  infanticides, 
suicides,  murders,  robberies,  and 
other  horrors  of  peace  that  follow  in 
their  train — horrors  of  peace  that 
far  outweigh  those  of  war  because 
they  destroy  not  merely  the  body  but 
the  soul.     *      •      * 


LOVE  AND  PATRIOTISM 


A  Word  From  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  to  His  People 


LETTER   OF    EMPEROR   FRANCIS 

JOSEPH    TO    THE    CHILDREN 

OF  AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 


The  Cmcible. 

(Translated  by  Clare  Benedict.) 
To  the  Dear  Children  of  Our  Empire: 

If,  on  the  threshold  of  the  grave 
and  in  such  a  serious  hour,  I  turn 
to  you,  beloved  children,  it  is  for 
more  than  one  reason.  Once  you 
were    the    joy,    the    consolation — yes. 


mains  to  me  after  a  life  rich  in  ca- 
lamity. It  was  my  wish  when  I 
ascended  the  throne  of  my  fathers — • 
so  young  and  full  of  hope — it  will  be 
the  wish  which  perhaps  will  soon 
be  on  my  dying  lips  as  the  last  word 
of  love  and  care  for  my  realm  and 
for  my  people. 

May  God  direct  all  things  as  He 
wills,  we  human  beings  can  do  noth- 
ing without  Him.  As  you.  dear  child- 
ren, stand  nearest  to  God,  your  Em- 
Iicr(ir-Kin,i;    1m'i:s   \nu   to   pray   that   He 


teen  Red  Cross  units  have  been  sent 
to  the  front  and  four  depots  have  been 
formed.  These  depots  have  to  provide 
for  the  regular  supply  of  all  medical 
necessities  for  the  medical  lininch  of 
the  Army  and  for  the  Red  Cross.  Three 
hospital  ships,  also  provided  by  the 
Red  Cross,  have  been  used  to  a  very 
small  extent  only.  Much  good  work 
has  been  done,  on  the  other  hand,  by 
the  Ejiideinic  Laboratories,  all  under 
the  direction  of  prominent  bacteriolo- 
gists.     These     lalM.r;;turic-s     have     suc- 


CAPTURKL)  RUSSIAN  CA>{NON   IN  VIENNA 
(By   Courtesy   of   the   "Chicago   Abendpost") 


often  in  the  darkest  moments  of  my 
long  life  the  only  consolation  and  the 
only  joy — of  your  Emperor-King. 
When  I  saw  you  a  sunbeam  fell  once 
again  across  the  shadow  of  my  exist- 
ence. It  is  you,  children,  who  are 
nearest  to  the  heart  of  your  Emperor- 
King,  the  flowers  of  my  kingdom,  the 
ornament  of  my  people,  the  blessing 
of  the  future. 

But  it  is  not  only  to  your  Emperor- 
King  that  you  are  nearest,  but  to  One 
before  Whom  the  mightiest  of  this 
world  are  helpless  creatures,  God  our 
Lord;  in  your  eyes  the  light  of  the 
creation  morn  still  shines,  about  you 
is  still  Paradise — is  still  Heaven. 
God  is  all  powerful,  in  His  hand  lies 
the  fate  of  all  peoples.  Everything 
bows  to  His  will,  by  Him  the  stars 
and  mankind  are  directed.  That  this 
almighty  hand  of  God  may  guard 
and  keep  Austria-Hungary,  giving 
her  the  victory  over  her  many  ene- 
mies and  strengthening  her  in  vic- 
tory to  the  honor  and  glory  of  God 
— this    Is    the    only    wish    which    re- 


may  bless  us  and  bestow  His  grace 
upon  our  cause.  God  grants  the 
prayers  of  innocence,  because  He 
loves  it.  He  recognizes  in  it  His  own 
image.  Therefore  cease  not  to  pray 
with  clasped  hands,  you  little  ones 
and  you  smallest  ones  of  all. 

It  the  children  of  the  realm  pray 
for  their  Fatherland,  I  know  that  all 
will  be  well  with  our  star.  Then  you 
w-ill  have  a  part  in  the  day  of  victory 
and  honor  of  the  Empire.  You  have 
called  down  the  blessing  upon  our 
colors,  upon  our  array. 

Dear  children,  do  not  forget  the 
empire  to  which — on  earth — you  be- 
long, or  its  old  Emperor. 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 


The  Austro-Hungarian  Rod  Cross. 

The  Austro-Hunsarian  Rod  Cross 
Society  has  organized  two  fieUl  hospi- 
tals for  .300  men  each,  equipiicd  with 
up-to-date  Instruments,  etc.  In  con- 
nection with  these  field  hospitals  four- 


ceeded  in  checking  the  outbreak  of  epi- 
demic diseases  over  a  wide  area. 

The  Institutions,  managed  by  the  Red 
Cross  at  home,  chiefly  consist  of  Re- 
serve Hospitals,  Convalescent's  Homes, 
Stations  for  soldiers  who  have  become 
ill.  etc.  Under  the  agreement  with  the 
War  Office  the  Red  Cross  was  supposed 
to  provide  beds  for  51S  officers  and 
1(1,000  men.  but  the  total  number  of 
beds  availal)le  at  present  amounts  to 
S.'i.OOO,  five  times  as  many  as  were 
asked  for.  These  institutions  are  sup- 
ported, of  course,  not  by  the  Red  Cross 
Society  alone,  but  also  by  corporations, 
societies,  committees,  etc.,  of  any  de- 
scription, as  also  by  individual  contri- 
butions. 

The  Society  has  been  anxious  to  In- 
crease the  number  of  nurses  for  the 
wounded  by  voluntary  helpers,  women 
and  girls  who  had  to  go  througli  a  few 
weeks'  training.  This  arrangement  is 
found  to  work  satisfactorily  in  general. 
The  transport  of  wounded  soldiers  In 
the  different  towns  and  cities  has  also 
been  taken  over  by  the  Red  Cross  So- 


202 


THE  AI.I.IAN'CE  AND  THKIR  ALLIES 


ciety,  which  for  these  purposes  has 
enlisted  the  different  fire  brigades ;  700 
units  in  all,  with  a  total  of  17,000 
members. 

Other  branches  of  the  Red  Cross 
work  are  concerned  with  providing  re- 
freshment to  soldiers  at  the  railway 
stations  and  on  the  roads ;  with  the  pro- 
vision of  underclothing  and  other 
things  found  suitable  for  tlie  comfort 
of  the  men ;  with  information  offices 
for  the  relatives  of  soldiers;  and  with 


COL.SIX  'Id      i;i   SY    r.l'.KTIlA" 
(By   Courtesy   of   the   '■Chicago   Abendpost") 

the  censoring  of  letters  written  home 
liy  the  prisoners  of  war  in  half  a  dozen 
more  or  less  known  languages. 

The  Red  Cross  has  also  undertaken 
to  get  information  about  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  military  and  civil  prisoners 
of  war  in  hostile  countries  and  has  re- 
cently been  obliged  to  protest  to  the 
International  Committee  in  Geneva 
against  the  cruel  and  barbarous  treat- 
ment of  Austro-Hungarian  civil  prison- 
ers in  Russia. 


All  this  extensive  work  could  not 
have  been  done,  of  course,  without  the 
ready  support  it  found  among  the  popu- 
lation of  all  nationalities,  creeds  and 
classes  within  the  Monarchy.  More 
than  seven  and  one-half  million  Kronen 
have  been  collected  in  Austria-Hungary 
for  the  Red  Cross,  and  800,000  Kronen 
by  Austrians  and  Hungarians  abroad. 
About  one  million  Kronen  have  been 
sent  in  besides  by  the  affiliated 
societies. — "The  Continental  Times." 


THE  NEUTRAL  NATIONS 

Their  Interests  and  Rights 


THE  EUROPEAN  TEUTONIC  NATIONS  LOYALLY  NEUTRAL 

England  Excepted 

The  European  Non-Teutonic  Nations  Generally  Not  Firm 

Official  and  Popular  Neutrality 

The  United  States 


Some  Neutral  Nations — Spain  and  Portugal 


THE    POSITION    OF    HOLLAND    IN 
THE  EVROPEAN  WAR. 


In  the  Open  Court. 

By  Albert  Oosterheerdt. 

The  position  of  Holland  in  the  great 
European  war  is  both  a  ditfieult  and 
a  delicate  one.  In  the  center  almost  of 
the  conflict,  related  to  the  principal 
warring  nations  by  ties  of  blood,  com- 
merce and  trade,  herself  an  exponent 
of  International  law,  which  it  is  charged 
from  many  sides  has  been  rudely 
broken,  suffering  greatly  from  the  ef- 
fects of  the  war  in  her  trade,  industry 
and  general  condition,  compelled  in  ad- 
dition to  relieve  a  multitude  of  refu- 
gees. Holland  has,  though  neutral,  a 
most  unenviable  position,  incurring 
nearly  all  the  evil  results  of  war  with- 
out experiencing  at  the  same  time  that 
national  exaltation  which  is  often  a 
complement  of  it.  Officially,  of  course, 
the  Netherlands  are  neutral,  and,  as 
far  as  the  government  is  concerned,  this 
neutrality  has  been  admirably  kept, 
nor  have  the  people  at  large  been  com- 
mitting overt  acts  of  hostility  toward 
any  of  the  powers  involved;  but  it 
would  be  idle  to  assume  that  the  Dutch 
are  wholly  without  sympathies  in  this 
war,  or  tiiat  they  alone  have  attained 
that  state  of  i)hilosophic  calm  which 
swms  an  absolute  requirement  for  a 
complete  neutrality. 

The  tics  of  blood  and  racial  origin 
alone  make  the  position  of  the  Dutch 
peculiarly  difficult.  One  of  the  purest 
Germanic  nations,  although  not  with- 
out a  strong  admixture  of  IJoman  blood, 
speaking  an  almost  entirely  Teutonic 
language,  which  is  perhaps  a  better  de- 
velopment of  the  ancient  German  than 
the  modern  German  with  its  artificial 
constructions  and  ponderous  word-for- 
mations, the  Dutch  have  at  all  times 
been  an  outpost  of  das  Dvutsclitum,  of 
equal  rank  with  the  other  nations  of 
Teutonic  extraction.  Part  and  parcel 
of  Germanic  civilization,  their  relations 
with   Belgium,  and  especially   Brabant 


and  Flanders,  populated  by  the  Flem- 
ish people,  practically  of  the  same  stock 
and  using  the  same  language,  have  been 
particularly  close.  Formerly,  when  the 
seventeen  Netherland  provinces  were 
united  under  the  scepter  of  Charles  V, 
only  to  be  driven  apart  during  the  reign 
of  his  son  Philip  II,  there  existed  the 
most  intimate  relationship  between  Bel- 
gium and  Holland,  two  parts  indeed  of 
one  country.  From  the  southern 
Netherlands  the  northern  provinces  de- 
rived much,  in  fact,  nearly  all  of  that 
which  afterwards  made  the  Dutch  Re- 
public famous  in  art,  industry,  trade 
and  commerce.  When  the  southern 
Netherlands  were  subdued  by  Don 
Juan  of  Spain  and  Alexander  of 
Parma,  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the 
groat  Flemish  cities  were  moved  almost 
bodily  to  Amsterdam  and  the  other 
cities  of  Holland  and  Zealand,  which 
owe  their  growth  and  industry  in  great 
part  to  the  Flemish  artisans,  weavers, 
merchants  and  bankers  who  came  flee- 
ing from  Antwerp  and  Flanders  after 
the  ."Spanish  fury  of  1585  had  done  its 
fearful  work  in  that  city.  Henceforth 
the  connection  between  the  two  Nether- 
lands is  broken,  and  Holland  profits  at 
the  expense  of  Belgium.  The  political 
separation  is  accentuated  by  the  reli- 
gious and  oommorcial  antagonism;  the 
northern  Netherlands  wax  great  and 
mighty,  the  southern  Netherlands  lejul 
a  miserable  existence  under  foreign 
domination. 

This  condition  lasts  for  two  centuries, 
and  is  ended  by  the  effects  of  the  great 
French  revolution.  France  wrests  Bel- 
glum  from  Austria,  while,  soon  after, 
the  Dutch  republic  conies  to  an  inglori- 
ous end  in  1795,  the  Prince  of  Orange 
taking  refuge  In  England,  and  Holland 
as  well  as  Belgium  falling  under  French 
domination.  The  fall  of  Napoleon  sees 
t)oth  countries  once  more  united;  to 
HoIlan<l.  already  independent  In  1813. 
Belgium  is  added  in  1S15.  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  Vienna  Congress.  The 
union,  although  (luile  promising  at  first, 
comes  lo  naught  in  l.s;iO,  when  the  cleri- 

203 


cal  and  liberal  parties  of  Belgium  form 
an  alliance,  set  up  a  revolutionary  gov- 
ernment and  defy  the  northern  iirov- 
inces  and  the  king.  An  attemiit  by  the 
Dutch  government  to  suppress  the  re- 
volt culminated  in  the  famous  "Ten 
days'  Campaign,"  at  the  end  of  which 
all  Belgium  lay  at  the  feet  of  the  vic- 
torious Dutch  army.  At  this  juncture, 
however,  foreign  powers  intervened ; 
both  England  and  France  assumed  a 
threatening  attitude,  and  by  means  of 
a  French  army  compelled  Holland  to 
relimiuish  her  hold  ujion  Belgium.  A 
long  period  of  susi)ensc  followed,  lo  be 
concluded  finally  by  the  neutrality 
treaty  of  1839,  signed  by  Great  Britain, 
France,  Russia,  the  Germanic  Confed- 
eration, and  Belgium  and  Holland  them- 
selves. 

The  first  period  of  Belgian  independ- 
ence was  necessarily  very  French  in 
spirit  and  culture,  thereby  suppressing 
tiie  old  national  character  of  Flanders 
and  Brabant.  A  natural  reaction  fol- 
lowed, in  which  the  ancient  Flemish 
verse  and  prose  regained  their  former 
I)re-eminenee — a  new  period  of  youthful 
vigor  and  noble  expression  in  the  old 
language  of  the  people.  The  connection 
with  Holland,  never  entirely  lost,  be- 
came more  intimate  as  the  literatures 
of  both  countries  became  the  common 
property  of  each.  Many  strands  of  dif- 
ferent iiinds  continued  to  form  an  al- 
most indissoluble  link  between  the  two 
peoples,  not  the  least  of  which  was  the 
General  Dutch  Alliance  {Alffcmcen 
ycdcrlandKch  Verhond).  Little  wonder 
then  that  Dutch  sympathy  for  Belgium 
in  this  war  is  ardent  and  sincere,  and 
that  the  manifestations  of  charity  and 
esteem  have  been  universal  anil  full 
throughout  the  whole  of  Holland.  As 
indicative  of  Dutch  feeling  toward  un- 
happy Belgium  the  following  (juotations 
from  "Neerlandia."  the  ofiicial  organ  of 
the  General  Dutch  Alliance,  which  has 
its  members  in  every  civilized  country 
in  the  world,  will  be  found  illuminat- 
ing. Editorially,  "Neerlandia"  says: 
"Being  published  in  a  neutral  countrj'v 


204 


SOME  NEUTRAL  NATIONS 


'Xeerlandia'  must  also  be  ueutral.  As 
Holland  does  not  share  iu  the  fight- 
ing, the  Dutch  people  must,  both  iu 
speech  and  writing,  withhold  itself  from 
making  attacks.  But  as  far  as  Belgium 
is  concerned — for  the  major  part  inhab- 
ited by  a  people  of  Dutch  race  and 
Dutch  language,  accordingly,  from  the 
view-point  of  our  Alliance  and  'Neer- 
landia,'  inhabited  by  our  race — we 
must,  in  all  calmness  and  sincerity, 
utter  a  word  of  protest  against  this  in- 
vasion. 

"In  fact,  Germany  herself  has,  in  the 
utterances  of  her  chancellor,  admitted 
that  she  was  doing  Belgium  an  injus- 
tice. We  do  not  enter  here  into  an  in- 
quiry as  to  which  power  or  which  group 
of  powers  bears  the  blame  for  the  out- 
break of  this  world-wide  war.  We  also 
do  not  raise  the  question  whether  Ger- 
many has  good  reasons  for  saying  that 
she  fights  for  her  existence  and  not  for 
conquest,  and  that  she  was  compelled 
in  self-defense  to  go  through  Belgium: 
willing  or  unwillingly,  she  committed 
injustice. 

"But  we  have  confidence  in  the  Ger- 
man people.  They  will,  in  case  they 
are  victorious,  make  amends  and  rectify 
what  they  have  done  to  Belgium.  And 
they  will  leave  the  country  its  freedom 
and  independence.  When  the  anger 
and  the  fever  of  war  have  passed  they 
will  have  admiration  and  respect  for 
the  small  nation  which  was  too  proud 
to  allow  invasion  of  its  territory,  and 
which,  in  defense  of  its  honor  and  in- 
dependence, dared  to  fight  with  a  power- 
ful enemy.  And  they  will  understand 
that  the  Dutch  nation,  although  it  re- 
mains firmly  neutral,  sympathizes  with 
the  heroic  Belgian  nation,  in  part  a 
related  nation,  and  gives  expression  to 
its  admiration  and  pity.'" 

In  perfect  agreement  with  the 
thought  and  sentiment  of  this  noble 
protest  has  been  the  hospitality  and 
treatment  accorded  to  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  Belgian  refugees  in  Hol- 
land. The  government  itself  has  done 
everything  possible  for  these  poor  peo- 
ple, "and  besides  the  national  fund  for 
home  charity  another  fund  has  been  de- 
voted exclusively  to  the  Belgians. 
While  greatly  suffering  herself,  Hol- 
land has  nobly  responded  to  this  addi- 
tional burden,  refusing  to  receive  the 
proffered  aid  of  Great  Britain  and 
America  to  help  in  caring  for  the  thou- 
sands of  destitute  Belgians.  A  duty 
voluntarily  undertaken  would  be  ful- 
filled In  tiie  spirit  in  which  It  was  be- 
gun ;  this  and  national  patriotism  urged 
the  government  to  reject  these  other- 
wise welcome  offers  of  aid.  That  the 
Belgians  have  appreciated  this  gener- 
osity and  unlimited  hospitality  on  the 
part  of  Holland,  which  dispelled  for- 
ever the  unjust  suspicions  held  against 
the  Dutch  in  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
may  be  conclusively  seen  from  an  ad- 
dress to  Queen  Wilhelmina,  sent  by  two 
Flemish  representatives  in  the  Belgian 
parliament  and  signed  by  many  promi- 
nent refugees  and  others.  The  text  of 
this  eloquent  address  is  too  long  to 
quote  In  full,  but  a  translation  of  part 
of  it  w'ill  indicate  Its  fervent  feeling 
and  heartfelt  gratitude.  "Not  only," 
says  the  address,  "have  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  Belgians  to  thank  Holland  for 


•Page  199,  Nov.,  1914.  English  trans- 
lation.* 

•See  Index  for  full  reference  to  publica- 
tion and  pp.  quoted. — Editor. 


the  i)reservation  of  their  very  lives,  but 
also  for  their  re-quickened  faith  in  life 
and  humanity.  .  .  .  Through  her 
magnanimous  love  of  humanity  has 
Holland,  iu  these  days,  gained  more 
than  a  battle  of  arms.  She  has  earned 
the  eternal  gratitude  of  a  sister  na- 
tion, compelled  the  admiration  of  all 
combatants  and  brought  upon  herself 
a  blessing  from  on  high."' 

While  bleeding  Belgium  is  thus  a 
recipient  of  Dutch  (and  American) 
bounty,  the  relation  of  Holland  with 
the  other  combatant  nations  are  no 
less  close  and  essential.  Germany,  as 
might  be  expected,  looms  very  large 
in  the  Dutch  consciousness.  From  Ger- 
many their  language  and  customs  are 
derived,  the  royal  house  of  Orange  is 
of  German  descent,  as  are  also  many 
Dutch  citizens  whose  forefathers  fled 
to  the  Netherlands  during  the  religious 
wars  in  Germany,  or  who  themselves 
are  of  more  recent  Immigration ; 
much  of  their  science,  philosophy  and 
arts  is  of  German  Importation,  while 
the  phenomenal  growth  of  their  com- 
merce, industry  and  trade  within  the 
last  forty  years  has  been  in  great  part 
due  to  the  equally  remarkable  develop- 
ment of  Germany  in  the  same  period. 
In  the  great  exodus  of  foreignei-s  out 
of  Germany  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war  the  Dutch  took  little  or  no  part ; 
even  more  than  the  Americans  they 
were  honored  and  trusted  by  the  Ger- 
mans. While  there  was  a  fear  in  Hol- 
land at  first  that  they  would  be  drawn 
into  the  war,  events  have  shown  that 
Holland  has  nothing,  for  the  present 
at  least,  to  fear  from  Germany.  The 
Germans  have  scrupulously  respected 
Dutch  neutrality,  firmly  as  it  has  been 
kept.  After  the  fall  of  Antwerp  there 
was  a  great  temptation  to  Germany 
to  take  possession  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Scheldt,  an  undertaking  which 
would  certainly  have  resulted  in  war 
with  the  Dutch.  But  as  England  had 
refrained  from  sending  her  warships 
up  the  Scheldt,  so  Germany  refrained 
from  doing  anything  which  would  vio- 
late Dutch  neutrality. 

The  Netherlands  have  grievances 
enough,  however,  against  both  England 
and  Germany.  Dutch  trade  is  well- 
nigh  suspended,  thanks  to  the  ubiquit- 
ous use  of  mines  by  these  great 
powers.  As  the  English  admiralty 
board  has  declared,  the  entire  North 
Sea  is  dangerous  to  shipping,  greatly 
to  the  detriment  and  loss  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian countries  and  Holland,  thus 
illustrating  the  direct  loss  and  danger 
to  neutral  lands  In  this  most  sanguinary 
war.  .\t  Rotterdam,  where  sixty  boats 
normally  enter  port  daily,  there  are 
now  only  a  few  steamers  docking,  and 
there  is  thus  an  almost  total  cessation 
of  commerce  and  trade,  making  it  diffi- 
cult even  to  procure  sufficient  food- 
stuffs from  abroad.  Thanks  to  the  en- 
ergetic action  of  the  Dutch  government 
there  is  no  famine  in  the  land,  all 
hoarding  of  grain  being  strictly  forbid- 
den, and  in  many  communities  it  is  be- 
ing sold  under  the  direct  control  of  the 
government.  While  there  is  not.  and 
cannot  be,  a  comparison  with  conditions 
in  Belgium,  there  is  acute  distress  and 
a  serious  condition  of  affairs,  which 
cannot  be  allowed  to  last  indefinitely. 

That  the  Dutch  are  among  the  prin- 
cii)al  sufferers  from  the  war  may  easily 


be  inferred  from  the  fact  of  their  being, 
tor  their  population,  the  greatest  com- 
mercial and  trading  nation  on  earth. 
In  actual  exports  and  imports  the 
Netherlands  are  only  exceeded  by  Great 
Britain,  France,  Germany,  and  the 
United  States.  With  one-seventh  of 
the  population,  Holland  has  a  total  for- 
eign commerce  nearly  equal  to  that  of 
B'rauce,  with  one-tenth  of  Germany's 
millions,  more  than  one-half  her  trade. 
According  to  the  Statistical  Abstract 
of  the  United  States  for  1911,  French 
imports  and  exports  for  the  vear  1910 
amounted  to  $1,384,453,000  and  $1,203,- 
124,000,  respectively ;  those  of  Ger- 
many, $2,126,322,000  and  $1,778.960.000 ; 
the  British  figures  are  $3,300,738,000 
and  $2,094,467,000;  and  the  American, 
$1,527,966,000  and  $2,013,549,000;  while 
the  imports  of  little  Holland  in  1909 
were  $1,249,423,000,  and  her  ex])orts 
$984,397,000,"  amazing  totals  for  such  a 
small  country  of  but  six  million  in- 
habitants. It  is  true,  of  course,  that 
this  marvelous  foreign  trade  is  to  a 
great  extent  a  carrying  trade  and  does 
not  represent  the  country's  industry 
accurately,  but  it  indicates  emphatical- 
ly the  dominant  trading  character  of 
the  Dutch  nation  and  the  absolute 
necessity  of  keeping  open  the  great 
trade-routes  and  neutral  waters.  That 
the  principles  of  international  law  have 
been  violated  by  the  Indiscriminate 
sowing  of  mines  in  the  North  Sea  is 
indisputable,  and  that  Holland,  already 
handicapped  by  the  great  war  at  her 
borders,  has  thus  innocently  been  de- 
prived of  a  great  part  of  her  main 
source  of  making  a  living.  Is  equally 
lieyoud  cavil  or  doubt. 

It  is.  Indeed,  one  of  the  tragic  ironies 
of  this  war  that  the  countries  which 
have  been  among  the  foremost  defend- 
ers of  international  law  and  justice 
have  also  been  cruelly  suffering  be- 
cause of  their  violation.  Belgium, 
whose  very  existence  depends  on  the  In- 
violabilit}'  of  an  international  treaty, 
herself  the  creation  of  the  great  pow- 
ers of  Europe,  has  seen  her  life-blood 
slowly  ebbing  away  in  defense  of  It ; 
Holland,  the  home  of  world-jurisprud- 
ence, whose  gi'eat  son,  Hugo  de  Groot, 
laid  the  foundations  of  international 
law  in  his  famous  book,  De  Jure  Belli 
nc  Paci.s,  the  seat  of  the  Permanent 
Court  of  Arbitration  at  The  Hague, 
where  it  has  its  quarters  in  the  Palace 
of  I'eace — the  most  hopeful  building  of 
modern  times — has  seen  her  trade  and 
industry  paralyzed  in  defiance  of  her 
neutrality ;  both  countries  victims,  al- 
beit not  in  the  same  degree,  of  a  cruel 
war  which  they  were  powerless  to  pre- 
vent. The  Netherlands  certainly  did 
not  deserve  the  fate  meted  out  to  them, 
for  no  country  has  done  more  for  inter- 
national comity  and  justice  than  Hol- 
land. As  Motley  says  on  this  subject ; 
"To  the  Dutch  Republic,  even  more 
than  to  Florence  at  an  earlier  day.  Is 
the  world  indebted  for  practical  In- 
struction iu  that  great  science  of  polit- 
ical equilibrium  which  must  always 
liecome  more  and  more  Important  as 
the  various  states  of  the  civilized 
world  are  pressed  more  closely  to- 
gether, and  as  the  struggle  for  pre- 
eminence becomes  more  feverish  and 
fatal."*     It  Is  on  this  account  that  the 


"Neerlandia,"  Nov.,  1914,  page  208. 


•U.   S.   Statistical  Abstract,   pp.   782-J. 
'  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  Preface, 
p.    iv. 


THE  SPIRIT  OK  SOME  XELTRALS 


205 


UfUti-al  nations  like  Hollaud  ami  the 
United  States  will  have  uiucli  to  say 
as  to  the  final  terms  of  pence.  There 
can  be  no  lasting  peace  which  leaves 
neutrality  undefined  aud  unprotected, 
which  does  not  limit  the  scope  and  area 
of  a  conflict,  or  which  does  uot  pre- 
vent the  visitation  of  war  upon  inno- 
cent  nations. 

It  is  a  matter  of  uncommon  interest 
to  Holland  that  the  positions  of  the 
great  neighl)oring  jiowcrs  with  respect 
to  her  have  apparently  completely 
changed  from  what  they  were  histor- 
ically. Thus  for  centuries  France  was 
the  most  dangerous  enemy  of  the  Neth- 
erlands, and  the  famous  Barriere  in 
the  southern  Netherlands  was  directed 
against  her  possible  sudden  attack,  just 
as  the  Triple  Alliance  between  England, 
Holland  and  the  Emperor  during  the 
eighteenth  century  was  for  the  purjiose 
of  checking  the  ambitious  designs  of 
France.  In  this  war,  however,  Hol- 
laud and  France  have  no  differences, 
the  Dutch  liaving  no  fear  from  the 
French,  while  Germany  and  England, 
formerly  Hollands  protectors  against 
France,  have  become  menacing  to 
Dutch  interests.  England,  to  be  sure, 
has  not  always  been  friendly  to  the 
Dutch,  as  the  three  wars  in  the  period 
between  1650  and  107-1  clearly  indicate, 
l)uf  otherwise  Dutch  and  English  in- 
terests were  by  no  means  mutually 
exclusive,  but  rather  parallel,  if  not 
quite  identical.  The  Dutch  war  for 
indei>endence  from  Spain  was  greatly 
aided  by  I'liiKland's  fight  in  behalf  of  a 
couunon  Protestantism,  which  required 
the  undivided  support  of  both  mari- 
time |)owers  in  order  to  win  against 
a  recrudescent  Catholicism,  as  per- 
sonified in  the  house  of  Hapsburg.  A 
century  later,  when  William  of  Orange 
ha(l  become  king  of  England,  the  alli- 
ance between  England  and  Holland  was 
formed,  which,  together  with  their 
common  alliance  with  the  emperor,  was, 
as  Professor  Blok  terms  It.  "a  political 
and   economical   necessity." 

At  present,  however,  England  has  at 
least  temporarily  endangered  the  ex- 
istence of  Holland,  although  she  claims 
of  course  that  her  measures  are  purely 
defensive,  and  necessary  as  counteract- 
ing the  offensive  naval  tactics  of  Ger- 
many. That  lOngland  should  desire  a 
permanent  foothold  on  the  continent,  for 
example  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scheldt. 
is  strongly  to  be  doubted.  Such  a  |H)si- 
tlon  would  be  preairious  to  holil,  and 
it  would  ensure  the  lasting  enmity  of 
Holland  as  well  as  of  Germany.  It  is 
ttjually  improbatile.  however,  that  Ger- 
many would  care  to  lord  it  over  the 
Dutch,  or  annex  their  country.  Tlio 
Germans  knew  too  well  the  history  and 
character  of  the  Dutch,  and  have  al- 
ways been  too  friendly  to  them  to  doom 
them  to  national  extinction.  It  Is  quite 
possible,  however,  that  Germany  and 
the  Netlierlands  will  be  somewhat  more 
closely  related  after  the  war  than  be- 
fore, and  that  the  Dutch  will  prefer 
the  friendstiip  and  protection  of  power- 
ful Germany  rather  than  her  possible 
distrust,  and  perhaps  conquest  at  her 
hands.  That  the  Dutch  race,  whether 
In  Holland  or  Flanders,  will  draw 
ru'arer  toK(>lher.  is  already  certain.  Of 
one  other  thing  the  world  may  be  Cer- 
tain, that  Holland  wishes  "heroic  Bel- 
gium restored  to  the  fulness  of  her  ma- 
lerlal   life  and  her   iKilltical   Independ- 


ence,"' as  Premier  Viviani  has  stated. 
"I hat  it  may  be  possible  to  reconstruct, 
on  a  basis  of  justice,  a  Europe  finally 
regenerated." 


THE  NEUTRALi  COUNTRIES. 

Scandiuavia. 

In  Germany,  the  underlying  principle 
of  the  meeting  of  the  three  Northern 
Kings  has  met  with  sympathy,  aud 
tile  sentiment  is  general  that  the  con- 
sultation of  the  Scandinavian  coun- 
tries contains  no  menace  for  Germany. 
The  declaration  made  at  Malmo  an- 
nouncing the  readiness  of  the  Scandi- 
navian countries  to  defend  themselves 
seems  to  be  looked  upon  in  Loudon 
as  a  threat  aimed  at  their  pet  practice 
of  sea  piracy.  This  alone  constitutes 
sutficient  indication  of  the  direction 
from  which  a  breach  of  Scandinavian 
neutrality  is  to  be  feared.  This  neu- 
trality is,  however,  permanent  aud  un- 
conditional, since  not  one  of  the  three 
Teutonic  kingdoms  entertains  any  de- 
sire of  entering  actively  into  Euro- 
pean politics  aud  for  this  very  reason 
these  countries  have  a  right  to  de- 
mand that  their  interests  be  not  inter- 
fered with.  The  "Globe"  writes :  Our 
fleet  is  our  chief  weaiwn  against  Ger- 
many. We  must  make  the  most  of 
it.  We  will  attempt  however  to  make 
matters  as  easy  as  iwssible  for  the 
neutral  countries.  The  "Westminster 
Gazette"  writes :  The  Scaiidinaviau 
countries  may  rest  assured  that  we 
will  accept  with  pleasure  all  sugges- 
tions relative  to  a  recognition  of  their 
interests. — "Hamburger  Fremdeublatt," 
Hamburg,  Germany. 

Teutonic  Nations. 

The  Kings  of  Sweden,  Norway  aud 
Denmark  have  held  a  consultation  in 
Malmo  to  discuss  the  difficult  economic 
position  of   Scandinavia. 

It  is  apparent  from  French  papers 
that  Germany's  enemies  have  begun  to 
work  against  Prince  von  Biilow,  even 
before  his  entrance  into  liome,  inasmuch 
as  they  make  the  statement  that  he  is 
bringing  the  Treutino  with  him.  Such 
a  stupid  intrigue  cannot  catch  the 
clever  Italian  politicians.  Germany 
cannot  bestow  that  which  she  does 
Milt  possess  and  must  leave  such 
iiiananivres  to  other  countries.  The 
Italians  must  not  be  surprised  when 
I  he  (ierman  offer,  suggested  liy  the 
I'rcnch,  is  not  forthcoming.  Our  op- 
jMinenls  nuist  employ  some  other  means 
if  Ibcy  wish  to  destroy  the  confidence 
placed  in  I'riuce  von  P.iilow  in  Italy. 

(Jreat  indignation  is  prevalent  in 
itome  over  the  confiscating  of  more 
than  ten  steamers  headed  for  Ilaliau 
harbors,  chiefly  intended  for  Italy  aud 
laden  principally  with  grain.  Differ- 
ent governmental  bodies  and  heads  of 
grain  companies  called  upon  Sonuiuo, 
to  prevent  the  confiscation,  which 
would  be  a  threatening  danger  to  the 
food  supiilies  of  Italy.  The  direction 
of  the  Grain  Exchange  of  Milan  sent 
a  telegraphic  request  to  Sonnlno  de- 
manding the  immediate  release  of  the 
grain  steamers  "Haijall,"  "liasey"  and 
••Tcllas"  held  at  Gibraltar,  Nice  and 
.Malta  by  the  English  and  French  gov- 
ernments. 

In  Washington,  a  more  just  concep- 
tion   of    neutrality     has     finally    been 


reached.  The  idea  has  at  last  become 
general  that  the  delivery  of  such  in- 
dls|.utable  war  material  as  arms,  am- 
munition, etc.,  is  not  suitable,  if  strict 
and  honest  neutrality  is  to  be  ob- 
served. —  "Hamburger  Fremdeublatt  " 
Hamburg,  Germany. 

The  United  States  and  Spain. 

The  feeling  in  the  United  States 
seems  to  be  changing  in  favor  of 
Germany.  Anyway,  the  efforts  of  the 
German  propaganda  to  bring  about 
a  German-American  and  an  Irish- 
American  political  organization  are 
obviously  gaining  ground.  This  or- 
ganization should  force  the  govern- 
ment to  give  up  its  "careful  neutral- 
ity."* 

In  Italy,  too,  the  feeling  is  becom- 
ing more  and  more  favorable  to  Ger- 
many. They  admire  the  German  vic- 
tory at  Soissons,  attributing  it  to  the 
good  leadership  and  maneuvering 
capacity  of  the  Germans.  They  ac- 
knowledge that  Germany  still  has 
strength  enough  to  take  up  the  of- 
fensive, whereas  France  is  compelled 
to  wait  for  assistance  from  abroad 
assistance  that  England  is  unable  to 
render  at  the  present  time.  They 
admire  the  fact  that  Germany  knows 
how  to  be  strong  and  invincible  and 
they  wonder  at  her  strong  will  which 
extends  her  own  sway  and  influence 
in  the  world. 

A  similar  reaction  in  the  public 
feeling  seems  to  be  gaining  ground 
in  Roumania. 

In  Spam  the  great  majority  of  the 
cabinet  moved  a  vote  of  confidence 
in  the  Prime  Minister  Date,  in  re- 
newed support  of  neutrality  on  prin- 
ciple. The  whole  of  the  opposition, 
including  the  Republicans  and  the 
Carlists,  congratulated  the  Prime 
Minister  on  his  declaration.  The 
Cortes  will  probably  be  adjourned  as 
soon  as  the  projects  for  the  army  and 
navy  are  done  with. 

According  to  news  received  from 
Portugal  there  was  a  serious  insur- 
rection in  all  the  barracks  on  De- 
cember SO  and  31,  which  spread  to 
the  streets,  when  additional  troops 
were  to  be  sent  to  the  African  col- 
onies. As  a  matter  of  fact  these 
troops  were  never  intended  for 
Egypt,  as  the  people  feared,  but  were 
to  be  taken  to  the  colonies.  The 
crowds  of  people  prevented  the  em- 
barkation of  the  troops,  while  even 
the  officers  did  not  seem  to  give 
themselves  the  slightest  trouble  to 
overcome  the  soldiers'  aversion  to 
the  war.  In  spite  of  all  efforts  the 
government  was  scarcely  able  to 
muster  any  further  troops,  as  the 
majority  of  the  men  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms  are  leaving  the  country.  In 
Portuguese  waters  the  English  fleet 
has  been  playing  the  despot  for  some 
time  past. 

The  Portuguese  Cabinet  has  now 
decided  to  adjourn  the  question  of 
Portugal's  taking  part  in  the  war, 
without  the  legal  consent  of  the  Sen- 


•This  article  was  written  In  Ham- 
burg- .soon  after  the  Germ.in  victory  at 
Soi.ssons:  the  Information,  similar  to 
that  cont.Tlneil  In  an  article  from 
.Sweden,  also  from  "The  Ilamburxer 
Fremrlenblatt,"  Is  evidently  from 
friendly  sources,  a  practice  to  which 
we  Americans  are  little  accustomed  In 
this   war. — Editor. 


206 


SOME  NEUTRAL  NATIONS 


ate.  On  this  subject  we  hear  from 
Lisbon:  There  has  been  a  notice- 
able reaction  in  the  general  feeling 
towards  Germany.  Many  Germans 
have  availed  themselves  of  the  per- 
mission lately  granted  them  to  leave 
the  country,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
only  about  half  the  German  colony 
is  staying  on.  The  majority  of  the 
Germans  who  have  left  were  com- 
mercial clerks.     The  interruption  of 


the  commercial  intercourse  with 
Germany  is  beginning  to  be  keenly 
felt  here  and  many  articles  which 
used  to  be.  obtained  from  Germany, 
such  as  medicaments,  drugs,  incan- 
descent mantles,  woolen  goods,  mil- 
linery, sugar,  etc.,  have  gone  up  in 
price  enormously.  Sugar  of  anything 
like  an  acceptable  quality  now  costs 
32  centavos  (25  cts.)  per  kilogram 
and  cube  sugar   36   centavos,   and  is 


scarce  at  that.  The  bonded  stores 
are  empty  and  there  is  but  little  im- 
porting going  on.  The  victories  in 
the  East  and  in  the  West  have  not 
been  without  effect  here.  The  mail 
connections  have  been  better  of  late, 
so  that  the  post  of  December  14  ar- 
rived on  the  5th  of  January,  and  the 
"Hamburger  Fremdenblatt"  of  De- 
cember 25  on  January  6. — Hambur- 
ger Fremdenblatt. 


POPULAR  .NEUTRALITY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES 


The  Popular  Neutrality  of  the  United  States  in  the  World  War 


AMERICAN  XEITRALITV  AM> 
REAL  XEITRALITV. 


By    Willjaiii    R.    Shepherd.    Professor 
ol   Histoiy,  Citluiiibia   I'liivcrsity. 

No  phase  of  the  war  is  more 
astounding  than  its  reflection  in  the 
mirror  of  American  public  opinion,  as 
held  up  by  press,  pulpit  and  plat- 
form. Never  have  sympathies  about 
a  struggle,  In  which  the  people  of 
the  United  States  have  no  direct  con- 
cern, been  so  curiously  manipulated 
to  subserve  alien  interests.  To 
judge  from  vociferous  externals  at 
least,  we  seem  to  dwell  in  topsy- 
turvy land. 

Before  the  war  the  country  looked 
to  young  men  tor  guidance.  The 
age  of  forty  was  the  dividing  line,  in 
the  popular  view,  between  the  prom- 
ise of  adolescence  and  the  presump- 
tion of  senility — on  the  sunny  side, 
the  hopefuls  of  a  nation's  pride;  on 
the  shady,  the  "superforties,"  doomed 
to  a  painless  "Oslerization."  Now 
the  positions  have  been  reversed. 
Twice  forty,  or  near  it,  is  the  age 
of  discretion,  and  its  voice  is  law. 
Youth,'  as  in  the  good  old  days,  is 
to  be  seen  and  not  heard. 

Politically  united  and  independent, 
the  American  people  seem  ethnically 
to  have  fallen  apart  and  mentally  to 
have  yielded  up  their  freedom.  A 
year  ago  had  anyone  asked  whether 
we  could  think  and  act  as  Americans 
in  the  face  of  a  foreign  crisis,  no 
matter  how  terrific,  the  questioner 
would  have  been  laughed  at.  Had 
we  not  won  our  detachment  from 
Europe  in  ages  past,  and  had  we 
not  welcomed  to  our  shores  the  chil- 
dren of  all  the  nations,  so  that  a  new 
and  better  nation  might  arise  in  a 
new  world?  For  upward  of  a  cen- 
tury and  a  quarter  we  had  striven 
to  amalgamate  ethnic  elements,  many 
and  divers,  into  a  compact,  homo- 
geneous people.  We  were  proud  in 
our  belief  of  having  accomplished  a 
feat  of  which  Europe  all  along  had 
been  skeptical.  Yet  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye  the  cosmopolitan  covering 
has  been  torn  off,  and  we  appear  to 
stand  revealed  as  a  mere  agglomera- 
tion of  twisting,  writhing  strands 
without  organic   cohesion. 

In  sober  truth  our  non-American 
and  pro-European  sympathy  comes 
but  in  faint  degree,  if  at  all,  from 
conviction  based  on  reasoning.  A 
few    of    our    people,     doubtless,     are 


moved  by  considerations  of  financial 
gain  or  loss.  More  of  them  are  stir- 
red by  the  impulses  of  the  heart, 
skilfully  set  a-going  by  the  press, 
and  hence  ignore  the  ordinary 
processes  of  the  mind  or  force  them 
to     convert     emotions     into     beliefs. 

Were  this  division  of  sentiment 
along  ethnic  lines  likely  to  be  per- 
manent, were  it  really  representative 
of  the  American  people  in  all  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  and  were  not 
the  most  of  us  in  reality  hostile  to 
neither  party  and  friendly  to  both, 
the  future  of  our  republic  might  be 


"GOTT  MIT  UNS.' 


No   doubt  ye   are   the   people:      Wis- 
dom's flame 
Springs    from    your    cannon, — yea 
from  yours  alone. 
God    needs    your    dripping    lance    to 
prop   his   throne. 
Your    gleeful    torch    His    glory    to 
proclaim. 
No  doubt  ye  are  the  people:  far  from 
shame 
Your     captains     who     deface     the 
sculptured   stone 
Which    by    the   labor    and    the    blood 
and   bone 
Of    pious   millions    calls    upon    His 
name. 

No   doubt   ye  are   the   folk;    and    'tis 
to  prove 
Your  wardenship  of  Virtue  and  of 
Lore 
Ye    sacrifice    the    Truth    in    reeking 
gore 
Upon  your  altar  to   the   Prince   of 
Love. 
Yet  still  cry  we  who  still  in  darkness 
plod: 
"  'Tis  Antichrist  ye  serve,  and  not 
our   God!" 

C.    H.    JACOBS. 


The  .Advocate  War  I'oem  Prize. 

Dean  Briggs  and  Professor  Bliss 
Perry,  the  Judges  of  the  Advocate 
War  Poem  Prize  Competition  have 
awarded  the  prize  to  C.  Huntington 
Jacobs,  '16.  The  prize  poem  "Gott 
Mit  Uns"  appears  in  this  number  of 
the  Advocate. — The  Harvard  Advo- 
cate, April  9,   1915. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  this  is 
the  famous  prize  poem  that  caused 
Dr.  Kuno  Meyer,  the  great  Irish 
philologist,  to  send  his  resignation 
to  Harvard   University. — Editor. 


dark  with  foreboding.  But  those 
who  reflect,  that  practically  every 
word  or  deed  of  ill  feeling  put  forth 
by  the  American  advocates  of  one 
European  cause  or  the  other  is  simp- 
ly a  reproduction  on  a  small  scale 
of  the  excitement  and  passion  kindled 
by  our  own  Civil  War,  cannot  fail  to 
gather  hope  for  the  outcome.  After 
all,  whatever  the  meanness  of  the 
sneers,  whatever  the  harshness  of  the 
invectives  and  whatever  the  occa- 
sional alienation  of  friendships,  they 
are  altogether  feeble  in  comparison 
■  with  the  intense  hatred  and  hostility 
of  fifty  yeara  ago,  which  rent  the 
land  asunder.  The  enmity  of  those 
days  is  gone  and  the  country  is  re- 
united. Remembrance  alone  is  left, 
but  it  is  the  remembrance  of  admira- 
tion for  the  Blue  and  the  Gray  alike; 
not  of  their  strife,  but  of  their 
heroism,  for  they  were  Americans 
all! 

If,  then,  we  are  obliged  for  the 
moment  to  cherish  private  sympa- 
thies because  they  are  apparently  in- 
herent and  inevitable,  if  racial  bonds 
reaching  across  the  seas  cannot  yet 
be  severed,  we  can  do  something  at 
least  to  lessen  the  possible  dangers 
lurking  in  them  to  the  welfare  of 
our  republic.  Let  us  divide  in  our 
sympathies  for  the  Old  World  if  we 
must,  but  let  us  not  share  in  its  ani- 
mosities. Let  us  be  Americans  first 
and  foreigners  last,  netural  without, 
however  partisan  within. 


TWO  LETTERS. 

New  Yorker  Stnats-Zeitun^, 
New  York. 

Church  of  the  Good  Shepherd, 

Norwood,    Ohio. 

Francis   H.   Richey,  Rector. 

Mr.   Herman  Ridder, 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

If  Germany  is  such  a  place  as  you 
picture  in  the  seemingly  mending 
articles  appearing  in  the  public  press, 
Why  do  you  not  go  there?  Leave 
other  people  alone.  You  are  at  lib- 
erty to  go  and  live  in  Germany  and 
worship  at  the  feet  of  the  superman. 

Allow  me  to  suggest  you  secure 
transportation  and  go  and  live  in 
Germany  and  relieve  the  American 
reading  public  of  your  pro-German 
views. 

Who  cares  what  you   think? 
Yours  sincerely, 

F.   H.   Richey. 


208 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AXD  THE  WAR 


New  York  City,  November   7,    1914. 
Reverend  F.  H.  Richey, 

Church  ot  the  Good  Shepherd, 
Norwood,   Ohio. 

Dear  Sir: 

I  have  your  letter  of  the  3rd  in- 
stant, and  am  taking  the  liberty  of 
sending  you  a  few  words  in  reply. 

The  last  three  months  have 
brought  me  several  communications 
of  the  same  nature.  They  have  been 
so  overwhelmingly  outnumbered, 
however,  by  the  expressions  which  1 
have  received  of  sympathy  for  Ger- 
many and  the  German  cause  in  this 
regrettable  war  and  from  persons  of 
such  obvious  illiteracy  and  misin- 
formation as  to  require  no  answer. 
Your  own  communication,  under 
acknowledgment,  coming  as  it  does 
from  a  man  of  presumed  intelligence,  ' 
in  a  position  to  do  a  great  deal  of 
good  and  at  the  same  time,  judging 
from  the  intemperance  of  your 
language,  a  certain  amount  of  evil, 
falls  within  another  category.  This 
fact  alone  impels  me  to  acknowledge 

:t. 

1  am  not  going  to  discuss  Germany 
with  you.  If  you  will  forget  the 
war  for  a  moment,  and  will  take 
that  small  space  of  time  to  reflect 
upon  the  history  of  the  German 
people  during  the  last  forty  years, 
you  will  see  why  no  discussion  of 
the  subject  is  necessary.  1  will  say 
this  only:  if  I  were  to  choose  any 
country  but  my  own  in  which  to 
dwell,  I  should  choose  Germany.  1 
say  this  not  because  German  blood 
is  in  my  veins.  I  have  lived  for 
well  nigh  two  generations  at  a  dis- 
tance from  Europe  which  has 
allowed  of  an  impartial  and  unbiased 
contemplation  of  the  developments 
which  have  taken  place  therein.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  1  am  still  con- 
vinced of  the  superiority  of  German 
intellectual,  moral  and  social  life 
over  that  of  any  country  but  my 
own.  The  reason  why  I  do  not  "go 
and  live  in  Germany"  is  that  I  was 
born  in  the  United  States,  have  lived 
my  life  there,  and  hope,  when  the 
time  comes,  to  find  my  final  resting 
place  there. 

The  tenor  of  your  letter  generally 
is  of  more  significance  than  the  in- 
dividual points  which  you  raise.  It 
challenges  my  right  to  address  the 
American  people  on  questions  with 
which  their  interests  are  intimately 
involved.  I  shall  not  defend  my 
right  to  this,  which  every  intelligent 
and  fairminded  man  admits.  I  will 
only  give  you  my  reason  for  doing 
so. 

If  you  will  recall  certain  utter- 
ances of  President  Wilson  immedi- 
ately after  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
you  will  remember  that  they  enunci- 
ated a  "higher  neutrality"  in  the 
discussion  of  the  issues  involved.  A 
beautiful  idealism  inspired  the  Pres- 
ident's words,  but  it  was  an  idealism 
doomed  to  early  dissipation.  The 
President's  injunction  could  have 
been  obeyed,  but  it  was  not.  The 
words  had  scarcely  left  his  lips,  be- 
fore the  British  press  and  a  con- 
siderable element  of  our  own  opened 
a  campaign  of  vilification  against 
Germany  and  the  German  people 
which  has  no  parallel  in  the  history 
of  our  own  or  any  other  country. 
All     the     praise     which     had     been 


heaped  upon  an  industrious  and 
peave-loving  people  over  a  quarter 
of  a  century  w'as  hurriedly  closeted, 
and  paper  vied  with  paper  in  con- 
demning what  a  year  ago  they  had 
lauded.  I  ask  you,  frankly:  was 
that  neutrality?  was  it  fair  play? 
was  it  American?  Is  it  the  duty  of 
a  power  standing  apart  and  sup- 
posedly an  unbiased  spectator  of  a 
war  such  as  this,  to  allow  the  whole 
burden  of  its  press  to  be  thrown  by 
one  contestant  against  another? 
The  essence  of  neutrality  is  bal- 
ance; and  the  only  way  in  which 
such  balance  could  be  maintained 
was  to  offset  like  with  like.  I  saw 
this,  as  did  a  great  many  other 
Americans,  and  it  was  only  then 
that  I  sought  to  do  what  little  I 
could  to  counteract  the  baneful  in- 
fluence which  so  apparently  was 
being  exercised  by  England  upon 
this  country.  You  need  but  read  the 
articles  with  which  our  papers  have 
teemed  from  English  pens,  to  realize 
the  danger  with  which  we  have  been 
threatened. 

I  do  not  know  who  cares  what  I 
think.  I  know  only  that  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  Americans  think  with 
me.  If  you  are  one  of  those  who 
would  willingly  surrender  our  na- 
tional mind,  preparatory  to  the 
rendition  of  our  sovereignty,  to  the 
British  crown,  you  have  the  9«me 
right  to  maintain  your  views  that 
I  have  to  express  mine.  It  would 
seem,  however,  to  comport  but  ill 
with  that  true  Americanism  which 
we  should  be  able  to  expect  from 
those  of  your  holy  calling  especially, 
to  challenge  any  American  for  the 
expression  of  opinions  designed  only 
for  the  good  of  the  American  people. 
I  ask  for  Germany  only  fair  play, 
and  that,  primarily,  not  for  Germany, 
but  for  our  own  country.  To  render 
her  less  is  to  violate  our  own  sacred 
standards. 

I  am  taking  the  further  liberty  of 
publishing  your  letter  and  my  reply 
thereto  in  The  Staats-Zeitung  of  the 
8th  instant.  You  are  privileged  to 
give  what  publicity  you  like  to  them. 
Very  truly   yours. 

Herman   Ridder. 


COLOXEL  WATTERSOX  OX 
THE  WAR. 


Editorial,  The  Fatherland,  Xew  York. 

Col.  Henry  Watterson,  the  editor  of 
the  Louisville  "Courier-Journal," 
speaks  of  despot-ridden  Germany  and 
says  the  Kaiser's  government  "is 
to  our  seeing  the  sum  of  all  iniquity. 
Who  believes  in  it  caiinot  believe 
in  the  United   States." 

"Marse  Henry"  thus  arrays  him- 
self on  the  side  of  those  who  would 
like  to  introduce  gag  measures  to 
stop  German  sympathizers  in  this 
war  from  expressing  their  opinions, 
while  reserving  for  themselves  the 
right  to  monopolize  the  American 
press  and  the  British  cable  to  work 
up  sentiment  in  favor  ot  their  side. 

We  can  easily  understand  that  men 
with  this  un-American  mental  bias 
are  praying  for  the  triumph  of  Rus- 
sia and  Japan.  Watterson,  in  other 
words  says,  any  one  who  doesn't  co- 
incide with  his  point  of  view  can- 
not believe  in  the  United  States. 


Since  when  has  Col.  Watterson 
begun  to  believe  in  the  United  States? 
Not  in  1861-65.  Not  for  many,  many 
years  afterward.  How  did  he  obtain 
his  title  of  "Colonel"  unless  it  was 
in  fighting  against  the  United  States? 
To  him  nothing  was  so  odious  as  a 
Northern  man — not  even  a  European 
despot;  and  just  as  he  fulminated 
against  the  Union  then,  he  is  now 
hurling  his  thunders  at  the  Ger- 
man government. 

We  resent  Col.  Watterson's  insult  to 
German  sympathizers,  and  knowing, 
that  good  Americans,  as  good  as  he  is 
and  perhaps  better,  are  actively  sym- 
pathizing with  Germany,  we  w'ill  tell 
him  why  German  sympathizers  cannot 
be  outdone  by  the  reconstructed  Col. 
Watterson  in  "believing  in  the  United 
States."* 

They  believe  that  nothing  but  the 
overshadowing  authority  of  the  Ger- 
man Emperor  preserved  peace  of  Eu- 
rope for  twenty-three  years;  that  un- 
der his  rule  and  influence  the  cause 
of  civilization  was  farther  advanced 
than  has  been  the  case  in  England, 
France,  Russia  or  Japan;  that  the 
question  of  poverty  was  almost  solved 
in  Germany;  that  the  per  capita 
wealth  shifted  from  France  to  Ger- 
many; that  personal  liberty  and  the 
just  administration  of  the  laws  have 
had  a  higher  vindication  in  Germany 
than  anywhere  else;  that  municipal 
government  reached  its_highest  de- 
velopment and  that  more  small  land- 
holders exist  within  the  same  area 
than  in  England.  The  Kaiser's  prin- 
cipal opponents,  as  vindictive  as  the 
Colonel  himself,  the  Socialists,  ral- 
lied to  his  standard  in  defense  of 
the  intellectual  and  national  treas- 
ures which  the  Kaiser  had  fostered 
and  protected  for  the  German  nation. 
Two  of  the  most  distinguished  mem- 
bers of  the  British  Cabinet,  Mr. 
Burns  and  Lord  Morley,  resigned 
from  the  ministry  rather  than  ap- 
prove the  war.  Great  Americans  like 
Dean  Burgess  of  Columbia  University, 
and  many  other  scholars  of  inter- 
national fame,  are  protesting  against 
England's  part  in  the  war  and  es- 
pousing the  cause  of  Germany. 

Does  Marse  Henry  mean  to  say 
that  Prof.  John  W.  Burgess,  Prof. 
Herbert  Sanborn  of  Vanderbilt  Uni- 
versity; Mrs.  Barclay  Hazard,  ot  the 
Florence  Crittenden  Mission,  and 
countless  other  intellectual  leaders 
and  philanthropists  not  of  German 
ancestry  "cannot  believe  in  the 
United  States"  because  they  don't 
agree  with  his  point  of  view?  They 
didn't  agree  with  his  point  of  view 
on  the  Civil  War,  in  which  187,000 
Germans  enlisted  while  the  Colonel's 
English  friends  were  destroying  the 
commerce  of  the  United  States  and 
buying  Confederate  bonds  to  further 
the  destruction  of  the  country  In 
which  he  now  tells  us  no  one  can 
believe  who  believes  in  the  justice 
of  the  Kaiser's  cause. 


*  Note — The  phrase,  in  italics,  "as 
good  as  he  is,  and  perhaps  better," 
is  my  own,  to  make  the  idea  clear. 
— Editor. 


There  Is  no  place  like  home,  if  one 
lives  in  the  United  States. — From 
"The  Daily  News,"  August  2S,  1914. 


POPULAR  NEUTRALITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


LIE  OR  DIE. 


Ti'aii!slntioii  ol  Editorial. 
Illinois  Staats-Zeitung,   Chicago. 

The  senile  Dr.  Eliot,  formerly  presi- 
dent of  the  Harvard  University,  has 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  everybody  is 
talking,  found  it  impossible  to  remain 
silent.  The  senile  scientist  unbur- 
dened his  mind  in  an  article  in  the 
"New  York  Times"  in  favor  of  Eng- 
land— as  a  matter  of  course. 

Dr.  Eliot  needs  show  no  consider- 
ation when  expressing  his  sympathy 
for  England.  He  has  the  undisputed 
right  to  make  sure  that  his  expres- 
sions of  sympathy  are  delivered  to  the 
right  address,  and  we  think  we  have 
the  same  right.  And  though  we  re- 
gret that  this  light  of  America's  in- 
tellect is — according  to  our  view  of 
the  matter — wasting  his  sympathy  on 
those  unworthy  of  it,  we  can  hardly 
reproach  him  for  doing  so.  It  is  an- 
other thing,  however,  when  the  for- 
mer university  president  does  not 
content  himself  with  an  expression 
of  his  views,  but  insists  on  rendering 
a  verdict,  which  he  claims  admits  of 
no  recall.  In  this  instance  a  critical 
inquiry  is  not  only  timely,  but  abso- 
lutely necessary. 

When  Dr.  Eliot  boldly  declares 
that  a  perusal  of  German  publica- 
tions has  convinced  him  that  German 
editors  and  professors  were  ignorant 
of  the  true  causes  that  led  to  this 
war,  he  shows  an  insolence  that 
should  not  only  be  branded  as  such 
but  also  ridiculed. 

It  is  making  a  show  of  his  bound- 
less conceit,  when  Dr.  Eliot  attempts 
to  prove  that  he,  sitting  in  his  study 
on  this  side,  had  a  better  opportunity 
to  fathom  the  real  causes  of  the  war, 
than,  for  instance,  Herbert  Kraus 
of  the  l^niversity  of  Leipzig,  who  Is 
known  the  world  over  as  an  author- 
ity on  matters  relating  to  interna- 
tional law.  And  it  is  an  unheard  of 
insult  to  such  men  as  Haeckel, 
Eucken  and  others  to  claim  that  they 
were  not  acquainted  with  the  sub- 
ject they  were  writing  on. 

Professor  Eliot  undoubtedly  had  a 
more  reliable  and  truthful  source  of 
information  than  these  gentlemen. 
Dr.  Eliot  gets  his  information  from 
English  sources  and  from  American 
papers,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  his 
statements  are  more  reliable  than 
those  of  German  scientists. 

Anything  bearing  an  English 
stamp  is  accepted  as  true  in  America, 
by  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry,  even 
though  mendacity  is  written  on  its 
face  and  its  odor  penetrates  the 
clouds.  And  even  Professor  Eliot 
wishes  to  be  no  exception,  for  it 
would  he  an  easy  matter  for  him  to 
learn  how  to  make  history  in  Eng- 
land. 

The  American  journalist,  James 
O'Donnell  Bennett,  has  informed 
"The  rhioago  Tribune" — his  paper — 
that  in  England  it  is  either  lie  or  die. 
He  published  a  letter  received  from 
his  wife,  who  is  in  London  at  the 
present  time,  in  which  she  states  that 
she  has  had  trouble,  because  he  took 
the  privilege  of  sending  reports  con- 
taining the  truth  to  America.  One 
of  his  colleagues  has  already  been 
imprisoned  and  his  papers  confis- 
cated. 


Perhaps  Dr.  Eliot  is  planning  a 
trip  to  England  and  as  a  precaution- 
ary measure  has  advertised  his  pass- 
port in  the  columns  of  the  "New 
York  Times"  to  enable  him  to  wan- 
der about  undisturbed  in  the  free 
British  kingdom. 

In  this  case  the  stand  taken  by 
the  American  scientist  is  easy  to  un- 
derstand, but  can  hardly  be  excused. 
Dr.  Eliot  should  follow  the  example 
of  his  colleague  Burgess.  Professor 
Burgess,  also  an  American,  prefers 
to  scan  the  pages  of  the  world's  his- 
tory with  the  aid  of  the  lenses  of 
truth. 


industrial  and  commercial  import- 
ance, and  for  this  reason  are  ready 
and  anxious  to  destroy  her  as  a  peo- 
ple. 

"We  hereby  request  the  Associated 
Press  to  forward  a  copy  of  this  paper 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Secretary  of  State." 


re.solitiox   adopted   by   300 

p.\ssi:\(.i:ks  ox  ijo.ard  the 

hull.a.m)  line  .ste.imer 

"rotterdam." 

NEW  YORK,  Sept.  7. — Passengers 
on  the  Holland-America  liner  Rotter- 
dam, which  arrived  from  Rotterdam 
today,  signed  a  statement  declaring 
false  the  reports  that  Americans  had 
been  ill-treated  in  Germany.  The 
statement  closed  with  the  request 
that  a  copy  be  forw'arded  to  President 
Wilson  and  Secretary  Bryan  and  was 
signed  by  Rev.  J.  F.  Ohl  of  Phila- 
delphia; Rev.  August  Rohrig,  Hazel- 
ton,  Pa.;  Dr.  J.  J.  Buel,  Cleveland, 
Ohio;  Dr.  A.  W.  Stilliams,  Chicago, 
111.;  Max  Wester,  New  York;  Rev. 
Henry  Tappert,  Covington,  Ky. ;  Rev. 
Dr.  T.  Soentgrath,  Columbus,  Ohio; 
Rev.  M.  Rieger,  Duluth,  Minn.;  Rev. 
J.  A.  Rossenbach,  Darien,  Conn.,  and 
several  hundred  others.  The  state- 
ment follows: 

"The  undersigned  American  cit- 
izens, passengers  on  the  steamship 
Rotterdam,  all  of  whom  were  in  Ger- 
many during  the  present  hostilities, 
ask  the  Associated  Press,  through  its 
various  channels,  to  give  publicity  to 
the  following  statements: 

"That  the  reports  regarding  ill- 
treatment  of  Americans  by  Germans, 
emanating  from  English  and  French 
sources,   are   absolutely   false. 

"Travel  through  Germany,  as  far 
as  the  extraordinary  circumstances 
permitted,  was  altogether  safe,  as  of- 
ficials and  all  classes  of  the  people 
were,  without  exception,  very  friend- 
ly and  helpful. 

"No  well-authenticated  atrocities 
were  perpetrated  by  German  troops. 

"All  of  the  German  official  bulletins 
regarding  the  progress  of  the  war 
were  in  every  case  subsequently  con- 
firmed, and  thus  the  reports  coming 
from  English,  French  and  Belgian 
sources  disproved. 

"In  our  judgment  the  distorted  re- 
ports which  have  reachel  .America 
were  sent  out  with  the  deliberate  pur- 
pose of  deceiving  Americans  and  thus 
creating  a  sentiment  in  favor  of  the 
powers  now  arrayed  against  Ger- 
many. 

"We  ask  all  Americans  to  suspend 
judgment  until  they  have  had  oppor- 
tunity to  make  an  impartial  investi- 
gation of  the  causes  which  have  led  to 
the  present  conflict,  and  especially  to 
study  the  diplomatic  correspondence. 
It  is  our  conviction  that  Germany 
has  not  been  the  aggressor,  but  that 
the  war  has  been  forced  upon  her 
by  the  envy  and  greed  of  those  na- 
tions that  are  jealous  of  her  growing 


CHARGE.S     OF     GERMAN     CRUEL- 
TIES   DENIED    BY    V.    S. 
CORRESPONDENTS. 

The  Associated  Press  has  received 
by  wireless  from  Berlin  a  message 
which  follows.  It  was  sent  from  Aix- 
la-Chapelle  to  Berlin  for  transmis- 
sion. The  authors,  all  of  whom 
were  originally  assigned  to  Brussels, 
and  when  that  city  was  taken  they 
were  returned  to  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
from  which  city  they  have  been  en- 
deavoring to  reach  London,  but  with- 
out success.  The  telegram  was  partly 
mutilated  by  interference  and  certain 
words  are  missing,  but  the  text  here 
given  is  clearly  that  intended  by  the 
authors: 

In  spirit  we  unite  in  rendering  (sic) 
German  atrocities  groundless,  as  far 
as  we  are  able  to.  After  spending 
two  weeks  with  and  accompanying 
the  troops  upward  of  100  miles"  we 
are  unable  to  report  a  single  instance 
unprovoked.  We  are  also  unable  to 
confirm  rumors  of  mistreatment  of 
prisoners  or  of  non-combatants  with 
the  German  columns.  This  is  true  of 
Louvain,  Brussels,  Luneville  and 
Nantes  while  in  Prussian  hands. 

We  visited  Chateau  Soldre,  Sambre 
and  Beaumont  without  substantiating 
a  single  wanton  brutality.  Numerous 
investigated  rumors  proved  ground- 
less. Everyw-here  we  have  seen  Ger- 
mans paying  for  purchases  and  re- 
specting property  rights,  as  well  as 
according  civilians  every  considera- 
tion. 

After  the  battle  of  Biass  (probably 
Barse,  a  suburb  of  Namur).  we  found 
.Belgian  women  and  children  moving 
comfortably  about.  The  day  after 
the  Germans  had  captured  the  town 
in  Merbes  Chateau,  we  found  one 
citizen  killed,  but  were  unable  to  con- 
firm lack  of  provocation. 

Refugees  with  stories  of  atrocities 
were  unable  to  supply  direct  evi- 
dence. Belgians  in  the  Sambre  Val- 
ley discounted  reports  of  cruelty  in 
the  surrounding  countries.  The 
discipline  of  the  German  soldiers  is 
excellent,  as  we  observed. 

To  the  truth  of  the  statements  we 
pledge  our  professional  and  personal 
word. 

ROGER  LEWIS, 

The  Associated  Press. 
IRVIN  S.  COBB, 

Saturday    Evening    Post    and 
Philadelphia  Public  Ledger. 
HARRY  HANSEN, 

Chicago  Daily  News. 
JAMES  O'DONNELL  BENNETT 

and 
JOHN  T.  M'CUTCHEON, 
Chicago  Tribune. 


Wiir  fever  apparently  Is  the  most 
contagious  disease  on  earth. — From 
"The  Daily  News,"  August  28.  1914. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  A\D  THE  WAR 


SPEECHES     MADE      AT     A      MASS 

MEETING     OP     GERMANS     IN 

PANEOL  HALL,  BOSTON. 


From   the   "Boston   Globe,"  Monday, 
August  31,  1914. 


By  Robert  Sturm. 

It  is  with  deepest  regret  tliat  we 
feel  ourselves  obliged  to  meet  here 
today  for  mutual  consolation  on  ac- 
count of  the  unjust  attitude  which 
our  press  has  taken  against  every- 
thing German,  but  which,  however, 
has  now  been  somewhat  modified 
through  President  Wilson's  appeal  for 
neutrality. 

A  few  very  intelligent  writers  are 
possessed  of  a  neutral  view,  but  these 
are  exceptions  to  the  rule.  Our  posi- 
tion as  German-Americans  is  to  be 
doubly  deplored  because  it  compels 
us  to  resort  to  the  unpleasant  task  of 
reminding  the  press  what  the  Ger- 
mans have  done  for  America — and,  in 
fact,  for  the  whole  world. 

We  have  been  told  that  the  papers 
are  obliged  to  print  the  news  as  it 
comes,  but  it  is  not  the  news  we  find 
fault  with;  it  is  the  placing  of  the 
headlines  on  the  news  which  exhibits 
the  animosity  and  lack  of  neutrality 
CD  the  part  of  our  papers. 

Some  of  the  manufactured  news  we 
get  from  the  other  side  is  an  insult 
to  American  intelligence. 

Just  recall  the  difference  of  the 
published  reports  when  war  was  de- 
clared— of  the  meeting  of  the  House 
of  Parliament  in  London  and  the 
meeting  of  the  Reichstag  in  Berlin. 
What  England  does  and  invents 
seems  to  our  press  the  most  import- 
ant news  of  the  world;  what  Germany 
does,  our  press  is  content  with  sim- 
ply publishing  the  manufactured 
atrocities  of  the  "barbarians." 

When  the  German  cable  was  cut  at 
the  Azores,  it  was  surmised  that  the 
English  had  cut  it,  and  it  caused  great 
joy  in  the  editorial  rooms  of  the 
papers;  it  was  considered  an  awfully 
clever  trick  of  the  English,  just  like 
them  to  isolate  Germany  completely 
from  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Germany's  doom  was  now  a  fore- 
gone conclusion  and  the  papers  pre- 
dicted this  doom  with  great  elation 
and  satisfaction,  and  we  German- 
Americans  threw  the  paper  aside, 
thinking  the  end  of  the  world  had 
come,  and  we  felt  like  imitating  the 
ostrich  until  the  catastrophe  was 
over. 

Two  weeks  afterward  the  rumor 
penetrated  our  editorial  rooms  that 
Germany  herself  had  cut  the  cable 
to  isolate  herself  against  reports 
leaking  out  about  the  movements  of 
her  armies.  This  rumor  caused  con- 
sternation among  our  editorial  staffs. 
When  the  English  cut  it  it  caused  joy 
and  when  the  Germans  cut  it,  it 
aroused  the  hateful  spirit. 

We  are  told  that  this  animosity  is 
not  directed  against  the  German  peo- 
ple, but  against  the  "Kaiser"  and  the 
army.  It  is  strange  that  other  coun- 
tries has  kaisers  and  armies  and  not 
a  word  is  said  about  them,  and  we 
ourselves  here  are  endeavoring  to  en- 
large our  army  and  keep  a  big  navy, 
and  we  think  we  are  justified  in  do- 
ing so.  Why  not  give  Germany  the 
same  privilege? 


We  are  told  that  the  German  peo- 
ple are  the  most  intelligent  in  the 
world;  that  they  represent  the  school 
of  education  for  the  world;  that  they 
are  on  the  top  notch  of  the  sciences, 
music,  literature  and  everything 
which  represents  human  culture — 
but  the  Kaiser  and  the  army  ought  to 
be  ousted. 

The  gist  of  these  supposedly  flat- 
tering remarks  is  that  Germany 
should  drop  the  Kaiser  and  the  army 
to  give  the  other  powers  an  easier 
chance  to  disintegrate  her  into  the 
former  number  of  States,  which  then 
could  be  easily  debarred  from  com- 
mercial competition. 

As  Americans,  we  boast  our  ad- 
miration for  a  good  fighter  for  com- 
mercial competition,  and  because 
Germany  has  proven  to  be  a  good 
fighter  for  commercial  competition, 
and  because  Germany  has  proven  to 
be  a  good  fighter,  we  rejoice  at  see- 
ing her  knocked  out.  This  is  strange 
fair  play.  We  forget  that  against  our 
own  disintegration  we  fought  for 
four  and  one-half  years  with  the  then 
welcome  assistance  of  the  "barbari- 
ans" for  the  preservation  of  our 
Union,  because  we  thought  a  whole 
was  stronger  than  two  halves.  Ger- 
many needs  her  army  to  keep  her 
union  whole. 

Germany's  phenomenal  rise  in  com- 
mercial competition  frightened  the 
other  world  powers  of  Europe  and 
they  concocted  the  scheme  to  fight 
Germany's  growth  with  printer's  ink 
by  incessant  and  systematic  slander 
all  over  the  world. 

At  the  same  time  these  very  powers 
have  prepared  to  force  Germany  into 
a  fight  so  as  to  crush  her  by  combi- 
nation, because  singly  no  one  dared 
to  do  it.  They  did  not  even  trust 
their  European  combination,  so  they 
whispered  into  the  Jap's  ear:  "It 
was  the  Kaiser  who  swung  the  flag  of 
the  yellow  peril." 

We  are  now  confronted  with  the 
inglorious  spectacle  of  four  world 
powers  courageously  bombarding  a 
little  German  town  in  China,  and,  as 
is  customary  in  war,  they  are  now 
fervently  praying  for  the  success  of 
their  united  arms. 

The  German  bears  no  inborn 
hatred  or  ill-will  against  any  other 
nationality  or  people.  On  the  con- 
trary his  admiration  for  everything 
foreign  is  a  fault. 

We  ask  no  one's  sympathy.  We 
have  met  here  today  to  express  our 
regret  for  the  slandering  statements 
and  the  exhibitions  of  undeserved 
hatefulness  in  a  neutral  country. 

When  we  consider  what  Germans 
have  done  for  America,  we  feel  that 
we  have  a  right  to  come  to  this  hal- 
lowed hall,  to  this  Cradle  of  Liberty, 
to  ask  for  fairness  and  for  justice. 


By  Prof.  J.  A.  Walz,  of  Harvard 
Univer.sity   (in  part)  : 

This  hall  has  always  been  the 
refuge  of  the  maligned;  of  those  who 
have  been  unjustly  treated,  and  it 
is  here  that  we  plead  for  justice  and 
fairness  to  the  German  cause. 

Fortunately,  our  country  is  neu- 
tral. Our  noble  and  peace-loving 
President  has  made  it  clear  that  the 
United  States  Government  will  ob- 
serve    neutrality    in     letter     and     in 


spirit;  he  has  called  upon  all  loyal 
Americans  to  be  neutral.  We  are 
loyal  Americans  and  we  are  proud  of 
it.  In  calling  this  meeting,  we  have 
not  disregarded  the  President's  re- 
quest, nor  have  we  come  here  to  stir 
up  animosities  among  our  fellow 
citizens. 

All  we  ask  is  suspension  of  judg- 
ment, willingness  to  listen  to  the 
other  side,  fair  play  for  Germany. 
We  know  that  the  American  people 
love  fair  play,  but  we  also  know  that 
the  average  American  knows  little 
about  European  politics  and  cares 
less  about  them. 

We  believe  that  the  German  people 
and  the  German  Government  have 
not  been  fairly  treated  by  a  large 
part  of  the  American  press.  We 
should  fail  in  our  duty  as  American 
citizens  it  we  did  not  stand  up  for 
what  we  believe  to  be  the  truth. 

The  greatest  war  of  history  has  be- 
gun and  the  first  question  is:  Who 
is  responsible  tor  the  catastrophe? 
It  will  be  the  task  of  future  histori- 
ans to  unravel  all  the  entangled 
threads  that  led  up  to  this  conflict, 
but  at  the  present  time  England  and 
France  point  at  the  German  Emperor 
as  the  aggressor,  the  disturber  of 
peace,  and  many  of  our  American 
papers  repeat  the  cruel  charge. 

A  man  must  be  judged  by  his 
deeds.  Even  those  who  have  not 
been  admirers  of  the  German  Em- 
peror must  admit  that  his  acts  have 
always  been  in  the  interest  of  peace. 
In  the  Boer  War  he  kept  strictly 
neutral,  though  the  German  people, 
yes.  the  whole  non-British  world, 
were  loud  in  their  condemnation  of 
British  aggression. 

It  was  the  German  Emperor  who 
prevented  the  joint  action  of  Russia 
and  France  against  England  in  favor 
of  the  Boers  by  refusing  to  take  part. 
When  Russia's  army  was  fighting 
Japan  ten  years  ago,  the  German 
Government  assured  Russia  that 
Germany  would  make  no  hostile 
move,  though  the  Russian  frontier 
was  bared  of  troops  and  defeat  had 
demoralized  the  Russian  army. 

In  the  Morocco  affair,  when  France 
fully  recognized  Germany's  claims  by 
offering  her  a  part  of  Morocco,  Eng- 
land stepped  in  and  the  German  Em- 
peror, rather  than  plunge  Europe 
into  a  war,  waived  the  German  claims 
to  Morocco  and  accepted  a  small 
compensation   in  Central  Africa. 

It  has  been  urged  by  well-meaning 
friends  of  peace  that  the  German 
Emperor  should  have  waited  until 
Russia  actually  invaded  German  ter- 
ritory to  avoid  the  odium  of  a  de- 
claration of  war. 

But  to  have  waited  until  then 
would  have  deprived  the  German  peo- 
ple of  almost  every  chance  of  vic- 
tory. No  Government,  Republican  or 
monarchial,  has  the  right  to  throw 
away  the  future  of  its  people.  The 
Russian  bear  saw  the  opportunity  for 
his  long-planned  conquest  of  Eastern 
Europe.  He  was  determined  upon 
war  and  he  was  sure  of  French  sup- 
port, he  was  sure  of  England. 

In  this  supreme  moment,  when  the 
fate  of  the  German  people  was  in  the 
balance,  the  German  Emperor  and 
the  federal  council  of  the  Empire  had 
the  moral  courage  to  take  upon  them- 
selves the  odium  of  a  declaration  of 


POPULAR  NEUTRALITY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES 


211 


^"•^T — the  most  terrible  odium  that  a 
government  can  take  upon  itself  in 
our  times. 

Now,  if  you  believe  that  a  man  has 
the  right  to  strike  if  his  enemy  is 
reaching  out  for  a  mortal  blow,  you 
must  admit  that  the  German  people 
had   the  right  of  self-defense. 

"Germany  must  expand,"  they  say, 
"but  she  must  expand  along  economic 
lines,  through  the  application  of 
brain  power,  through  unremitting 
industry,  through  scientific  attain- 
ments, through  arts  and  letters." 

This  policy  the  German  people,  and 
the  German  Emperor,  have  pursued 
with  might  and  main  during  the  last 
25  years;  yes,  ever  since  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Empire. 

"The  German  Emperor  is  crazy," 
was  a  remark  frequently  heard  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war.  But  how  is 
it  that  a  nation  of  67,000,000  men, 
women  and  children  stand  by  this 
Emperor  in  the  present  hour  of 
stress?  Social  Democrats  and  Con- 
servatives, Catholics  and  Protestants, 
capitalists  and  workmen,  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  have  joined  hands  with  this 
Emperor  in  defense  of  the  nation's 
life  and  future.  We  see  the  whole 
German  people  transfixed  with  the 
passion  for  self-sacrifice. 

What  then  is  the  crime  of  Germany 
that  has  brought  about  this  unholy 
alliance  against  her?  In  the  British 
and  French  press  and  in  certain  arti- 
cles in  our  own  papers  we  find  all 
sorts  of  explanations.  We  read  of 
the  bad  manners  of  the  Germans,  of 
the  insolence  of  the  military  caste,  of 
the  arrogance  of  the  officials. 

We  are  told  that  the  German  Gov- 
ernment is  despotic,  that  the  people 
are  down-trodden,  that  there  is  no 
liberty.  Some  of  these  charges 
doubtless  contain  some  truth.  There 
are  bad  mannered  Germans;  you  do 
find  insolent  officers  and  arrogant 
officials  in  Germany;  certain  external 
aspects  of  German  Government  and 
administration  are  irritating  to 
Americans,  though  the  average  Ger- 
man does  not  mind  them  very  much; 
there  is  less  self-government  in  Ger- 
many than  among  us;  the  parliamen- 
tary bodies  of  the  Empire  wield  less 
power  than  in  this  country. 

But  there  is  no  despotism  in  a 
country  with  a  written  Constitution, 
where  the  law  is  supreme  and  is  en- 
forced among  high  and  low.  Our 
own  reformers  point  again  and  again 
at  the  excellent  administration  of 
German  municipalities.  These  rea- 
sons do  not  explain  why  the  great 
powers  of  Europe  have  united  to 
strike  a  death-blow  at  the  life  of  the 
German  people. 

Much  has  been  written  during  the 
last  few  weeks  about  the  sinister  de- 
signs of  Germany,  but  I  have  not  seen 
any  reference  to  an  article  which  ap- 
peared 17  years  ago  in  the  British 
periodical,  the  "Saturday  Review," 
September,  1897.  The  article  Is 
known  to  every  student  of  European 
politics  of  the  last  20  years. 

The  author  says:  "If  Germany 
were  extinguished  tomorrow,  the  day 
after  tomorrow  there  is  not  an  Eng- 
lishman in  the  world  who  would  not 
be  richer.  Nations  have  fought  for 
years  over  a  city  or  a  right  of  suc- 
cession;    must    they    not    fight    for 


$250,000,000  of  yearly  commerce? 
England  is  the  only  great  power  who 
can  fight  Germany  without  tremen- 
dous risk  and  without  doubt  of  the 
issue."* 

The  article  closes  with  the  Latin 
phrase,  "Germaniam  esse  delendam" 
— Germany  must  be  destroyed.  Sim- 
ilar statements,  though  not  quite  so 
bald,  have  since  been  made  in  pub- 
lic and  in  private  by  Englishmen  of 
standing. 

It  is  the  German  view  that  this 
catastrophe  is  due  primarily  to  eco- 
nomic causes.  Because  German 
women  were  willing  to  bear  children 
and  German  men  were  willing  to  sup- 
port the  children;  because  German 
men  and  women  used  their  brains 
and  their  bodies  to  build  up  German 
industries  and  commerce;  because 
the  Germans  built  a  navy  to  protect 
that  commerce  and  because  they  were 
guilty  of  getting  rich — for  these  rea- 
sons, England  formed  the  all-power- 
ful alliance,  enlisting  in  her  cause 
the  desire  for  revenge  of  the  French, 
the  desire  of  conquest  of  Russia,  the 
desire  for  supplanting  the  white  race 
in  the  Pacific  of  the  Japanese.  Ed- 
ward VII  prepared  the  unnatural  alli- 
ance and  Nicholas  II  set  it  in  motion. 
What  will  be  the  outcome  of  the 
war?  We  can  judge  of  the  future 
only  by  the  past.  Russian  victory 
will  mean  the  domination  of  Russian 
despotism  on  the  European  conti- 
nent. There  will  be  a  dismember- 
ment of  Germany;  there  will  be  chaos 
in  Central  Europe. 

Then  we  shall  see  other  great 
wars,  for  Russia  will  make  herself 
mistress  of  Asia,  and  England  will 
have  to  fight  her  former  ally  for  the 
possession  of  India  and  Asia  Minor. 
But  how  does  England  hope  to  fight 
the  huge  armies  of  Russia  then?  Her 
fleet  will  avail  her  nothing  and  her 
natural  ally,  the  German  Empire,  she 
has  helped  to  destroy. 

There  will  be  war  in  the  Pacific, 
for  Japan,  after  crowding  out,  with 
England's  help,  one  white  nation, 
will  try  to  make  herself  master  of 
the  Pacific.  Then  our  own  country 
will  be  affected,  and  we  shall  have  to 
build  a  navy  two  and  three  times  as 
large  as  now  to  keep  our  commerce 
and  our  possessions  in  the  Pacific. 

Let  no  one  be  deceived.  Russian 
Czardom  aims  at  world  dominion. 
For  300  years  Russia  has  steadily  ad- 
vanced over  Asia  and  Europe,  to  the 
east  and  to  the  west,  to  the  north 
and  to  the  south.  She  has  at  times 
been  checked,  but  she  has  never  been 
defeated. 

If  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary 
are  victorious,  it  will  mean  law  and 
order  in  Central  Europe.  There  will 
doubtless  follow  the  establishment  of 
a  Central  European  customs  union 
which  will  unite  the  various  economic 
interests  of  the  large  and  small  na- 
tions, Germanic  and  Slavic,  and  which 
will  still  permit  independent  national 
life  and  development. 

Then  the  war  drum  will  be  heard 
no  longer  on  the  blood-drenched 
fields  of  Europe.  Humanity,  prog- 
ress and  civilization  will  have  a  new 
lease  of  life. 


France  will  forever  bury  her 
thoughts  of  revenge;  England  will 
still  be  a  great  colonial  empire,  but 
she  -will  have  to  share  the  dominion 
of  the  sea  with  other  powers  and  she 
will  never  be  able  again  to  embroil 
the  continent. 

Russia  will  still  be  a  great  country 
with  boundless  possibilities  of  inter- 
nal development,  but  she  will  have  no 
opportunity  to  crush  small  nations 
within  her  dominion.  Democracy 
will  be  triumphant  in  Europe,  though 
the  form  of  government  will  remain 
the  constitutional  monarchy. 


The  following  resolutions  were 
adopted: 

RESOLVED,  That  we,  American 
citizens  residing  in  Greater  Boston 
and  representing  different  racial  ele- 
ments of  the  United  States,  particu- 
larly the  German  element,  assembled 
in  Faneuil  Hall,  approve  unreserved- 
ly the  policy  of  strictest  neutrality  in 
the  present  European  conflict  pro- 
claimed by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  as  solely  compatible 
with  the  interests  of  the  United 
States. 

RESOLVED,  That  we  sympathize 
with  the  German  people  and  the  Ger- 
man Government  in  the  present  war, 
which  has  been  wantonly  forced  upon 
them  by  the  aggressive  jealousy  of 
powerful  nations. 

RESOLVED,  That  we  regret  and 
condemn  the  unwarranted  attacks 
upon  the  German  people  and  Govern- 
ment by  a  large  part  of  the  American 
press. 

RESOLVED,  That  we  see  a  great 
danger  to  the  future  of  our  country 
in  the  attack  upon  Germany  by  Japan 
as  England's  ally,  which  is  clearly  an 
attempt  to  dominate  the  Pacific  polit- 
ically and  commercially,  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  United  States. 


COMifENT  ON  DR.  CHARLES  W. 

ELIOT'S  ADDRESS  TO  THE 

BUSINESS  WOMEN'S 

CXitJB,  BOSTON. 

M.\SS. 


•Possibly  so.  If  she  can  succeed,  by 
hook  or  crook,  to  get  the  rest  of  the 
non-Teutonic  world  to  fight  her  battles 
for   her. — Editor. 


New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung, 
New  York. 

Herman  Bidder. 

The  note  sounded  by  Dr.  Charles  W. 
Eliot  in  his  address  to  the  Boston  Busi- 
ness Women's  Club  on  the  l.'llh  instant 
is  ominous.  If  Dr.  Eliot's  words  have 
been  correctly  reported  they  amount  to 
no  less  than  the  assertion  that  the 
United  States  is  called  upon  to  go  to 
the  assistance  of  the  .Vllies  should  they 
become  exhausted  in  the  conflict  against 
Germany.  We  have  become  accustomed 
to  England's  campaign  to  capture  the 
moral  support  of  the  American  people 
in  its  most  immoral  of  connections  with 
the  present  war  in  Europe,  a  campaign 
in  which  Dr.  Eliot  himself  has  been  a 
banner-carrier,  but  we  cannot  but  ex- 
press a  degree  of  surprise  at  the  dis- 
covery that  our  moral  sujiport  was  to 
be  captured  only  as  a  preliminary  to 
securing  our  military  support.  I  can- 
not refrain  from  calling  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  suggestion  comes  not  from 
Arthur  Conan  Doyle  or  H.  G.  Wells, 
Arnold  Bennett  or  Sir  Gilbert  Parker, 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


but  from  an  American  who  has  a  cer- 
tain claim  upon  our  ears,  and  one  who 
was  originally  selected  to  be  the  Amer- 
ican Ambassador  to  England.  As  such, 
it  shows  the  depth  to  which  the  ene- 
mies within  are  willing  to  sink  in  their 
attempt  to  surrender  the  United  States 
to  England,  and  the  craft  with  which 
England,  working  to  the  end  of  our 
moral-military  support,  is  conducting 
Its  propaganda  in  this  country. 

I  venture  to  suggest  that  if  Professor 
Muensterberg  should  have  called  upon 
the  United  States  to  lend  its  military 
strength  for  the  defense  of  Germany, 
President  Eliot  would  have  arisen  in 
horror  at  the  suggestion  and  have 
added  another  ?10,000,000  argument  for 
the  removal  of  the  belligerent  profes- 
sor. I  do  not  know  how  much  Harvard 
needs  money,  but  I  do  know  that  in 
the  handling  of  this  question  Dr. 
Eliot's  advice  has  been  registered  in 
his   Boston   address. 

I  do  not  suppose  that  President  Wil- 
son had  any  meed  of  confidence  in  the 
powers  of  his  utterance  on  that  higher 
neutrality  of  silence  which  he  proposed 
to  the  American  people,  to  effect  its 
acceptance.  In  any  case,  the  results 
have  been  disappointing,  and  were  des- 
tined to  be.  Our  hearts  could  not  be 
chained  against  feeling  for  one  side  or 
another,  nor  could  our  voices  be  pre- 
vented from  giving  expression  to  tliose 
feelings.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that 
any  great  amount  of  harm  can  come 
from  the  logomachy  which  we  have  en- 
gaged in.  It  is  natural  and  inevitable 
that  nations  going  to  war  should  seek 
the  sympathy  of  neutral  peoples.  It  is 
as  natural  and  inevitable  as  the  desire 
of  the  individual  about  to  commit  an 
act  of  Questionable  legality  to  buttress 
his  reputation  before  his  fellowmen. 
Both  Germany  and  England  sought  our 
goodwill — the  one  by  a  frank  state- 
ment of  its  case,  the  other  by  attempt- 
ing to  defile  the  fair  name  of  its  oppo- 
nent. Both  have  secured  a  certain 
share  of  sympathy  in  America.  We  are 
quite  ready  to  judge  the  facts  of  the 
case  as  they  are  presented  to  us  and 
to  allot  our  moral  support  where  it 
seems  most  to  be  deserved.  But  there 
we  stop. 

The  designs  of  England  to  force  the 
United  States  into  the  war,  along  with 
Russia,  France,  Japan  and  Portugal, 
have  been  observable  for  some  time. 
The  invitation  to  send  an  American 
fleet  against  Turkey  was  but  one  of  the 
disclosatory  symptoms  of  these  designs. 
And  now  we  have  them  absolutely  and 
unmistakably  enunciated  to  us  by  the 
Doyen  of  Harvard. 

I  call  attention  to  Dr.  Eliot's  re- 
marks only  as  a  warning  to  the  Ameri- 
can people.  They  carry  no  more  weight 
than  the  earlier  recriminations  lodged 
against  Germany  by  their  author.  Dr. 
Eliot  cannot  claim  the  right  to  speak 
for  the  United  States,  but  as  an  hon- 
ored leader  of  American  thought,  his 
words  have  a  double  significance.  They 
will  be  significant  both  in  this  country 
and  in  England.  We  cannot  do  better, 
therefore,  than  to  remind  our  cousins 
across  the  water  that  the  suggestion  of 
military  support  conveyed  in  Dr. 
Eliot's  words  has  no  substantial  basis 
In  fact. 

We  do  not  want  war.  Our  feeling 
toward  the  European  conflict  is  one 
primarily  of   regret   that   it   ever   was 


made  necessary.  Our  great  desire  is 
that  it  may  come  to  an  early  end.  And 
least  of  all  do  we  wish  to  become  in- 
volved in  it.  Separated  from  the  scenes 
of  action  by  a  thousand  leagues  of 
ocean,  secure  in  our  alliance  with  the 
Atlantic,  we  still  have  suffered  from 
the  folly  of  Europe.  Shall  we  cut  loose 
from  that  alliance  and  precipitate  our- 
selves into  the  fray?  Dr.  Eliot  says, 
"Tes !"  The  American  people  say, 
"No !"  Wherever  our  sympathies  may 
lie,  our  Interests  are  unquestionably 
bound  up  with  peace.  Were  Germany 
the  monster  which  Dr.  Eliot  paints  her, 
I  would  still  say  that  the  war  in  Eu- 
rope is  a  concern  of  Europe,  and  that 
our  interference  therein  would  be  but 
the  adding  of  fuel  to  a  fire  already 
great  enough. 

The  right  of  Dr.  Eliot  to  declaim 
against  Germany  is  as  well  established 
as  is  that  of  those  who  can  still  see  in 
Germany  something  to  admire  and  re- 
spect, to  defend  her  cause.  And  this 
right  has  been  worked  by  Dr.  Eliot  for 
all  there  is  in  it.  Only  when  he  slops 
over  so  far  as  to  say  that  we  are  mor- 
ally bound  to  go  to  the  assistance  of 
I'Ongland,  do  his  remarks  come  within 
the  category  of  the  indefensible.  If  my 
memory  does  not  play  me  false.  Dr. 
Eliot  has  until  recently  posed  as  a  man 
of  peace.  In  fact,  he  was  sent,  not  so 
long  ago,  on  a  world-junket  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for 
Universal  Peace.  Today,  the  preaching 
of  a  long  lifetime  is  abandoned,  and 
war  is  his  te.xt.  I  cannot  but  think 
that  all  that  Cicero  wrote  "de  Senec- 
tute"  was  written  in  vain.  The  youth 
of  our  land  is  crying  out  today  for 
peace,  and  It  is  advanced  senility  that 
is  clamoring  for  conflict. 

I  do  not  think  that  Dr.  Eliot's  propa- 
ganda will  carry  much  weight  In 
Washington  or  Washtenaw.  It  will 
certainly  require  a  more  logical  defense 
of  the  cause  of  the  Allies  than  we  have 
had  to  date  to  bring  to  their  support 
the  army  and  navy  of  the  United 
States.  And  granting  the  possibility  of 
such  defense,  it  will  demand  a  greater 
amount  of  logic  than  Dr.  Eliot  has  been 
able  to  bring  to  the  support  of  his  con- 
tentions, to  justify  the  suggestion  that 
we  wish  in  any  way  to  become  a  party 
to  the  conflict.  Our  position  is,  co- 
gently, that  if  the  nations  of  Europe 
wish  to,  cut  each  other's  throats  they 
are  privileged  to  do  so.  It  is  none  of 
our  business.  We  wish  equally  to  let 
alone  and  to  be  left  alone;  and  wher- 
ever our  sympathies  may  lie.  with  Ger- 
many or  witli  her  enemies,  one  thing  Is 
unmistakable:  we  do  not  wish  to  get 
mixed  up  in  the  mess.  The  greatest 
condemnation  of  Dr.  Eliot's  attitude  is 
to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  is  fla- 
grantly opposed  to  this  well-known 
stand  of  the  American  people. 


KEFUSING    TO    AID    SIjAUGHTER. 


JOHN  J.  STEVENSON 

Who  refuses  "to  he  a  party  to  the 
bloody  war  in  Europe"  though  his 
business  has  been  the  manufacture 
of  munitions.  "It  is  better  to  make 
things  that  are  useful." 


It  is  not  for  Germany's  diplomatic 
reasons  that  one  American  accedes 
to   Germany's   demand  that  America 


cease  furnishing  the  Allies  with  war- 
munitions.  "It  is  so  much  better  to 
make  things  that  are  useful  to  man- 
kind than  to  make  things  that  de- 
stroy mankind,"  says  John  J.  Steven- 
son, president  of  the  Driggs-Seabury 
Ordnance  Corporation;  and  his  com- 
pany refuses  to  furnish  munitions  for 
the  war  now  raging.  They  have  de- 
clined orders  for  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  in  the  last  tour  months,  he  tells 
a  correspondent  of  the  New  York 
"Sun,"  orders  that  would  have  kept 
their  plant  going  on  full  shifts  night 
and  day,  but  would  have  been  "a 
contributing  factor  to  the  carnage 
now  putting  millions  of  men  in  Eu- 
rope under  the  ground  and  on 
crutches."  Agents  of  the  Russian, 
French  and  British  governments,  he 
asserts  have  for  months  tried  to  get 
his  company  to  manufacture  shells 
tor  them,  and  just  as  pereistently  aS 
these  requests  have  come  so  have 
they  been  refused.  The  company  of 
which  Mr.  Stevenson  is  the  head  was 
originally  organized  to  manufacture 
war-munitions,  and  in  its  early  his- 
tory prospered  on  carnage.  Altruism 
is  not  wholly  the  cause  of  the  com- 
pany's conversion,  however,  as  its 
president  humorously  acknowledges: 

"The  last  time  we  made  war-mu- 
nitions was  for  the  United  States 
Government  about  eight  years  ago. 
We  manufactured  119,000  shells  and 
we  lost  some  money.  I  then  joined 
Andrew  Carnegie's  peace  society — 
and  have  been  an  active  member 
since. 

"A  man's  experience  in  life  some- 
times quickens  his  conscience.  That 
is  what  happened  to  me,  I  suppose. 
The  loss  of  that  money  opened  my 
eyes  to  a  better  realization  of  the 
horrors  of  war.  Since  then  I  have 
put  the  notion  of  manufacturing  war 
materials   out   of   my   mind. 

"I  would  rather,  far  rather,  that 
the  Driggs-Seabury  Ordnance  Corpo- 
ration never  again  make  any  arti- 
cle that  might  be  used  to  destroy 
life.      .     .     . 

Convert  Them   all — Governor 
Included. 

"It  is  a  crime  that  men  such  as 
the  great  artists  of  France  are  in  the 
field  being  shot  at — and  shot — when 
they  could  and  should  be  at  home  ad- 
vancing the  world's  civilization  in- 
stead of  tearing  it  down  and  being 
cut  down  themselves  with  bullets. 

"Modern  warfare  is  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  the  best  guns,  the  most  mod- 
ern war  machinery  and  implements, 
and  the  longest  purse — and 

"When  the  billions  upon  billions 
of  dollars  have  been  expended  and 
the  millions  upon  millions  of  men 
killed  or  maimed  or  so  shattered  in 
health  that  they  are  unable  to  follow 
their  daily  work,  the  conflagration 
ceases.  Then  falls  the  burden  of  this 
ruthless  butchery  upon  the  under 
dog,  and  he  must  stagger  through 
life  under  the  load.  He  must  foot 
the  bills,  must  pay,  pay,  and  pay, 
until  patience  ceases  and  rebellion 
rules.  Then  comes  repudiation  of 
the  so-called  government  bonds,  and 
revolution. 

"When  the  democracy  of  Europe 
comes  into  its  own,  as  it  surely  will 
as  one  of  the  results  of  the  conflagra- 
tion now   raging,   I   think   there   will 


POPULAR  NEUTRALITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


213 


be  such   a  panic  as   will  surpass  the 
French  revolution  of  1793. 

"The  income  tax  today  in  England 
is  twelve  times  greater  than  in  the 
United  States,  with  only  half  the  lat- 
ter's  population  to  draw  from.  There 
is  already  talk  and  a  probability  of 
this  taxation  being  doubled  before 
the  year  is  out.  That  is  why  I  say 
that  a  man  in  such  a  game  who  wins 
loses." — The   Literary  Digest. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE. 


The  Fatherland,  Xow  Vork. 
Louis  Sheiwiii. 

Nothing  is  more  natural,  more  in- 
evitable than  the  grievous  Prusso- 
phobia  with  which  nine  out  of  ten 
non-German  Americans  enter  into 
any  discussion  of  war.  A  widespread 
unthinking  almost  vindictive  hatred 
of  Germans,  a  cruel  desire  for  the 
defeat,  humiliation  and  dismember- 
ment of  the  German  empire  seems 
to  greet  the  German  sympathizer 
wherever  he  goes.  It  is  depressing, 
it  is  baffling,  it  is  almost  maddening 
at  times.  But  when  you  consider 
its  causes  it  is  easy  to  understand. 
The  average  American  has  only 
one  source  of  information — his 
newspaper.  His  newspaper  gives 
him  either  half  truths  or — in  the 
case  of  the  rabid,  jingo  Anglophile 
press,  absolute  lies.  And  the  Amer- 
ican reader,  as  a  rule,  cannot  read 
between  the  lines.  He  cannot  sift 
the  truth  from  the  lies,  however  dis- 
ingenuous they  may  be.  The  chances 
are  that  he  has  been  educated  at  an 
American  school  or  university.  Con- 
sequently he  has  not  the  thorough 
grounding  in  history  to  enable  him 
to  determine  what  the  truth  is. 

For  instance,  the  New  York  morn- 
ing newspapers  nearly  all  have  their 
own  correspondents  in  Paris  and 
London.  But  in  Berlin,  for  some 
reason,  they  have  not  hitherto  seen 
fit  to  send  any  men  from  their  own 
staff.  They  obtain  their  German 
news  via  London.  Now  it  is  per- 
fectly obvious  that  German  news  that 
comes  filtering  through  England  will 
have  an  anti-German  flavor.  Some 
of  the  Berlin  correspondents  of  the 
American  papers  are  also  correspond- 
ents of  London  dailies.  The  corre- 
spondents of  the  New  York  Times. 
for  instance,  is  also  correspondent 
of  the  jingo  Daily  Mail.  He  is  a 
man  of  undoubted  probity,  a  sincere, 
self-respecting  journalist.  But  the 
most  honest  man  in  the  world  will 
have  his  own  opinions  and  prejudices. 

But  you  would  imagine  that  on 
questions  of  history  at  least  a  news- 
paper might  be  accurate.  Now  let 
me  give  an  instance.  In  the  New 
York  Times  last  Sunday  appeared 
the  following  statement;  "No  out- 
sider knows  the  terms  by  which  Ger- 
many, Austria-Hungary  and  Italy 
are  bound  together."  If  the  word 
"outsider"  Is  here  meant  as  a  syno- 
nym for  a  writer  on  the  New  York 
Times  the  statement  Is  perhaps  ac- 
curate. But  speak  for  yourself,  John. 
The  terms  of  the  Triple  Alliance 
have  been  known  to  the  world  at 
large  for  nearly  30  years.  It  is 
nearly  30  years  ago  that  they  were 
published     in    all    the    newspapers. 


They     were    reprinted    in     the    New 
Vork  Staats-Zeitnng  ten  days  ago. 

This  amazing  confession  of  ignor- 
ance appeared  under  the  signature 
of  Albert  Bushnell  Hart.  Who  is 
Bushnell  Hart?  Professor,  so  please 
you,  professor  of  government  at  Har- 
vard University!  Can  you  imagine 
what  chance  the  average  American 
has  to  be  correctly  informed  when  a 
professor  at  one  of  the  foremost  uni- 
versities in  the  country  will  allow 
such  a  thing  to  appear  under  his 
signature? 

Again  this  erudite  trainer  of  the 
young,  talks  repeatedly  of  the  as- 
sassination of  King  Milan  by  his  pre- 
vious Servians  in  1903.  Well,  what 
is  a  historical  fact  or  so  between 
friends?  To  be  sure  it  was  Alex- 
ander who  was  murdered.  However, 
I  suppose  accuracy  is  mere  bric-a-brac 
in  the  mind  of  a  professor  of  gov- 
ernment. 

But  how  can  a  man  who  makes 
such  a  statement  give  American 
readers  correct  information  about 
the  causes  of  the  war?  How  can 
American  readers  hope  to  learn  the 
truth  when  that  is  the  best  approach 
to  it  they  can  get  from  even  aca- 
demic  sources? 

After  this  can  you  be  surprised 
that  scantily  informed  writers  turn 
out  such  editorials  as  those  of  the 
Evening  World?     I  quote  a  sample: 

"The  wolf  is  forced  to  eat  the  lamb 
forsooth  because  the  Iamb  bleated! 
An  arrogant  and  bellicose  old  man  in 
Vienna  backed  by  the  eager  warrior 
watching  from  Berlin,  mumbles  sanc- 
timonious nonsense  about  tranquillity 
while  all  Europe  shudders  at  the  ap- 
palling ring  of  war  preparations." 

1  trust  the  Pulitzer  School  of 
Journalism  will  hold  this  up  to  its 
pupils  as  being  almost  everything 
that  editorial  comment  should  not 
be.  For  bad  taste,  sloppy  thinking, 
superficiality  of  information  it  would 
be  hard  to  match.  But  the  humorous 
part  of  it  is  that  in  another  editorial 
the  same  Evening  World  declares 
that  "general  continental  wars  are 
not  made  nowadays  by  monarchs  or 
even  by  fierce  militarists  panting  tor 
careers."  Now  which  of  these  two 
statements  are  the  readers  of  the 
Evening  World   asked   to   believe? 

Here  is  another  gem  from  the  same 
palladium  of  our  civic  liberties: 

"When  history  comes  to  look  for 
the  causes  of  the  appalling  crisis 
which  darkens  Europe,  what  will  it 
find?  The  pretended  cause  an  off- 
shoot of  the  Balkan  problem,  which 
has  been  settling  itself  these  forty 
years.  The  real  causes:  Senile 
Hapsburg  arrogance  generations  old; 
the  inveterate  belligerence  of  a 
Kaiser  whose  throne  rests  upon  mili- 
tary power  and  privilege;  and  the 
fatalistic  war  spirit  of  a  great  des- 
potism where  men  are  born  to  be 
sacrificed." 

When  history  comes  to  look  for 
(he  appalling  causes,  etc.,  it  will 
hardly,  I  think,  come  to  the  editorial 
columns  of  the  f^vening  World. 

Editorial  comment,  we  have  been 
taught,  should  explain,  interpret  and 
review  the  news  of  the  day,  going 
beneath  the  surface  and  bringing  out 


the  meaning  of  apparently  unrelated 
facts  in  the  light  of  historical  pre- 
cedent. What  can  a  man  know  of 
history  who  makes  the  pompous, 
slovenly  statement  that  the  Balkan 
problem  has  been  "settling  itself 
these  forty  years?"  What  can  a 
man  know  of  German  history,  Ger- 
man institutions,  the  character  of 
the  German  people  who  has  the 
spread-eagle  notion  that  the  Kaiser's 
throne  "rests  upon  military  power 
and  privilege?"  Has  he  paid  any  at- 
tention to  the  new^s  that  in  this  crisis 
every  party  in  the  empire  including 
the  Social-Democrats  has  rallied  not 
in  any  sentimental  support  of  Wil- 
liam II.,  but  out  of  sheer  self-defense 
against  the  aggression  of  the  Slav 
and  the  sentimental  jealousy  of  the 
Frenchman? 

I  have  lived  in  Germany;  some  of 
my  best  friends  are  Germans.  Never 
have  I  met  a  German  who  had 
any  animosity  towards  French  peo- 
ple or  France  as  a  country.  Neither 
I  nor  anybody  else  has  found  in  all 
Germany  any  trace  of  such  animosity. 
The  hatred  of  the  Frenchman  for  Ger- 
many, on  the  other  hand,  is  proverbial. 
Never  for  a  moment  has  the  idea  of 
"Uevanche"  been  allowed  to  die  down. 
Talking  with  the  average  American  I 
find  that  he  sympathizes  with  this.  All 
he  can  remember  is  that  Prussia  took 
Alsace-Lorraine  from  France  in  '71. 
Why  does  not  somebody  tell  him  that 
.\lsace  and  Lorraine  were  originally 
German  provinces,  that  they  were  vio- 
lently taken  over  and  colonized  by  the 
French?  As  long  as  such  misunder- 
standings are  suffered  to  persist  how 
can  you  expect  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  form  a  fair  judgment  of  the 
rights  of  this  quarrel? 

For  extreme  examples  of  malignant, 
violent  nonsense  I  quote  the  following 
excerpts  from  the  Evening  Telegram.* 
OX  course  any  person  expecting  intelli- 
gence or  enlightenment  from  an  Even- 
ing Telegram  editorial  would  be  cap- 
able of  expecting  humor  from  a  comic 
supplement,  good  cooking  in  an  English 
home  or  an  original  thought  from 
Arthur  Brisbane.  But  here.  I  submit 
as  an  instance  of  deliberate  inflamma- 
tory malice : 

"Wake  Up,  England!" 

"With  Europe  in  a  state  of  war  from 
the  Bay  of  Biscay  to  the  I'ral  Moun- 
f:iius  and  from  the  Kara  Sea  to  Crete; 
with  Germany  disregarding  treaties  so 
far  as  invasion  of  neutral  territories 
go ;  with  her  friends  in  the  Triple  En- 
tente going  to  the  front  by  land  and 
sea.  Great  Britain  lags  behind;  sits 
supinely;  is  mute;  holds  Cabinet  meet- 
ing after  Cabinet  meeting  and  says  she 
wi!i  later  announce  her  position. 

"Members  of  the  British  Cabinet  of 
peace  party  tendencies  are  responsible 
for  the  disgrace  of  a  nation.  Dodder- 
ing old  fossils  or  men  who  think  more 
of  their  own  pockets  than  of  the  honor 
of  England  and  the  sacredness  of  na- 
tional understanding  are  overriding  the 
will  of  the  populace.  They  should  be 
out  picking  buttercups  rather  than  try- 
ing to  dictate  policies." 

But  again  the  amazing,  pitiful  thing 
about  this  piece  of  rubbish  Is  not  so 
much  Its  obvious  malice  as  Its  ignor- 
ance.    •      ♦      • 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


NEW     YORK     SPEAKS     IN     THUN- 
DEROUS TONES. 


Thousands  Crowd   the   Great  Hippo- 
drome    Demanding     Respect     for 
American  Flag  and  No  Entangl- 
ing Alliances — Presidents  Jef- 
ferson, Madison  and  Roose- 
velt Forbade  the  Shipping 
Arms. 


From   "The  Irish  Voice,"   March   17, 
1915. 

New  York  City — The  great  Hippo- 
drome was  packed  to  the  doors  by  an 
enthusiastic  audience  at  a  Washing- 
ton's Birthday  mass  meeting  held  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  "For  America 
League."  All  in  the  audience  were  pro- 
vided with  small  American  flags,  which 
rose  and  fell  with   the  applause. 

The  one  topic  discussed  by  the 
speakers,  who  were  es-Gov.  O.  B.  Col- 
quitt of  Texas,  Congressman  Stephen 
G.  Porter  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Con- 
gressman Eben  W.  Martin  of  South 
Dakota,  was  America's  stand  in  the 
present  war. 

Debasing  the  American  Flag. 

England's  "navalism"  was  attacked 
as  a  menace  to  the  United  States,  the 
flying  of  the  American  flag  by  a  Brit- 
ish ship  passing  through  the  English 
Channel  was  denounced  as  a  "debase- 
ment of  the  American  flag,"  the  men- 
tion of  the  name  of  Secretary  of  State 
Bryan  by  one  of  the  speakers  evoked 
hisses  and  hoots  that  lasted  for  Just 
sixty  seconds,  and  a  resolution  which 
was  adopted  by  acclamation  declared 
the  seizure  of  the  steamship  Wilhel- 
mina  by  the  British  government  as  "a 
clear  invasion  of  our  rights  as  a  neu- 
tral nation,"  and  demanded  "the  un- 
hampered right  of  our  merchants  to 
transport  foodstuffs  to  neutral  nations 
and  to  non-combatants  In  the  belliger- 
ent nations." 

To  Organize  Throughout  the  Country. 

The  resolution  also  resolved  that  the 
"For  America  League"  should  be  or- 
ganized throughout  the  United  States 
immediately.  The  league  was  planned 
about  three  weeks  ago  at  a  meeting 
at  which  Bainbridge  Colby  presided, 
and  that  Sunday  night's  gathering  was 
the  organization  meeting. 

Judge  J.  H.  Tierney,  who  presided. 
Introduced  as  the  first  speaker  Con- 
gressman Porter  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Mr.  Porter  urged  his  auditors  to 
help  remove  the  opposition  to  the  bill 
In  Congress  to  stop  the  shipment  of 
arms  and  ammunition  to  belligerent 
countries.  There  was  only  one  prac- 
ticable way  to  minimize  war,  he  said, 
and  that  was  to  establish  an  interna- 
tional court  of  arbitration.  When  this 
failed  neutral  countries  should  refuse 
to  ship  anything  to  belligerent  coun- 
tries. It  was  Mr.  Porter's  mention  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  that  caused  the 
hisses,  which  were  repeated  whenever 
Mr.  Bryan  was  mentioned  eitlier  by 
name  or  as  "the  prince  of  peace." 

The  speaker  quoted  Mr.  Bryan  as 
saying  that  this  country  would  violate 
the  laws  of  neutrality  by  preventing 
the  shipment  of  arms  to  the  Allies. 
The  statement  was  laughed  at,  as  was 
mention  of  the  fact  that  President 
Wilson  had  set  apart  a  "day  of  prayer 
for  peace."  England's  navy,  he  said, 
could  close  every   port  in   the  Fnited 


States  in  forty-eight  hours.  One  of 
my  colleagues  in  Washington  asked 
me  the  very  pertinent  question :  Is 
there  not  a  probability  of  these  guns 
we  are  sending  over,  being  turned  on 
our  soldiers? 

German  Militarism  and  English 

Navalism. 
"If  German  militarism      is    such    a 
menace  to  the  United  States,"  he  said, 
"why  is  It  that  all  of  our  clashes  have 
been  with  English  navalism?" 

Congressman  Martin,  the  second 
speaker,  said  he  believed  In  absolute 
neutrality,  which  was  our  only  hope 
of  keeping  peace  at  home  and  of  being 
of  service  in  the  ultimate  settlement 
of  the  European  war.  The  use  of  the 
American  flag  by  British  ships  was,  in 
his  opinion,  a  violation  of  interna- 
tional law.  He  declared  that  the  admin- 
istration should  lodge  a  stronger  pro- 
test with  the  English  government  on 
account  of  it.  If  Great  Britain  was 
allowed  to  use  the  flag  other  belligerent 
nations  should  have  the  same  privi- 
lege, and  it  would  be  only  a  brief  time 
before  the  flag  would  cease  to  be  a 
protection  to  Americans  on  sea  or 
land. 

"Paint  our  national  colors  in  bold 
design  on  the  hull  of  every  American 
ship  that  sails  the  high  seas,"  he  said. 
"This  could  not  be  mistaken  and  would 
not  be  counterfeited." 

The  main  speaker  of  the  evening 
was  ex-Gov.  O.  B.  Colquitt  of  Texas, 
who  was  Introduced  by  Judge  J.  H. 
Tierney  as  "the  man  who  would  have 
settled  the  Mexican  question  with  his 
Rangers  over  a  year  ago  If  It  had  not 
been  for  the  Prince  of  Peace  in  Wash- 
ington." 

The  audience  rose  and  cheered  as 
ex-Governor  Colquitt  of  Texas  took 
the  stand  and  the  orchestra  played 
"Dixie."     Mr.  Colquitt  said: 

"I  am  sure  we're  all  American  citi- 
zens here  and  love  this  country  more 
than  any  other."  He  devoted  consider- 
able time  to  reciting  many  of  the  in- 
stances in  which  German  and  Irish- 
Americans  had  done  patriotic  service 
in  America's  history. 
Continuing  he  said : 
"Why  do  we  who  claim  to  be  free 
and  undivided  In  our  sympathies  fol- 
low so  much  the  wishes  and  fashions 
of  the  British?  We  have  done  that 
ever  since  the  birth  of  the  Republic. 
In  the  time  of  Washington,  many  of 
our  people  were  aping  British  cus- 
toms, mimickinz  British  ideals  and 
worshipping  British  gold.  Many  are 
doing   that  still. 

We  Had   to   Fight  England   in    1812 
for  Self-Protection. 

"The  War  of  1*^12  was  due  to  the 
treatment  of  our  ships  and  seamen  by 
the  British  and  that  nation  continued 
to  trample  under  foot  the  laws  of  na- 
tions until  this  little  Republic  had  to 
fight  her  for  self-protection.  In  the 
last  few  months  she  has  been  doing 
the  same  things  that  brought  about 
the  War  of  1S12. 

The  First  Neutrals. 

"George  Washington  wrote  the  first 
neutrality  proclamation  ever  issued  by 
the  Ignited  States,  at  the  time  of  the 
war  between  Great  Britain  and 
France,  when  he  Insisted  that  there 
should  be  no  entangling  alliances  with 
other  nations.     Jefferson.  Madison  and 


Roosevelt  all  asked  for  neutrality  that 
forbade  the  shipping  of  arms.  Now 
President  Wilson  says  that  we  would 
break  the  laws  of  neutrality  If  we 
stopped  shipping  arms. 

"Compare  what  the  Germans  have 
done  for  this  country  with  what  the 
British  have  done.  Von  Steuben  de 
Kalb  and  Herkimer  were  of  our  brav- 
est generals.  Look  at  the  British  in 
the  Revolution,  hiring  Indians  and 
paying  them  $8  for  every  scalp  of  a 
patriot.  Look  at  the  Mason  and  Slldell 
affair  and  the  assistance  given  the 
Confederacy  In  the  Civil  War  by  Eng- 
land. 

"I  am  the  son  of  a  soldier  of  the 
South,  yet  I  love  that  old  flag  that  Is 
being  made  an  object  of  ridicule  on 
the  high  seas  by  its  use  to  shelter  the 
ships  of  a  belligerent  power.  If  the 
belligerents  are  allowed  to  use  it.  neu- 
trals will  soon  follow  their  example, 
and  the  flag  will  become  the  laughing 
stock  of  all  nations. 
Honest  Neutrality,  Not  Diplomatic 
Neutrality. 
"I  believe  In  honest  neutrality,  not 
diplomatic  neutrality.  Our  govern- 
ment that  now  refuses  to  forbid  the 
shipping  of  arms,  because  it  says  It  is 
unneutral,  is  the  same  government  that 
two  years  ago  put  an  embargo  on  arms 
going  into  Mexico.  With  an  honest 
neutrality  and  a  real  neutrality,  this 
war  would  be  over  In  ninety  days. 

"If  I  were  President  we  would  send 
battleships  as  escorts  to  our  boats  car- 
rying bread  abroad,  and  there  would 
be  an  embargo  placed  on  the  shipment 
of  guns,  swords  and  cannon.  Didn't 
we  issue  orders  prohibiting  the  export 
of  arms  to  Mexico  a  short  time  ago? 
I  would  build  a  navy  sufficient  to  com- 
pel the  respect  of  Great  Britain." 

The  resolutions,  which  were  read 
amid  cheers,  were  as  follows : 
The  Resolutions. 
"We  American  citizens  In  mass 
meeting  assembled  in  the  New  York 
Hippodrome  upon  the  eve  of  Washing- 
ton's birthday,  renew  our  fealty  to  the 
principles  laid  down  by  the  fathers  of 
this  republic,  which  shall  be  allowed 
to  work  out  its  great  destiny,  free 
from  the  influence  or  domination  of 
any  foreign  power. 

"Desiring  peace  with  all  nations,  we 
earnestly  urge  upon  our  people  and 
our  government  the  maintenance  of 
real  neutrality  in  this  lamentable 
world  war.  We  insist,  however,  upon 
the  preservation  of  our  rights  as  a 
neutral  nation,  and  demand  that  the 
American  flag  shall  adequately  protect 
American  citizens,  native  and  natural- 
ized alike.  In  every  phase  and  sphere 
of  this  war. 

"We  protest  against  the  use  of  the 
American  flag  by  any  belligerent  as 
tending  to  lower  its  dignity  and  dimin- 
ishing its  inherent  protective  force. 

"If  we  allow  the  merchant  marine 
of  belligerent  countries  to  fly  our  flag 
to  deceive  their  enemies  it  will  soon 
cease  to  afford  protection  to  American 
citizens  and  to  the  American  mer- 
chant marine.  When  the  American 
flag  floats  over  a  ship  at  sea,  it  should 
mean  that  the  ship,  its  passengers  and 
cargo,  will  be  protected  to  the  full 
limit  of  American  power. 

"We  approve  the  declaration  of  this 
government  that  it  will  hold  the  Ger- 


POPULAR  NEUTRALITY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES 


215 


man  government  to  strict  accountabil- 
ity for  the  unwarranted  loss  of  Amer- 
ic-an  lives  or  ships  in  the  British 
waters,  but  if  the  misuse  of  the  Ameri- 
can flag  by  Great  Britain  shall  be  a 
contribHtiug  cause  to  such  c-alamity,  we 
demand  that  our  nation  shall  hold  the 
British  Government  to  strict  account- 
ability e<iually  with  the  German  gov- 
ernment. 

-Believing  with  Thomas  Jefferson 
that  a  belligerent  might  feel  the  de- 
sires of  starving  an  enemy  nation,  but 
she  can  have  no  right  of  doing  it  at 
our  loss,  nor  of  making  us  the  instru- 
ment of  it,'  we  demand  the  unham- 
[lered  right  of  our  merchants  to  trans- 
IK)rt  foodstuffs  to  neutral  nations,  and 
to  noncombatants  ia  the  belligerent 
nations. 

■■We  declare  the  seizure  of  the  Wil- 
helmina.  an  unquestionably  American 
ship,  loaded  with  products  from 
American  farms  and  shipped  liy  Amer- 
ican citizens,  a  clear  invasion  of  our 
rights  as  a  neutral  nation,  and  con- 
sider untenable  the  position  of  the 
British  government  that  it  had  a  right 
to  seize  the  Wilhelmina's  cargo,  be- 
cause destined  for  the  use  of  the  Ger- 
man government,  as  that  government 
exiiressly  excluded  from  its  control 
foodstuffs  imported  by  other  nations. 

"We  declare  our  dissatisfaction  with 
the  purchase  by  helligerent  nations  of 
any  cargoes  seized  by  it,  because  it 
interferes  with  our  unequivocable 
right  to  ship  innocent  goods  in  neutral 
bottoms  to  any  neutral  nation  and  to 
the  non-combatant  population  in  any 
bolligerent  nation  to  whom  we  choose 
to  sell :  and  for  the  further  reason 
that  we  believe  that  such  seizure  and 
appropriation  tends  to  cripple  our 
commerce  and  impair  our  sea  prestige. 

"We  favor  a  policy,  well  within  our 
rights,  of  withholding  arms  and  muni- 
tions of  all  kinds,  from  any  nation 
abridging  our  rights  as  a  neutral 
I  ]o  wer. 

"We  recognize  commercial  rivalry 
as  a  primary  cause  of  wars,  are  op- 
posed therefore  to  a  monopoly  of  the 
seas  by  any  nation,  favor  the  freedom 
of  the  spas  for  all  the  peoples  of  the 
world,  and  urge  the  upbuilding  of  an 
American  merchant  inarliie,  so  that 
In  peace  or  in  war  American  shij)S, 
manned  by  American  seamen,  carry- 
ing the  .\merican  flag,  can  take  inno- 
cent American  goods  to  the  further- 
most parts  of  the  world,  free  from  re- 
straint or  interference  by  any  nation, 

"Be  It  Further  Uesolved,  That  a 
copy  of  these  resolutions  bo  sent  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  to 
the  Secretary  of  State,  Members  of  the 
T'nited  States  Senate  and  of  Congress. 

"Be  It  Further  Resolved.  That  the 
'For  America  League,'  under  whose 
allspices  this  meeting  was  held,  shall 
be  organized  throughout  the  T'nited 
States,  and  steps  to  that  end  be  taken 
Innnedlately." 

It  was  resolved  to  send  copies  of  the 
resolutions  to  President  Wilson  and  the 
members  of  the  Senate  and  ITouse  of 
Representatives. 


SHALL  A.MEUIC.\  FIRXISH  ARMS.' 


Question     of     Xeutrality     Is     Sanely 

Treated   by   Chief  Juctice  Dr. 

Xoldeke. 


We  pray  for  peace,  but  lose  no  op- 
portunity of  selling  firearms,  dyna- 
mite, powder,  cartridges  and  other 
articles  of  war  to  the  Allies,  so  as  to 
enahle  them  to  kill  more  "German 
barbarians."  —  The  Publisher  of 
"War  Echoes." 


From  "Hamburger  Frenidenblatt,"  by 
Cluef  Justice  Dr.  Xoldeke. 

The  fact  that  citizens  of  the  United 
States  are  supplying  the  Allies  with 
arms  and  ammunition  has  become  a 
matter  of  great  interest  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic.  The  announcement 
of  the  vastness  this  trafHc  has  as- 
sumed has  justly  aroused  the  atten- 
tion of  all  concerned.  A  strong  move- 
ment is  making  itself  felt  in  the 
United  States  in  favor  of  prohibiting 
such  traffic.  This  movement,  how- 
ever, is  opposed  not  only  by  our  ad- 
versaries, but  also  by  the  numerous 
American  manufacturers  who  are 
gaining  large  profits  from  this  trade. 
Those  who  are  favoring  the  abolish- 
ment of  the  exportation  of  arms  may 
be  interested  to  know  that  Germany 
has  by  no  means  become  reconciled 
to  the  fact  that  these  arguments  are 
being  made. 

It  is  true  that  Germany  is  aware 
of  the  fact  that  the  wording  of  The 
Hague  convention  does  not  demand  of 
any  neutral  government  the  passing 
of  laws  prohibiting  their  citizens  from 
dealing  in  war  materials  with  belli- 
gerents. Forbidden  only  is  the  fitting 
out  or  arming  of  ships  for  the  belli- 
gerents within  neutral  territory,  and 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  government  to 
prohibit  such  unneutral  acts  by  all 
possible  means.  Thus  the  American 
Government  has  forbidden  the  deliv- 
ery of  submarines  to  the  belliger- 
ents. 

The  former  Lord  Chancellor  of 
England,  Lord  Loveburn,  in  his  book 
on  "Private  Property  in  Naval  War- 
fare" criticizes  the  absence  of  logic 
in  the  present  state  of  affairs.  Says 
Lord  Loveburn:  "Thus  private  indi- 
viduals may  be  allowed  to  load  a  ship 
full  of  bombs  and  shells,  providing 
slie  is  only  going  to  carry  them  to  a 
belligerent  fleet.  If,  however,  the 
sliip  is  to  take  actual  part  in  this 
hostile  operation  the  neutral  govern- 
ment is  obliged  to  prevent  her  depar- 
t\ire  by  all  available  means.  As  to 
the  war  material,  it  is  left  to  the  belli- 
gerent to  help  himself." 

If,  as  international  law  stands  at 
present,  a  neutral  government  is  not 
obliged  to  prohibit  the  exportation  of 
arms,  such  prohibition,  if  resorted  to 
by  a  neutral  state,  could  not  be 
regarded  as  a  hostile  act  by  the  belli- 
gerents. Thus  if  one  of  our  adver- 
saries should  be  guilty  of  another 
violation  of  international  law,  if  the 
report  be  true  that  they  have  de- 
clared to  the  Swedish  government 
that  they  regarded  its  decree,  pro- 
hibiting the  transit  of  weapons 
through  Swedish  territory  as  an  un- 
friendly act,  the  only  condition  for 
such  a  prohibition  is  that  it  must  be 
applied  to  all  belligerents  without  dis- 
crimination. 

This  expressed  Ptile  of  The  Hague 
convention  may  well  be  considered 
with  reference  to  the  present  attitude 
of  the  American  government.  Ac- 
cording to  international  law,  all  belli- 
gerents are  to  be  treated  equally  by 
the  neutrals.  It  is  plain  that  actual 
conditions,   especially   on   account   of 


the  geographical  situation,  make  an 
equal  treatment  somewhat  difficult. 
Still,  the  unequal  treatment  which  al- 
lows shipments  of  arms  to  some  of  the 
belligerents  is  in  no  way  compatible 
with  the  principle  laid  down  in  The 
Hague  convention. 

It  seems  significant  that  the  United 
States  not  only  has  quietly  looked  on 
while  some  of  our  adversaries  have 
secured  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of 
war  materials,  but  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  is  taking 
no  firm  stand  against  the  fact  that 
England,  in  contradiction  to  well- 
established  rules  of  international  law, 
prevents  the  sending  of  food  supplies 
not  only  to  Germany,  but  to  neutral 
countries,  such  as  Holland,  Italy  and 
Scandinavia. 

If  Secretary  Bryan  thinks  that  the 
American  government  is  impartial  to- 
ward all  belligerent  powers  he  may 
be  literally  correct.  If,  however,  this 
"legal  equality"  is  compared  with  the 
actual  facts,  one  sees  at  a  glance  that 
there  is  anything  but  "actual  equal- 
ity" of  treatment.  The  inequality  is 
so  glaring  that  the  Americans  cannot 
help  seeing  it  if  they  are  truly  de- 
sirous of  keeping  a  real  neutrality 


FALK     CENSTOED    FOR    MAKIXG 
ALLY  SHELLS. 


Gerinan-.Anjerican    Alliance    Is    Told 
A.-V.  Co.  Manufactures  Shrapnel. 

Investigating    Committee    Urges    Re- 
Election  of  Present  Board  .Mem- 
bers   Because   of    Views   on 
Language.s. 


From 


'.Milwaukee  Free   Pi-ess, 
March  20,  1»15. 


The  Allis-Chalmers  Manufacturing 
company  and  Otto  H.  Falk,  its  presi- 
dent, were  censured  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  German-American  Alliance 
last  night  in  the  West  Side  Turn  Hall, 
when  a  committee  named  to  make  an 
investigation  reported  that  the  concern 
is  turning  out  shrapnel  shells  for  the 
Allies. 

The  rejxirt  says : 

"Shrapnel  shells  are  manufactured  by 
the  Allis-Chalmers  company  of  West 
Allis.  Upon  investigation  of  A.  J.  Lin- 
demann,  Milwaukee,  president  of  the 
Neutrality  League,  it  was  stated  that 
Otto  II.  Falk  was  not  in  any  way  con- 
nected with  that  organization. 

Report  on  School  Candidates. 

"We  greatly  regret  that  in  our  beau- 
tiful city  shells  are  being  made  for 
such  purposes.  Furthermor' .  we  regret 
that  a  man  in  whose  veins  there  runs 
German  blood  Is  the  bend  of  the  con- 
cern that  makes  woaixms  to  be  used 
to  kill  the  Germans  and  against  the 
German  cause." 

President  J.  Meyer  in  his  report  on 
investigations  as  to  the  attitude  of 
school  board  candidates  upon  teaching 
a  second  language — German  or  French 
— In  the  public  schools,  said  that  ho  had 
received  unsatisfactory  answers  from 
four  men.  He  advised  that  they  be 
opposed   in   the  coming  election. 

Membership  Now  15,000. 

The  membership  of  the  alliance  is 
now  more  than  1.1,000.  an  Increase  of 
."i.OOO   in   the   last  year. 


216 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


$25,000,000    LOAN    TO    CZAR    RE- 
VEALS MORGAN  BENT. 


Father  of  Present  Head  of  Firm — A 
Deeply  Religious  Man — Favored 
Russia;  Son  BeUeved  to  Fol- 
low Him. 


By  Boersianer. 
(Chicago  Examiner,  Jan.   17,   1915.) 

Through  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  Rus- 
sia horrowed  $25,000,000  here  last 
week.  It  is  stipulated  that  the  money 
must  be  "used  in  the  purchase  of  sup- 
plies for  export." 

Necessarily,  "supplies"  must  mean 
other  than  foods,tu£fs;  for  of  cereals, 
meats  and  edibles,  Russia  has  a  super- 
sufficiency.  It  is  an  over-abundance 
that,  despite  the  war,  threatens  to 
render  Russia  uncomfortable  finan- 
cially. 

Although  farming  is  anything  but 
scientific  in  Muscovy — the  most  prim- 
itive means  are  employed — Czardom 
grows  a  fourth  of  the  world's  wheat 
crop,  the  same  proportion  of  oats,  a 
third  of  the  barley  and  6  0  per  cent  of 
the  rye  yield.  But  the  war  has 
stopped  Russia's  exports.  She  cannot 
dispose  of  the  usual  surplus  as  usual. 
The  Baltic  Sea  and  the  Black  are 
closed  to  the  Northern  giant.  West- 
ern European  countries,  so  much  in 
need  of  Russian  grains,  are  depend- 
ing upon  America  for  their  defici- 
encies. 

The  cost  to  Russia  of  the  loan  ar- 
ranged by  Morgan  &  Co.  is  not 
known.  The  chances  are  the  lend- 
ers are  richly  remunerated.  When 
the  Russian  wants  money  he  will 
pay   the  price,   no   matter   how  high. 

Is  the  Morgan  loan  a  good  loan? 
The  probability  favors  the  affirma- 
tive. Intrinsically  Russia  is  incal- 
culably wealthy;  extrinsically,  appall- 
ingly poor.  As  suggested  above,  her 
agriculture  possibilities  are  limitless, 
her  population,  physically,  among  the 
best.  But  the  government  and  the 
mental  morale  of  the  people  are  the 
disquieting  factors  to  political  econ- 
omists. 

The  former  owes  to  foreigners 
some  ?4, 000, 000, 000;  the  latter  as 
much.  For  a  nation  of  171,200,000 
inhabitants  the  indebtedness  appears 
not  large.  But  when  the  policy  and 
the  people  are  scrutinized,  the  debt  is 
serious,  indeed. 

Above  90  per  cent  of  Russians  are 
illiterate.  Aside  from  the  Czar  and 
his  ministers  there  is  no  government- 
al responsibility — the  Duma  is  mere- 
ly a  ministerial  puppet.  France,  with 
a  population  of  only  39.600,000,  with 
only  a  tithe  of  Russia's  area,  has  a 
per  capita  debt  of  $166,  against  Rus- 
sia's $26.  Yet,  the  world  would  will- 
ingly lend  France  millions  more, 
where  it  would  reluctantly  advance 
Russia  hundreds  more. 

The  explanation  lies  in  the  govern- 
ment and  the  people;  in  civilization 
and  semi-barbarism.  Occidental  or- 
der, probity  and  education  could 
make  of  Russia  the  commercial  and 
financial  power  of  the  eastern  hemi- 
sphere, could  extinguish  her  huge 
foreign  obligation  in  a  few  years. 

Political  and  other  affiliations  have 
made  it  possible  for  Russia  to  bor- 
row abroad.  Of  Russia's  debt,  France 
holds  9  5  per  cent,  all  borrowed  since 


the     Franco-Russian     Alliance     was 

formed  in  the  eighties.  Gossips  have 
wondered  at  the  friendliness  of  the 
Morgan  house  to  the  Russians.  Dur- 
ing the  war  with  Japan  the  firm  of- 
fered a  Russian  loan  here — without 
success.  Malevolent  hints  are  again 
heard  that  the  Morgan  attitude  has 
been  prompted  by  the  anti-Russian 
position  of  Morgan's  rivals  in  finance. 
But  this  must  be  erroneous.  If  senti- 
ment plays  a  part,  it  may  not  be  of 
a  spiteful  or  retaliative  character. 

The  pro-Russian  bent  of  the  Mor- 
gan firm  was  given  by  the  late  J. 
Pierpont  Morgan,  and  therefore  has 
been  inherited  by  his  son.  The  de- 
ceased Morgan,  as  his  will  revealed, 
was  a  deeply  religious  man;  and  for 
some  religious  people  the  East  al- 
ways has  had  a  more  or  less  latent 
and  mystic  attraction.  Some  one  has 
explained  the  attitude  as  nostalgia. 

Man  came  out  of  the  East,  and  he 
subconsciously  returns  to  the  East; 
all  his  civilization  has  been  but  an 
attempt  at  forgetting,  and,  in  spite 
of  that  long  attempt,  he  still  remem- 
bers. When  he  first  approaches  it, 
the  East  seems  nothing  more  than 
one  great  enigma,  presented  to  him 
almost  on  the  terrifying  terms  of  the 
sphinx.  He  seems  on  the  threshold 
of  some  mystery,  a  curtain  trembles 
over  some  veiled  image,  perhaps  the 
image  of  wisdom.  The  grave  faces  of 
worshipers  look  into  his  face  with- 
out curiosity;  they  come  out  into  the 
light  from  behind  the  veil  and  go 
about  their  daily  business,  and  they 
are  as  inscrutable  to  the  Westerner 
as  if  really  they  were  in  communion 
with  a  wisdom  of  which  the  West  is 
ignorant. 

Perhaps,  after  all,  this  secret  with 
which  the  people  of  the  East  seem 
to  go  about  is  no  more  than  certain 
ordinary  and  of  necessity  incom- 
municable thoughts.  In  the  East 
everything  is  incommunicable.  Pos- 
sibly the  barrier  is  the  Oriental  con- 
tempt of  learning  and  the  Occidental 
reverence  of  it. 


CANDroATES  FOR  THE  "YOU- 
KNO\VHAT"  CLUB. 


The  Hornet,  Chicago. 

Miss  Jenny  Dufau,  Chicago  Opera 
singer,  in  an  interview: 

"The  Germans  finally  came  to  our 
house  and  accused  my  sister,  my 
father,  and  myself  of  being  spies  be- 
cause they  found  a  telephone  there. 
The  soldiers  lined  us  up  against  the 
wall  to  shoot  us,  but  we  fell  on  our 
knees  and  begged  them  to  spare  the 
life  of  our  father.  They  gave  no 
heed  until  a  German  colonel  came 
along  and,  after  questioning  us, 
ordered  that  we  he  set  free." 


Mile.  Trentini,  another  diva,  on 
landing  in  New  York; 

"I  am  at  Roncegno,  Austria,  sing- 
ing, July  15.  I  am  the  only  Italian 
in  Roncegno,  except  my  big  sister, 
Celene. 

"We  go  to  the  hotel  from  the  the- 
ater. The  swine  of  a  landlord,  he 
says  to  me:  'You  are  an  Italian!  Bah! 
B-a-a-h-h!    Get  out  of  my  house!' 

"He  threw  our  hags  into  the  street. 
Poor    Celene    must    carry    the    bags 


five  miles  to  the  railroad  station. 
I  cannot;  1  am  too  small.  As  we  go 
down  the  street  1  am  mad  like  every- 
thing, I  stick  out  my  tongue  at  the 
swine  and  call  'You  go  to  hell'!" 

If  it  were  not  impossible  that  the 
railway  station  in  Roncegno  is  five 
miles  from  the  hotel  and  if  the  two 
ladies  were  not  of  the  operatic  pro- 
fession one  might  doubt  the  object 
of  their  utterances.  As  it  is,  clever 
press  agents'  work  must  be  suspected. 
Milles   pardons,   mesdames. 


Chas.  E.  Russell,  of  New  York,  on 
his  arrival  from  Liverpool: 

"The  city  officials  of  Munich,  Ger- 
many, invited  many  of  us  stranded 
foreigners  in  the  city  to  a  perform- 
ance of  'Parsifal'  at  a  local  theater. 
As  a  result  of  the  invitation  the  the- 
ater was  crowded,  and  many  expres- 
sions of  pleasure  at  the  hospitality 
of  the  Germans  were  made.  After 
the  performance  the  rich  Americans 
and  others  who  had  come  in  auto- 
mobiles found  every  machine  in  front 
of  the  theater  had  been  confiscated." 

Sly  dogs,  those  Germans. 

Elected  without  further  proof  of 
qualification. 


Mr.  Sibour.  Excerpt  from  a  New 
York  interview: 

Mr.  Sibour  reached  Paris  after 
passing  through  the  country  where 
much  of  the  early  fighting  occurred. 
"On  one  field,"  Mr.  Sibour  said,  he 
saw  squares  of  dead  German  soldiers. 
Those  on  the  outside  had  fallen,  but 
the  bodies  toward  the  center  of  the 
squares  were  standing  upright  lean- 
ing against  each  other.  Officers  told 
him  that  the  machine  guns  were  re- 
sponsible  for   this  wholesale  killing. 

Is  it  not  possible  that  the  gentle- 
man was  half  shot  himself  when  he 
saw  that  grewsome  sight?  Elected 
unanimously. 


Mrs.  Henry  Clews  of  New  York 
permits  herself  to  be  quoted  in  a 
New  York  interview  as  follows: 

Mrs.  Henry  Clews,  wife  of  the  New 
York  banker,  a  passenger  on  the  Lus- 
itania,  which  arrived  today,  said  that 
at  Carlsbad,  where  she  was  one  of 
a  few  Americans  when  the  war  broke 
out,  she  was  made  to  submit  to  hav- 
ing her  finger  tip  imprints  taken  by 
the  authorities. 

"Whenever  I  appeared  in  the 
street,"  she  continued,  "  I  was  hooted 
and  jeered  at  unless  I  wore  a  large 
American  fiag.  On  my  way  to  Mu- 
nich, a  German  officer  told  me  that 
it  was  true  that  the  German  soldiers 
had  driven  women  and  children  of 
the  enemy  before  them  when  they 
went  into  battle.  The  officer  said 
that  the  life  of  each  soldier  was  pre- 
cious and  worth  more  than  the  lives 
of  the  women  and  children  of  the 
enemy." 

A  woman  capable  of  telling  stories 
like  these  should  be  submitted  to 
Bertillon  measurements.  However, 
Mrs.  C.  is  elected  by  acclamation. 


Martin  J.  Spalding  in  a  Chicago 
interview  on  what  he  saw  in  Bel- 
gium. After  telling  of  the  shooting 
of  a  trainload  of  British  prisoners 
by  the  Germans,  he  further  says: 


THE  OFFICIAL   NEUTRALITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


217 


"I  also  saw  three  uuiis  with  their 
lireasts  cut  off  taken  through  L16ge 
on  a  German  prisoners'  train.  I  did 
not  know  their  nationalities." 

Being  a  theological  student  in  Lou- 
vain,  Mr.  Spalding  evidently  became 
infected  with  the  well-known  Bel- 
gian microbe  of  "Prevaricator  Bel- 
giensis,"  the  existence  of  which  the 
following  extract  from  the  cable  of 
a  correspondent  amply  proves: 

"Sandbags  protected  them  for  some 
time,  but  at  last  the  aid  de  camp  was 
struck  by  shrapnel  and  had  his  face 
virtually  blown  away. 

"Unperturbed  by  this  terrible  proof 
of  the  danger  of  his  position,  the 
commanding  officer  stuck  to  his  post, 
and  for  further  shelter  placed  the 
body  of  his  junior  over  his  body.  In 
this  position  he  lay  firing  whenever 
possible,  from  8  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing until   4   in   the  afternoon." 

To  fire  for  8  hours  with  a  corpse 
lying  on  top  of  one  is  something  re- 
markable— not  for  a  Belgian  hero, 
however. 


The  Anglo-Russo-Franco-Belgian- 
Portuguese-Japanese  General  Staff 
announces  the  opening  of  a  special 
official  news  bureau  on  Park  Row, 
New  York. 

"Authentic  war  news  made  to 
order  and  always  ready  for  print." — 
From  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York, 


TOMMYROT  FOR  \VHICH  THE 

AMERICAN  PRESS  PAYS 

CABLE  TOLLS. 


The  Hornet,  Chicago. 

An  alleged  Berlin  wireless: 

"Count  Beroldingen,  whose  mother 
is  an  American  woman,  has  been 
awarded  two  iron  crosses  for  the 
following  exploit: 

"One  day  he  appeared  among  his 
comrades  wearing  the  raincoat  of  an 
English  officer  and  found  that  they 
did  not  recognize  him.  Consequently 
he  slipped  away  to  the  French  lines. 
To  the  English  commanding  officer 
he  said:  "I  am  an  English  adjutant. 
When  will  you  attack?  What  are 
your  positions,  and  what  is  your  plan 
of  action?' 

"The  English  general  gave  the 
count  the  information  he  asked  for. 

"Beroldingen  returned  to  the  Ger- 
man lines.  The  information  thus  ob- 
tained won  the  battle  for  the  Ger- 
mans." 

We  cannot  believe  it,  even  of  a 
British  general.  They  are  not  as 
dense  as  that. 


A  London  dispatch  cites  as  proof 
of  the  scarcity  of  provisions  in  Ham- 
burg the  following  incidents  at 
Hagenbeck's  zoo: 

"When  the  meat  supply  failed,  cer- 
tain  of  the  less  valuable  specimens 


of  deer  and  mountain  goats  were  shot 
to  supply  the  lions  and  tigers  with 
meats. 

"A  large  boa  constrictor  was  dis- 
covered digesting  his  female  compan- 
ion. Prior  to  meeting  her  fate  she 
herself  sated  her  appetite  on  a 
younger  and  less  lengthy  sister  which 
was  a  third  inhabitant  of  the  glass- 
fronted  lair." 

Not  a  bad  snake  story  at  that! 


A  correspondent  of  Renter's  tele- 
graphs this  from  Paris: 

"That  the  fumes  of  the  famous 
French  three-inch  shell  have  a  most 
deadly  effect  in  an  inclosed  space  is 
shown  by  a  scene  that  met  the  eyes 
of  the  French  penetrating  a  chateau 
occupied  by  the  Germans  and  which 
they  had  just  bombarded. 

"Entering  the  drawing  room,  they 
found  a  company  of  Wurttemberg- 
ians  petrified  in  action.  Some  were 
at  the  windows  taking  aim  with  their 
fingers  still  pressing  the  triggers, 
while  others  were  at  the  tables  where 
they  had  been  playing  games  with 
cards  in  their  hands,  while  still  others 
had  cigarets  between  their  lips. 

An  officer  stood  with  his  mouth 
open  as  if  in  the  act  of  dictating  an 
order,  and  all  the  corpses  looKed  ab- 
solutely lifelike." 

It  is  really  petrifying  to  even  read 
this. 


Official  Neutrality  of  the  United  States  in^the  World  War 


PRESIDENT   WILSON'S   NEUTRAL- 
ITY MESSAGE. 

"My  Fellow  Countrymen: 
"1  suppose  that  every  thoughtful 
man  in  America  has  asked  himself 
during  these  last  troubled  weeks 
what  influence  the  European  war 
may  exert  upon  the  United  States, 
and  I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing 
a  few  words  to  you  in  order  to  point 
out  that  it  is  entirely  within  our  own 
choice  what  its  effects  upon  us  will 
be,  and  to  urge  very  earnestly  upon 
you  the  sort  of  speech  and  conduct 
which  will  best  safeguard  the  nation 
against  distress  and  disaster. 

"The  effect  of  the  war  upon  the 
United  States  will  depend  upon  what 
American  citizens  say  and  do.  Every 
man  who  really  loves  America  will 
act  and  speak  in  the  true  spirit  of 
neutrality  which  is  the  spirit  of  im- 
partiality and  fairness  and  friendli- 
ness to  all  concerned.  The  spirit  of 
the  nation  in  this  critical  matter  will 
he  determined  largely  by  what  indi- 
viduals and  society  and  those  gath- 
ered in  public  meetings  do  and  say, 
upon  what  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines contain,  upon  what  ministers 
utter  in  their  pulpits,  and  men  pro- 
claim as  their  opinions  on  the  street. 
"The  people  of  the  United  States 
are  drawn  from  many  nations,  and 
chiefly  from  the  nations  now  at  war. 
It  is  natural  and  inevitable  that  there 
should  be  the  utmost  variety  of  sym- 
pathy and  desire  among  them  with 
regard  to  the  issues  and  circum- 
stances of  the  conflict.  Some  will 
wish  one  nation,  others  another,  to 


succeed  in  the  momentous  struggle. 
It  will  be  easy  to  excite  passion  and 
difficult  to  allay  it.  Those  responsi- 
ble for  exciting  it  will  assume  a 
heavy  responsibility,  responsibility 
for  no  less  a  thing  than  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States,  whose  love 
of  their  country  and  whose  loyalty 
to  its  Government  should  unite  them 
as  Americans  all,  bound  in  honor  and 
affection  to  think  first  of  her  and  her 
interests,  may  be  divided  in  camps 
of  hostile  opinion,  hot  against  each 
other,  involved  in  the  war  itself  in 
impulse  and  opinion  if  not  in  action. 
Such  divisions  among  us  would  be  fatal 
to  our  peace  of  mind  and  might  seri- 
ously stand  in  the  way  of  the  proper 
performance  of  our  duty  as  the  one 
great  nation  at  peace,  the  one  people 
holding  itself  ready  to  play  a  part  of 
impartial  mediation  and  speak  the 
councils  of  peace  and  accommodation, 
not  as  a  partisan,  but  as  a  friend. 

"I  venture,  therefore,  my  fellow 
countrymen,  to  speak  a  solemn  word 
of  warning  to  you  against  the  deep- 
est, most  subtle,  most  essential  breach 
of  nentriility  which  may  spring  out  of 
I)rtrtisanslup.  nut  of  passionately  tak- 
ing sides.  The  United  States  must 
be  neutral  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name 
during  these  days  that  are  to  try  men's 
souls.  We  must  he  imi)arltal  in 
thought  as  well  ns  in  action,  must 
put  a  curb  upon  our  sentiments  as 
well  as  upon  every  transaction  that 
might  be  construed  as  a  preference 
of  one  party  to  the  struggle  before 
another. 

"My  thought  Is  of  America.  T  am 
si  leaking.  I  feel  sure,  the  earnest  wish 


inul  puriK>se  of  every  thoughtful 
American  that  this  great  country  of 
ours,  which  is,  of  course,  the  first  in 
our  thoughts  and  our  hearts,  should 
show  herself  in  this  time  of  peculiar 
trial  a  nation  fit  beyond  others  to 
exhibit  the  fine  poise  of  undisturbed 
judgment,  the  dignity  of  self-control, 
the  efficiency  of  dispassionate  action; 
a  nation  that  neither  sits  in  judgment 
upon  others  nor  is  disturbed  in  her 
own  councils  and  which  keeps  herself 
fit  and  free  to  do  what  is  honest  and 
disintereste<l  and  truly  serviceable  for 
the  peace  of  the  world. 

"Shall  we  not  resolve  to  put  upon 
ourselves  the  restraints  which  will 
bring  to  our  people  the  happiness  and 
the  great  and  lasting  influence  for 
peace  we  covet   for  them?" 


THE    GERMAN-AMERICAN    AXU 

THE    PKKSIDEXT'S  N  E  U  - 

THALITV   l'KOCL.\MA- 

TION. 


Tlie  Fatlierland,  New  Y'ork. 

Dr.  Julius  Goebel. 

President  Wilson's  recent  appeal 
for  neutrality  was  of  the  greatest  in- 
terest to  German-Americans.  We 
may  rest  content  if  it  was  a  result 
of  the  protest  of  the  German-Amer- 
ican National  Alliance  against  the 
hatred,  the  lies  and  the  insults  of 
the  American  press,  long  under  the 
vicious  domination  of  England.  If, 
however,  it  is  a  warning  directed 
against  us,  it  is  superfluous  and  calls 
for  certain  rectifications. 


218 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


It  is  not  as  German  citizens  that 
we  protest,  but  as  Americans,  and, 
furthermore,  from  the  same  patriotic 
motives  as  those  which  inspired  the 
President.  We  protest  above  all 
against  the  secret  and  insidious  as- 
BumpUon  at  the  bottom  of  all  at- 
tacks upon  Germany;  that  this  coun- 
try is  a  dependency  of  England.  The 
spirit  of  antagonism  against  Germany 
adopted  by  ignorant  newspaper 
writers  could  never  have  found  so 
strong  an  echo  in  public  opinion  had 
not  the  latter  for  years  been  poisoned 
by  the  idea  of  a  supposed  Anglo- 
Saxonism  of  our  people. 

We  protest,  further,  against  that 
pretended  impartiality  which  dis- 
cards as  biased  and  of  questionable 
veracity  whatever  statements  are  is- 
sued by  the  Germans,  meanwhile  ac- 
cepting as  gospel  whatever  is  ad- 
vanced by  the  English,  French  or 
even  Russians.  This  attitude — the 
famous  "judicial  attitude"  of  cer- 
tain circles  in  America— pre-supposes 
a  state  of  mendacity  and  hypocrisy 
which  seems  incomprehensible  to  our 
German  sense  of  truth.  To  the  Ger- 
man mind  truth  is  the  expression  of 
the  most  sacred  ethical  convictions 
and  not  a  wax  figure  which  may  be 
modeled  to  suit  the  occasion.  We 
therefore  consider  it  our  sacred  duty 
to  give  utterance  to  our  convictions 
until  the  mask  of  hypocrisy  has  been 
torn  away  and  truth  has  become  vic- 
torious. 

We  consider  the  present  war  a  life 
and  'Ueath  struggle  of  the  German 
people  for  their  national  existence 
and  for  their  highest  possessions. 
We  know  that  this  war  was  forced 
upon  the  German  people  by  their 
enemies  and  their  jealous  neighbors 
and  that  they  did  not  seek  it  We 
are  convinced  that  the  downfall  of 
Germany  would  be  an  irreparable 
blow  to  American  culture,  which  is 
more  closely  united  to  the  higher 
civilization  of  Germany  than  to  that 
of  any  other  European  nation.  We 
decry  every  wanton  war  as  infamous 
and  as  an  inexpiable  crime,  and  as 
Germans  we  know  no  more  glorious 
and  heroic  ideal  than  that  of  peace 
bnnger.  But  we  believe  also  in  the 
ethical  justification  of  a  sacred  war 
such  as  the  German  people  are  today 
waging  for  its  very  life  and  for  its 
mission  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
and  we  cast  aside  as  hypocritical  all 
loose  talk  about  world  peace  when  it 
of  a  strong  people  is  thereby  to  be 
destroyed.  The  desire  to  crush  by 
force  or  by  the  power  of  arbitrary 
agreement,  as  in  the  days  of  the 
"Holy  Alliance,"  the  development  of 
a  people  such  as  the  Germans  is  a 
crime  against  lite  itself,  and  the  Ger- 
mans would  be  a  doomed  people  and 
not  a  nation  of  men,  were  they  silent- 
ly to  resign  themselves  to  the  fate 
which  their  enemies  have  decreed  for 
them. 

I  believe  that  every  German-Amer- 
ican will  fully  agree  with  President 
Wilson  that  our  country  must  pre- 
serve a  strict  and  true  neutrality  in 
this  war.  This  can  only  come  about, 
however,  when  the  American  press 
ceases  to  influence  public  opinion  in 
favor  of  England  and  Germany's 
other  enemies  by  the  publication  of 
false     reports     and     representations, 


thereby  offending  millions  of  citizens 
who  are  of  a  different  opinion.  In 
ordinary  life  we  shun  as  a  cad  anyone 
who  is  inconsiderate  of  the  feelings 
of  others.  If  we  were  to  treat  the 
anti-German  press  as  we  should  treat 
such  a  person,  the  results  would  soon 
be  apparent.  Above  all  let  us  sup- 
port the  German-American  papers. 
Although  at  the  moment  they  may 
not  be  able  to  give  us  any  direct 
news  from  Germany,  they,  at  least, 
act  as  a  healthy  corrective  to  the  con- 
tradictory and  antagonistic  reports 
of  doubtful  value  which  are  tele- 
graphed from  London  and  Paris,  and 
they  stand  united  for  the  German 
cause. 

May  the  cry  of  rage  against  Ger- 
many which  has  swept  the  country 
during  the  past  few  weeks  be  a  call 
to  union  for  every  German-American 
and  every  Anglo-American  with  Ger- 
man inclinations.  When  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  the  existence  or  non-existence 
of  a  noble  people  and  of  a  culture  to 
which  America  owes  its  best,  we  can- 
not stand  cooly  aside.  Nothing  is 
farther  from  our  intention  than  to 
offend  or  antagonize  our  fellow-citi- 
zens of  English,  French,  or  Slavic 
origin,  but  we  demand  the  right  to 
stand  for  the  truth  according  to  the 
measure  of  our  knowledge  and  to 
offer  our  struggling  brothers  all  ma- 
terial and  moral  support  of  which 
the  German  spirit  is  capable  in  hours 
of  need. 


PRAYERS  FOR  PEACE. 


A   Pi-oclaniation  by  the  President  of 
the      Vnited      State.s,     Designating 
Sunday,   October  4,    1914,   As   a 
Day   of  Prayer   and   Supplica- 
tion for  Peace  in  Europe. 

Whereas  great  nations  of  the  world 
have  taken  up  arms  against  one  an- 
other and  war  now  draws  millions  of 
men  into  battle  whom  the  counsel 
of  statesmen  have  not  been  able  to 
save  from  the  terrible  sacrifice; 

And  whereas  in  this  as  in  all  things 
it  is  our  privilege  and  duty  to  seek 
counsel  and  succor  of  Almighty  God, 
humbling  ourselves  before  Him,  con- 
fessing our  weakness  and  our  lack  of 
any  wisdom  equal  to  these  things; 

And  whereas  it  is  the  especial  wish 
and  longing  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  in  prayer  and  coun- 
sel and  all  friendliness,  to  serve  the 
cause  of  peace: 

Therefore,  I,  Woodrow  Wilson. 
President  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  do  designate  Sunday,  the 
fourth  day  of  October  next,  a  day  of 
prayer  and  supplication  and  do  re- 
quest all  God-fearing  persons  to  re- 
pair on  that  day  to  their  places  of 
worship  there  to  unite  their  petitions 
to  Almighty  God  that,  overruling  the 
counsel  of  men,  setting  straight  the 
things  they  can  not  govern  or  alter, 
taking  pity  on  the  nations  now  in 
the  throes  of  conflict,  in  His  mercy 
and  goodness,  showing  a  way  where 
men  can  see  none.  He  vouchsafe  His 
children  healing  peace  again  and  re- 
store once  more  that  concord  among 
men  and  nations  without  which  there 
can  be  neither  happiness  nor  true 
friendship  nor  any  wholesome  fruit 
of  toil  or  thought  in  the  world:  pray- 


ing also  to  this  end  that  He  forgive 
us  our  sins,  our  ignorance  of  His 
holy  will,  our  willfulness  and  many 
errors,  and  lead  us  in  the  paths  of 
obedience  to  places  of  visions  and  to 
thoughts  and  counsels  that  purge  and 
make  wise. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto 
set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of 
the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington 
this  eighth  day  of  September,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  fourteen,  and  of  the  in- 
dependence of  the  United  States  of 
America  the  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
ninth. 

Woodrow  Wilson. 
By  the  President: 

William  Jennings  Bryan, 

Secretary  of  State. 


BELGIANS   AND   GERMANS   AT 
THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 


Translation   of   Editorial    Which   Ap- 
peared in  German  in  the  "Illinois 
Staats-Zeitung,"  Chicago,  Sep- 
tember 16,  1914. 

On  their  way  to  this  country  the 
Belgian  commission  stopped  oft  at 
London  to  get  instructions.  What- 
ever these  gentlemen  did  not  know 
was  imparted  to  them  by  that  past 
master  of  fabrication,  Sir  Edward 
Grey.  Special  efforts  were  made  to 
impress  the  Belgians  that  the  more 
they  falsified  the  greater  their  chance 
for  success  would  be,  for  the  Ameri- 
can, they  were  told,  loves  the  prodi- 
gious, and  nothing  but  a  description 
of  wholesale  brutality  strikes  him. 
Also  that  his  sentimental  credulity 
and  his  credulous  sentimentality  as- 
sured the  Belgians  of  his  sympathy 
from  the  start,  and  furthermore,  that 
the  Anglo-American  press  had  pre- 
pared the  field  with  touching  unan- 
imity. The  cruelties  committed  by 
the  Belgians  in  the  Congo  that  caused 
demonstrations  of  protest  in  this 
country  are  forgotten,  also  the  scan- 
dalous examples  set  by  their  former 
King  Leopold.  Today  Belgium  is  a 
morally  pure  country,  tlie  home  of 
humanity,  that  feels  fully  justified 
'in  sending  its  representatives  to 
America  to  complain  of  the  bar- 
barism of  Germany.  That  the 
same  barbarians  six  years  ago  were 
praised  to  the  skies  by  these  very 
Belgians  because  they  needed  Ger- 
man generosity  as  a  protection 
against  England's  selfishness  is 
history;  but  nevertheless  the  Ger- 
mans are  barbarians.  It  is  also  his- 
tory that  the  Lord  Chancellor  Hal- 
dane,  at  the  time  secretary  of  war,  on 
April  7  a  year  ago  remarked  to  the 
noted  historian  Dr.  Robt.  Davidson, 
that  he  was  convinced  that  England, 
in  order  not  to  decline  intellectually, 
must  fertilize  its  mental  fields  with 
German  culture.  However,  the  Ger- 
mans are  barbarians.  The  fact  that 
the  governor  of  this  state  and  the 
mayor  of  this  city,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  unveiling  of  the  Goethe  monu- 
ment, both  spoke  of  the  Germans  as 
the  most  peace-loving  and  law-abid- 
ing citizens,  and  that  President  Wil- 
son in  his  historical  works  accords 
the  Germans  full  recognition,  this  is 


THE   OFFK  lAI.   XErTRALITV  UF   THE   UNITED  STATES 


219 


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UNCLE  SAMS  OITTCUKS  IX  GKKMANY 
"111  .Military  Attacht'S  on  tlie  Occasion   of   Visiting   the   "FrauzerUaseni"   in    I'.erliii 
(By    Courtisy    of    tin-    "Chicago    Abendpost") 


all  history,  but  is  ignored,  for  the 
Germans  must  be  branded  as  bar- 
barians and  even  if  all  the  attain- 
ments of  the  Germans  be  denied. 

The  Belgians,  who  themselves  ad- 
mit that  they  did  not  witness  the 
cruelties  alleged  to  have  been  com- 
mitted, were  received  with  open  arms 
in  this  country  that  claims  to  be  neu- 
tral, and  today  they  are  to  be  re- 
ceived by  the  same  President  that  re- 
quested the  naturalized  citizens  of 
this  country  to  show  no  feeling  what- 
ever in  the  matter.  He  receives  them 
as  a  matter  of  courtesy.  The  Presi- 
dent demanded  that  we  show  no  feel- 
ing, and  we  complied.  He  is  not  will- 
ing to  sacrifice  his  courtesy  for  the 
neutrality   of  the  country. 

But  this  time  the  Germans  have 
become  active.  In  consequence  of 
a  movement  begun  by  the  ILLINOIS 
STAATS-ZEITUNG.  a  wave  of  pro- 
test has  swept  over  the  country  and 
petitions  were  signed  by  the  thou- 
sands, a  great  many  by  people  not 
of  German  descent.  Mr.  Horace  L. 
Brand,  the  publisher  of  this  paper, 
has  undertaken  to  deliver  the  thou- 
sandfold documentary  evidence  of  in- 
dignation to  the  President.  The  pro- 
test of  the  voters  against  a  violation 
of  neutrality  by  a  tew  foreigners 
and  on  the  part  of  the  President  of 
this  neutral  repul)lic  cannot  go 
amiss — because  it  is  a  protest  of  the 
voters. 


ing  a  friendly  feeling  toward  Ger- 
many, has  through  its  columns  sent 
a  dash  of  ice  cold  water  at  the  Bel- 
gian commission  at  the  very  time  the 
alliance  of  slander  and  adjectives 
celebrated  orgies. 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  GREETING 

TO  THE  I5ELGI.\N  ROY.AL 

COM.MISSION. 


.\    COLD    D.4SH. 


Illinois    Stnnts-Zeitung. 

The  allies  have  not  only  suffered 
defeats  on  European  soil  but  also  on 
American.  The  "Tribune"  which 
surelv  cannot  be  suspected  of  evinc- 


Cliicago  Daily  News. 

President  Wilson  said  to  the  com- 
mission: 

"Permit  me  to  say  with  what  sin- 
cere pleasure  1  receive  you  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  king  of  the  Bel- 
gians, a  people  for  whom  the  people 
of  the  United  States  feel  so  strong 
a  friendship  and  admiration,  a  king 
for  whom  they  entertain  so  sincere  a 
respect,  and  express  my  hope  that 
we  may  have  many  opportunities  of 
earning  and  deserving  their  regard. 

"You  are  not  mistaken  in  believing 
that  the  people  of  this  country  love 
justice,  seek  the  true  paths  of  prog- 
ress and  have  a  passionate  regard 
for  the  rights  of  humanity.  It  is  a 
matter  of  profound  pride  to  me  that 
I  am  permitted  for  a  time  to  repre- 
sent such  a  people  and  to  be  their 
spokesman,  and  I  am  honored  that 
your  king  should  have  turned  to  me 
in  time  of  distress  as  to  one  who 
would  wish  on  behalf  of  the  people 
he  represents  to  consider  the  claims 
to  the  impartial  sympathy  of  man- 
kind of  a  nation  which  deems  itself 
wronged. 

I'ray.s.for  EikI  of  the  War. 

"I  thank  you  for  the  document  yon 
have  put  in  my  hands  containing  the 
ir'siilt    of   an    investigation    made   l)y   a 


judicial  committee  appointed  liy  the 
Belgian  government  to  look  into  the 
matter  of  which  you  have  come  to 
speak.  It  shall  liave  my  most  atten- 
tive jierusal  and  my  most  thoughtful 
consideration. 

"You  will,  I  am  sure,  not  expect  me 
to  say  more.  Presently — I  pray  God 
very  soon — this  war  will  be  over.  The 
day  of  accounting  will  then  come, 
when,  I  take  it  for  granted,  the  nations 
of  Europe  will  asseuilile  to  determine 
a  settlement.  Where  wrongs  have  been 
committed  their  ( onsequences  and  the 
relative  responsibility  involved  will  be 
assessed. 

"The  nations  of  the  world  have,  for- 
tunately, by  agreement  made  a  plan 
for  such  a  reckoning  and  settlement. 
What  such  a  plan  cannot  compass  the 
opinion  of  mankind,  the  final  arbiter  in 
such  matters,*  will  supply.  It  would  be 
unwise,  it  would  be  premature,  for  a 
single  government,  however  fortunately 
separated  from  the  present  struggle,  it 
would  1)0  inconsistent  with  the  neutral 
jKisition  of  any  nation,  which,  like  this, 
has  no  part  in  the  contest,  to  form  or 
express  a   final  judgment. 

Speaks  Frankly,  Voicing  Friendship. 

"I  need  not  assure  you  that  this  con- 
clusion in  which  I  instinctively  feel 
that  you  will  yourselves  concur,  is 
spoken  frankly,  because  in  warm 
friendship  and  as  the  best  means  of 
perfect  understanding  between  us — an 
understanding  based  upon  neutral  re- 
spect, admiration  and  cordiality. 

"You  are  most  welcome  and  we  are 
greatly  honored  that  you  should  have 
chosen  us  as  the  friends  before  whom 
you  could  lay  any  matter  of  vital  con- 
sequence lo  yourselves,  in  the  confidence 
that  your  cause  would  be  understwd 
and  met  in  the  same  spirit  in  wliicli  It 
was  conceived  and  inteuded." 


220 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


PRESIDENT    WILSON'S    REPLIES. 


Editorial  from  "The  Hartford  Daily 
Courant,"  September  18,  1914. 

President  Wilson's  replies  to  the 
Belgian  envoys  and  to  the  German 
Emperor  were  exactly  what  the  coun- 
try expected  them  to  be.  They  were 
friendly  and  sympathetic  in  tone  and 
were  expressed  in  words  carefully 
chosen.  He  was  right  in  saying  that 
the  time  has  not  yet  come  for  the 
passing  of  judgment.  The  Courant 
said  several  days  ago  that  this  much 
it  was  the  President's  duty  to  do  and 
that  there  was  nothing  more  that  he 
could  do.  His  course  was  so  plain 
that  there  was  no  possibility  tor  any 
but  a  blind  man  to  stumble,  and  Dr. 
Wilson  is  not  blind.  It  is  surprising, 
therefore,  to  find  certain  Washington 
correspondents  sycophantically  rant- 
ing about  the  remarkable  cleverness 
of  the  President  in  keeping  out  of 
trouble.  There  couldn't  have  been 
any  trouble  unless  the  President  had 
made  it.  The  way  was  so  plain  that 
a  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool,  need 
not  have  erred  therein.  The  Presi- 
dent performed  a  simple  task  In  a 
simple  and  straightforward  way. 
Nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  trying  to 
make  it  appear  that  he  passed 
through  a  difficult  ordeal  with  super- 
human wisdom  and  skill. 


SPECIFIC  DVMDUM  CH.\RGES. 


German  Ambassador  (Jives  Names  of 
Firms  He  Says  Are  Making  Illegal 
Bullets  for  Allies. 

Washington  —  Count  von  Bern- 
storff,  the  German  Ambassador,  has 
presented  to  the  State  Department  af- 
fidavits and  exhibits  in  an  effort  to 
prove  his  charges  that  dumdum  bul- 
lets are  being  manufactured  in  the 
United  States  and  shipped  to  the  Al- 
lies. A  month  ago,  when  von  Bern- 
storff  made  general  charges  of  this 
nature.  Secretary  Bryan,  after  an  in- 
vestigation, said  they  were  without 
foundation. 

The  new  charges  name  several 
American  firms,  giving  the  quanti- 
ties of  bullets  turned  out  and  the 
dates  of  shipment.  Mr.  Bryan  would 
not  give  out  the  new  affidavits,  but 
referred  them  to  Secretary  of  War 
Garrison,  with  the  request  that  he 
make  an  investigation  through  offi- 
cers of  the  army  detailed  to  all  the 
great  gun  and  ammunition  factories. 


AMERICAN  NEUTRALITY. 


By  Frank  Harris. 

In  a  Letter  Sent  as  a  Special  Favor  to 

the  Editor  for  "War  Echoes." 

President  Wilson  at  this  moment 
is  carrying  a  heavier  burden  of  re- 
sponsibility than  any  man  in  recorded 
history.  No  prophet  or  saint,  no 
statesman  or  hero  has  ever  had  such 
an  opportunity,  tor  it  is  my  belief 
that  he  could  bring  about  an  almost 
immediate  peace  and  probably  on  his 
own  terms;  that  is,  on  more  equit- 
able terms  than  are  likely  to  be 
reached  by  the  combatants  and  the 
balance  of  their  forces. 

The  fact  recently  set  forth  in  the 
"London  Times"   that   Great   Britain 


is  suffering  from  a  "shortage  of  or- 
dinary munitions  of  war"  and  this  at 
"the  beginning  of  the  summer  cam- 
paign," gives  President  Wilson  his 
opportunity.  A  short  time  ago  his 
mere  expression  of  opinion  that  sub- 
marines should  not  be  shipped  to  any 
of  the  combatants,  stopped  the  expor- 
tation. In  the  same  way  he  could 
forbid  the  exportation  of  munitions 
of  war  to  any  of  the  combatants  as 
he  forbade  their  exportation  to  Mex- 
ico. He  has  not  thought  it  wise  to 
do  so;  but  the  power  gives  him  his 
great  opportunity. 

He  might  inform  Sir  Edward  Grey 
that  as  the  deadlock  in  the  present 
war  had  existed  now  for  over  six 
months  and  as  there  was  no  probabil- 
ity that  it  would  be  changed  in  the 
near  future  to  the  advantage  'of 
either  of  the  combatants,  it  would  be 
well  if  Sir  Edward  Grey  would  for- 
mulate reasonable  conditions  of 
peace.  A  mere  expression  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  opinion  would  be  suffi- 
cient; but  he  might  add  that  if  Sir 
Edward  Grey  thought  fit  not  to  com- 
ply with  this  request  made  in  the 
interests  of  humanity,  he  would  be 
compelled  to  reconsider  his  refusal 
to  interfere  with  the  export  of  mu- 
nitions of  war  to  the  combatants. 

As  soon  as  Sir  Edward  Grey's  pro- 
posals were  received,  the  President 
could  lay  them  before  the  German- 
Austrian  powers.  It  may  be  asked: 
What  inducement  could  the  President 
of  the  United  States  offer  to  the  Em- 
perors of  Germany  and  Austria  to  in- 
duce Germany  to  give  up  the  portions 
of  Prance  and  Belgium  and  Russian 
Poland  which  she  has  conquered? 
Germany  has  again  and  again  de- 
clared that  she  has  only  taken  up 
the  sword  because  she  was  attacked 
and  that  she  sought  no  advantage 
from  the  war.  But  if  this  declara- 
tion is  hardly  to  be  taken  literally. 
President  Wilson  might  point  out 
that  the  main  objects  he  proposed  to 
himself  to  justify  his  interference 
were  a  general  disarmament  and  the 
neutralization  for  all  future  time  of 
the  seas  and  the  air.  There  can 
hardly  be  any  doubt  that  Germany 
would  regard  these  terms  as  worthy 
of  very  considerable  sacrifices.  It 
may  be  taken  for  granted  that  peace 
could  be  brought  about  on  these  lines 
by  President  Wilson,  within  this 
month. 

I  am  sure,  from  his  public  utter- 
ances, that  President  Wilson  is  fully 
alive  to  all  tlie  high  responsibilities 
of  his  position  and  that  he  is  re- 
solved to  use  his  powers  in  the  best 
spirit  for  the  benefit  of  humanity. 
But  sometimes  a  casual  suggestion 
even  from  an  outsider  may  open  up 
a  new  line  of  thought;  and  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  Sir  Edward  Grey, 
too,  might  be  willing  to  have  his 
share  in  the  fame  that  will  certainly 
belong  to  the  men  who  shall  bring 
out  of  this  world  war  a  lasting  peace. 


IF  WE   HAD   THOUGHT   OF 
AMERICA  FIRST! 

If  we  had  thought  neither  of  Eng- 
land nor  Germnn.v.  should  we  have  al- 
lowed the  former  to  cut  our  cable  con- 
nection with  the  latter?  England 
harmed  the  United  States  as  much  as 
Germany,   for   it  afforded   England   an 


opportunity  to  fill  our  press  with  lies 
— no  other  word  would  express  our 
meaning — and  the  American  mind  with 
a  false  impression  of  Germany.  Amer- 
ica was  greatly  harmed  by  this,  for 
it  will  take  long  years  to  erase  from 
the  American  mind  the  wrong  impres- 
sion engraved  on  it  by  the  libelous  Eng- 
lish press  bureaux. 

America,  therefore,  had  a  right  to 
an  uncensored  communication  with 
Germany,  her  friend,  and  it  was  be- 
cause we  thought  of  England  and  not 
of  America  first  that  we  did  not  force 
England  to  repair  the  German  cable. 

If  it  had  not  been  for  our  love  and 
fear  of  England,  if  we  had  thought  of 
.\merica  first,  should  we  have  allowed 
that  country  to  tear  to  tatters  the  code 
of  international  law.  to  forge  out  of 
her  necessity  fetters  for  the  whole  neu- 
tral trade,  ours  included :  to  haul  our 
vessels,  against  all  law  and  custom, 
from  off  the  high  seas  and  into  her 
ports,  where  she  damaged  the  cargoes 
by  unlawful  and  unnecessary  inspec- 
tions and  kept  the  vessels  for  weeks 
to  await  her  pleasure? 

If  we  had  thought  of  America  first 
and  disregai'ded  our  love  and  fear  of 
England,  should  we  have  meekly  stood 
by  when  .she  trampled  on  our  flag  In 
the  Grcenhriar  case,  for  which  she  has 
not  apologized  as  yet,  seven  weeks  after 
it  happened? 

If  we  had  loved  and  feared  Eng- 
land less  and  America  more,  should 
we  have,  as  the  "Gaelic  American"  con- 
tends, allowed  three  British  war  ves- 
sels to  hold  up  our  battleship  Texas  at 
our  own  shores,  and  then  have  sup- 
pressed the  news  of  It? 

If  we  had  thought  of  America  first, 
forgetting  for  once  our  fear  and  love 
of  England,  should  we  have  waited 
five  months — from  August  4th  to  De- 
cember 2(i.  1914 — before  officially  pro- 
testing against  England's  arbitrary  and 
illegal  interference  with  American 
trade  and  shipping?  Should  we  have 
feared  to  claim  the  stars  and  stripes 
as  our  very  own  emblem,  the  misuse  of 
which  would  be  considered  a  hostile 
act? 

Should  we  have  allowed  England  to 
hoist  on  her  vessels  the  stars  and 
stripes,  the  emblem  of  the  free  and 
the  brave,  to  evade  in  fear  and  trem- 
bling the  consequences  of  her  acts,  and 
endanger,  again  unlawfully,  our  own 
vessels? 

If  we  had  thought  of  America  first, 
should  we  have  permitted  England  to 
force  us  to  help  her  starve  the  German 
civilian  population,  by  weakly  allow- 
ing her  to  take  the  Wilhelmiua,  an 
American  vessel,  with  foodstuffs  for 
German  civilians,  into  an  English  port 
to  be  kept  there  till  an  English  prize 
court  can  decide  upon  an  American 
case? 

If  we  had  thought  of  America  first 
in  the  Daeia  case,  should  we  not  have 
sent  an  American  war  vessel  along  to 
see  that  England  did  not  put  into  exe- 
cution her  threat  to  capture  her  as  a 
prize,  and.  once  more,  decide  an  Amer- 
ican case  in  an  English  prize  court? 

Can  anybody  sincerely  say,  that  in 
all  these  cases  we  have  stood  fairly 
an<l  squarely  on  American  rights,  have 
thought  of  America  first,  without  love 
or  fear  of  any  country,  considering 
nothing  but  our  righteous  cause? — The 
Crucible. 


THE  OFFICIAL  NEUTRALITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


THE    OFPICIAL    NEITRALITY    OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  following  exchange  of  an  of- 
ficial correspondence  between  the 
Secretary  of  State,  the  Hon.  William 
Jennings  Bryan,  and  the  Hon.  Sen- 
ator William  F.  Stone,  will  give  a 
good  exposition  of  the  position  of 
the  government  up  to  January  first, 
1915.  Up  to  this  time  (April  23d) 
the  policy  of  the  government  seems 
to  have  changed  very  little,  as  Mr. 
Bryan's  reply  to  the  German  Minis- 
ter at  Washington  of  yesterday,  also 
included  under  this  head,  will  show; 
both  the  letters  addressed  to  the  De- 
partment are  included,  and  the 
reader  may  judge  for  himself  as  to 
the  justice  in  the  case. — Editor. 


NEUTRALITY. 


Letter  of  Senator  Stone. 

"January   8,   1915. 

"Dear  Mr.   Secretary: 

"As  you  are  aware,  frequent  com- 
plaints or  charges  are  made  in  one 
form  or  another  through  the  press 
that  this  Government  has  shown 
partiality  to  Great  Britain,  France, 
and  Russia  as  against  Germany  and 
Austria  during  the  present  war  be- 
tween those  powers;  in  addition  to 
which  I  have  received  numerous  let- 
ters to  the  same  effect  from  sym- 
pathizers with  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria. The  various  grounds  of  these 
complaints  may  be  summarized  and 
stated  in  the  following  form: 

"1.  Freedom  of  communication 
by  submarine  cables,  but  censorship 
of  wireless  messages. 

"2.  Submission  to  censorship  of 
mails  and  in  some  cases  to  the  re- 
peated destruction  of  American  let- 
ters found  on  neutral  vessels. 

"3.  The  search  of  American  ves- 
sels for  German  and  Austrian  sub- 
jects— 

(a)  On  the  high  seas. 

(b)  In  territorial  waters  of  a  bel- 

ligerent. 

"4.  Submission  without  protest  to 
English  violations  of  the  rules  re- 
garding absolute  and  conditional 
contraband,  as  laid  down — 

(a)  In   the   Hague  Conventions. 

(b)  In  international  law. 

(c)  In  the  Declaration  of  London. 

".">.  Submission  without  protest  to 
inclusion  of  copper  in  the  list  of  ab- 
solute contraband. 

"6.  Submission  without  protest  to 
interference  with  American  trade  to 
neutral  countries — 

(a)  In  conditional  contraband. 

(b)  In   absolute  contraband. 

"7.  Submission  without  protest  to 
interruption  of  trade  in  conditional 
contraband  consigned  to  private  per- 
sons in  Germany  and  Austria,  there- 
by supporting  the  policy  of  Great 
Britain  to  cut  off  all  supplies  from 
Germany  and  Austria. 

"8.  Submission  to  British  inter- 
ruption of  trade  in  petroleum,  rub- 
ber, leather,  wool,  etc. 

"9.  No  interference  with  the  sale 
to    Great    Britain    and    her    allies   of 


arms,  ammunition,  horses,  uniforms, 
and  other  munitions  of  war,  al- 
though such  sales  prolong  the  war. 

"10.  No  suppression  of  sale  of 
dumdum  bullets  to  Great  Britain. 

"11.  British  warships  are  per- 
mitted to  lie  off  American  ports  and 
intercept   neutral  vessels. 

"12.  Submission  without  protest 
to  disregard  by  Great  Britain  and  her 
allies  of — 

(a)  American    naturalization    cer- 

tificates. 

(b)  American   passports. 

"13.  Change  of  policy  in  regard 
to  loans  to  belligerents: 

(a)  General  loans. 

(b)  Credit  loans. 

"14.  Submission  to  arrest  of  na- 
tive-born Americans  on  neutral  ves- 
sels and  in  British  ports,  and  their 
imprisonment. 

"15.  Indifference  to  confinement 
of  non-combatants  in  detention 
camps  in  England  and  France. 

"16.  Failure  to  prevent  trans- 
shipment of  British  troops  and  war 
material  across  the  territory  of  the 
United  States. 

"17.  Treatment  and  final  intern- 
ment of  German  steamship  "Geier" 
and  the  collier  "Locksun"  at  Hono- 
lulu. 

"18.  Unfairness  to  Germany  in 
rules  relative  to  coaling  of  warships 
in  Panama  Canal  Zone. 

"19.  Failure  to  protest  against 
the  modifications  of  the  declaration 
of  London  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment. 

"20.  General  unfriendly  attitude 
of  Government  toward  Germany  and 
Austria. 

"If  you  deem  it  not  incompatible 
with  the  public  interest  I  would  be 
obliged  if  you  would  furnish  me 
with  whatever  information  your  de- 
partment may  have  touching  these 
various  points  of  complaint,  or  re- 
quest the  counselor  of  the  State  De- 
partment to  send  me  the  information, 
with  any  suggestions  you  or  he  may 
deem  advisable  to  make  with  respect 
to  either  the  legal  or  political  aspects 
of  the  subject.  So  far  as  informed 
I  see  no  reason  why  all  the  matter 
I  am  requesting  to  be  furnished 
should  not  be  made  public,  to  the 
end  that  the  true  situation  may  be 
known  and  misapprehensions  quieted. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
"Yours,  sincerely, 

"WM.  J.  STONE. 

"Hon.  William  Jennings  Bryan, 
"Secretary  of  State." 


lietter  of  Secretary  of  State. 

"Department  of  State, 
"Washington,  January  20,   1915. 
"Dear  Mr.  Stone: 

I  have  received  yotir  letter  of  the 
8th  instant,  referring  to  frequent 
complaints  or  charges  made  in  one 
form  or  another  through  the  press 
that  this  Government  has  shown  par- 
tiality to  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
Russia  against  Germany  and  Austria 
during  the  present  war,  and   stating 


that  you  have  received  numerous 
letters  to  the  same  effect  from  sym- 
pathizers with  the  latter  powers. 
You  summarize  the  various  grounds 
of  these  complaints  and  ask  that 
you  be  furnished  with  whatever  in- 
formation the  department  may  have 
touching  these  points  of  complaint, 
in  order  that  you  may  be  informed 
as  to  what  the  true  situation  is  in 
regard  to  these  matters. 

In  order  that  you  may  have  such 
information  as  the  department  has 
on  the  subjects  referred  to  in  your 
letter,   I  will  take  them  up  seriatim. 

(1)  Freedom  of  communication 
by  submarine  cables  versus  censored 
communication  by  wireless. 

The  reason  that  wireless  mes- 
sages and  cable  messages  require  dif- 
ferent treatment  by  a  neutral  Gov- 
ernment is  as  follows: 

Communications  by  wireless  can 
not  be  interrupted  by  a  belligerent. 
With  a  submarine  cable  it  is  other- 
wise. The  possibility  of  cutting  the 
cable  exists,  and  if  a  belligerent  pos- 
sesses naval  superiority  the  cable  is 
cut,  as  was  the  German  cable  near 
the  Azores  by  one  of  Germany's  ene- 
mies, and  as  was  the  British  cable 
near  Fanning  Island  by  a  German 
naval  force.  Since  a  cable  is  sub- 
ject to  hostile  attack,  the  responsi- 
bility falls  upon  the  belligerent  and 
not  upon  the  neutral  to  prevent  cable 
communication. 

A  more  important  reason,  however, 
at  least  from  the  point  of  view  of 
a  neutral  Government,  is  that  mes- 
sages sent  out  from  a  wireless  sta- 
tion in  neutral  territory  may  be  re- 
ceived by  belligerent  warships  on  the 
high  seas.  If  these  messages, 
whether  plain  or  In  cipher,  direct  the 
movement  of  warships  or  convey  to 
them  information  as  to  the  location 
of  an  enemy's  public  or  private  ves- 
sels, the  neutral  territory  becomes  a 
base  of  naval  operations,  to  permit 
which  would  be  essentially  unneu- 
tral. 

As  a  wireless  message  can  be  re- 
ceived by  all  stations  and  vessels 
within  a  given  radius,  every  message 
in  cipher,  whatever  its  intended  des- 
tination, must  be  censored;  other- 
wise military  information  may  be 
sent  to  warships  off  the  coast  of  a 
neutral.  It  is  manifest  that  a  sub- 
marine cable  is  incapable  of  becom- 
ing a  means  of  direct  communication 
with  a  warship  on  the  high  seas. 
Hence  its  use  can  not,  as  a  rule, 
make  neutral  territory  a  base  for  the 
direction  of  naval  operations. 

(2)  Censorship  of  mails  and  In 
some  cases  repeated  destruction  of 
American  letters  on  neutral   vessels. 

As  to  the  censorship  of  mails, 
Germany  as  well  as  Great  Britain 
has  pursued  this  course  in  regard  to 
private  letters  falling  into  their 
hands.  The  unquestioned  right  to 
adopt  a  measure  of  this  sort  makes 
objection  to  it  inadvisable. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  -Amer- 
ican mail  on  board  of  Dutch  steam- 
ers has  been  repeatedly  destroyed. 
No  evidence  to  this  effect  has  been 
filed  with  the  Government,  and 
therefore  no  representations  have 
been  made.  Until  such  a  case  is 
presented     In     concrete     form,     this 


222 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


Government  would  not  be  justified 
in  presenting  the  matter  to  the  of- 
fending belligerent.  Complaints  have 
come  to  the  department  that  mail  on 
board  neutral  steamers  has  been 
opened  and  detained,  but  there  seem 
to  be  but  few  cases  where  the  mail 
from  neutral  countries  has  not  been 
finally  delivered.  When  mail  is  sent 
to  belligerent  countries  open  and  is 
of  a  neutral  and  private  character  it 
has  not  been  molested,  so  far  as  the 
department  is  advised. 

(3)  Searching  of  American  ves- 
sels for  German  and  Austrian  sub- 
jects on  the  high  seas  and  in  terri- 
torial waters  of  a  belligerent. 

So  far  as  this  Government  has 
been  informed,  no  American  vessels 
on  the  high  seas,  with  two  excep- 
tions, have  been  detained  or  searched 
by  belligerent  warships  for  German 
and  Austrian  subjects.  One  of  the 
exceptions  to  which  reference  is 
made  is  now  the  subject  of  a  rigid 
investigation,  and  vigorous  repre- 
sentations have  been  made  to  the 
offending  Government.  The  other 
exception,  where  certain  German 
passengers  were  made  to  sign  a 
promise  not  to  take  part  in  the  war, 
has  been  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  offending  Government  with  a 
declaration  that  such  procedure,  if 
true,  is  an  unwarranted  exercise  of 
jurisdiction  over  American  vessels  in 
which  this  Government  will  not  ac- 
quiesce. 

An  American  private  vessel  enter- 
ing voluntarily  the  territorial  waters 
of  a  belligerent  becomes  subject  to 
its  municipal  laws,  as  do  the  persons 
on  board  the  vessel. 

There  have  appeared  in  certain 
publications  the  assertion  that  fail- 
ure to  protest  in  these  cases  is  an 
abandonment  of  the  principle  for 
which  the  United  States  went  to  war 
in  1812.  If  the  failure  to  protest 
were  true,  which  it  is  not,  the  prin- 
ciple involved  is  entirely  different 
from  the  one  appealed  to  against  un- 
justifiable impressment  of  Americans 
in  the  British  Navy  in  time  of  peace. 

(4)  Submission  without  protest 
to  British  violations  of  the  rules  re- 
garding absolute  and  conditional 
contraband  as  laid  down  in  The 
Hague  conventions,  the  declaration 
of  London,  and  international  law. 

There  is  no  Hague  convention 
which  deals  with  absolute  or  condi- 
tional contraband,  and,  as  the  decla- 
ration of  London  is  not  in  force,  the 
rules  of  international  law  only  ap- 
ply. As  to  the  articles-  to  be  re- 
garded as  contraband,  there  is  no 
general  agreement  between  nations. 
It  is  the  practice  for  a  country,  either 
in  time  of  peace  or  after  the  out- 
break of  war,  to  declare  the  articles 
which  it  will  consider  as  absolute  or 
conditional  contraband.  It  is  true 
that  a  neutral  Government  is  seri- 
ously affected  by  this  declaration  as 
the  rights  of  its  subjects  or  citizens 
may  be  impaired.  But  the  rights 
and  interests  of  belligerents  and  neu- 
trals are  opposed  in  respect  to  con- 
traband articles  and  trade  and  there 
is  no  tribunal  to  which  questions  of 
difference  may  be  readily  submitted. 

The  record  of  the  United  States  in 
the  past  is  not  free  from  criticism. 
When    neutral    this    Government   has 


stood  for  a  restricted  list  of  absolute 
and  conditional  contraband.  As  a 
belligerent,  we  have  contended  tor  a 
liberal  list,  according  to  our  concep- 
tion of  the  necessities  of  the  case. 

The  United  States  has  made  earn- 
est representations  to  Great  Britain 
in  regard  to  the  seizure  and  deten- 
tion by  the  British  authorities  of  all 
American  ships  or  cargoes  bona  fide 
destined  to  neutral  ports,  on  the 
ground  that  such  seizures  and  de- 
tentions were  contrary  to  the  exist- 
ing rules  of  international  law.  It 
will  be  recalled,  however,  that  Amer- 
ican courts  have  established  various 
rules  bearing  on  these  matters.  The 
rule  of  "continuous  voyage"  has 
been  not  only  asserted  by  American 
tribunals  but  extended  by  them. 
They  have  exercised  the  right  to  de- 
termine from  the  circumstances 
whether  the  ostensible  was  the  real 
destination.  They  have  held  that 
the  shipment  of  articles  of  contra- 
band to  a  neutral  port  "to  order" 
from  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  car- 
goes had  been  trans-shipped  to  the 
enemy,  is  corroborative  evidence  that 
the  cargo  is  really  destined  to  the 
enemy  instead  of  to  the  neutral  port 
of  delivery.  It  is  thus  seen  that 
some  of  the  doctrines  which  appear 
to  bear  harshly  upon  neutrals  at  the 
present  time  are  analogous  to  or  out- 
growths from  policies  adopted  by  the 
I'nited  States  when  it  was  a  bellig- 
erent. The  Government  therefore 
can  not  consistently  protest  against 
the  application  of  rules  which  it  has 
followed  in  the  past,  unless  they  have 
not  been  practiced  as  heretofore. 

(.5)  Acquiescence  without  protest 
to  the  inclusion  of  copper  and  other 
articles  in  the  British  lists  of  abso- 
lute contraband. 

The  United  States  has  now  under 
consideration  the  question  of  the 
right  of  a  belligerent  to  include  "cop- 
per unwrought"  in  its  list  of  absolute 
contraband  instead  of  in  its  list  of 
conditional  contraband.  As  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  has 
in  the  past  placed  "all  articles  from 
which  ammunition  is  manufactured" 
in  its  contraband  list,  and  has  de- 
clared copper  to  be  among  such  ma- 
terials, it  necessarily  finds  some  em- 
barrassment in  dealing  with  the  sub- 
ject. 

Moreover,  there  is  no  instance  of 
the  United  States  acquiescing  in 
Great  Britain's  seizure  of  copper 
shipments.  In  every  case,  in  which 
it  has  been  done,  vigorous  repre- 
sentations have  been  made  to  the 
British  Government,  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States  have 
pressed  for  the  release  of  the  ship- 
ments. 

(6)  Submission  without  protest 
to  interference  with  American  trade 
to  neutral  countries  in  conditional 
and  absolute  contraband. 

The  fact  that  the  commerce  of  the 
XTnited  States  is  interrupted  by  Great 
Britain  is  consequent  upon  the  supe- 
riority of  her  navy  on  the  high  seas. 
History  shows  that  whenever  a  coun- 
try has  possessed  that  superiority 
our  trade  has  been  interrupted  and 
that  few  articles  essential  to  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  have  been  al- 
lowed to  reach  its  enemy  from  this 
country.       The     department's     recent 


note  to  the  British  Government, 
which  has  been  made  public,  in  re- 
gard to  detentions  and  seizures  of 
American  vessels  and  cargoes,  is  a 
complete  answer  to  this  complaint. 

Certain  other  complaints  appear 
aimed  at  the  loss  of  profit  in  trade, 
which  must  include  at  least  in  part 
trade  in  contraband  with  Germany; 
.while  other  complaints  demand  the 
prohibition  of  trade  in  contraband, 
which  appear  to  refer  to  trade  with 
the  allies. 

(7)  Submission  without  protest 
to  interruption  of  trade  in  condi- 
tional contraband  consigned  to  pri- 
vate persons  in  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria, thereby  supporting  the  policy  of 
Great  Britain  to  cut  off  all  supplies 
from  Germany  and  Austria. 

As  no  American  vessel  so  far  aa 
known  has  attempted  to  carry  con- 
ditional contraband  to  Germany  or 
Austria-Hungary,  no  ground  of  com- 
plaint has  arisen  out  of  the  seizure 
or  condemnation  by  Great  Britain  of 
an  American  vessel  with  a  belliger- 
ent destination.  Until  a  case  arises 
and  the  Government  has  taken  ac- 
tion upon  it,  criticism  is  premature 
and  unwarranted.  The  United  States 
in  its  note  of  December  28  to  the 
British  Government  strongly  con- 
tended for  the  principle  of  freedom 
of  trade  in  articles  of  conditional 
contraband  not  destined  to  the  bel- 
ligerent's forces. 

(8)  Submission  to  British  inter- 
ference with  trade  in  petroleum,  rub- 
ber, leather,  wool,  etc. 

Petrol  and  other  petroleum  prod- 
ucts have  been  proclaimed  by  Great 
Britain  as  contraband  of  war.  In 
view  of  the  absolute  necessity  of 
such  products  to  the  use  of  subma- 
rines, aeroplanes,  and  motors,  the 
United  States  Government  has  not 
yet  reached  the  conclusion  that  they 
are  improperly  included  in  a  list  of 
contraband.  Military  operations  to- 
day are  largely  a  question  of  motive 
power  through  mechanical  devices. 
It  is  therefore  difficult  to  argue  suc- 
cessfully against  the  inclusion  of  pe- 
troleum among  the  articles  of  con- 
traband. As  to  the  detention  of  car- 
goes of  petroleum  going  to  neutral 
countries,  this  Government  has,  thus 
far  successfully,  obtained  the  release 
in  every  case  of  detention  or  seizure 
which  has  been  brought  to  its  atten- 
tion. 

Great  Britain  and  France  have 
placed  rubber  on  the  absolute  con- 
traband list  and  leather  on  the  con- 
ditional contraband  list.  Rubber  is 
extensively  used  in  the  manufacture 
and  operation  of  motors  and,  like 
petrol,  is  regarded  by  some  authori- 
ties as  essential  to  motive  power  to- 
day. Leather  is  even  more  widely 
used  in  cavalry  and  infantry  equip- 
ment. It  is  understood  that  both 
rubber  and  leather,  together  with 
wool,  have  been  embargoed  by  most 
of  the  belligerent  countries.  It  will 
be  recalled  that  the  United  States 
has  in  the  past  exercised  the  right  of 
embargo  upon  exports  of  any  com- 
modity which  might  aid  the  enemy's 
cause. 

(9)  The  United  States  has  not 
interfered  with  the  sale  to  Great 
Britain  and  her  allies  of  arms,  am- 


THE  OFFICIAL  NEUTRALITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


munition,  horses,  uniforms,  and  other 
munitions  of  war,  although  such 
sales  prolong  the  conflict. 

There  is  no  power  in  the  Execu- 
tive to  prevent  the  sale  of  ammuni- 
tion to  the  belligerents. 

The  duty  of  a  neutral  to  restrict 
trade  in  munitions  of  war  has  never 
been  imposed  by  international  law 
or  by  municipal  statute.  It  has 
never  been  the  policy  of  this  Gov- 
ernment to  prevent  the  shipment  of 
arms  or  ammunition  into  belligerent 
territory,  e.xcept  in  the  case  of  neigh- 
boring American  Republics,  and  then 
only  when  civil  strife  prevailed. 
Even  to  this  extent  the  belligerents 
in  the  present  conflict,  when  they 
are  neutrals,  have  never,  so  far  as 
the  records  disclose,  limited  the  sale 
of  munitions  of  war.  It  is  only  nec- 
essary to  point  to  the  enormous 
quantities  of  arms  and  ammunition 
furnished  by  manufacturers  in  Ger- 
many to  the  belligerents  in  the 
Russo-Japanese  war  and  in  the  re- 
cent Balkan  wars  to  establish  the 
general  recognition  of  the  propriety 
of  the  trade  by  a  neutral  nation. 

It  may  be  added  that  on  the  15th 
of  December  last  the  German  ambas- 
sador, by  direction  of  his  Govern- 
ment, presented  a  copy  of  a  memo- 
randum of  the  Imperial  German  Gov- 
ernment which,  among  other  things, 
set  forth  the  attitude  of  that  Gov- 
ernment toward  traffic  in  contraband 
of  war  by  citizens  of  neutral  coun- 
tries. The  Imperial  Government 
stated  that  "under  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  international  law,  no  ex- 
ception can  be  taken  to  neutral 
States  letting  war  material  go  to 
Germany's  enemies  from  or  through 
neutral  territory,"  and  that  the  ad- 
versaries of  Germany  in  the  present 
war  are,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Im- 
perial Government,  authorized  to 
"draw  on  the  United  States  contra- 
band of  war  and  especially  arms 
worth  billions  of  marks."  These 
principles,  as  the  ambassador  stated, 
have  been  accepted  by  the  United 
States  Government  in  the  statement 
issued  by  the  Department  of  State 
on  October  15  last,  entitled  "Neu- 
trality and  trade  in  contraband." 
Acting  in  conformity  with  the  prop- 
ositions there  set  forth,  the  United 
States  has  itself  taken  no  part  in 
contraband  traffic,  and  has,  so  far 
as  possible,  lent  its  influence  toward 
equal  treatment  for  all  belligerents 
in  the  matter  of  purchasing  arms 
and  ammunition  of  private  persons 
in  the  United  States. 

(10)  The  United  States  has  not 
suppressed  the  sale  of  dumdum  bul- 
lets to  Great  Britain. 

On  December  .S  last  the  German 
ambassador  addressed  a  note  to  the 
department,  stating  that  the  British 
Government  had  ordered  from  the 
Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Co.  20,- 
000  "riot  guns,"  model  1897,  and 
50,000,000  "buckshot  cartridges" 
for  use  in  such  guns.  The  depart- 
ment replied  that  it  saw  a  published 
statement  of  the  Winchester  Co.,  the 
correctness  ot  which  the  company 
has  confirmed  to  the  department  by 
telegraph.  In  this  statement  the 
company  categorically  denies  that  it 
has  received  an  order  for  such  guns 
and    cartridges    from    or    made    any 


sales  of  such  material  to  the  British 
Government,  or  to  any  other  Govern- 
ment engaged  in  the  present  war. 
The  ambassador  further  called  at- 
tention to  "information,  the  accuracy 
of  which  is  not  to  be  doubted,"  that 
S, 000, 000  cartridges  fitted  with 
"mushroom  bullets"  had  been  deliv- 
ered since  October  of  this  year  by 
the  Union  Metallic  Cartridge  Co.  for 
the  armament  of  the  English  army. 
In  reply  the  department  referred  to 
the  letter  of  December  10,  1914,  of 
the  Remington  Arms-Union  Metallic 
Cartridge  Co.,  of  New  York,  to  the 
ambassador,  called  forth  by  certain 
newspaper  reports  of  statements  al- 
leged to  have  been  made  by  the  am- 
bassador in  regard  to  the  sales  by 
that  company  of  soft-nosed  bullets. 

From  this  letter,  a  copy  of  which 
was  sent  to  the  department  by  the 
company,  it  appears  that  instead  of 
8,000,000  cartridges  having  been 
sold,  only  a  little  over  117,000  were 
manufactured  and  109,000  were  sold. 
The  letter  further  asserts  that  these 
cartridges  were  made  to  supply  a 
demand  for  a  better  sporting  car- 
tridge with  a  soft-nosed  bullet  than 
had  been  manufactured  theretofore, 
and  that  such  cartridges  can  not  be 
used  in  the  military  rifles  of  any 
foreign  powers.  The  company  adds 
that  its  statements  can  be  substan- 
tiated and  that  it  is  ready  to  give 
the  ambassador  any  evidence  that  he 
may  require  on  these  points.  The 
department  further  stated  that  it  was 
also  in  receipt  from  the  company  of 
a  complete  detailed  list  of  the  per- 
sons to  whom  these  cartridges  were 
sold,  and  that  from  this  list  it  ap- 
peared that  the  cartridges  were  sold 
to  firms  in  lots  ot  20  to  2,000  and 
one  lot  each  of  3,000,  4,000,  and 
5,000.  Of  these  only  960  cartridges 
went  to  British  North  America  and 
100  to  British  East  Africa. 

The  department  added  that,  if  the 
ambassador  could  furnish  evidence 
that  this  or  any  other  company  is 
manufactiiring  and  selling  for  the 
use  of  the  contending  armies  in 
Europe  cartridges  whose  use  would 
contravene  The  Hague  conventions, 
the  department  would  be  glad  to  be 
furnished  with  this  evidence,  and 
that  the  President  would,  in  case 
any  American  company  is  shown  to 
be  engaged  in  this  traffic,  use  his 
influence  to  prevent  so  far  as  pos- 
sible sales  of  such  ammunition  to 
the  powers  engaged  in  the  European 
war.  without  regard  to  whether  it 
is  the  duty  of  this  Government,  upon 
legal  or  conventional  grounds,  to 
take  such  action. 

The  substance  of  both  the  ambas- 
sador's note  and  tlie  department's 
reply  have  appeared  in  the  press. 

The  department  has  received  no 
other  complaints  of  alleged  sales  of 
dumdum  bullets  by  American  citi- 
zens to   belligerent  Governments. 

(11)  British  warships  are  per- 
mitted to  lie  off  American  ports  and 
intercept  neutral  vessels. 

The  complaint  is  unjustified  from 
the  fact  that  representations  were 
made  to  the  British  Government  that 
the  presence  of  war  vessels  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  New  York  harbor  was  of- 
fensive to  this  Government  and  a 
similar   complaint  was  made  to  the 


Japanese  Government  as  to  one  of 
its  cruisers  in  the  vicinity  of  the  port 
of  Honolulu.  In  both  cases  the  war- 
ships were  withdrawn. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  in  1863 
the  department  took  the  position  that 
captures  made  by  its  vessels  after 
hovering  about  neutral  ports  would 
not  be  regarded  as  valid.  In  the 
Franco-Prussian  war  President  Grant 
issued  a  proclamation  warning  bel- 
ligerent warships  against  hovering  In 
the  vicinity  of  American  ports  for 
purposes  of  observation  or  hostile 
acts.  The  same  policy  has  been 
maintained  in  the  present  war,  and 
in  all  of  the  recent  proclamations  of 
neutrality  the  President  states  that 
such  practice  by  belligerent  war- 
ships is  "unfriendly  and  offensive." 

(12)  Great  Britain  and  her  allies 
are  allowed  without  protest  to  dis- 
regard American  citizenship  papers 
and  passports. 

American  citizenship  papers  have 
been  disregarded  in  a  comparatively 
few  instances  by  Great  Britain,  but 
the  same  is  true  of  all  the  belliger- 
ents. Bearers  of  American  pass- 
ports have  been  arrested  in  all  the 
countries  at  war.  In  every  case  of 
apparent  illegal  arrest  the  United 
States  Government  has  entered  vig- 
orous protests  with  request  for  re- 
lease. The  department  does  not 
know  of  any  cases,  except  one  or  two 
which  are  still  under  investigation, 
in  which  naturalized  Germans  have 
not  been  released  upon  representa- 
tions by  this  Government.  There 
have,  however,  come  to  the  depart- 
ment's notice  authentic  cases  in 
which  American  passports  have  been 
fraudulently  obtained  and  used  by 
certain  German  subjects. 

The  Department  of  Justice  has  re- 
cently apprehended  at  least  four  per- 
sons of  German  nationality  who,  it 
is  alleged,  obtained  American  pass- 
ports under  pretense  of  being  Amer- 
ican citizens  and  for  the  purpose  ot 
returning  to  Germany  without  mo- 
lestation by  her  enemies  during  the 
voyage.  There  are  indications  that 
a  systematic  plan  had  been  devised 
to  obtain  American  passports  through 
fraud  for  the  purpose  ot  securing 
sate  passage  for  German  officers  and 
reservists  desiring  to  return  to  Ger- 
many. Such  fraudulent  use  of  pass- 
ports by  Germans  themselves  can 
have  no  other  effect  than  to  cast  sus- 
picion upon  American  passports  in 
general.  New  regulations,  however, 
requiring  among  other  things  the  at- 
taching of  a  photograph  of  the  bearer 
to  his  passport,  under  the  seal  of  the 
Department  ot  State,  and  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  Department  of  Justice, 
will  doubtless  prevent  any  further 
misuse  of  American  passports. 

(13)  Change  of  policy  in  regard 
to  loans  to  belligerents. 

War  loans  in  this  country  were 
disapproved  because  inconsistent 
with  the  spirit  of  neutrality.  There 
is  a  clearly  defined  difference  be- 
tween a  war  loan  and  the  purchase 
of  arms  and  ammunition.  The  pol- 
icy of  disapproving  of  war  loans  af- 
fects all  governments  alike,  so  that 
the  disapproval  is  not  an  unneutral 
act.  The  case  is  entirely  different 
in  the  matter  of  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion,   because    prohibition    of    export 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


not  only  might  not,  but,  in  this  case, 
would  not,  operate  equally  upon  the 
nations  at  war.  Then,  too,  the  rea- 
son given  for  the  disapproval  ot  war 
loans  is  supported  by  other  consid- 
erations which  are  absent  in  the  case 
presented  by  the  sale  of  arms  and 
ammunition.  The  taking  of  money 
out  of  the  United  States  during  such 
a  war  as  this  might  seriously  embar- 
rass the  Government  in  case  it  needed 
to  borrow  money  and  it  might  also 
seriously  impair  this  Nation's  ability 
to  assist  the  neutral  nations  which, 
though  not  participants  in  the  war, 
are  compelled  to  bear  a  heavy  bur- 
den on  account  of  the  war,  and, 
again,  a  war  loan,  if  ottered  for  pop- 
ular subscription  in  the  United 
States,  would  be  taken  up  chiefly  by 
those  who  are  in  sympathy  with  the 
belligerent  seeking  the  loan.  The 
result  would  be  that  great  numbers 
of  the  American  people  might  be- 
come more  earnest  partisans,  having 
material  interest  in  the  success  of 
the  belligerent,  whose  bonds  they 
hold.  These  purchases  would  not  be 
confined  to  a  few,  but  would  spread 
generally  throughout  the  country,  so 
that  the  people  would  be  divided 
into  groups  of  partisans,  which  would 
result  in  intense  bitterness  and 
might  cause  an  undesirable,  if  not 
a  serious,  situation.  On  the  other 
hand,  contracts  for  and  sales  of  con- 
traband are  mere  matters  of  trade. 
The  manufacturer,  unless  peculiarly 
sentimental,  would  sell  to  one  bellig- 
erent as  readily  as  he  would  to  an- 
other. No  general  spirit  of  partisan- 
ship is  aroused — no  sympathies  ex- 
cited. The  whole  transaction  is 
merely  a  matter  of  business. 

This  Government  has  not  been 
advised  that  any  general  loans  have 
been  made  by  foreign  governments 
In  this  country  since  the  President 
expressed  his  wish  that  loans  of  this 
character  should  not  be  made. 

(14)  Submission  to  arrest  of 
native-born  Americans  on  neutral 
vessels  and  in  British  ports  and  their 
imprisonment. 

The  general  charge  as  to  the  ar- 
rest of  American-born  citizens  on 
board  neutral  vessels  and  in  British 
ports,  the  ignoring  of  their  passports, 
and  their  confinement  in  jails,  re- 
quires evidence  to  support  it.  That 
there  have  been  cases  of  injustice 
of  this  sort  is  unquestionably  true, 
but  Americans  in  Germany  have  suf- 
fered in  this  way  as  Americans  have 
in  Great  Britain.  This  Government 
has  considered  that  the  majority  of 
these  cases  resulted  from  overzeal- 
ousness  on  the  part  of  subordinate 
officials  in  both  countries.  Every 
case  which  has  been  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Department  of  State 
has  been  promptly  investigated  and, 
if  the  tacts  warranted,  a  demand 
for  release  has  been  made. 

(15)  Indifference  to  confinement 
ot  noncombatants  in  detention  camps 
in  England  and  Prance. 

As  to  the  detention  of  noncom- 
batants confined  in  concentration 
camps,  all  the  belligerents,  with  per- 
haps the  exception  of  Servia  and 
Russia,  have  made  similar  complaints 
and  those  for  whom  this  Government 
is  acting  have  asked  investigations, 
which  representatives  of  this  Govern- 


ment have  made  impartially.  Their 
reports  have  shown  that  the  treat- 
ment of  prisoners  is  generally  as 
good  as  possible  under  the  conditions 
in  all  countries,  and  that  there  is 
no  more  reason  to  say  that  they  are 
mistreated  in  one  country  than  in 
another  country  or  that  this  Govern- 
ment has  manifested  an  indifference 
in  the  matter.  As  this  department's 
efforts  at  investigations  seemed  to 
develop  bitterness  between  the  coun- 
tries, the  department  on  November 
2  0  sent  a  circular  instruction  to  its 
representatives  not  to  undertake  fur- 
ther investigation  of  concentration 
camps. 

But  at  the  special  request  of  the 
German  Government  that  Mr.  Jack- 
son, former  American  minister  at 
Bucharest,  now  attached  to  the 
American  embassy  at  Berlin,  make 
an  investigation  of  the  prison  camps 
in  England,  in  addition  to  the  investi- 
gations already  made,  the  depart- 
ment has  consented  to  dispatch  Mr. 
Jackson  on  this  special  mission. 

(16)  Failure  to  prevent  trans- 
shipment of  British  troops  and  war 
material  across  the  territory  of  the 
United  States. 

The  department  has  had  no  spe- 
cific case  of  the  passage  of  convoys  of 
troops  across  American  territory 
brought  to  its  notice.  There  have 
been  rumors  to  this  effect,  but  no 
actual  facts  have  been  presented. 
The  trans-shipment  of  reservists  of 
all  belligerents  who  have  requested 
the  privilege  has  been  permitted  on 
condition  that  they  travel  as  indi- 
viduals and  not  as  organized,  uni- 
formed, or  armed  bodies.  The  Ger- 
man Embassy  has  advised  the  de- 
partment that  it  would  not  be  likely 
to  avail  itself  of  the  privilege,  but 
Germany's  ally,  Austria  -  Hungary, 
did  so. 

Onlv  one  case  raising  the  question 
of  the  transit  of  war  material  owned 
by  a  belligerent  across  United  States 
territory  has  come  to  the  depart- 
ment's notice.  This  was  a  request 
on  the  part  of  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment for  permission  to  ship  equip- 
ment across  Alaska  to  the  sea.  The 
request  was  refused. 

(17)  Treatment  and  final  in- 
ternment of  German  steamship 
"Geier"  and  the  collier  "Locksun  at 
Honolulu. 

The  "Geier"  entered  Honolulu  on 
October  15  in  an  unseaworthy  con- 
dition The  commanding  officer  re- 
ported the  necessity  of  extensive  re- 
pairs which  would  require  an  in- 
definite period  for  completion,  ine 
vessel  was  allowed  the  generous  pe- 
riod ot  three  weeks  to  November  7 
to  make  repairs  and  leave  the  port, 
or,  tailing  to  do  so,  to  be  interned. 
A  longer  period  would  have  been 
contrary  to  international  practice, 
which  does  not  permit  a  vessel  to 
remain  for  a  long  time  in  a  neutral 
port  for  the  purpose  of  repairing  a 
generally  run-down  condition  due  to 
long  sea  service.  Soon  after  the 
German  cruiser  arrived  at  Honolulu 
a  Japanese  cruiser  appeared  off  the 
port  and  the  commander  of  the 
"Geier"  chose  to  intern  the  vessel 
rather  than  to  depart  from  the  har- 
bor. 


Shortly  after  the  "Geier"  entered 
the  port  of  Honolulu  the  steamer 
"Locksun"  arrived.  It  was  found 
that  this  vessel  had  delivered  coal 
to  the  "Geier"  en  route  and  had  ac- 
companied her  toward  Hawaii.  As 
she  had  thus  constituted  herself  a 
tender  or  collier  to  the  "Geier"  she 
was  accorded  the  same  treatment 
and  interned  on  November  7. 

(18)  Unfairness  to  Germany  in 
rules  relative  to  coaling  of  warships 
in  Panama  Canal  Zone. 

By  proclamation  of  November  13, 
1914,  certain  special  restrictions 
were  placed  on  the  coaling  of  war- 
ships or  their  tenders  or  colliers  in 
the  Canal  Zone.  These  regulations 
were  framed  through  the  collabora- 
tion of  the  State,  Navy,  and  War  De- 
partments and  without  the  slightest 
reference  to  favoritism  to  the  bellig- 
erents. Before  these  regulations 
were  proclaimed,  war  vessels  could 
procure  coal  of  the  Panama  Railway 
in  the  zone  ports,  but  no  belligerent 
vessels  are  known  to  have  done  so. 
Under  the  proclamation  fuel  may  be 
taken  on  by  belligerent  warships 
only  with  the  consent  of  the  canal 
authorities  and  in  such  amounts  as 
will  enable  them  to  reach  the  near- 
est accessible  neutral  port;  and  the 
amount  so  taken  on  shall  be  deducted 
from  the  amount  procurable  in 
United  States  ports  within  three 
months  thereafter.  Now,  it  is  charged 
the  United  States  has  shown  partial- 
ity because  Great  Britain  and  not 
Germany  happens  to  have  colonies 
in  the  near  vicinity  where  British 
ships  may  coal,  while  Germany  has 
no  such  coaling  facilities.  Thus,  it 
is  intimated  the  United  States  should 
balance  the  inequalities  of  geograph- 
ical position  by  refusing  to  allow  any 
warships  ot  belligerents  to  coal  in  the 
canal  until  the  war  is  over.  As  no 
German  warship  has  sought  to  ob- 
tain coal  in  the  Canal  Zone  the 
charge  of  discrimination  rests  upon 
a  possibility  which  during  several 
months  of  warfare  has  failed  to  ma- 
terialize. 

(19)  Failure  to  protest  against 
the  modifications  of  the  Declaration 
of  London  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment. 

The  German  Foreign  Office  pre- 
sented to  the  diplomats  in  Berlin  a 
memorandum  dated  October  10,  call- 
ing attention  to  violations  of  and 
changes  in  the  Declaration  of  Lon- 
don by  the  British  Government  and 
inquiring  as  to  the  attitude  ot  the 
United  States  toward  such  action  on 
the  part  of  the  allies.  The  substance 
ot  the  memorandum  was  forthwith 
telegraphed  to  the  department  on 
October  22  and  was  replied  to  shortly 
thereafter  to  the  effect  that  the 
United  States  had  withdrawn  its  sug- 
gestion, made  early  in  the  war,  that 
for  the  sake  of  uniformity  the  Decla- 
ration of  London  should  be  adopted 
as  a  temporary  code  of  naval  war- 
fare during  the  present  war,  owing 
to  the  unwillingness  ot  the  bellig- 
erents to  accept  the  declaration  with- 
out changes  and  modifications,  and 
that  henceforth  the  United  States 
would  insist  that  the  rights  of  the 
United  States  and  its  citizens  in  the 
war  should  be  governed  by  the  ex- 
isting rules  of  international  law. 


THE  OFFICIAL  NEUTRALITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


225 


As  this  Government  is  not  now  in- 
terested in  the  adoption  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  London  by  the  belligerents, 
the  modifications  by  the  belligerents 
in  that  code  of  naval  warfare  are  of 
no  concern  to  it  except  as  they  ad- 
versely affect  the  rights  of  the  United 
States  and  those  of  its  citizens  as 
defined  by  international  law.  In  so 
far  as  those  rights  have  been  in- 
fringed the  department  has  made 
every  effort  to  obtain  redress  for  the 
losses  sustained. 

(20)  General  unfriendly  attitude 
of  Government  toward  Germany  and 
Austria. 

It  any  American  citizens,  parti- 
sans of  Germany  and  Austria-Hun- 
gary, feel  that  this  administration  is 
acting  in  a  way  injurious  to  the 
cause  of  those  countries,  this  feeling 
results  from  the  fact  that  on  the  high 
seas  the  German  and  Austro-Hunga- 
rian  naval  power  is  thus  far  inferior 
to  the  British.  It  is  the  business  of 
a  belligerent  operating  on  the  high 
seas,  not  the  duty  of  a  neutral,  to 
prevent  contraband  from  reaching 
an  enemy.  Those  in  this  country 
who  sympathize  with  Germany  and 
Austria-Hungary  appear  to  assume 
that  some  obligation  rests  upon  this 
Government  in  the  performance  of 
its  neutral  duty  to  prevent  all  trade 
in  contraband,  and  thus  to  equalize 
the  difference  due  to  the  relative  na- 
val strength  of  the  belligerents.  No 
such  obligation  exists;  it  would  be  an 
unneutral  act,  an  act  of  partiality 
on  the  part  of  this  Government  to 
adopt  such  a  policy  if  the  Executive 
had  the  power  to  do  so.  If  Germany 
and  Austria-Hungary  can  not  im- 
port contraband  from  this  country  it 
is  not,  because  of  that  fact,  the  duty 
of  the  United  States  to  close  its  mar- 
kets to  the  allies.  The  markets  of 
this  country  are  open  upon  equal 
terms  to  all  the  world,  to  every  na- 
tion, belligerent  or  neutral. 

The  foregoing  categorical  replies 
to  specific  complaints  is  suflicient  an- 
swer to  the  charge  of  unfriendliness 
to  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary. 

I  am,  my  dear  Senator, 

Very  sincerely,  yours. 

W.  J.  BRYAN. 

Hon.  William  J.  Stone, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations, 

United  States  Senate, 
Washington,    D.    C." 


place  our  confidence  in  the  continued 
efforts  of  our  German  countrsmen  and 
of  the  Irish  in  America,  to  whom  the 
proper  recognition  has  not  been  ac- 
corded, at  least  not  in  proportion  to 
their  numbers  and  worth. — "Hambur- 
ger Fremdenblatt,"  Hamburg,  Germany. 


PRESIORXT     WILSON     AND     THE 

AMERICAN    EXPORTATION 

OP   WEAPONS. 

The  Ameriran  Department  of  State 
announces  that  the  government,  for  ob- 
vious reasons,  does  not  approve  of  the 
movement  against  exportation  of  weap- 
ons. It  is  therefore  probable  tliat 
should  the  liill  be  passed  by  the  House, 
it  will  proliably  be  vetoed  l>y  President 
Wilson,  .\merica  seems  for  the  pres- 
ent to  retain  her  former  standpoint, 
and  the  efforts  of  the  German  Anier- 
icniis  in  union  with  the  IrisJi,  seem 
to  liave  liceii  of  no  avail.  It  may  lie 
expected,  however,  that  tlie  protest  of 
the  German  government  against  the 
breach  of  actual  neutrality  l)y  the  ex- 
portation of  weapons  from  America  to 
England  and  France,  will  find  effectual 
support     from     another     source.       We 


OFFICI.^L    TEXT    OF    GER>LAN 
REPLY  TO  t'.   S. 

Berlin,  Hay  28,  1915. — The  un- 
dersigned has  the  honor  to  make  the 
following  reply  to  the  note  of  his 
excellency  Mr.  .Tames  W.  Gerard,  am- 
bassador ■  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  dated  the  loth  inst.,  on  the 
subject  of  the  impairment  of  many 
American  interests  by  the  German 
submarine  war: 

The  Imperial  Government  has  sub- 
jected the  statements  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  to  a  care- 
ful examination  and  has  the  lively 
wish  on  its  part  also  to  contribute 
in  a  convincing  and  friendly  manner 
to  clear  up  any  misunderstandings 
which  may  have  entered  into  the  re- 
lations of  the  two  governments 
through  the  events  mentioned  by  the 
American  government. 

Not   to  .attack   Neutral  Ships. 

With  regard,  first,  to  the  cases  of 
the  American  steamers  Cusliiiif)  and 
Giilflifflit.  the  embassy  has  already 
been  informed  that  it  is  far  from  the 
German  Government  to  have  any  in- 
tention of  ordering  attacks  by  sub- 
marines or  flyers  on  neutral  vessels 
in  the  zone  which  have  not  been 
guilty  of  any  hostile  act;  on  the  con- 
trary, the  most  explicit  instructions 
have  been  repeatedly  given  the  Ger- 
man armed  forces  to  avoid  attack- 
ing such  vessels.  If  neutral  vessels 
have  come  to  grief  through  the  Ger- 
man submarine  war  during  the  past 
few  months,  by  mistake,  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  isolated  and  exceptional  cases 
which  are  traceable  to  the  misuse  of 
flags  by  the  British  Government  in 
connection  with  carelessness  or  sus- 
picious actions  on  the  part  of  (the?) 
captains  of  the  vessels. 

Has   Expressetl   Its   Regret. 

In  all  cases  where  a  neutral  ves- 
sel through  no  fault  of  its  own  has 
come  to  grief  through  the  German 
submarine  or  flyers,  according  to  the 
facts  as  ascertained  by  the  German 
Government,  this  government  has  ex- 
pressed its  regret  at  the  unfortunate 
occurrence  and  promised  indemnifica- 
tion where  the  facts  justified  it.  The 
German  Government  will  treat  the 
cases  of  the  American  steamers  Ci/.s'/i- 
itifi  and  OulfHtjht  according  to  the 
same  principles;  an  investigation  of 
these  cases  is  in  progress;  its  result 
will  be  communicated  to  the  embassy 
shortly;  the  investigation  might,  if 
thought  desirable,  be  supplemented 
by  an  international  commission  of 
inquiry  pursuant  to  Title  3  of  The 
Hague  convention  of  Oct.  18,  1907, 
for  the  pacific  settlement  of  interna- 
tional disputes. 

E\|ilaiiution    as   to   Fnlaba. 

In  the  case  of  the  sinking  of  the 
English  steamer  Falaha.  the  com- 
mander of  the  German  submarine 
had  the  intention  of  allowing  pas- 
sengers and  crew  ample  opportunity 
to  save  themselves.     It  was  not  un- 


til the  captain  disregarded  the  order 
to  lay  to  and  took  to  flight,  sending 
up  rocket  signals  for  help,  that  the 
German  commander  ordered  the 
crew  and  passengers  by  signals  and 
megaphone  to  leave  the  ship  within 
ten  minutes;  as  a  matter  of  fact  he 
allowed  them  twenty-three  minutes 
and  did  not  fire  the  torpedo  until 
suspicious  steamers  w-ere  hurrying  to 
the  aid  of  the  Falaha, 

With  regard  to  the  loss  of  life 
when  the  British  passenger  steamer 
Liisitaniu  was  sunk,  the  German  Gov- 
ernment has  already  expressed  its 
deep  regret  to  the  neutral  govern- 
ments concerned  that  nationals  of 
those  countries  lost  their  lives  on 
that  occsaion.  The  Imperial  Govern- 
ment must  state  for  the  rest  the  im- 
pression that  certain  important  facts 
most  directly  connected  with  the 
sinking  of  the  Lii.sitdiiia  may  have 
escaped  the  attention  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  It  there- 
fore considers  it  necessary  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  clear  and  full  under- 
standing aimed  at  by  either  govern- 
ment primarily  to  convince  itself  that 
the  reports  of  the  facts  which  are 
before  the  two  governments  are  com- 
plete and  in  agreement. 

Lusitania  Called  a  Cruiser. 

The  Government  of  the  United 
States  proceeds  on  the  assumption 
that  the  Litsitania  is  to  be  considered 
as  an  ordinary  unarmed  merchant 
vessel.  The  Imperial  Government 
begs  in  this  connection  to  point  out 
that  the  Liisitaiiia  was  one  of  the 
largest  and  fastest  English  commerce 
steamers  constructed  with  govern- 
ment funds  as  auxiliary  cruisers  and 
is  expressly  included  in  the  navy  list 
published  by  British  admiralty. 

It  is.  moreover,  known  to  the  Im- 
perial Government  from  reliable  in- 
formation furnished  by  its  officials 
and  neutral  passengers  that  for  some 
time  practically  all  the  more  valu- 
able merchant  vessels  have  been  pro- 
vided with  guns,  ammunition  and 
other  weapons  and  re-enforced  with 
a  crew  specially  practiced  in  manning 
guns.  According  to  reports  at  hand 
here,  the  Liisitnitia.  when  she  left 
New  York,  undoubtedly  had  guns  on 
board  which  were  mounted  under 
decks  and  masked. 
Rewards    for    RaniiiiinK    Submarines. 

The  Imperial  Government  further- 
more has  the  honor  to  direct  the  par- 
ticular attention  of  the  American 
Government  to  the  fact  that  the  Brit- 
ish admiralty  by  a  secret  instruction 
of  February  of  this  year  advised  the 
British  merchant  marine  not  only  to 
seek  protection  behind  neutral  flags 
and  markings  but  even  when  so  dis- 
guised to  attack  German  submar- 
ines by  ramming  them.  High  re- 
wards have  been  offered  by  the  Brit- 
ish  Government  as  a  special  incentive 
fqr  the  destruction  of  the  submarines 
by  merchant  vessels  and  such  re- 
wards have  already  been  paid  out. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  which  are 
satisfactorily  known  to  it,  the  Im- 
perial Government  is  unable  to  con- 
sider English  merchant  vessels  any 
longer  as  "undefended  territory"  In 
the  zone  of  maritime  war  designated 
by  the  admiralty  staff  of  the  Imperial 
German  navy;  the  German  command- 
ers are  consequently  no  longer  In  a 


226 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


position  to  observe  the  rules  of  cap- 
ture otherwise  usual  and  with  which 
they  invariably  complied  before  this. 
Says  Troops  Were  Carried. 

Lastly,  the  Imperial  Government 
must  specially  point  out  that  on  her 
last  trip  the  Liisitania,  as  on  earlier 
occasions,  had  Canadian  troops  and 
munitions  on  board,  including  no  less 
than  5,400  cases  of  ammunition  des- 
tined for  the  destruction  of  brave 
German  soldiers  who  are  fulfilling 
with  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  their 
duty  in  the  service  of  the  Fatherland. 
The"  German  Government  believes 
that  it  acts  in  just  self-defense  when 
it  seeks  to  protect  the  lives  of  its 
soldiers  by  destroying  ammunition 
destined  for  the  enemy  with  the 
means  of  war  at  its  command. 

The  English  steamship  company 
must  have  been  aware  of  the  dangers 
to  which  passengers  on  board  the 
Liisitania  were  exposed  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. In  taking  them  on 
board  in  spite  of  this  the  company 
quite  deliberately  tried  to  use  the 
lives  of  American  citizens  as  protec- 
tion for  the  ammunition  carried  and 
violated  the  clear  provisions  of  Amer- 
ican laws,  which  expressly  prohibit 
and  provide  punishment  for  the  car- 
rying of  passengers  on  ships  which 
have  explosives  on  board.  The  com- 
pany thereby  wantonly  caused  the 
death  of  so  many  passengers. 
Blame  Laid  on  Aiiimuiiition. 
According  to  the  express  report 
of  the  submarine  commander  con- 
cerned, which  is  further  confirmed 
by  all  other  reports,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  rapid  sinking  of  the 
LtiftiUinia  was  due  primarily  to  the 
explosion  of  the  cargo  of  ammunition 
caused  by  the  torpedo.  Otherwise. 
in  all  human  probability,  the  passen- 
gers of  the  Liisitania  would  have 
been  saved. 

The  Imperial  Government  holds  the 
facts  recited  above  to  be  of  suffi- 
cient importance  to  recommend  them 
to  a  careful  examination  by  the 
American   Government. 

Re.gerves  Final  Statement. 
The  Imperial  Government  begs  to 
reserve  a  final  statement  of  its  posi- 
tion with  regard  to  the  demands 
made  in  connection  with  the  sinking 
of  the  Liisitania  until  a  reply  is  re- 
ceived from  the  American  Govern- 
ment and  believes  that  it  should  re- 
call here  that  it  took  note  with  sat- 
isfaction of  the  proposals  of  good 
offices  submitted  by  the  American 
Government  in  Berlin  and  London, 
with  a  view  to  paving  the  way  for 
a  modus  vivendi  for  the  conduct  of 
maritime  war  between  Germany  and 
Great  Britain.  The  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment furnished  at  that  time  am- 
ple evidence  of  its  good  will  by  its 
willingness  to  consider  these  pro- 
posals. The  realization  of  these  pro- 
posals failed,  as  is  known,  on  account 
of  their  rejection  by  the  Government 
of   Great   Britain. 

The   undersigned   requests   his   ex- 
cellency,   the    ambassador,    to    bring 
the   above   to   the   knowledge   of   the 
American  Government  and  avail  him- 
self of  the  opportunity  to  renew,  etc. 
VON   JAGOW, 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
(The  Daily   News,   Chicago.) 


FULL  TEXT  OF  PRESIDENT   WIL- 
SON'S ANSWER  TO 
GERMANY. 

Following  is  the  full  text  of  the 
"second  note"  of  the  United  States 
to  Germany,  drawn  by  President  Wil- 
son and  signed  by  Robert  Lansing, 
Acting  Secretary  of  State: 

The  Secretary  of  State  ad  interim 
to  the  American  Ambassador  to  Ber- 
lin. 

Department  of  State,  Washington, 
D.  C,  June  9,  1915. — American  Am- 
bassador,  Berlin: 

You  are  instructed  to  deliver  text- 
ually  the  following  note  to  the  Min- 
ister of   Foreign   Affairs: 

In  compliance  with  your  excel- 
lency's request  I  did  not  fail  to 
transmit  to  my  government  imme- 
diately upon  their  receipt  your  note 
of  May  28,  in  reply  to  my  note  of 
May  15,  and  your  supplementary 
note  of  June  1,  setting  forth  the  con- 
clusions so  far  as  reached  by  the  Im- 
perial German  Government  concern- 
ing the  attacks  on  the  American 
steamers  Cnsliinn  and  Oiilfligttt.  I 
am  now  instructed  by  my  govern- 
ment to  communicate  the  following 
in  reply: 

The  Government  of  the  United 
States  notes  with  gratification  the 
full  recognition  by  the  Imperial 
German  Government,  in  discussing 
the  cases  of  the  Ciishin/i  and  the 
Gitlflifiht.  of  the  principle  of  the  free- 
dom of  all  parts  of  the  open  sea  to 
neutral  ships  and  the  frank  willing- 
ness of  the  Imperial  German  Gov- 
ernment to  acknowledge  and  meet 
its  liability  where  the  fact  of  attack 
upon  neutral  ships  "which  have  not 
been  guilty  of  any  hostile  act"  by 
German  aircraft  or  vessels  of  war 
is  satisfactorily  established;  and  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  will, 
in  due  course,  lay  before  the  Imperial 
German  Government,  as  it  requests, 
full  information  concerning  the  at- 
tack on  the  steamer  Ciisliinri. 

Attempt  to  Escape  No  Excuse. 
With  regard  to  the  sinking  of  the 
steamer  Faiaha.  by  which  an  Ameri- 
can citizen  lost  his  life,  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  is  sur- 
prised to  find  the  Imperial  German 
Government  contending  that  an  ef- 
fort on  the  part  of  a  merchantman 
to  escape  cature  and  secure  assis- 
tance alters  the  obligation  of  the 
officer  seeking  to  make  the  capture 
in  respect  of  the  safety  of  the  lives 
of  those  on  board  the  merchantman, 
although  the  vessel  has  ceased  its 
attempt  to  escape  when  torpedoed. 

These  are  not  new  circumstances. 
They  have  been  in  the  minds  of 
statesmen  and  of  international  jur- 
ists throughout  the  development  of 
naval  warfare,  and  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  does  not  under- 
stand that  they  have  ever  been  held 
to  alter  the  principles  of  humanity 
upon  which  it  has  insisted.  Nothing 
but  actual  forcible  resistance  or  con- 
tinued efforts  to  escape  by  flight 
when  ordered  to  stop  for  the  purpose 
of  visit  on  the  part  of  the  merchant- 
man has  ever  been  held  to  forfeit 
the  lives  of  passengers  or  crew.  The 
Government  of  the  I'nited  States, 
however,  does  not  understand  that 
the  Imperial  German  Government   is 


seeking  in  this  case  to  relieve  itself 
of  liability,  but  only  intends  to  set 
forth  the  circumstances  which  led 
the  commander  of  the  submarine  to 
allow  himself  to  be  hurried  into  the 
course  which  he  took. 

Refers  to  Guns  on  Ship. 

Your  excellency's  note,  in  discus- 
sing the  loss  of  American  lives  re- 
sulting from  the  sinking  of  the  steam- 
ship Lusituniu,  adverts  at  some  length 
to  certain  information  which  the  Im- 
perial German  Government  has  re- 
ceived with  regard  to  the  character 
and  outfit  of  that  vessel,  and  your 
excellency  expresses  the  fear  that  this 
information  may  not  have  been 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States. 

It  is  stated  in  the  note  that  the 
Liisitania  was  undoubtedly  equipped 
with  masked  guns,  supplied  with 
trained  gunners  and  special  ammuni- 
tion, transporting  troops  from  Can- 
ada, carryng  a  cargo  not  permitted 
under  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
to  a  vessel  also  carrying  passengers, 
and  serving,  in  virtual  effect,  as  an 
auxiliary  to  the  naval  forces  of  Great 
Britain. 

Fortunately,  these  are  matters  con- 
cerning which  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  is  in  a  position 
to  give  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment official  information. 

Germany  Was  Misinformed. 

Of  the  facts  alleged  in  your  excel- 
lency's note,  if  true,  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  would  have  been 
bound  to  take  official  cognizance  in 
performing  its  recognized  duty  as  a 
neutral  power  and  in  enforcing  its 
national  laws.  It  was  its  duty  to  see 
to  it  that  the  Liisitania  was  not 
armed  for  offensive  action,  that  it 
was  not  serving  as  a  transport,  that 
it  did  not  carry  a  cargo  prohibited 
by  the  statutes  of  the  United  States 
and  that,  if  in  fact  it  was  a  naval 
vessel  of  Great  Britain,  it  should  not 
receive  clearance  as  a  merchantman; 
and  it  performed  that  duty  and  en- 
forced its  statutes  with  scrupulous 
vigilance  through  its  regularly  con- 
stituted officials. 

It  is  able,  therefore,  to  assure  the 
Imperial  German  Government  that  it 
has  been  misinformed. 

Ready  to  Receive  Evidence. 

If  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment should  deem  itself  to  be  in  pos- 
session of  convincing  evidence  that 
the  officials  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  did  not  perform  these 
duties  with  thoroughness  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  sincerely 
hopes  that  it  will  submit  that  evi- 
dence  for  consideration. 

Whatever  may  be  the  contentions 
of  the  Imperial  German  Government 
regarding  the  carriage  of  contraband 
of  war  on  board  the  Liisitania  or  re- 
garding the  explosion  of  that  mate- 
rial by  the  torpedo,  it  need  only  be 
said  that  in  the  view  of  this  govern- 
ment these  contentions  are  irrelevant 
to  the  question  of  the  legality  of  the 
methods  used  by  the  German  naval 
authorities  in  sinking  tlie  vessel. 

Principle   of   Humanity   First. 

But  the  sinking  of  passenger  ships 
involves  principles  of  humanity  which 


THE  OFFICIAL  XELTRALITV  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


227 


throw  into  the  background  any  spec- 
ial circumstances  of  detail  that  may 
be  thought  to  affect  the  cases,  prin- 
ciples which  lift  it,  as  the  Imperial 
German  Government  will  no  doubt 
be  quick  to  recognize  and  acknowl- 
edge, out  of  the  class  of  ordinary  sub- 
jects of  diplomatic  discussion  or  of 
international  controversy. 

Whatever  be  the  other  facts  re- 
garding the  J.usitania,  the  principal 
fact  is  that  a  great  steamer,  primar- 
ily and  chiefly  a  conveyance  for  pas- 
sengers and  carrying  more  than  a 
thousand  souls  who  had  no  part  or 
lot  in  the  conduct  of  the  war,  w'as  tor- 
pedoed and  sunk  without  so  much  as 
a  challenge  or  a  warning,  and  that 
men.  women  and  children  were  sent 
to  their  death  in  circumstances  un- 
paralleled in  modern  warfare. 

Plain  Words  as  to  Tragedy. 

The  fact  that  more  than  100 
American  citizens  were  among  those 
who  perished  made  it  the  duty  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to 
speak  of  these  things,  and  once  more, 
with  solemn  emphasis,  to  call  the  at- 
tention of  the  Imperial  German  Gov- 
ernment to  the  grave  responsibility 
which  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  conceives  that  it  has  incurred 
in  this  tragic  occurrence,  and  to  the 
indisputable  principle  upon  which  the 
responsibility  rests. 

The  Government  ot  the  United 
States  is  contending  for  something 
much  greater  than  mere  rights  of 
property  or  privileges  of  commerce. 
It  is  contending  for  nothing  less  high 
and  sacred  than  the  rights  of  human- 
ity, which  every  government  honors 
itself  in  respecting  and  which  no  gov- 
ernment is  justified  in  resigning  on 
behalf  of  those  under  its  care  and 
authority. 

No  Excuse  for  the  Submarine. 

Only  acttial  resistance  to  capture 
or  refusal  to  stop  when  ordered  to 
do  so  for  the  purpose  of  visit  could 
have  afforded  the  commander  of  the 
submarine  any  justification  for  so 
much  as  putting  the  lives  of  those 
on  board  the  ship  in  jeopardy. 

This  principle  the  Government  of 
the  Ignited  States  understands  the  ex- 
plicit instructions  issued  on  Aug.  3, 
1914,  by  the  Imperial  German  Admir- 
alty to  its  commanders  at  sea  to 
have  recognized  and  embodied,  as  do 
the  naval  codes  of  all  other  nations, 
and  upon  it  every  traveler  and  sea- 
man had  a  right  to  depend.  It  is 
upon  this  principle  of  humanity  as 
well  as  upon  the  law  founded  upon 
this  principle  that  the  I'nited  States 
must  stand. 

AVilliiia  (<>  lU'  Mediator. 

The  Government  ot  the  United 
States  is  happy  to  observe  that  your 
excellency's  note  closes  with  the  inti- 
mation that  the  Imperial  German 
government  is  willing,  now  as  be- 
fore, to  accept  the  good  oflices  of  the 
United  States  in  an  attempt  to  come 
to  an  understanding  with  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Great  Britain  by  w-hich 
the  character  and  conditions  of  the 
war  upon  the  sea  may  be  changed. 
The  Government  ot  the  United  States 
would  consider  it  a  privilege  thus  to 
serve  its  friends  and  the  world.  It 
stands  ready   at   any   time  to  convey 


to  either  government  any  intimation 
or  suggestion  the  other  may  be  will- 
ing to  have  it  convey,  and  cordially 
invites  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment to  make  use  of  its  services  in 
this  way  at  its  convenience.  The 
whole  world  is  concerned  in  anything 
that  may  bring  about  even  a  partial 
accommodation  of  interests  or  in  any 
way  mitigate  the  terrors  of  the  pres- 
ent distressing  conflict. 

E.\pects  Justice  to  Be  Done. 

In  the  meantime,  whatever  ar- 
rangement may  happily  be  made  be- 
tween the  parties  to  the  war,  and 
whatever  may  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Imperial  German  Government  have 
been  the  provocation  or  the  circum- 
stantial justification  for  the  past 
acts  of  its  commanders  at  sea,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  con- 
fidently looks  to  see  the  justice  and 
many  vindicated  in  all  cases  where 
Americans  have  been  wronged  or 
their  rights  as  neutrals  invaded. 

The  Government  ot  the  United 
States,  therefore,  very  earnestly  and 
very  solemnly  renews  the  represen- 
tations of  its  note  transmitted  to  the 
Imperial  German  Government  on  the 
15th  of  May  and  relies  in  these  rep- 
resentations upon  the  principles  of 
humanity,  the  universally  recognized 
understandings  of  international  law 
and  the  ancient  friendship  of  the 
German  nation. 

Insists  on  Rights  of  Xeutrals. 

The  Government  of  the  United 
States  cannot  admit  that  the  proc- 
lamation of  a  war  zone  from  which 
neutral  ships  have  been  warned  to 
keep  away  may  be  made  to  operate 
as  in  any  degree  an  abbreviation  of 
the  rights  either  of  American  ship- 
masters or  of  American  citizens 
bound  on  lawful  errands  as  passen- 
gers on  merchant  ships  of  belliger- 
ent nationality.  It  does  not  under- 
stand the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment to  question  those  rights.  It 
understands  it,  also,  to  accept  as  es- 
tablished beyond  question  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  lives  of  noncombat- 
ants  cannot  lawfully  or  rightfully  be 
put  in  jeopardy  by  the  capture  or 
destruction  of  an  unresisting  mer- 
chantman, and  to  recognize  the  ob- 
ligation to  take  sufficient  precaution 
to  ascertain  whether  a  suspected 
merchantman  is  in  fact  of  belligerent 
nationality  or  is  in  fact  carrying  con- 
traband of  war  under  a  neutral  flag. 

The  Government  ot  the  United 
States,  therefore,  deems  it  reason- 
able to  expect  that  the  Imperial  Ger- 
man Government  will  adopt  the 
measures  necessary  to  put  these 
principles  into  practice  in  respect  of 
the  safeguarding  of  American  lives 
and  American  ships,  and  asks  for 
assurance  that  this  will  be  done. 
ROBERT  LANSING, 
Secretary  of  State  ad  Interim. 

(The   Daily   News,    Chicago.) 


have  been  handed  over  in  London 
during  the  week. 

In  Congress  the  urgent  consider- 
ation of  a  proposed  resolution  has 
been  introduced,  according  to  which 
the  President  shall  be  authorized  to 
stop  all  trade  with  any  nation  inter- 
fering with  American  shipping  in 
any  way  contrary  to  international 
law.  A  Swedish  paper  reminds  us 
of  Sweden's  economic  losses  on  ac- 
count of  England's  tyranny  at  sea, 
saying,  "It  cannot  be  denied  that  this 
proposal  is  really  radical  and  that, 
if  it  is  carried  through,  it  will  be 
an  effective  measure  against  Eng- 
land. The  idea  of  boycotting  Eng- 
land's trade,  unless  she  stops  caus- 
ing so  much  trouble  to  lawful  neutral 
trade,  does  not  exist  on  the  American 
side  of  the  Atlantic  alone." 

The  paper  goes  on  to  relate  that 
a  Stockholm  merchant  proposes  that 
an  arrangement  should  be  made  be- 
tween merchants  and  ship  owners  to 
cease  exporting  to  England,  until  she 
sees  fit  to  alter  her  commercial  pol- 
icy. "This,"  says  the  paper,  "is  the 
only  effective  means." — Hamburger 
Fremdenblatt. 


I'XITKD  STATES  AND  ENGLAND. 

New  York  papers  report  a  firmer 
stand  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
in  her  arrangements  with  England. 
The  new  American  note  with  precise 
minimum     requirements     is     said     to 


IS  NEUTRALITY  OUR  DUTY? 

The  people  of  the  United  States 
can  hardly  remain  neutral  in  view  of 
the  events  taking  place  in  Europe. 
The  majority  of  the  population  of 
this  country  are  kin  to  or  descend- 
ants of  the  people  now  engaged  in 
this  bloody  strife. 

It  would  mean  a  muzzling  and  sup- 
pression ot  all  noble  and  sympathetic 
sentiments  should  the  suggestion  of 
President  Wilson  be  followed,  that 
all  parties  directly  affected,  should 
accept  the  news  from  the  seat  of  war 
calmly.  It  is  impossible  to  pen  up 
the  joys  or  griefs  and  show  indiffer- 
ence when  the  heart  is  in  a  state  of 
revolt. 

The  Germans  of  Chicago  despite 
their  love  for  the  Fatherland  have 
made  possible  what  seemed  an  im- 
possibility. They  have  abandoned 
that  gathering  to  take  place  at  River- 
view  Park — planned  with  a  view  to 
aiding  their  wounded  and  destitute 
brethren — as  such  a  demonstration 
might  be  misconstrued.  If  this  could 
be  considered  excessive  precaution,  it 
is,  however,  a  gratifying  evidence  of 
the  loyalty  of  Germans  to  the  coun- 
try of  their  choice,  a  showing  that 
should  especially  be  appreciated  by 
Americans,  who  do  not  of  necessity 
need  show  feeling  for  any  side,  and 
for  this  reason  the  loyal  Germans  can 
all  the  more  demand  that  strict  neu- 
trality be  adhered  to  as  was  re- 
quested by  the  President.  It  is  only 
reasonable  to  expect,  that  a  good  ex- 
ample be  set  and  the  wise  exhorta- 
tions of  the  President  be  taken  to 
heart.  It  is  very  deplorable  and  re- 
volting when  just  such  men  allow 
their  entire  personality  to  be  con- 
trolled by  their  hatred. 

The  divine,  Charles  H.  Parkhurst, 
who  as  a  minister  should  be  preach- 
ing peace  and  as  an  American  en- 
deavor to  transform  the  expressions 
of  the  head  of  the  great  American 
family  into  deeds,  this  divine, 
Charles  H.  Parkhurst,  prominent  as 
a  citizen  and  minister  in   the  great 


228 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


metropolis  of  New  York,  published 
an  article  in  one  of  the  local  papers, 
that  was  not  written  with  pen  and 
ink  but  with  the  knout  of  a  drunken 
Cossack.  This  strange  minister  of 
the  gospel  said  among  other  things: 
"If  a  mad  dog  is  found  chasing 
about  it  is  shot  at  once,  not  as  a  mat- 
ter of  vengeance  but  to  protect  the 
public.  Well  then,  has  peaceful  and 
beautiful  Europe  ever  been  endan- 
gered by  a  more  hydrophobic  crea- 
ture than  Kaiser  William?  The 
police  do  not  stop  to  negotiate  or 
compromise  with  the  dog,  but  con- 
sider only  their  duty  to  humanity  and 
dispatch  it  as  a  public  menace, 
treat  it  as  Germany  treated  Poland 
at  the  time  of  the  partition  of  that 
country  and  as  it  attempted  to  treat 


France  in  1870  by  levying  an  enor- 
mous war  indemnity  and  crippling 
her  military  strength  so  that  Ger- 
many no  longer  need  fear  an  attack 
by  France." 

"Now  the  same  medicine,"  Mr. 
Parkhurst  continues,  "that  Germany 
administered  to  Poland  and  France 
should  be  given  her.  It  might  not 
be  necessary  to  strangle  Germany 
but  her  claws  should  be  trimmed, 
her  teeth  broken,  and  enough  of  her 
fortresses  razed  to  make  her  harm- 
less, burdened  with  such  a  heavy 
war  tax  that  she  would  stop  at  noth- 
ing short  of  absolute  poverty.  This 
policy  should  not  be  pursued  with  a 
spirit  of  revenge,  but  for  the  sake  of 
safety,  welfare  and  comfort  in  gen- 
eral.    Less  than  this  would  necessi- 


tate a  probable  repetition  of  the 
tragedy  now  being  enacted." 

We  take  no  pleasure  in  going  any 
further  into  the  details  of  this  fire- 
brand article  of  the  New  York  min- 
ister, as  the  German  language  does 
not  contain  words  enough  to  make  a 
befitting  reply  possible. 

Just  one  question:  Should  the 
naturalized  German,  Austrian,  Hun- 
garian, English,  Belgian  be  blamed 
for  manifestations  of  sympathy  for 
their  respective  muther-countrios.  when 
this  American,  Rev.  Charles  H. 
Parkhurst,  who  is  bound  to  Europe 
by  no  fond  ties,  considered  himself 
justified  in  speaking  in  such  terms? 

Is  this  the  neutrality  in  word  and 
deed  which  America  promised  to  ob- 
serve? 


Neutrality  of  the  United  States  of  a  Semi-Popular  and 
Semi-Official  Nature 


UNITED  STATES  AXD  THE  WAR. 

The  war  in  Europe  was  of  Europe's 
making.  The  United  States  was  not 
approached  before  the  declaration  of 
hostilities  on  the  question  of  Its  atti- 
tude in  the  circumstances.  In  one  way, 
therefore,  the  conflict  is  none  of  our 
business.  If  its  effects  could  have  been 
confined  to  Europe  solely  it  would  in 
no  sense  have  been  any  business  of 
ours.  But  they  could  not  be,  or,  rather, 
have  not  been,  and  as  a  consequence 
we  are  brought  to  a  situation  vis-a-vis 
the  belligerent  powers  which  demands 
that  we  no  longer  delay  a  definite 
statement  of  our  position  on  certain 
points  of  policy.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
go  into  those  eternal  details  which 
serve  only  to  confuse  and  to  confound. 
The  facts  are  that  our  Atlantic  coast 
has  been  subjected  to  a  blockade  by 
British  cruisers  inconsistent  alike  with 
our  rightful  interests  as  a  neutral 
trading  nation  and  with  our  claims 
to  the  privileges  of  an  independent 
Power,  and  that  our  ships  have  been 
seized  and  carried  into  foreign  ports, 
our  right  to  peaceful  trade  disputed, 
our  mails  interfered  with,  and  our 
citizens  detained,  in  violation  of  the 
written  laws  of  war  and  the  unwritten 
principles  which  underlie  the  comity  of 
nations. 

The  action  of  Great  Britain  in  these 
matters  is  historically  not  without 
precedent.  We  suffered  from  the  same 
treatment  between  17S3  and  1814.  but 
were  of  the  opinion  that  the  claim  of 
England  to  the  rights  of  search  and 
Impres.sment  was  definitely  settled  by 
the  War  of  1S12.  Apparently  we  were 
wrong.  The  .same  claim  to  absolute 
and  unquestionable  dominion  over  the 
waters  of  the  South  were  asserted  by 
England  during  the  War  of  the  States. 
And  again  we  thought  that  in  the 
Geneva  Award  we  had  secured  some 
controversion  of  England's  pretensions. 
But  today  our  eyes  are  once  more 
opened  to  the  fact  that  we  have  not 
advanced  one  step  in  over  a  century 
in  the  fight  for  the  freedom  of  the 
seas.  _We  are  still  face  to  face  with 
the  cry  and  claim  that  "Britannia 
rules   the   Waves"   and   that   whatever 


transpires  thereon  is  solely  a  matter 
for  the  adjudication  of  British  courts. 

The  United  States  fought  for  years 
for  the  rights  of  private  property  at 
sea.  She  fought  the  battle  of  not  only 
her  own  people  but  of  the  peoples  of 
the  world.  And  England  alone  op- 
posed her.  And  why?  Solely  because 
as  the  dominant  naval  power  of  the 
world  it  was  to  her  interest  to  do  so. 
Willing  enough  to  write  into  interna- 
tional law  ail  the  possible  ameliorat- 
ing conditions  under  which  laud  war 
was  to  he  waged,  England  has  stood 
out  consistently  for  ISth  Century  prin- 
ciples in  the  conduct  of  belligerents 
on  the  seas.  She  has  reserved  to  her- 
self, in  other  words,  ever.v  "right" 
which  could  be  availed  of  to  maintain 
her  unquestioned  command  of  the 
water-ways  of  international  trade. 
From  the  Declaration  of  Paris  to  the 
Declaration  of  London  the  policy  which 
she  has  stood  for  has  uncovered  her 
hand. 

The  time  has  come  to  call  a  halt. 
We  have  come  so  far  under  the  charm 
of  England's  campaign  for  our  "moral 
support"  that  perhaps  it  is  difficult  to 
see  things  clearly  as  they  are.  A  blind 
man  could  discern,  however,  between 
England's  desires  and  her  deserts. 
There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  allot 
our  friendship  where  we  receive  no 
return  in  kind.  We  are  asked  to  sup- 
port England  in  her  present  distress  of 
war  and  terror,  morally,  and  recently 
we  have  been  called  upon  for  support 
of  a  more  material  character;  but 
what  have  we  had  from  her?  Injury 
and  insult  and  nothing  else ! 

I  know  that  there  is  a  certain  ele- 
ment in  Boston  and  in  Washington, 
bottle-fed  and  nipple-nursed  by  Eng- 
land, that  would  like  to  see  the  Stars 
and  .Stripes  hauled  down  and  the 
Union  Jack  floating  once  more  from 
Hudson  Bay  to  Houston,  Texas,  but 
does  that  element  represent  the  Amer- 
ican people  as  a  whole?  We  have  had 
Americans  in  the  past  who  realized 
that  we  are  no  longer  a  colonial  ap- 
panage of  Europe.  Have  we  not  one 
today?  We  have  had  statesmen  who 
lived  and  died  and  fought  as  Amer- 
icans, supported  by  a  firm  faith  In  our 


independent  sovereignty,  and  the  fact 
that  we  were  big  enough  and  strong 
enough  to  assert  our  right  to  a  first 
place  in  the  family  of  nations.  Have 
we  not  one  now?  We  have  told  the 
powers  of  Europe  on  more  occasions 
than  one  that  we  should  regard  as  an 
unfriendly  act  precisely  what  England 
has  done  and  is  continuing  to  do  off 
our  coast  in  the  present  war.  Why  do 
we  submit  to  it  today? 

The  answer  is  at  hand.  We  have 
passed  from  the  school  of  Clay  and 
Webster.  Seward.  Fish,  Blaine  and 
Olney,  to  a  school  of  psychologists, 
who  see  in  every  protest  against  our 
re-union  with  the  apron  strings  of 
England  nothing  but  "mental  exer- 
cise." We  are  represented  no  longer 
by  men,  but  by  invertebrates.  We 
have  no  longer  as  our  spokesmen 
officials  who  speak  "American,"  but 
only  such  as  speak  "English."  The 
one  redeeming  excuse  of  our  present 
administration,  as  developed  by  the 
present  situation,  is  that  knowing  noth- 
ing of  the  mints  of  the  case  and  ut- 
terly incapable  of  sane  expression  on 
the  snbject,  it  has  done  nothing.  Why, 
however,  was  the  one  man  in  all  Amer- 
ica who  could  have  handled  the  situa- 
tion, John  Bassett  Moore,  driven  from 
the  Service? 

I  am  not  interested  in  the  fact  that 
it  is  England  that  is  attempting  to 
destroy  our  trade  and  our  prestige  he- 
fore  the  world.  I  should  speak  just 
as  plainly  if  it  were  Germany  or  Aus- 
tria, Japan,  China  or  Chile.  The 
point  to  be  made  is  that  no  nation  on 
God's  earth  has  a  right  to  interfere 
with  American  trade  as  it  is  being  In- 
tiprfered  with:  and  that  no  administra- 
tion in  Washington,  whether  Wliig  or 
Tory.  Republican,  Democrat  of  Pro- 
gressive, has  a  right  to  surrender  our 
dignity  to  any  such  nation. 

We  are  face  to  face  today  with 
facts,  not  theories.  We  are  face  to 
face  with  conditions  which  spell  for  us 
in  the  future  only  defeat  in  the  fight 
for  a  further  share  in  the  world's 
trade.  We  are  face  to  face  with  a 
problem  that  demands  that  we  either 
assert  our  rights,  or  withdraw  our 
claim  to  be  more  than  a  colony  of  the 


NEUTR-^LITY  OF  A  SEMI-OFFICIAL  NATURE 


229 


British  crown.  Ttie  question  is  :  Shall 
we  assert  those  rights,  not  insultingly, 
but  clearly  and  in  no  unmeaning  peri- 
phrasis, or  shall  we  admit  the  claim  of 
other  powers  to  dictate  to  us  on  what 
conditions  we  shall  continue  to  exist 
and  to  have  intercourse  with  the  peo- 
ple of  the  world?  A  century  ago  the 
answer  would  have  been  clear;  a  half 
century  ago,  a  decade  ago.  it  would 
have  been  so.  But  today  we  seem  to 
wallow  in  the  sloth  of  a  psycho-paci- 
ficism which  is  incapable  of  either 
right  thinking  or  manly  protest. 

It  is  time  that  the  American  people 
registered  their  interpretation  of  the 
Presidency — that  they  asserted  the 
duty  of  its  incumbent  to  be  the  fullfil- 
ment  of  the  national  desire  and  not 
the  prnclaniation  of  personal  theories, 
however  gilded  their  frames,  that  are 
inconsistent  therewith.  We  want  only 
the  rights  of  a  neutral  nation  at  peace 
with  all  the  world,  and  these  are  be- 
ing denied  to  us.  It  is  a  telling  dis- 
grace that  our  representatives  have  not 
the  courage  to  maintain  the  dignity  of 
their   country. 


AMERIC.W  NEVTRALTTY. 

We  translate  the  following  edito- 
rial from  the  Xew  York  "Staats- 
Zeitung"  of  September  16  as  a  sig- 
nificant utterance  expressive  of  a 
strong  feeling  among  millions  of 
American  citizens. — Editor. 

We  have  it  from  the  lips  of  proud 
Americans,  from  the  columns  of  their 
press  from  Park  Row  to  Times 
Square,  that  "Britannia  Still  Rules 
the  Waves."  And  now  more  than 
ever  since  the  capture  of  helpless 
German  merchant  ships  in  great 
number.  We  hear  no  word  of  pro- 
test from  the  lips  of  these  England- 
serving  Americans  against  the  domi- 
nating attitude  of  this  same  Eng- 
land toward  America  in  dictating — 
yes,  dictating — in  what  manner  U 
shall  deal  with  the  belligerents,  as 
though  we  were  still  a  British  Crown 
colony. 

Not  a  single  protest  has  been  made 
against  England's  ukase,  supported 
by  her  European  allies,  that  in  fu- 
ture the  passports  of  American  citi- 
zens of  German  birth  will  not  be  re- 
spected. American  nativists  them- 
selves have  never  dared  to  divide 
American  citizens  into  two  classes. 
In  silence  the  obedient  servant  in 
America  submits  to  this  insult  of  his 
master,  England. 

We  have  endured  a  great  deal 
within  the  past  few  weeks  and  have 
charged  much  to  the  account  of  a  ter- 
rible world  war,  much  that  other- 
wise would  have  caused  the  blush  of 
shame  to  rise  to  the  cheeks  of  a 
loyal  American.  But  this  last  is  the 
straw  that  breaks  the  camel's  back. 
We  have  stood  by  in  silence  when 
England  dictated  to  the  free  and  in- 
dependent United  States  how  and 
with  whom  they  might  communicate 
by  wireless.  Without  a  whimper  the 
United  States  submitted  (and  Con- 
gress made  no  sign  of  protest)  when 
England  said:  "You  shall  not  pur- 
chase German  ships  with  your  own 
money,  shall  not  admit  them  to  reg- 
istry under  the  American  flag,  shall 
not  relieve  your  own  absolute  need 
for  raw  material,  not  contraband,  ob- 


tainable only  in  Germany."  Britan- 
nia, your  master,  says  no! 

We  remained  silent  when  England 
rifled  American  mail  on  the  "Pots- 
dam"; we  have  silently  endured  see- 
ing our  trade  with  Germany  and 
Austria  reduced  from  millions  to 
zero.  And  on  top  of  all  this  the  In- 
hibition against  American  passports 
in  the  hands  of  American  citizens, 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  not 
born  in  England  or  Russia — the 
Russia  which  today  is  persona  grata 
in  those  editorial  rooms  under  the 
influence  of  England,  the  same  Rus- 
sia with  whom  we  abrogated  our 
treaties  for  doing  what  she  has  again 
done   under    England's   dictation. 

At  that  time  a  wild  wave  of  In- 
dignation swayed  the  hearts  of  all 
the  Hearsts  and  the  Sulzers.  Today 
we  hear  not  a  word  of  protest. 

What  is  the  administration  In 
Washington  going  to  do  about  It? 
What  of  Congress?  What  of  the 
men  who  made  such  tremendous  pro- 
tests then?  What  of  the  members 
who  otherwise  call  themselves  9or- 
man-Americans? 

Do  you  intend  to  submit  to  being 
ruled  by  Britannia? 


H.  G.  WELL'S  APPEAL  TO  THE 

PEOPLE  OF  THE   UNITED 

ST.ATES. 


Illinois  Staats-Zeitung,   Chicago. 
Otto  Stein. 

In  his  appeal  to  the  U.  S.,  printed 
in  the  "Tribune"  of  August  21st,  H. 
G.  Wells,  the  English  writer,  says: 
"At  the  end  we  do  most  firmly  believe 
there  will  be  established  a  new  Eu- 
rope, a  Europe  ridded  of  rankling 
oppressions,  with  a  free  Poland,  a 
free  Finland,  a  free  Germany,  and 
the  Balkan  question  settled,  the 
little  nations  safe  and  with  peace  se- 
cure." 

It  is  touching  to  see  England  sac- 
rifice thousands  or  hundred  thou- 
sands of  lives  to  "help  poor  oppressed 
nations"  to  freedom.  No  selfish  mo- 
tive ever  actuates  England.  She  com- 
bines with  Cossacks,  Turcos  and 
Japanese  to  free  the  oppressed  na- 
tions of  Europe  just  as  she  combined 
with  the  Indians  to  give  the  U.  S. 
their  liberty.  When  she  has  freed 
Poland.  Finland.  Germany,  no  doubt 
she  will  free  India,  Egypt,  The  Trans- 
vaal Free  State  and  give  Gibraltar 
back  to  Spain.  She  did  not  enter 
into  the  war  in  order  to  destroy 
Germany's  commercial  competition. 
Nothing  is  f\irther  from  her  thoughts. 
To  protect  Belgium's  neutrality  she 
took  to  arms  and  to  protect  China's 
neutrality,  she  doubtless,  will  fight 
.Tapan.  Now  she  appeals  to  the  U.  S. 
"not  to  play  the  part  of  a  merely 
numerous  little  people,  cute  at  trad- 
ing." She  wants  us  to  look  on,  not 
to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity 
now  offered  us  to  establish  our  own 
merchant  marine,  she  does  not  want 
us  to  supply  foodstuffs  to  the  German 
people — let  them  starve. 

In  the  same  issue  in  which  the 
splendid  appeal  appears  we  find  the 
following  notice; 

The  movement  to  capture  Ger- 
many's trade  has  been  taken  up  with 


splendid  vigor  and  the  government 
is  giving  fully  its  official  support. 
The  board  of  trade,  which  is  a  gov- 
ernment department,  is  doing  every- 
thing possible,  while  the  colonial  of- 
fice is  gathering  information  from 
the  dominions  anent  the  character  of 
previous  German  imports.  The 
chamber  of  commerce  is  arranging 
meetings  between  manufacturers  and 
former  importers  of  German  goods. 

It  is  beyond  my  understanding  how 
the  American  people,  and  particularly 
the  American  newspapers,  can  sym- 
pathize with  England  and  the  present 
war.  Since  the  W'ar  of  Independence 
there  has  been  no  occasion  on  which 
England  did  not  try  her  level  best  to 
injure  our  country,  and  even  in  the 
Mexican  trouble  it  was  admitted  that 
England,  through  Sir  Lionel  Garden, 
tried  very  hard  to  involve  us  in  war. 
Now  she  led  Japan  to  take  steps 
which,  if  they  will  not  cause  us  to 
go  to  war,  will  give  us  serious  trou- 
ble, and  whatever  she  does,  she  does 
to  help  the  poor  oppressed.  If  it 
helps  her  at  the  same  time  to  pocket 
diamond  mines,  canals  built  by 
others,  whole  countries,  she  accepts 
them  only  in  trust  for  humanity.  It 
is  an  old  saying  that  no  hypocrite  is 
as  dangerous  as  one  who  is  able  to 
deceive  himself,  and  of  all  the  sick- 
ening spectacles  the  history  of  the 
world  has  shown  the  most  disgusting 
is  that  of  "Perfidious  Albion"  posing 
as  the  champion  of  liberty  and  right. 
The  British  middle  class,  therefore, 
is  full  of  an  angry,  vague  disposition 
to  thwart  that  expansion  which 
Germans  regard  very  reasonably  as 
their  natural  destiny;  there  are  all 
the  possibilties  of  a  huge  conflict 
in  that  disposition,  and  it  is  perhaps 
well  to  remember  how  insular — or 
at  least  how  European — the  essen- 
tials of  this  quarrel  are.  We  have 
lost  our  tempers,  but  Canada  has  not. 
There  is  nothing  in  Germany  to  make 
Canada  envious  and  ashamed  of 
wasted  years,  etc..  etc." 

There  spoke  the  true  Mr.  W'ells, 
the  able  critic  and  man  of  a  world 
outlook.  Not  the  one  sided  English- 
man who  recommends  a  new  map 
of  Europe  on  ethnological  lines  for 
the  Slav,  the  Italian,  the  Teuton,  the 
Frenchman,  and  the  Magyar,  but  not 
for  the  Celt.  Let  every  little  tribe 
govern  itself  excepting  only  the  Irish 
and  the  Boers;  for  them  English 
righteousness  is  better  than  self- 
government. — Mrs.  Herman  Lan- 
dauer,  532  6  East  End  Avenue. 


In  view  of  a  rediculous  Paris  story 
as  to  the  speedy  flight  of  Prince  Eitel 
Friedrich  at  the  approach  of  some 
British  troops,  which  story  was  prob- 
ably cabled  with  gusto  to  London, 
it  may  be  of  interest  to  state  that 
whereas  none  of  the  near  relatives 
of  the  royal  houses  of  England  and 
Russia,  much  less  their  sons,  are  at 
the  front.  Emperor  William  has  all 
of  his  male  offspring  at  the  firing 
line.  Proof  of  this  is  furnished  by 
the  wounding  of  Princes  Eitel  Fried- 
rich  and  Joachim.  Crown  Prince 
Franz  of  Bavaria,  too,  has  been 
wounded  in  the  knee.  The  Hohen- 
zoUerns  have  certainly  never  been 
afraid  of  the  smell  of  powder. — The 
Hornet. 


230 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


I.INCOI.N 

(By    Courtesy    of    the    '■Cliioago    Abeiidposf ) 


NEUTRALITY  OF  A  SEMI-OFFICIAL   NATL  RE  21 

Remember  the  Words  of  George  Washington. 

The  Father  of  Our  Country. 

"The  duty  and  interest  of  the  United  States  require  that  they  should,  with  sincerity  and 
gooA.  faith,  adopt  and  pursue  a  conduct  FRIENDLY  AND  IMPARTIAL,  toward  the  belligerent 
powers. ' ' 

"Observe  good  faith  and  justice  toward  all  nations.  Cultivate  peace  and  harmony,  religion 
and  mortality  enjoin  this  conduct,  and  can  it  be  that  good  policy  does  not  equally  enjoin  it?" 

"The  duty  of  holding  a  neutral  conduct  may  be  inferred,  without  anj^hing  more,  from  the 
obligations  which  justice  and  humanity  impose  on  every  nation,  in  cases  in  which  it  is  free  to  act, 
to  maintain  inviolate  the  relations  of  peace  and  amity  toward  other  nations." 

"Can  it  be  that  Providence  has  not  connected  the  permanent  felicity  of  a  nation  with  its 
virtue?  The  experiment,  at  least,  is  recommended  by  every  sentiment  which  ennobles  human  na- 
ture. ' ' 

"In  the  execution  of  such  a  plan  nothing  is  more  essential  than  that  permanent,  inveterate 
antipathies  against  particular  nations,  and  passionate  attachment  for  others  should  be  excluded, 
and  that  in  place  of  them  JUST  AND  AMICABLE  FEELINGS  TOWARD  ALL  should  be  culti- 
vated. The  nation  which  indulges  toward  another  an  habitual  hatred  or  an  habitual  fondness  is 
in  some  degree  a  slave.  It  is  a  slave  to  its  animosity  or  to  its  affection,  either  of  which  is  suf- 
ficient to  lead  it  astray  from  its  duty  or  its  interest." 

"It  leads  also  to  concessions  to  the  favorite  nation  of  privileges  denied  to  others,  which  is 
apt  doubly  to  injure  the  nation  making  the  concession,  by  unnecessarily  parting  with  what  ought 
to  have  been  retained  and  by  exciting  jealousy,  ill  will  and  a  disposition  to  retaliate  in  the  parties 
from  whom  equal  privileges  are  withheld;  and  it  gives  to  ambitious,  corrupt  or  deluded  citizens 
(who  devote  themselves  to  the  favorite  nation)  facility  to  betray  the  interest  of  their  country 
without  odium,  sometimes  even  with  popularity,  gilding  with  the  appearance  of  a  virtuous  sense 
of  obligation  a  commendable  deference  for  public  opinion,  or  a  laudable  zeal  for  public  good,  the 
base   or  foolish   compliance   of  ambition,   corruption  or  infatuation." 

' '  Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosperity,  religion  and  mortality 
are  indispensable  supports.  In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriotism  who  should 
labor  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of  human  happiness,  these  finest  props  of  the  duties  of  men 
and  citizens." — The  Illinois  Staats-Zeitung,   Chicago. 


W  ASHINGTOX     CABINET     NOTES.         HAS  AMERICA  BEEN  NEUTBAL? 

The  press  has  printed  the  thought- 
ful "Proclamation  of  Neutrality"  by 
President  Wilson;  but  how  many 
newspapers  have  followed  it?  On 
the  contrary,  Neutrality  has  been 
trampled  upon  by  them.  They  have 
made  a  farce  of  it  and  did  it  in 
a  most  stupid  manner.  They  have 
distorted  the  European  crisis  beyond 
recognition.  Nor  can  it  be  gainsaid 
that  the  good  name  of  Germany  has 
I)een  severely  slandered.  Their 
thoughtlessness  is  beyond  the  power 
of  words.  This  country  has  nothing 
but  admiration,  good  wishes  and 
friendship  for  Germany.  An  "un- 
thinking press"  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  create  animosity  between 
friendly  nations.  No  American  can 
forget  the  beautiful  words  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  "with  malice  toward 
none,  with  charity  for  all."  Nor 
should  we  forget  the  remarkable 
words  of  Jackson,  when  he  said, 
"Friendships  with  all  nations,  but 
entangling   alliances   with   none." 

However,  history  moves  quickly 
and  Pate  still  faster.  Who  can  tell 
that  the  day  may  not  come  when  the 
I'nited  States  will  welcome  Germany 
as  a  friend!  And  a  warm  friend  she 
would  be.     Her  word  is  good. 

Finally.  Die  most  violent  pro-British 
element  of  the  American  Press  has  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  upon  its  head,  to  a 
very  large  extent,  the  loss  of  American 
life  of  the  Lusitania  and  elsewhere.  In 
future,  for  Heaven's  sake,  "lot  us  think 
uf  America"  first! — Editor. 


GREAT      BRITAIN      REPRIMANDS 
PRESIDENT  WILSON. 


From   "The  Fatherland,"  New  York, 
October    14.    1914. 

Abovit  the  activities  of  the  daugh- 
ter of  Secretary  of  State  Bryan  and 
her  husband,  an  English  army  of- 
ficer, dispatches  informs  us: 

London,  Sept.  29. — Mrs.  Ruth 
Bryan  Owen,  daughter  of  Secretary 
of  State  Bryan,  whose  husband  is  an 
officer  in  the  British  army  and  will 
soon  leave  for  the  front,  is  busily 
engaged   in  relief  work. 

The  Hon.  Josephus  Daniels,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  asserts  in  his 
paper,  the  "Raleigh  News  and  Ob- 
server." that  the  "New  York  Herald" 
Is  by  far  the  best  medium  for  war 
news.  It  may  be  recalled  that  the 
James  Gordon  Bennett  papers,  the 
"Herald"  and  "Telegram,"  an- 
nounced sometime  ago  that 
would  not  print  the  German 
sent  by  wireless  via  Sayville. 
"New  York  German  Herold 
marks: 

"Mr.  Josephus  Daniels,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  evidently  prefers 
his  news  treated  from  the  French 
standpoint.  For  the  rest  we  might 
remark,  if  all  the  members  of  Mr. 
Wilson's  cabinet  are  of  Mr.  Daniels' 
opinion,  certain  unneutral  doings  are 
easily  explained." 


they 

news 

The 

re- 


"DARE  TO  DO  YOlTt  Dl'TY." 

"Let  us  have  faith  that  right 
makes  might,  and  in  that  faith  let 
us  to  tlie  end  dare  to  do  our  dtity  as 
we  understand  it  "^-.Abraham  Lin- 
coln. 


Editorial     from     "The    Fatherland," 
New  York,  September  30,  1914. 

Sir  Lionel  Garden,  formerly  Great 
Britain's  representative  in  Mexico, 
now  on  his  way  to  his  new  post  in 
Brazil,  severely  reprimands  President 
Wilson  for  his  order  withdrawing  our 
troops  from  Vera  Cruz.  The  British 
diplomat  does  not  hesitate  to  char- 
acterize President  Wilson's  action  as 
"a  shame."  The  interview  is  printed 
in  the  New  York  "Sun"  and  is 
vouched  for  by  one  of  that  newspa- 
per's ablest  reporters  and  two  of  his 
colleagues.  The  subsequent  per- 
functory denial  by  Sir  Lionel  isn't 
taken  seriously  by  any  one  acquaint- 
ed with  the  editorial  integrity  of  the 
New  York  "Sun,"  and  this  minister's 
past  record  for  impertinence  toward 
the  President  of  the  I'nited  States. 

English  warships  have  seized  and 
destroyed  the  mail  of  American  citi- 
zens addressed  to  Germany  without 
regard  to  neutrality,  in  flagrant  vio- 
lation of  the  conventions  of  inter- 
national law.  This  act  of  piracy  Is 
almost  a  casus  belli. 

Evidently  British  statesmen  look 
upon  the  United  States  as  a  province 
of  the  British  Empire.  Else  they 
would  not  dare  to  strain  to  the 
breaking  point  the  neutrality  pro- 
claimed by  President  Wilson.  But 
they  are  making  their  reckoning 
without  Iheir  host.  Possibly  their  in- 
formation on  American  sentiment  is 
derived  from  such  publications  as 
Collier's  Weekly  and  the  New  York 


232 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  WAR 


Times.  They  forget  that  they  will 
have  to  take  into  account  the  Ameri- 
can people.  They  may  have  suc- 
ceeded in  wresting  the  Panama  Canal 
from  us  by  legal  trickery,  but  they 
will  find  us  ready  to  defend  the 
rights  of  our  citizens  today  as  In 
1812.  Already  public  opinion  in  this 
country  is  veering  around.  We  be- 
gin to  see  the  ally  of  Japan,  our 
arch  enemy,  in  her  true  light.  We 
know  that  Great  Britain  is  equally 
desirous  of  thwarting  our  plans  for 
an  efficient  merchant  marine  as  she  Is 
determined  to  destroy  the  commerce 
of  Germany.  Great  Britain  may  have 
the  right  to  destroy  German  com- 
merce because  she  is  at  war  with  the 
German  Empire.  But  her  iron  fist 
is  raised,  though  gloved  with  the  silk 
of  hypocrisy,  to  nip  in  the  bud,  even 
in  times  of  peace,  our  plan  of  acquir- 
ing by  purchase  a  fleet  of  American 
bottoms. 

Who  doubts  that  Great  Britain  it 
she  succeeds  in  annihilating  German 
commerce,  will  next  turn  her  atten- 
tion to  the  United  States? 


A  WORD  TO  AMERICA. 


By  a  Prominent  Austro-Hungarian 
Statesman. 

Ther^  has  always  existed  in  Austria- 
Hungary  a  feeling  of  sympathy  for 
America,  and  we  have  believed  that  it 
was  not  altogether  unreciprocated. 
We  knew  very  well  that  we  were  not 
so  much  in  the  thoughts  of  the  people 
over  there  as  they  were  in  ours.  Many 
Americans  have  very  indistinct  ideas, 
if  any,  about  Austria-Hungary,  and 
when  they  have  chanced  to  visit  us 
we  did  not  know  which  side  ought  to 
be  the  more  ashamed,  we,  that  those 
abroad  had  heard  so  little  concerning 
us,  or  our  visitors,  because  they  pos- 
sessed so  little  knowledge  of  European 
geography,  history  and   politics. 

But  if  Americans,  with  the  exception 
of  those  living  here,  know  us  but 
slightly,  it  is  likewise  true  that  their 
acquaintance  with  Germany  is  limited. 
The  articles  which  the  ex-president  of 
Harvard  University,  Chas.  W.  Eliot, 
wrote  shortly  after  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  in  the  attempt  to  interpret 
the  public  opinion  of  America,  were 
remarkable  indications  of  how  exclu- 
sively the  views  of  German  life  and  ac- 
tivity held  there  are  drawn  from  Eng- 
lish sources.  The  Germany  which  he 
condemns,  and  to  a  very  slight  de- 
gree praises,  is  as  different  from  the 
real  one  as  a  caricature  is  from  a  pho- 
tograph. Germany,  according  to  Dr. 
Eliot,  is  striving  for  a  world-wide  em- 
pire, is  an  incorporation  of  militarism 
and  concludes  secret  treaties  without 
the  knowledge  of  its  people.  It  does 
not  seem  to  him  worthy  of  mention 
that  England  has  appropriated  a  large 
part  of  America,  half  Africa,  all  India 
and  all  Australia.  That  Russia  and 
France  spend  much  more  money  on 
their  armies  than  Germany;  that  Eng- 
land has  laid  down  the  fundamental 
principle:  its  navy  must  be  as  strong 
as  tliat  of  any  other  two  countries 
combined ;  that  Sir  Edward  Grey  made 
secret  agreements  with  France,  Bel- 
gium and  Russia,  which  he  denied  be- 
fore Parliament — these  are  facts  of 
which    the    learned   doctor    has    either 


never  heard  or  has  forgotten.  In  his 
view  the  German  Empire  holds  Schles- 
wig-Holstein,  nine-tenths  of  whose 
poiHilation  are  Germans,  in  its  power, 
against  the  will  of  the  latter,  and  is 
altogether  a  detestable  conqueror  and 
oppressor,  in  distinction  to  England, 
France  and  Russia,  whom  he  appar- 
ently considers  received  their  great 
possessions  as  a  gift.  The  good  doctor 
has  also  not  the  slightest  thought  of 
the  well-known  love  of  peace  of  our 
Emperor  nor  does  he  appear  aware  of 
the  unremitting  efforts  of  the  German 
Kaiser  to  preserve  the  peace.  In  short. 
Dr.  Eliot  discloses  an  ignorance  con- 
cerning us  and  Germany  that  in  refer- 
ence to  .\nierica  would  be  surprising 
in  one  of  the  pupils  of  our  secondary 
schools. 

It  would,  have  been  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  make  known  to  Americans,  fed 
with  English  representations,  that  the 
Russian  government  had  prepared  the 
war  a  long  time  in  advance,  and  that 
the  English  ministers  had  some  time 
back  laid  the  wire,  so  that  it  only 
needed  the  Grand  Duke  Nikolai  Nikola- 
jewich  to  press  the  button  for  the  ex- 
plosion to  follow. 

Americans  who  know  Europe  and 
have  a  sense  for  European  ideas  like 
the  philosopher  Fullerton,  have  at- 
tempted to  bring  home,  in  some  degree 
to  their  countrymen  the  truth  in  these 
matters,  and  what  they  have  not  suc- 
ceeded in  doing,  it  will  not  be  possible 
for  an  Austrian,  in  the  short  space  of 
a  newspaper  article,  to  accomplish. 
Let  then  an  Englishman  be  quoted. 

In  the  year  1909.  there  appeared  in 
the  Enrjlifih  monthly,  "The  United 
Nervier  Infititiition"  a  prize  article 
irrittrn  hy  a  British  naval  officer,  in 
irhich  the  folloii-inp  sentences  occur: 
"We  (Great  Britain)  do  not  go  to 
war  on  sentinimtnl  r/roiinds.  I  doubt 
if  ive  have  ever  done  that.  War  is  the 
outcome  of  comniereial  disputes;  its 
aim  is  to  force  upon  onr  adversaries 
hji  means  of  the  sirord.  tlioxe  condi- 
tions ichich  ice  consider  necessary  for 
creating  for  ourselves  comniereial  ad- 
vantages. We  make  use  of  all  think- 
able pretexts  and  inducements  as  the 
reasons  for  icar,  but  trade  is  the  one 
tliat  M  at  the  bottom  of  them,  all.* 
Whether  we  give  out  that  a  defensive 
purpose,  the  gaining  of  a  strategical 
position,  the  breach  of  treaties  and 
irliat  not  else  has  been  the  occasion, 
all  of  these  rest  ultimately  on  trade, 
the  simple  and  sufficient  reason  for 
which,  is,  that  trade  is  for  us  a  vital 
necessity." 

That  is  frankly  said.  And  now 
comes  the  hypocrisy :  An  English 
manufacturer  sent  to  .\ustrian,  and 
probably  to  German  public  men  also, 
on  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  his  busi- 
ness announcement,  to  which  he  ap- 
pended some  political  reflections  regret- 
ting that  in  Germany  the  teachers  and 
clergy  had  not  impressed  it  upon  the 
people ;  in  business  competition,  foreign 
countries  must  also  be  allowed  to  live. 
How  does  such  Peeksniffian  morality 
please  Americans? 

The  Russian  foreign  minister,  Sas- 
sonoff,  who  a  few  days  ago  in  the 
Duma  did  his  turn  as  a  political 
thimble-rigger  with  much  success,  has 
called    upon    most     of    the    countries 


which  are  not  yet  at  war  with  us,  to 
fall  upon  us,  and  secure  for  themselves 
a  part  of  the  booty,  a  portion  of  our 
territory  or  something  from  our  com- 
merce and  industry.  He  proclaimed 
in  diplomatic  circumlocutions  that 
Russia  must  possess  Constantinople 
and  the  Dardanelles ;  and  the  prime 
minister  and  several  enthusiastic  rep- 
resentatives expressed  loud  and  openly 
their  assent.  In  consequence  of  this, 
England  will,  if  victorious,  occupy 
Palestine  and  a  part  of  Arabia ;  Japan 
has  already  begun  to  take  China  in 
guardianship.  The  world  is  to  be  di- 
vided up  anew,  and  the  Americans  re- 
gard this  as  something  very  fine,  if 
they  can  only  join  in  the  general  chase 
to   run  Germany  down. 

The  removal  of  German  competition 
from  the  markets  of  the  world  can, 
however,  be  the  end  in  view  of  only 
that  small  number  of  Americans  who 
do  not  take  into  consideration  that 
England  and  Japan  would  possess  the 
place  which  Germany  occupied.  The 
great  majority  of  them  can  hardly 
mean  this.  They  join  in  the  uproar 
against  Germany  simply  because  this 
note  has  been  struck,  and  take  sides 
against  that  country  without  much 
concern,  because  New  York,  following 
London  and  Paris,  has  made  it  the 
fashion. 

If  England  would  starve  us  out,  the 
Americans  would  find  it  an  excellent 
procedure,  because  we  do  not  deserve 
anything  better,  and  if  Germany  takes 
precautions  to  prevent  this,  why  it  is  a 
new  piece  of  wickedness  on  her  part, 
against  which  the  sharpest  protests 
must  be  made.  Lord  Rosebery  said 
in  a  speech :  the  German-American 
wishes  to  direct  America  as  the  little 
Hindoo  does  the  elephant  on  which 
he  sits.  The  German-American  desires 
only  that  .\merica  be  impartial,  while 
the  English  leader  wants  to  direct  the 
elephant  on  the  wrong  road,  that  it 
may  help  England  tread  down  the 
enemy  whom  she  cannot  herself  man- 
age, and  in  so  doing  make  possibly 
a  dangerous  false  step. — From  the 
"Continental  Times,"  Berlin. 


A  REPLY  TO  MR.  WELLS. 


From  "The  Chicago  Tribune," 
.\ugust  29,    1912. 

St.  Paul,  Minn.,  Aug.  30. — [Editor 
of  The  Tribune.! — I  have  read  the 
article  by  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  with 
mingled  feelings  of  amusement  and 
contempt.  Such  insolent  articles  on 
the  part  of  contemporary  English 
writers  have  been  a  strong  contrib- 
utory cause  of  the  present  war;  they 
have  bred  in  Germany  a  national  dis- 
trust of  England.  According  to  Mr. 
Wells,  the  conditio  sine  qua  non  of 
world  peace  is  the  destruction  of 
Germany,  Germany  reduced  to  the 
status  of  Spain,  without  commerce, 
without  navy,  without  ambition. 
Surely,  a  difficult  proposition  tor  98,- 
000,000  Germans  to  believe. 

Let  us  look  at  the  motive  for  Eng- 
land's position.  Germany's  combined 
export  and  import  trade  has  in- 
creased from  1880,  when  it  was  $1,- 
429,025.000,  to  $4,019,072,250  in 
1910.  In  1900  the  Hamburg-Ameri- 
can line  had  twenty-six  steamers,  in 
1914,  170.     The  increase  in  tonnage 


NEUTRALITY  OF  A  SEMI-OFFICIAL  NATURE 


233 


of  the  North  German  Lloyd  was 
slightly  less.  In  1900  the  tonnage  of 
warships  was  152,000;  in  1914  it 
was  1,105,000.  Germany's  commerce 
grew,  to  some  extent,  at  the  expense 
of  England's.  Where  once  the  latter 
traded  unmolested  she  now  faces 
keen  competition  backed  by  scientific 
training,  and  she  is  steadily  losing 
ground  throughout  the  world. 

Be  frank  about  it  Mr.  Wells,  and 
do  not  babble  in  ambiguous  terms; 
you  have  set  out,  in  time  approved, 
true  English  fashion,  to  crush  a 
dangerous  rival,  with  the  help  of 
France,  Russia,  Belgium  and  Japan, 
for  the  sake  of  trade  and  nothing 
else. 

Mr.  Wells  would  have  us  believe 
that  all  the  evil  in  this  world  is  cen- 
tered in  Berlin,  and  all  the  virtues  in 
Downing   street,    the   same   Downing 


street  that  crushed  the  brave  Boers 
tor  the  possession  of  the  Kimberley 
mines,  and  compelled  China,  at  tho 
point  of  the  bayonet  to  foster  the 
opium  habit  among  her  people  for  the 
sake  of  dividends  payable  at  London. 
I  shudder  at  the  thought  of  an  Eng- 
lish ruled  world;  there  would  be 
much  hymn  singing  and  much  selling 
of  goods  in  between.  He  condemns 
Kruppism,  but  has  nothing  to  say 
about  Armstrongism. 

Let  us  look  at  these  German  sav- 
ages at  closer  range;  there  are  15,- 
000,000  of  them  in  our  midst  en- 
gaged in  all  sorts  of  occupations. 
What  is  their  cultural  mission  in  our 
body  politic?  They  have  brought 
with  them  their  traditions  from  the 
fatherland;  law-abiding,  a  high 
standard  of  education,  love  for  home 
life,   thrift,   and   frugality.    They  are 


the  kind  that  have  developed  our 
marvelous  west;  they  have  fought 
and  shed  their  blood  in  the  civil  war 
for  a  united  America,  while  English 
men  of  war  stood  off  the  coast  giving 
succor  to  the  South;  they  have  given 
us  educators,  statesmen,  bankers, 
and  merchant  princes.  Of  late  they 
do  not  come  to  our  shores  any  longer; 
instead  of  it  we  are  getting  the  bed- 
fellows of  the  English — the  Russian, 
the  Servian,  the  Croatian  and  Ar- 
menian,  and   the   Japanese. 

Let  us  preserve  our  spirit  of  fair- 
ness in  this  severe  trial  of  the  Teu- 
tonic race  and  not  be  hoodwinked  by 
high  sounding,  hypocritical  phrases 
by  paid  word  mongers  as  to  why 
England  stirred  up  the  present  trou- 
ble. 

JOHANN  FRICKMANN, 

Civis  Americanus. 


ON  THE  FENCE 

Nations  With  Verv  Vital  Interests 


IN  REFERENCE  TO  THE  GERMAN-AUSTRIAN-ITALIAN  ALLIANCE 

Turkey,  Bulgaria,  Italy 

In  Regard  to  the  British-French-Russian  Alliance 

Japan,  Portugal,  Roumania,  Greece 


Italy  and  the  War— An  Ally,  Neutral,  Belligerent 


LET   AMERICA  BE   NEUTRAL. 


Editorial    from    "The    Irish    World," 
New  York,  September  12,  1914. 

The  course  tor  the  United  States  to 
adopt  during  the  present  upheaval  in 
Europe  is  clear.  It  should  be  one  of 
the  strictest  neutrality.  Our  first 
duty  is  to  our  own  country.  Loyalty 
to  it  imperatively  demands  that  we 
adhere  strictly  to  the  sage  advice  of 
Washington  in  regard  to  foreign  en- 
tanglements. There  is  an  element  in 
the  United  States  that  would  have  us 
disregard  the  policy  outlined  by  him. 
Andrew  Carnegie  and  those  co-oper- 
ating with  him,  would  be  pleased  it 
we  arrayed  ourselves  on  England's 
side  in  the  international  war  that  is 
now  devastating  Europe.  That  part 
of  the  American  press  that  is  under 
their  influence  has  taken  sides  openly 
with  England  and  is  now  engaged  in 
disseminating  the  most  shameless 
lies  about  the  countries  with  which 
she  is  at  war. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  divine  the  mo- 
tives that  have  prompted  our  pro- 
British  organs  to  pursue  this  course. 
They  aim  at  creating  a  body  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  which,  they  hope,  even- 
tually will  be  strong  enough  to  drag 
the  country  into  the  European  war  in 
the  interest  of  England.  One  of  them, 
the  New  York  "Times,"  last  Tuesday 
placed  before  its  readers  an  article 
headed  "War  on  Germany,"  which 
had  been  cabled  to  it  from  London  by 
Professor  W.  G.  Hale  of  the  Chicago 
University.  The  Professor,  by  the 
way, -is  one  of  Carnegie's  peace  advo- 
cates. His  idea  of  promoting  the 
cause  of  peace  is  for  the  United  States 
to  make  an  immediate  declaration  of 
war  against  Germany.  "The  United 
States,"  he  says,  "should  immediately 
declare  war  on  Germany  as  the  viola- 
tor of  the  Hague  agreements." 

No  time  is  to  be  lost.  We  are  to 
adopt  the  English  view  of  the  charges 
against  Germany  and  hasten  to  take 
our  stand  by  the  side  of  "the  Mother 
Country."       Here  is   the   manner   in 


which  this  peace  advocate  of  the  Car- 
negie brand  rebukes  us  for  hesitating 
about  plunging  America  into  the  hor- 
rors of  war:  "We  should  take  our 
part  in  the  great  struggle  instead  of 
smugly  sitting  by  while  the  world's 
work  is  done  by  other  nations.  Even 
Germany  would  then  know  that  her 
plot  against  humanity  had  been  both 
judged  and  doomed." 

The  pro-British  organ  which  pub- 
lishes this  stuff  has  a  leading  editor- 
ial in  the  same  issue  entitled  "Our 
Answer  to  Germany,"  in  which  it 
states  that  England,  Prance  and  Rus- 
sia have  taken  up  arms  in  defense  of 
"political  ideals,"  as  against  designs 
which  "we  hold  in  abhorrence."  Then 
assuming,  with  the  customary  mod- 
esty of  an  Anglomaniac  organ,  to 
speak  for  the  American  people  it 
says:  "This  is  the  answer  we  make  to 
Germany.  It  expresses  the  beliefs 
and  the  feelings  of  the  whole  Ameri- 
can people,  save  only  some  of  those 
whose  judgment  is  subject  to  the 
natural  influence  of  ties  of  kindred." 
In  the  quotations  we  have  placed 
before  our  readers  we  have  evidence 
of  the  desire  of  the  pro-British  ele- 
ment to  involve  this  country  in  the 
terrible  International  tragedy  that  is 
unfolding  itself  at  this  moment. 
America  should  hold  herself  aloof 
from  it.  Those  who  directly  or  in- 
directly favor  her  participation  in  it 
should  be  regarded  as  traitors  to  the 
land  that  has  the  first  claim  on  their 
allegiance. 


THE  HOLY  WAR 


We  are  reprinting  two  articles  by 
"The  Tribune's"  war  correspondents, 
Mr.  Bennett  and  Mr.  Patterson,  which 
should  convince  even  the  most  skep- 
tical and  prejudiced  that  there  is  ab- 
solutely no  base  or  foundation  for  the 
terrible  accusations  which  have  been 
made  against  the  German  army.  Con- 
sult the  index  for  "German  Atrocities 
Fiction  So  Far  As  Tribune  Men  in 
Belgium  Can  Find,"  and  "Bennett 
Gives  New  Light  on  German  Spirit." 
— The  Publisher  of  "War  Echoes." 


Herman  Ridder. 

Under  the  heading  "The  Holy 
War"  the  New  York  Times  indulges 
in  an  editorial  comedy  which  at- 
tempts to  reconcile  the  attitude  of 
the  Times  in  its  firm  opposition  to 
Russia  over  a  period  of  many  years 
with  its  present  Russian  partisan- 
ship. The  Times  maintains  that  the 
best  solution  of  the  present  position 
is  to  crush  Germany  and  Austria, 
thereby  forcing  an  alliance  after  the 
war  between  Russia,  Germany  and 
Austria!  !  !  !  What  rot!  Finally 
the  Times  combines  the  Romanoff, 
the  Hapsburg  and  the  HohenzoUern 
dynasties  and  throws  them  all  over- 
board together.  Does  the  Times  want 
to  still  further  restrict  the  territory 
in  Europe  open  to  a  number  of  our 
alien  citizens?  I  have  seen  in  the 
course  of  my  journalistic  experiences 
many  newspaper  changes  of  front, 
but  I  have  never  expected  to  live  to 
see  the  day  when  the  Times  under 
its  present  management  would  be  a 
supporter   of   Russia. 


..,  »  *  Ti^g  .(^-orld  is  fighting  Ger- 
many. Civilized  Europe  is  calling 
on  uncivilized  Africa  and  Asia  to 
wipe  out  the  Teutonic  empires. 
Strangely  enough,  a  part  of  public 
opinion  in  America,  stimulated  by  a 
powerful  press,  apparently  favors 
the  Allies.  Sometimes,  in  the  se- 
clusion of  my  study,  I  ponder  on  this 
question;  Am  I  less  American  be- 
cause my  sympathies  are  roused 
when  the  odds  are  six  to  two? 
Am  I  the  less  American  because 
I  am  thrilled  when  a  young,  vigor- 
ous empire  defies  the  world  to  crush 
her?  Why  is  it  that  I  find  some- 
thing heroic  and  stirring  where 
others  remain  cold  and  unsympa- 
thetic? Wherein  lies  the  difference 
in  their  point  of  view  and  mine?  Is 
there  no  compromise  ground  upon 
which  we  can  meet  in  thorough  ac- 
cord and  harmony?" — Herman  Rid- 
der, in  the  "New  Yorker  Staats- 
Zeitung." 


ITALY  AND  THE  WAR— ON  THE  FENCE 


THE  WITHDKAWAL  OF  ITALY 

FliOSI  THK  "TKll'LE" 

ALMAXCE. 


Xew   Yorker  Staats-Zeituiig, 
New  York. 

Herman  Kidder. 

The  withdrawal  of  Italy  from  the 
Triple  Alliance  at  a  time  when  its  of- 
fensive and  defensive  provisions 
called  upon  her  to  go  to  the  assistance 
of  Germany  and  Austria  has  been  va- 
riously interpreted  and  justified  in 
this  country  and  abroad.  A  great 
deal  of  ingenious  casuistry  has  been 
displayed  in  the  discussion  of  the  pros 
and  cons  of  Italy's  position.  It  has 
no  doubt  served  its  purpose  of  fur- 
ther befuddling  the  brains  of  those 
whose  minds  were  already  made  up 
that  Italy  should  have  waged  com- 
mon war  with  her  allies  or,  on  the 
contrary,  that  she  was  morally  justi- 
fied in  seizing  upon  technicalities  to 
free  herself  from  the  conditions  of 
an  alliance  which  had  outlived  its 
natural  life.  The  wish  has  been 
father  to  the  thought  in  both  camps. 
Italy  was  perfectly  justified  in  the 
attitude  which  she  assumed,  but 
her  justification  is  not  to  be  found  in 
the  alleged  alteration  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  Triple  Alliance 
was  formed  nor  in  the  loopholes 
which  the  Roman  lawyers  claim  to 
have  discovered  in  the  documents  by 
which  it  was  created  and  renewed. 

The  conditions  under  which  the 
Triple  Alliance  came  into  being  have 
been  set  forth  at  length  so  often  dur- 
ing the  last  three  decades  and  a  half, 
and  more  especially  during  the  last 
two  months  that  they  can  scarcely 
fail  to  have  become  known  to  most 
interested  readers.  When  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire,  which  had  given  Eu- 
rope the  nearest  approach  to  unity 
the  continent  had  previously  or  has 
since  experienced,  came  to  an  end,  its 
component  parts,  for  the  moment  left 
in  utter  chaos,  began,  by  the  laws  of 
race  attraction  and  adhesion,  to  unite 
along  other  lines.  Out  of  this  proc- 
ess of  crystalization,  among  other  po- 
litical developments,  came  German 
Unification  and  Italian  Unification. 
The  laws  which  governed  both 
movements  and  the  conditions  under 
which  they  operated  were  largely 
the  same.  The  king  of  Prus- 
sia and  Victor  Emmanuel  of 
Italy  were  actuated  by  the  same  mo- 
tives, aimed  at  the  same  ideals  and 
lived  to  congratulate  each  other  on 
the  realization  of  their  dreams.  But 
even  before  German  Unity  had  be- 
come a  fait  accompli  a  bond  of  friend- 
ship between  Italy  and  Prussia  had 
been  woven. 

The  struggle  for  unity  in  Italy  was 
carried  on  not  simply  against  inter- 
nal opposition  but  also  against  the 
French,  ardent  in  their  support  of  the 
Papal  States.  It  was  further  delayed 
and,  but  for  Prussia,  would  have 
been  prevented  by  Austria.  A  real- 
ization of  this  hopeless  isolation  from 
her  immediate  neighbors  led  Italy  to 
propose  an  offensive  and  defensive 
alliance  with  Prussia.  The  treaty 
was  signed  on  April  S.  ISGO.  Shortly 
after  war  broke  out  between  Prussia 
and  Austria,  and  the  recession  of  Ve- 
nitla  was  the  price  offered  by  Austria 
to  Italy  for  her  withdrawal  from  the 


alliance  with  the  enemy.  Italy  refused. 
She  was  everywhere  beaten  in  the 
war,  but  Prussia  carried  the  day  for 
herself  and  her  ally  and  the  province 
of  Venice  was  returned  to  Italy.  The 
Italian  states,  no  less  than  the  States 
of  Northern  Germany,  emerged  from 
the  war  of  18G6  one  step  further  to- 
ward the  goal  of  Unity.  It  remained, 
however,  for  another  Prussian  war  to 
consumate  the  ideals  of  both. 

After  the  battle  of  Mentana,  in 
which  Garibaldi's  levies  were  cut  to 
pieces  by  the  French,  Victor  Emman- 
uel had  written  to  Napoleon  III: 
"The  late  events  have  suffocated 
every  remembrance  of  gratitude  in 
the  heart  of  Italy.  It  is  no  longer  in 
the  power  of  the  Government  to 
maintain  the  alliance  with  France. 
The  chassepot  gun  at  Montana  has 
given  it  a  fatal  blow."  The  attitude 
of  France  remained  unaltered,  how- 
ever; and  it  was  not  until  the  neces- 
sity arose  of  opposing  the  advance  of 
the  victorious  legions  of  Prussia  w'ith 
every  available  soldier  of  France,  that 
the  French  garrisons  in  Italy  were 
called  in.  As  the  last  French  sol- 
dier filed  out  of  Rome  in  1870,  Victor 
Emmanuel  entered,  and  Italian  Unity 
was  achieved. 

The  Franco-Prussian  War  left  Ger- 
many and  Italy  unified.  The  crop  had 
been  sown,  but  the  harvest  was  yet 
to  be  reaped.  Both  countries  were 
weary  of  war  and  longed  for  endur- 
ing peace,  for  only  by  peace  could 
each  develop  intellectually,  industri- 
ally and  commercially  as  it  aimed  to 
do.  With  France  disgruntled  and 
Russia  ever  hungry  and  ever  faith- 
less, there  was  but  one  sure  way  of 
securing  peace  to  Europe.  It  was 
Bismarck  who  forged  the  Triple  Al- 
liance, but  he  was  supported  no  less 
enthusiastically  in  Rome  than  in  Ber- 
lin. The  Alliance  was  popular  with 
all  parties  in  Italy  and  remained  so 
until  the  outbreak  of  the  present  war, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  the 
irreconcilable  Irredentists.  It  pre- 
served the  peace  of  Europe  for  over 
thirty  years  and  under  its  influence 
Germany  and  Italy  advanced  from 
negligible  group  names  to  positions  of 
first  rank  among  the  nations  of  the 
world. 

The  strength  of  the  Triple  Alliance 
lay  in  the  fact  that  it  was  an  offen- 
sive and  defensive  undertaking  on  the 
part  of  the  three  great  states  of  Cen- 
tral Europe  to  hold  the  peace  of  the 
Continent  against  two  nearly  equally 
powerful  nations  lying  on  their 
flanks.  It  held  France  and  Russia  in 
check  no  less  by  the  fact  that  it  sepa- 
rated them  than  by  the  potential 
strength  of  the  combined  forces  of  the 
allies.  It  preserved  the  peace  of  Eu- 
rope by  offering  war  whenever  any 
other  power  or  combination  of  powers 
should  choose  to  declare  it.  To  say 
that  it  contemplated  peace,  without 
the  possibility  of  having  to  fight  for 
It,  is  absurd.  The  defensive  alliance 
has  yet  to  be  written  which  does  not 
regard  preparation  for  the  one  as  the 
surest  means  of  maintaining  the 
other.  There  is  no  discussion  in  the 
treaty  of  1882  of  those  Utopian  the- 
ories which  had  the  run  of  a  decade 
or  so  and  came  to  a  lamentable  end 
when  the  Czar  of  Russia  sent  his  fa- 
mous wire  to  Belgrade  on  .luly  24th. 
The   terms  of  the  treaty  were   plain 


enough.  They  required  that  Italy  join 
forces  with  Germany  and  Austria  in 
the  present  war,  just  as  during  the 
whole  life  of  the  document  they  had 
required  such  service  in  the  case  of 
any  European  coalition  against  one 
or  more  of  the  allies.  By  every  sane 
interpretation  of  the  treaty  Italy  was 
called  upon  to  throw  her  lot  with 
those  who  for  over  thirty  years  had 
stood  ready  to  do  the  same  for  her. 
And  yet  I  say  Italy  was  perfectly  jus- 
tified in  declining  to  do  so. 

It  is  fatuous  to  contend  that  trea- 
ties are  written  for  all  time;  that 
"there  shall  be  perpetual  peace  and 
friendship"  between  or  among  the 
signatories  is  a  fiction  of  speech.  They 
are  entered  into  by  nations  for  pres- 
ent comfort,  and,  sometimes,  for  pos- 
sible future  gain.  Italy  wanted  the 
potential  fruits  of  the  Triple  Alli- 
ance as  much  as  did  Austria  or  Ger- 
many. She  reaped  her  share  of 
them.  The  time  arrived,  however, 
when  Austria  and  Germany  were 
lured  into  war  by  a  powerful  combin- 
ation, the  outcome  of  which  was  high- 
ly problematical.  Italy  had  only  an 
"entangling  alliance"  to  draw  her 
into  it.  She  did  the  wise  thing,  and 
kept  out.  In  doing  so  she  consulted 
not  her  promises  as  they  stood  in 
black  and  white  over  the  signatures 
of  her  plenipotentiaries,  but  her  own 
present  interests.  These  lay  with 
peace  rather  than  with  war.  The 
right  of  choice  was  given  her  by  every 
rule  of  international  conduct,  histori- 
cal and  present,  and  she  exercised  it 
for  the  good  of  Italy.  It  is  no  longer 
possible  to  question  profitably  if  the 
Russian  bluff  could  not  have  been 
successfully  called  if  Italy  had  taken 
a  firm  stand  with  her  allies.  She 
probably  knew  as  well  as  they  the 
extent  to  which  Russian  preparations 
had  been  carried  and  that  the  Bear 
of  the  North  had  at  last  made  up  his 
mind  to   strike. 

The  policy  which  Italy  has  pursued 
in  standing  aloof  from  her  allies  must 
be  her  answer  to  the  alluring  prov- 
inces dangled  temptingly  before  her 
eyes  by  Russia  and  England.  If  it 
was  war  for  Italy  at  all,  it  was  war 
with  and  not  against  Austria  and 
Germany.  She  tore  up  a  treaty  to 
save  thousands  of  her  sons  and  per- 
haps billions  of  her  wealth,  and  even 
England,  whose  press  is  doing  its 
best  to  tie  another  ally  to  England's 
stirrup  leathers,  should  be  able  to  see 
that  these  cannot  now  be  bartered  for 
a  few  square  rods  of  territory.  The 
hunger  for  land  has  not  eaten  so 
deep  into  the  vitals  of  Italy  as  it  has 
into  those  of  the  Briton. 

I  could  conceive  of  no  thinking  man 
blaming  Italy  for  the  stand  which  she 
has  taken  were  it  not  for  the  furor 
raised  by  self-righteous  England  and 
her  sycophants  in  America  over  Ger- 
many's action  in  regard  to  Belgium. 
The  two  countries  were  brought  face 
to  face  with  treaties  which  It  was  not 
to  their  advantage  to  observe.  In 
the  case  of  Italy,  observance  of  her 
treaty  obligations  meant  the  loss  of 
men  and  dollars — enough,  it  Is  true, 
to  warrant  her  In  abrogating  the  ob- 
ligation. In  the  case  of  Germany, 
it  was  a  question  of  respecting  an 
obsolete  undertaking,  the  validity 
of  which  England  herself  had 
questioned     and     which     she     knew 


236 


ITALY— ALLY,  NEUTRAL,  BELLIGERENT 


Franch  was  prepared  to  violate,  or 
of  taking  the  steps  necessary  to  the 
preservation  of  her  national  exist- 
ence. Of  the  two  countries,  Ger- 
many was  the  least  culpable.  And 
yet  Sir  Edward  Grey  forced  a  reluc- 
tant nation  into  an  unpopular  war 
over  this  "scrap  of  paper"!  England 
created  Belgium  to  protect  the  Brit- 
ish coast  and  trained  Belgium  to  eat 
out  of  her  hand.  She  cares  no  more 
for  Belgian  neutrality,  or  Belgian  lib- 
erty as  such,  than  she  did  for  that  of 
the  South  African  Republic.  She 
cares  for  "the  smaller  countries" 
only  so  long  as  she  can  control  them 
and  make  them  do  her  bidding. 
When  they  do  this  she  likes  them. 
She  has  often  striven  even  to  add  to 
their  number.  During  the  War  of 
the  States  no  power  in  Europe  was 
so  solicitous  for  a  small  South  and  a 
small  North  as  England.  But  when 
a  friendly  state,  which  has  done  Eng- 
land no  more  harm  than  to  crave  a 
place  on  the  globe,  finds  that  her 
e.xistence  depends  upon  advancing  an 
army  through  Belgium,  England  rises 
In  her  wrath  and  waves  a  motheaten 
treaty  in  her  face.  And  when  this 
does  not  avail,  declares  against  her 
a  war  of  bayonets  and  Billingsgate. 
Writes  Guglielmo  Ferrero: 
"Belgium  was  the  pretext  for  the 
war  rather  than  the  reason — the 
magnificent  pretext  offered  by  Ger- 
many to  the  party  in  England  that 
had  long  been  wanting  war.*  *  * 
"It  is  to  be  believed  that  even  if 
Germany  had  not  imprudently  fur- 
nished England  with  that  splendid 
pretext,  England  would  have  sought 
and  found  another  " 


FOLLY  OP  ENGLAND'S  NEUTRAL- 
ITV  STAND. 


Professing   to  Be   the  Friend  of   the 

Smaller     Nations,     the     British 

Empire  Disregards  Many 

Treaty  Obligations. 


Reprinted    from   the    "News    of    the 

War    in    Europe,"    supplied    by 

"The  Fatherland,"  New  YTork. 

Perfected  criminology,  criminal 
records  of  the  police  departments, 
an  improved  Bertillon  system  and 
the  "morgue"  of  the  large  daily 
papers  are  a  great  handicap  for  the 
habitual  criminals  on  their  way  to 
oblivion  and  fresh  exploits.  What 
these  "aide-memoires"  represent  to 
the  individual  sinner  the  annals  of 
history  do  represent  to  countries 
and  governments.  England's  decla- 
ration of  war  on  Germany  came  like 
a  thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky. 
What  had  happened?  What  have 
the  Germans  done  to  challenge  the 
wrath  of  their  British  cousins?  Why 
should  England  go  to  war  against 
Germany?  These  questions  were  not 
asked  by  Germany  alone,  but  by 
good,  faithful  British  men,  leading 
in  public  life,  such  as  Lord  Morley, 
Burns,  the  two  retired  members  of 
the  British  Cabinet;  Under  Secretary 
of  Education  Trevelyan,  also  retired; 
Ramsay  MacDonald,  Stewart  Houston 
Chamberlain,  and  others. 

Mr.  Asquith  and  Sir  Edward  Grey, 
however,  gave  out  that  England's 
virtuous  soul  was  indigant  over  Ger- 


many's breach  of  neutrality  in  Bel- 
gium. "England  must  constitute 
herself  the  natural  protector  of  weak 
countries  and  people,  as  she  had 
always  been  in  the  past,"  so  they  said. 
When  this  was  said  the  world's 
clockwork  stood  still  for  a  moment, 
silence  reigned  and  everybody  gasped 
for  breath.  But  Satan  smiled  his 
smile  for  which  he  is  so  famous. 

Let  us  turn  on  history's  search- 
light! It  must  undoubtedly  show 
how  England  has  protected  the  weak 
countries  and  how  she  has  herself 
respected  neutrality  in  the  past. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  1759, 
Admiral  de  la  Clue,  the  chief  of  the 
French  squadron,  and  his  Toulon 
fleet  of  seven  vessels,  on  the  way  to 
Havre,  were  attacked  by  the  British 
Admiral  Boscawen  and  eighteen  men- 
of-war  in  the  neutral  waters  of  Port- 
ugal. In  spite  of  Portugal's  efforts 
to  protect  her  neutrality  with  the 
guns  of  her  fortress  at  Lagos,  in 
Algarve,  the  British  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  her  warnings,  set  the  French 
fleet  on  Are  and  captured  it — in  the 
neutral  territorial  waters  of  Port- 
ugal, near  Cape  St.  Vincent.  Great 
Britain  did  not  indemnify  little  Port- 
ugal, nor  did  she  give  back  the  cap- 
tured vessels  to  France — she  merely 
apologized,    and   that   half-heartedly. 

In  1793  two  British  men-of-war 
captured  the  French  frigate  "Mo- 
deste"  in  the  neutral  port  of  Genoa. 
This  was  a  flagrant  breach  of  neu- 
trality, but  England  never  restored 
her  illegal  prize,  nor  did  she  even 
apologize  for  the  violation  of  Gen- 
oese territory. 

In  March,  1801,  the  British  fri- 
gate "Squirrel"  captured  neutral 
Swedish  ships  in  neutral  Danish 
waters.  At  about  the  same  time  the 
British  man-of-war  "Achilles"  cap- 
tured French  ships,  also  in  the  neu- 
tral waters  of  Denmark.  No  apol- 
ogies were  offered,  no  restitution 
made. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  1801,  while 
every  body  was  at  peace,  a  strong 
British  fleet  division  passed  the 
Sound  and  entered  the  neutral  port 
of  Copenhagen,  bombarding  the  city 
and  destroying  little  Denmark's 
whole  fleet. 

In  1805  British  men-of-war  cap- 
tured the  boat  "Anne"  in  the  terri- 
torial waters  of  the  United  States. 

In  March,  1814,  the  British  men- 
of-war  "Phoebe"  and  "Cherub"  at- 
tacked and  destroyed  the  United 
States  frigate  "Essex,"  just  outside 
the  limits  of  the  port  of  Valparaiso, 
in  the  neutral  territorial  waters  of 
Chile. 

In  1814  the  American  vessel 
"General  Armstrong"  was  attacked 
and  destroyed  by  British  cruisers  in 
the  harbor  of  Fayal,  in  neutral  Port- 
uguese waters. 

The  case  of  the  "Alabama,"  in 
1862,  which  operated  so  successfully 
against  the  commercial  navy  of  the 
Northern  States,  is  too  well  known 
and  requires  no  amplification  beyond 
the  fact  that  the  Aribitration  Court 
in  Geneva,  September  14,  1872,  sen- 
tenced Great  Britain  for  her  breach 
of  neutrality  to  a  payment  of  $15,- 
000,000  to  be  paid  to  the  United 
States. 


The  same  is  true  with  reference 
to  the  "Florida"  and  "Shenandoah." 
These  steamers  chose  for  their  field 
of  action  the  stretch  of  sea  between 
the  Bahama  archipelago  and  Ber-  J 
muda  and  Melbourne  and  Hobson's 
Bay,  respectively,  for  the  purpose, 
which  was  immediately  carried  out, 
of  going  to  the  Arctic  seas  to  attack 
American  whaling  vessels.  The 
granting  of  coal  supplies  by  Great 
Britain  in  quantities  sufficient  for 
such  purposes  constituted  a  flagrant 
breach  of  neutrality  on  the  part  of 
England. 


MOBS     IN     ITALIAN    CITIES    CRY 
FOR  WAR  ON  AUSTKLi. 


War  Minister,  Friend  of  Triple  Alli- 
ance, Said  to  Have  Prepared 
Resignation. 


From  the  "Chicago  Examiner,"  Sep- 
tember  17,    1914. 

Rome,  Sept.  16. — Mobs  filled  the 
streets  today  of  the  leading  Italian 
cities  crying  "Down  with  Austria" 
and  "War  with  the  Kaiser."  Troops 
were  called  out  in  many  parts  of  the 
kingdom  to  repress  the  demonstra- 
tors, the  police  in  most  cases  being 
found    insufficient. 

Despite  the  government's  position 
of  neutrality,  the  masses  continue  to 
cry  for  war  with  Austria,  and  the  re- 
covery of  the  Italian  provinces,  Tyrol 
and  Istria,  from  the  Austrian  Empire. 

It  is  again  reported  that  the  Mar- 
quis di  San  Guiliano,  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  is  about  to  resign  on 
account  of  ill  health.  The  foreign 
office  denies  the  report,  but  it  is 
learned  on  good  authority  that  the 
resignation  actually  has  been  ten- 
dered. The  Marquis  has  been  regard- 
ed by  popular  opinion  as  favorable  to 
the  Triple  Alliance,  and  during  the 
popular  demonstrations  of  the  last 
few  days  there  has  been  evidence  of 
popular  feeling  against  him.  Should 
the  Marquis  resign.  Premier  Salandro 
will  take  over  the  foreign  office  for 
the  time  being. 

The  fear  is  openly  expressed  in 
semi-official  circles  that  unless  the 
government  accedes  to  the  popular 
demand  revolution  will  follow.  It 
Is  maintained  also  that  should  Aus- 
tria and  Germany  prove  victorious  in 
the  war  against  the  Triple  Entente, 
without  the  assistance  of  Italy,  the 
latter  would  be  punished  after  the 
close  of  hostilities  for  her  desertion 
of  the  Triple  Alliance.  For  this  rea- 
son the  belief  is  growing  that  the 
safest  thing  for  Italy  to  do  is  to  aid 
France,  Great  Britain  and  Russia  to 
make  the  strength  of  the  Teutonic 
Empire's  opponents  greater. 


We  have  heard  it  so  often  that  we 
have  come  to  believe  it  true,  that  the 
people  in  a  country  never  want  war; 
they  are  dragged  into  it  by  their 
rulers.  And  so  we  assume  that  the 
mobs  in  Italian  cities  who  are  clam- 
oring for  war  with  Austria  are  com- 
posed of  kings  and  princes,  dukes 
and  counts,  cabinet  ministers,  and 
other  high  officials. — From  "The 
Chicago  Tribune,"  September  17, 
1914. 


THE  HORIZON  DARKENS 

The  Critical  Hour 


HOSTILE  ACTS  BEFORE  A  DECLARATION  OF  WAR 

The  Crisis  is  at  Hand 


The  European  Situation  Has  Come  to  Crisis 
The  Emperor's  Speeches 


WTIO     BEGAX     THE     WAR,     AND 

WHY?      THE    CASE    FOR 

GERMANY. 


Speeclies     by     Kaiser     Willielm     II. 

From  tlip  Balcony  of  the  Palace, 

Ileilin,   July  31,    1914. 

A  fateful  hour  has  falleu  for  Ger- 
many. 

Envious  peoples  everywhere  are  com- 
pelling us  to  our  just  defense. 

The  sword  is  being  forced  into  our 
hand.  I  hope  that  ,if  my  efforts  at 
tlie  last  hour  do  not'succeed  in  bring- 
ins  our  opponents  to  see  eye  to  eye 
with  us  and  in  maintaining  peace,  we 
shall  with  God's  help  so  wield  the 
sword  that  we  shall  restore  it  to  its 
sheath  again  with  honor. 

War  would  demand  enormous  sacri- 
fices of  blood  and  property  from  the 
German  people,  hut  we  should  show 
our  enemies  what  It  means  to  [iro- 
vbke  Germany. 

And  now  I  commend  you  to  God.  Go 
to  church.  Kneel  down  before  God  and 
pray  for  His  help  for  our  gallant  Army. 


ON   VICTORY   NEAR  METZ. 


Prom  Cabinet  Order  of  Willielm    II., 
Published  in  Berlin,  .^ug.  23. 

The  mobilization  and  concentration 
of  the  army  is  now  complete,  the  Ger- 
man railways  having  carried  out  the 
enormous  transport  movements  with 
unparalleled  certainty  and  punctiiality. 
With  a  heart  filled  with  gratlt\ido  my 
first  thoughts  turn  to  those  who  since 
1870-71  have  worked  quietly  upon  the 
development  of  an  organization  which 
has  emerged  from  its  first  serious  test 
with  such  glorious  success.  To  all  who 
have  co-operated  with  them  I  wish  to 
express  my  imperial  thanks  for  their 
loyal  devotion  to  duty  in  making  pos- 
sil>le  in  obedience  to  my  call  the  trans- 
portation of  armed  masses  of  German 
troops  against  my  enemies.  The  pres- 
ent acliievemeut  [near  Metz]  convinces 
me  that  the  railways  of  tlie  country 
will  be  e<iual  to  the  heaviest  demands 
that  might  be  made  upon  lliem  during 
the  course  of  the  gigantic  struggle  In 
which  we  are  engaged  for  the  future  of 
the  (Jernian   Nation. 


THE  GERMAN  EMPEROR 

"I  know  no  more  iiartics,  I  Icnow  only 
Germany !" 


THE   SPIRIT  OF  THE   MEN. 


Kaiser'.s   Telegram    from   Dresden   to 
the    King   of   Saxony,    Oct.    2. 

I  am  very  glad  to  be  able  to  send 
you  the  best  reports  of  the  Nineteenth 
-■Vrmy  Corps  and  the  Twelfth  Reserve 
Corps.  I  visited  yesterrlay  the  Third 
Army  and  greeted  especially  the  brave 
181st  Regiment,  to  which  I  expressed 
my  recognition.  I  found  your  third 
son  and  your  l)rother  Max  as  well  as 
Ijiffert  and  Kirchl)acli  in  the  liest  of 
health.  The  spirit  among  tlie  men  is 
splendid.  With  such  an  army  we  shall 
1)0  able  to  complete  victoriously  the 
rest  of  our  dlHicult  task.  To  this  end 
may  the  Almighty  stand  by  us. 

W I  LI  1  ELM. 

237 


TO   THE    GERMAN   ARMY 
.\XD  NA\^'. 


I»roclamation  by  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II. 

.\fter  three  and  forty  years  of  peace, 
I  call  the  men  of  Germany  to  arms. 

It  has  become  necessary  to  protect 
our  most  sacred  possessions,  tlie  Fa- 
therland, our  very  hearths  against 
ruthless    destruction. 

Enemies  on  every  hand !  That  Is  the 
situation.  A  mighty  struggle,  a  great 
sacrifice   confronts    us. 

I  trust  that  the  old  spirit  of  battle 
si  ill  lives  on  in  the  German  people,  that 
powerful  spirit  of  battle  which  grapples 
with  the  foe  wherever  it  meets  it,  be 
the  cost  what  it  may,  which  has  ever 
been  the  terror  and  fear  of  our  enemies. 

Soldiers  of  Germany,  in  you  I  place 
my  trust !  In  each  one  of  you  lives  the 
liassiouate  will  to  conquer,  which 
nothing  can  subdue.  Each  one  of  you 
knows,  if  need  be,  how  to  die  a  hero's 
death. 

Remember  our  great  and  glorious 
past! 

Remember   that  you   are  Germans! 

God  help  us! 

WILHELM. 

Berlin,  Schloss,  Aug.  0,  1014. 


TP    .^ND    AT    THE    FOES." 


Kaiser's    Farewell    Speech    to    First 

Regiment  of  Foot  Guards   at 

Potsdam. 

I  draw  the  sword  that  with  God's 
help  I  have  kept  all  these  years  in  the 
scabbard.  I  have  drawn  the  sword, 
which  without  victory  and  without 
honor  I  cannot  sheath  again.  All  of 
you  will  see  to  it  that  only  in  honor  Is 
it  returned  to  the  scabbard.  You  are 
my  guarantee  that  I  can  dictate  peace 
to  my  enemies.  Up  and  at  the  foes, 
and  down  with  the  enemies  of  Bran- 
denburg I 


Read  "The  Withdrawal  of  Italy 
from  the  Triple  Alliance."  printed 
on  another  page. — The  Publisher  of 
"War  Echoes." 


CERMANY  IN  THE  CRISIS 


SPEECH     FROM      THE      THRONE. 


TO   THE   FRONT 

Note  the  cougeiiiiil  and  yet  dignifled  aspect  of  the  group;  they  feel  the  Spirit 

of  Patriotism  to  a  high  degree,  but  the  thought  that  many  may  never  return 

must  also  be  there! 


'TO  THE  LAST  BREATH  OP 
MAN  AND  HORSE." 


Proclamation  by   Kaiser  Wilhelm  11. 


The  New  York  Times. 

.Since  the  foundation  of  the  empire  it 
has  been  for  forty-three  years  the  object 
of  the  efforts  of  myself  and  my  an- 
cestors to  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
world  and  to  advance  by  peaceful  means 
our  vigorous  develojiment.  But  our 
adversaries  were  jealous  of  the  suc- 
cesses of  our  work.  There  has  been 
latent  hostility  on  the  east  and  on  the 
west  and  beyond  the  sea.  It  was  borne 
by  us  till  now.  as  we  were  aware  of 
our  responsibility  and  power.  Now, 
however,  these  adversaries  wish  to 
humiliate  us,  asking  that  we  should 
look  on  with  crossed  arms  and  watch 
our  enemies  preparing  themselves  for 
a  coming  attack.  They  will  not  suffer 
that  we  maintain  resolute  fidelity  to 
our  ally  who  is  fighting  for  its  position 
as  a  great  power  and  with  whose 
humiliation  our  power  and  honor  would 
equally  be  lost.  So  the  sword  must 
decide. 

In  the  midst  of  perfect  peace  the 
enemy  sin-in-ises  us.  Therefore  to  arms  ! 
Any  dallying,  any  temporizing  would 
be  trifling  with  the  empire  which  our 
fathers  founded;  to  be  or  not  to  be, 
is  the  question  for  the  empire  which 
our  fathers  founded.  To  be  or  not 
to  be  is  the  question  tor  German 
power  and  German  existence.  We 
shall  resist  to  the  last  breath  of 
man  and  horse,  and  shall  fight  out 
the  struggle  even  against  a  world 
of  enemies.  Never  has  Germany 
He  was  with  our  ancestors!* 

Berlin.    Aug.    6.  WILHELM. 

*A  few  chans^K  have  been  made  In  this 
speech  to  imprnvo  the  translation. — The 
Editor  of  War  Echoei. 


Speech  of  Kaiser  at  a  Parade  During 
Swift  German  Advance  Toward  Paris. 

Comrades :  I  have  gathered  you 
around  me  here  in  order  to  take  joy 
with  you  in  the  glorious  victory  which 
our  comrades  have  in  several  days  of 
hot  battle  won  with  their  swords. 
Troops  out  of  every  nook  and  cranny 
of  the  empire  helped  one  another  in 
invincible  bravery  and  unshakable  loy- 
alty to  win  great  results.  There  stood 
together  under  the  leadership  of  the 
son  of  the  Bavarian  King  and  fought, 
with  equal  blades,  troops  of  all  ages, 
active,  reservists,  and  landwehr. 

For  our  victory  we  are  thankful,  in 
the  first  place,  to  our  eternal  God  (unse- 
rcin.  alten  Gott).  He  will  not  desert  us, 
since  we  stand  for  a  holy  cause.  Many 
of  our  comrades  have  already  fallen  in 
liattle.  They  died  as  heroes  for  the 
Fatherland.  We  will  think  of  them 
with  honor  here,  and  shout  to  the 
honor  of  those  still  in  the  field.  Hur- 
rah!    Hurrah!    Hurrah! 

We  still  have  many  a  bloody  battle 
before  us.  Let  us  hope  for  further  suc- 
cesses like  this.  We  shall  not  relent, 
and  we  shall  get  to  the  enemy's  hide. 
We  shall  not  lose  our  faith  and  trust  in 
our  constant,  eternal  God  above  (unse- 
rciii  ffutcn  alten  Gott  dort  oben).  We 
are  determined  to  win  and  we  must 
win. 


FORGIVES  ENEMIES. 

Wilhelm's    Speech  from    the  Balcony 
of    the   Palace.    Berlin,   Aug.  S. 

I  thank  you  for  the  love  and  loyalty 
shown  me.  When  I  enter  uix)n  a  fight 
lot  all  jiarty  strife  cease.  We  are  Ger- 
man brothers  and  nothing  else.  All 
parties  have  attacked  me  in  times  of 
peace.  I  forgive  them  with  all  my  heart. 
I  hojie  and  wish  that  the  good  German 
sword  will  emerge  victorious  in  the 
right. 


Kaiser  WUhelm  II.,  Opening  Special 

Session  of  the  Reichstag  in  White 

Room    of    the   Royal   Palace, 

Berlin,  Aug.  4. 

Honored  Sirs:  It  is  in  an  hour 
fraught  with  fate  that  I  have  assembled 
about  me  all  the  representatives  of  the 
German  people.  For  almost  half  a  cen- 
tury we  have  been  able  to  keep  to  the 
path  of  peace.  The  attempts  to  attrib- 
ute a  warlike  temperament  to  Germany 
and  to  circumscribe  its  position  in  the 
world  have  often  put  to  severe  tests  the 
patience  of  our  people.  With  unswerv- 
ing honesty,  my  Government,  even  in 
provoking  circumstances,  has  pursued  as 
its  highest  aim  the  development  of  all 
moral,  spiritual,  and  economic  powers. 
The  world  has  been  witness  how  tire- 
lessly we  strove  in  the  first  rank  dur- 
ing the  pressure  and  confusion  of  the 
last  few  years  to  siiare  the  nations  of 
Europe  a  "war  between  the  great  powers. 
The  very  grave  dangers  which  had 
arisen  owing  to  the  events  in  the  Bal- 
kans appeared  to  have  been  overcome, 
but  then  the  murder  of  my  friend,  the 
Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand,  opened 
up  a  great  abyss.  My  high  ally,  the 
Emperor  and  King  Francis  Joseph,  was 
compelled  to  take  up  arms  to  defend 
the  security  of  his  empire  against 
dangerous  intrigues  from  a  neighbor- 
ing State.  In  the  pursuit  of  her  proper 
interests  the  Dual  Monarchy  has  found 
her  path  obstructed  by  the  Russian  Em- 
pire. Not  only  our  duty  as  an  ally 
calls  us  to  the  side  of  Austria-Hungary, 
but  on  us  falls  also  the  mighty  task  of 
defending  the  ancient  community  of  cul- 
ture of  the  two  kingdoms  and  our  own 
l)osition  in  the  world  against  the  attack 
of  hostile  powers.  With  a  heavy  heart 
I  have  been  compelled  to  mobilize  my 
army  against  a  neighbor  with  whom  it 
has  fought  side  by  side  on  so  many 
fields  of  battle.  With  sincere  sorrow  I 
saw  a  friendship  broken  of  which  Ger- 
many had  given  faithful  proofs.  The 
Imperial  Russian  Government,  yielding 
to  the  pressure  of  an  insatiable  na- 
tionalism, has  taken  sides  with  a  State 
which  by  encouraging  criminal  attacks 
has  brought  on  the  evil  of  this  war. 
That  France,  also,  placed  herself  on 
the  side  of  our  enemies  could  not  sur- 
Iirise  us.  Too  often  have  our  efforts 
to  arrive  at  friendlier  relations  with 
the  French  Republic  come  in  collision 
with   old   hopes  and  ancient   malice. 

Honored  Sirs :  What  human  insight 
and  power  could  do  to  arm  a  people 
against  the  last  e.\tremities  has  been 
done  with  your  patriotic  helji.  The  hos- 
tility which  has  been  smouldering  for  a 
long  time  in  the  East  and  in  the  West 
has  now  burst  into  bright  flames.  The 
present  situation  did  not  proceed  from 
transient  conflicts  of  interest  or  diplo- 
matic entanglements,  it  is  the  result  of 
an  ill  will  which  has  for  many  years 
been  active  against  the  strength  and 
the  prosperity  of  the  German  Empire. 
We  are  not  incited  tiy  lust  for  conquest, 
we  are  inspired  by  the  unyielding  deter- 
mination to  keep  for  ourselves  and  all 
future  generations  the  place  which  God 
has  given  us. 

From  the  proofs  which  have  been 
given  you,  you  will  see  how  my  Govern- 
ment,  and   especially     my     Chancellor, 


THE   KAISER'S  SPEECHES   IN   THE  CRISIS 


strove  up  to  the  last  moment  to  avert 
the  worst.  We  grasp  the  sword  iu  com- 
pulsory self-defense,  with  clean  hands 
and  a  clean  conscience. 

To  the  peoples  and  races  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire  my  call  goes  forth  to  de- 
fend with  all  their  strength  and  in 
brotherly  co-operation  with  our  ally 
that  which  we  have  created  by  peaceful 
labor.  After  the  example  of  our  fathers, 
tirmly  and  faithfully,  sincerely  and 
with  chivalry,  humbly  before  God  and 
battling  joyfully  before  the  enemy,  let 
us  place  our  trust  in  the  eternal  omni- 
jiotence.  and  may  He  strengthen  our 
defense  and   bring  it    to   a    good  end ! 

To  you.  honored  sirs,  the  whole  Ger- 
man people,  assembled  about  its  Princes 
and  its  leaders,  look  this  day.  Make 
your  decision  unanimously  and  quickly. 
That   is   my    heartfelt   wish. 

Gentlemen  (addressing  the  Deputies 
directly )  :  You  have  read  what  I  said  to 
my  people  the  other  day  from  the  bal- 
cony of  my  castle.  I  repeat  now  that  I 
no  longer  know  any  parties.  I  know 
that  you  are  firmly  resolved  without 
only  Germans.  And  in  order  to  testify 
distinction  of  party  to  stand  by  my  side 
through  danger  and  death.  I  call  upon 
the  leaders  of  the  different  parties  in 
this  House  to  come  forward  and  lay 
their  hands  in  mine  as  a  pledge. 


'THE  WORLD"    (NEW  YORK) 
FOR  THE  CZAR 


FIRST  SUCCESSFUL  BATTLE. 


Telegram  from  Kaiser  Wilheliu  II.  to 

Chief   of   Troops   in   Upper 

Alsace,  Aug.  15. 

Grateful  to  God.  Who  was  with  us.  I 
thank  you  and  your  troops  for  the  first 
victory.  Please  convey  to  all  the  troops 
which  took  part  in  the  tight  my  im- 
perial thanks  in  the  name  of  the 
Fatherland. 

YOUR  CHIEF  WAR  CAPTAIX. 


The  "Xew  York  Herald's"  London 
Correspondent  Declares  the  Kaiser 
E.xhausted  All  Means  of  I'eace. 

"England  has  tried  consistently  to 
secure  peace,"  declared  Sir  Edward 
Grey. 

"Every  Anglo-Saxon  heart  through- 
out the  world  rejoices  that  it  is  so 
and  that  the  blame  for  the  most 
colossal  crime  ever  committed  against 
civilization  will  rest  for  all  time 
where  it  belongs."  —  New  York 
World. 

We  can  feel — yes,  we  can  hear — 
the  gallant  Anglo-Saxon  heart  of  the 
Pulitzer  Estate  throbbing  with  patri- 
otic ardor. 

The  New  York  Herald  possibly  is 
equally  patriotic  in  the  cause  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  but  if  so  it  is  not  get- 
ting the  right  news  from  Loudon. 
The  World  is  answered  in  a  remark- 
able statement  by  a  London  corres- 
pondent which  appeared  on  the  first 
page  of  the  Herald  August  4,  and 
extract  the   following  passages: 

"But  it  is  not  the  war  on  Servia 
that  is  bringing  about  this  catastro- 
phe incalculable.  It  was  merely  the 
war  on  Servia  that  supplied  the 
spark  which  set  in  motion  those  ir- 
resistable  forces  which  are  dragging 
five  of  the  greatest  nations  in  the 
world  into  a  war  of  annihilation      * 

"The  Kaiser  up  to  the  very  last 
moment  almost  went  down  on  his 
knees  to  Russia  to  induce  her  to  de- 
sist from  her  mobilization.  The 
dramatic  story  of  the  final  interview 
between  the  German  Ambassador 
and   the  Russian  Minister  of  foreign 


affairs  shows  that  again  and  again 
the  request  was  made,  and  it  was 
made  at  the  very  time  that  King 
George  was  urging  the  same  thing. 
Thus  two  royal  cousins  up  to  the 
fifty-ninth  minute  of  the  twelfth  hour 
used  every  influence  at  their  com- 
mand to  put  out  the  fire,  but  it  had 
gone  too  far. 

"Nothing  then  remained  for  the 
Emperor  but  to  do  literally  the  best 
he  could.  Since  then  the  Imperial 
William,  true  to  the  traditions  of  his 
race,  proceeded  on  the  principle  that 
the  race  is  to  the  swift  and  the  bat- 
tle to  the  strong.  The  remarkable 
alacrity  with  which  the  German 
army  has  been  mobilized,  so  that 
perhaps  by  this  time  one  million  and 
a  half  men  are  in  the  field,  is  one  of 
the  marvels  of  military  operations." 

We  think  this  answers  the  great 
Anglo-Saxon  World  better  than  any 
thing  directly  from  the  editorial  pen 
of  this  journal. — From  "The  Father- 
land," New  York,  August   10,   1914. 


A    PRAYER  FOR   VICTORY. 


By    the    Kaiser's    Order    to    Supreme 

Council  of  the  Evangelical  Church 

— To    Be    Included    in    the    Lit^ 

urgy    Throughout    the    War. 

Almighty  and  merciful  God  1  (iod  of 
the  armies !  We  beseech  Thee  iu  hu- 
mility for  Thy  almighty  aid  for  our 
German  Fatherland.  Bless  the  entire 
German  war  force,  lead  us  to  victory, 
and  give  us  grace  that  we  may  show 
ourselves  to  be  Christians  toward  our 
enemies  as  well.  Let  us  soon  arrive 
at  the  peace  which  will  everlastingly 
safegmird  our  free  and  independent 
Germany '. 


FOURTH  CHAPTER 

EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 

IDEALS,  PROGRESS,  AND  THE  FIRST  LAW  OF  NATURE 
LIFE— AN  ETERNAL  COMPETITION 


THE  WESTERN  CAMPAIGN 
BELGIUM  AND  FRANCE  THE  BATTLEGROUND 

Germany's  Geographic  Position  among  her  Neighbors 
Consequent  Strategic  Movements  of  Vast  Importance  of  the  German  Armies 


THE  EASTERN  CAMPAIGN— RUSSIA 

The  Second  Colossal  Military  Move — According  to  the  German  Strategic  Plans 

The  Seriously  Threatening  Enemy  in  the  East — GaHcia  and  East  Prussia 

The  "Bear"  Must  Save  Us! 


ITALY  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR 

THE  STREET  PULLS  ITALY  OFF  THE  FENCE 

Italy's  Harvests  from  her  Sowing  as  an  Ally,  a  Neutral,  a  Belligerent 
Italy  Behold  the  Text:     As  ye  sow,  so  shall  ye  also  reap! 
The  Bone  of  Contention — Adriatic  Provinces 


MODERN  NAVAL  WARFARE 
BATTLE  SHIPS,  CRUISERS,  SUBMARINES 

Cutting  the  German  Cable  and  Capturing  the  Enemy's  Merchant  Marine 
"The  German  Submarine  will  Win  the  War" 


AERIAL  WARFARE 
ZEPPELINS,  AEROPLANES,  HYDRO-AEROPLANES 

The  Use  and  Effectiveness  of  Air-craft  in  the  War 
International  Law  on  the  Use  of  Aerial  Weapons  and  Present  Necessities 


PRESS  ROOM  CAMPAIGNS  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD 
WITH  MAGNIFICENT  FIRST  LINE  FORCES  AND  PLENTY  OF  DUM-DUMS! 

The  Pen  is  now  indeed  Mightier  than  the  Sword — especially  in  England  and  France 

How  Strange! 


THE  WESTERN  CAMPAIGN 

BELGIUM  AND  NORTHERN  FRANCE  THE  BATTLEGROUND 

The  German  Position  among  her  Neighbors 
Consequent  Strategic  Movements  of  the  German  Armies 
Especially  during  the  First  Month  of  the  War 


GERMANY  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR 

What  it  means  to  wage  War  on  so  large  a  scale  against  so  many  Enemies 

Some  Categorical  Questions  answered  by  the  Imperial  German  Ambassador  to  the  United  States 

Concerning  the  Use  of  Weapons  in  Modern  Warfare 

Especially  the  Submarine  and  Airship 

INTRODUCTION 

COUNT  VON  BERNSTORFF 
Imperial  German  Ambassador  to  the  United  States 


GERMANY  AND  THE  GREAT 
WAR. 


The  Independent,  New  York.     The 
Imperial   German   Ambassador. 

In  order  that  the  American  peo- 
ple may  have  an  opportunity  of  liear- 
Ing  the  German  side  of  the  case  from 
an  oflicial  source,  "The  Independent" 
has  asked  Count  J.  H.  von  Bernstorflf 
to  reply  to  certain  questions  which 
have  been  niucli  discussed  in  tlie 
press,  and  lie  has  kindly  consented  tx) 
do  so.  Tlio  public  will  appreciate  the 
frankness  and  definiteness  with  which 
he  answers  our  queries. — The  Editor. 

Did  Germany  approve  in  advance 
the  Austrian  ultimatum  to  Servia? 

Yes.  Germany's  reasons  for  doing 
so  are  the  following:  For  six  years 
Servia  has  been  the  outpost  of  Pan- 
Slavism  against  Austria.  The  prin- 
ciple of  I'an-Slavism  is  the  assump- 
tion that  Russia  is  the  protector  of 
the  Slav  nations.  This  makes  it  clear 
to  everybody  who  looks  into  the  ques- 
tion that  Pan-Slavism  means  the  de- 
struction of  Austria,  which  is  half 
Slav.  Austria  bore  patiently  for 
years  the  undermining  campaign  of 
the  Pan-Slavic  party,  which  was  car- 
ried on  in  Austria.  But  the  assas- 
sination of  the  Crown  Prince  brouglit 
her  patience  to  a  sudden  end.  It  is 
believed  by  many  people  in  the 
United  States  that  Servia  accepted 
all,  or  nearly  all,  of  Austria's  de- 
mands. In  reality  she  did  not  accept 
the  most  important  one,  namely,  that 
of  issuing  to  the  officers  of  the  Serv- 
ian army  an  official  condemnation  of 
Pan-Slavic  propaganda  and  of  the  as- 


sassination of  the  Crown  Prince.  Now 
it  has  been  proved  that  the  assas- 
sination of  the  Crown  Prince  was  pre- 
pared and  arranged  by  Servian  of- 
ficers. He  was  shot  with  a  Servian 
army  revolver. 

Couhl  not  Germany  after  the  Aus- 
trian ultimatum  was  delivered  have 
prevented  Austria  from  precipitatinjj; 
the  war? 

If  the  Servian  war  is  meant,  the 
answer  is  that  Austria  could  not  pos- 
sibly be  kept  back  from  going  to  war 
with  Servia  after  her  patience  had 
been  so  overtaxed.  I  ask  any  Ameri- 
can whether  he  thinks  the  Americail 
people  would  not  have  started  war 
with  Mexico  immediately  if  during 
the  Mexican  troubles  Huerta  had 
hired  assassins  to  kill  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States?  How 
would  the  reader  answer  this  ques- 
tion? All  European  governments, 
with  the  exception  of  Russia,  tried  to 
localize  the  war  between  Servia  and 
Austria.  But  then  Russia,  on  Pan- 
Slavic  principles,  said  she  had  to  de- 
fend Servia.  Germany  did  its  utmost 
to  prevent  a  universal  war.  When 
asked  by  Russia  to  induce  Aiistria  to 
make  concessions,  she  prest  Austria 
as  far  as  she  possibly  could  within 
the  bounds  of  her  friendship  and  alli- 
ance. Thereupon  Austria  made  the 
greatest  possible  concessions,  and 
promised  absolutely  to  regard  and 
uphold  the  integrity  of  the  Servian 
kingdom.  This  concession  was 
transmitted  by  the  German  Govern- 
ment to  the  Russian  Government.  No 
other  answer  was  sent  except  the  mo- 
bilization of  the  whole  Russian  army 


against  Germany  and  Austria.  There- 
upon the  German  Government  asked 
the  Russian  Government  why  they 
were  mobilizing  their  whole  arnry 
against  Germany  and  Austria.  Ger- 
many has  not  received  the  answer  to 
this  question  to  this  day.  Instead  of 
an  answer  Russian  troops  crost  the 
German  frontier.  The  first  Russian 
prisoners  of  war  were  taken  before 
any  declaration  of  war  was  made. 
After  this  act  the  German  Govern- 
ment informed  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment that  they  considered  themselves 
in  a  state  of  war  with  Russia,  and  the 
rest  followed  as  a  consequence  of  the 
existing  alliances  in  Europe. 

What  is  the  justification  for  the 
violation  of  tUo  Belgian  neutrality  to 
which  Germany  was  a  party?* 

The  violation  of  Belgian  neutrality 
is  an  action  which  is  universally  re- 
gretted in  Germany.  But  it  was  con- 
sidered an  absolute  military  strategi- 
cal necessity.  If  Germany  had  en- 
tered France  by  the  routes  of  Metz 
and  Strassbourg,  the  French  army 
would  have  entered  Belgian  and  fal- 
len on  our  right  flank.  We  had  ab- 
solutely reliable  information  that 
this  intention  existed  in  the  French 
army.  We  were  absolutely  sure  that 
Belgium  would  not  be  able  to  defend 
her  neutrality  against  France,  and 
would  probably  not  even  be  willing  to 
do  so,  as  her  fortresses  had  all  been 
built  against  Germany  and  not 
against  France.  Furthermore,  on  the 
first   day   of   the  war,   French   motor 


■Read  here:  "What  Belgian  Neu- 
trality Really  Means,"  reprinted  on 
another  page. — Editor. 


244 


GERMANY  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR 


LEADEKS  OF  THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE 


cars  with  French  officers  past  through 
Belgian  to  reconnoiter  in  Germany 
without  being  stopped  by  Belgian  au- 
thorities. Equally  French  aeroplanes 
flew  over  Belgium  without  being 
stopt  and  bombarded  German 
cities.  Our  information  about  fhe 
French  army  was  furthermore  cor- 
roborated by  the  fact  that  English 
generals  visited  Brussels  in  the 
spring  at  the  time  when  the  coalition 
was  preparing  for  war  against  us. 
The  governments  of  the  coalition  can- 
not suppose  that  we  do  not  know  that 
during  the  visit  of  King  George  to 
Paris,  the  military  negotiations  were 
going  on  between  England,  France 
and  Russia  for  the  purpose  of  a  joint 
attack  against  Germany. 2 

Is  not  the  tlropplng  of  shells  with- 
out warnlns  fi'oni  an  airship  upon 
cities  like  Antwerp  and  Paris  a  viola- 
tion of  civilized  warfare? 

I  am  rather  surprised  at  the  words 
"without  warning"  in  this  question, 
because  I  do  not  see  how  a  fortress, 
which  is  prepared  for  an  attack  in  a 
country  which  is  at  war,  should  be 
without  warning  if  it  were  attacked 
at  any  minute.  The  warning  for 
every  fortress  in  the  country  is  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  I  can  only 
say  that  in  our  fortresses  on  the 
frontier,  women  and  children  were 
sent  away  on  the  very  first  oubreak 
of  the  war.  As  long  as  there  has 
been  war  in  the  world,  fortresses 
have  always  been  bombarded. 
Whether  they  are  bombarded  from 
the  air  or  from  cannon  on  land  Is 
simply  a  technical  detail. a 

Is  not  the  de.struction  of  the  his- 
toric edifices  and  library  at  Louvain 
an  act  of  vandalism? 

To  begin  with  I  doubt  whether  the 
historic  edifices  and  library  at  Lou- 
vain  have  been  destroyed.  But  if 
they  should  have  been,  the  respon- 
sibility rests  solely  with  the  popula- 
tion of  Louvain,  and  the  act  of  van- 
dalism, it  there  has  been  one,  has 
been  perpetrated  also  solely  by  that 
population.  The  facts  of  the  case 
are  the  following:  One  battalion  of 
German  troops  was  left  in  charge  of 


the  city,  and  of  the  communications 
of  the  army.  They  were  not  in  line, 
but  dispersed  in  the  city.  The  priests 
of  the  city,  thinking  that  the  German 
army  had  retired,  distributed  arms 
among  the  civilian  population  and 
our  soldiers  were  shot  unawares.  The 
principle  of  civilized  warfare  is  based 
on  the  assumption  that  only  the  sol- 
diers of  a  country  shall  fight  against 
the  soldiers  of  the  other  country,  but 
that  civilians,  women  and  children 
shall  never  join  in  the  combat.*  To 
maintain  these  principles  severe  pun- 
ishment has  always  been  inflicted 
upon  any  population  that  joins  in  the 
fight,  and  I  do  not  refrain  for  on« 
moment  from  saying  that  they  de- 
serve it.  In  this  special  case,  how- 
ever, the  German  soldiers  who  were 
attacked  by  the  people  of  Louvain 
were  mutilated,  and  treated  with  acts 
of  beastial  cruelty.  If  the  returning 
troops  with  these  facts  before  their 
eyes  burnt  down  many  houses  of  the 
city,  I  do  not  see  how  they  can  be 
blamed. 

What  is  the  Slavic  peril?  And  why 
should  Germany  fear  it  more  than 
England  or  France? 

Germany  does  not  fear  the  Slavic 
peril  at  all.  However  the  existence 
of  Austria  as  a  great  power  has  al- 
ways been  considered  of  vital  interest 
to  Germany  because  it  keeps  our 
flank  covered.  Furthermore  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  alliance  be- 
tween Germany  and  Austria  Is  quite  a 
different  kind  of  alliance  than  any  of 
those  among  the  powers  who  have 
formed  a  coalition  against  us.  Aus- 
tria and  Germany  have  belonged  to- 
gether for  a  thousand  years,  and 
every  fight  between  them  has  been 
regarded  by  both  nations  as  a  civil 
war.  Historic  developments  since 
1866  have  changed  the  aspect  of  Aus- 
tria and  have  formed  a  dual  mon- 
archy between  Austria  and  Hungary. 
Austria  is  now  half  a  Slav  state  and 
as  such  cannot  permit  the  preten- 
sions of  Russia  to  be  the  protector  of 
the  Slavs.  England  and  France  are 
now  fighting  for  Russia's  purposes. 
Why  they  do  so  they  will  have  to 
answer  for  themselves. 


Would  the  purchase  by  the  United 
States  of  the  German  merchant  ships 
of  New  York  harbor  be  a  violation  of 
ntmtrality? 

According  to  my  opinion,  No.  Be- 
cause our  shipping  companies  are  ab- 
solutely private  business  undertak- 
ings without  any  interference  of  the 
Government.  If,  furthermore,  these 
companies  are,  as  the  American  Gov- 
ernment has  stated,  not  to  receive 
payment  until  after  the  war,  I  can- 
not see  how  the  purchase  of  these 
ships  can  in  any  way  help  Germany. 
The  opposition  to  these  plans  seems 
to  me  to  come  simply  from  the  wish 
to  prevent  the  United  States  from 
having  a  mercantile  marine.  Eng- 
land has  joined  our  enemies  for  the 
rliiet  purpose  of  getting  our  trade. 
It  would  naturally  gain  nothing  even 
if  England  did  win  the  war  If  their 
trade  were  taken  by  the  United 
States. 

What  do  you  think  of  the  employ- 
ment of  African  and  Asiatic  troops  in 
an  European  war? 

I  condemn  it  unconditionally. » 
In  conclusion  I  may  say  that  it  is 
one  of  the  fundamental  errors  of 
American  newspapers  that  this  Is  a 
war  of  kings.  Most  emphatically  is  it 
a  war  of  the  German  people.  Do  not 
be  deceived  about  it.  Every  man 
who  doubts  this  is  fundamentally  at 
error.  I  read  all  sorts  of  things 
about  "the  kings'  war,"  but  God 
knows  it  is  the  people's  war.  The  ab- 
solute feeling  of  the  German  people 
was  that  the  Emperor  waited  as  long 
as  possible,  if  anything  that  he 
waited  at  least  two  days  too  long.  If 
any  proof  is  needed  for  this  state- 
ment look  at  the  attitude  of  the  lead- 
ers of  the  German  Social  Democrats, 
who  are  loyally  supporting  the  Em- 
peror. See  how  different  it  is  in 
Russia  where  the  Poles  are  in  revolu- 
tion ;  in  England  where  the  leader  of 
the  Labor  group  said  that  it  was  not 
a  people's  war  and  the  government 
had  not  done  enough  to  prevent  it. 
The  leader  of  the  Social  Democrats  in 
Germany  said:  "We  hate  war,  but 
since  the  German  nation  has  been  at- 
tacked we  will  stand  up  like  one  man 
against    the    autocrat    who     attacked 


=0n  another  page  read:  "Belgium 
Neutrality  a  Myth,  Says  Eniliassy." — 
Editor. 

3lf  interested,  read:  "A  Strange 
Set  of  Saints"  in  War  Echoes.— Edi- 
tor. 

<As  the  question  involved  the  kill- 
ing from  ambuscade  of  German  bar- 
barians, the  strong  pro-British  "Chi- 
cago Herald"  eulogizes  the  Belgian 
civilians  in  an  editorial  entitled  "The 
Right  to  Defend  Your  Home,"  which 
we  are  reprinting  in  full  on  another 
paso. — Editor. 

5In  order  to  appreciate  how  cir- 
cumstances alter  cases,  you  should 
read  "But  This  Was  To  Be  a  White 
Man's  War"  reprinted  on  another 
page. — Consult   the  index. — Editor. 


If  no  news  is  good  news  the  Eu- 
ropean press  censors  are  certainly 
apostles  of  optimism. — From  the 
"New  York   American." 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


245 


With  the  German  Army  and  the  German  People 
In  France  and  Belgium 


TRIBUNE  GIVES  \EW  LIGHT  OX 
GER>L\X   SPIRIT. 


Finds  People  Confident  and  Learns 

English  are  Iteinju;  "Jollied"  and 

Deceived — Personal   Letter. 


The  Chicago  Tribune. 

The  folloicing  personal  letter  from 
Mr.  Bennett  to  the  editor  of  The  Trib- 
une is  so  remarkable  that  it  is  pre- 
sented in  full. 

Before  there  teas  mention  of  war  3fr. 
Bennett  icas  sent  to  London  to  he  Tin 
Tribune's  correspondent  in  England.  1/ 
the  outbreak  of  war  he,  the  only  Tun: 
UNE  nuin  near  the  seat  of  action,  tens 
cabled  to  proceed  to  the  firing  line. 
Since  the  Qcrman  occupation  of  Brus- 
sels he  Ms  been  entirely  in  German  sur- 
roundings. 

The  Tribune  does  not  support  or  de- 
cry his  vieics.  They  are  startling  and 
the  American  people  are  entitled  to  read 
them.  

By  James  O'Donnell  Bennett. 

(War  Correspondent  of  The  Tribune.) 

AIX-LA-CUAPELLE,  Germauy,  Sel>t. 
12. — Undoubtedly  you  have  [)ictures  <•! 
all  the  notables  in  this  set  (portraits  ipi 
German  military  leaders  printed  on  this 
page)  but  the  |)ortraits  seemed  to  me  so 
well  executed  that  they  might  nialie  a 
welcome  change  from  the  routine  of 
photographs. 

Tomorrow  John  McCutcheon  and  I 
shall  have  been  in  Aix  just  two  weeks. 
In  that  time  we  have  sent  off  many 
thousands  of  words  to  The  Tribune — 
John  about  20,000 ;  I  about  14,000.  My 
first  letter  was  0,000  ou  our  inability 
to  verify  stories  of  German  atrocities : 
my  second  over  6.000  on  the  state  of 
feeling,  illustrated  by  numerous  inci- 
dents, in  North  Germany.  John  said 
my  letter  on  non-atrocities  probabl.v 
would  create  a  sensation  in  America. 
Matter  Ready  for  Boat. 

I  have  a  big  batch  of  descriptive  mat- 
ter under  way  for  next  Saturday's  boat 
from  Kotterdain  to  America. 

In  addition  to  the  two  long  articles 
which  I  mailed  I  have  also  sent  a  1,000 
word  cable  by  post  to  the  Commercial 
cable  oflice  in  Loudon  to  be  put  on  the 
wire  there  to  you. 

Whether  the  English  censor  will  let 
It  pass  I  much  doubt,  because,  .I'udging 
by  the  London  jiapers  we  have  seen  and 
by  the  extracts  which  I  enclose  from  a 
letter  from  Mrs.  Rennott,  England  is 
wild  with  apprehension  and  stuffed 
with  lies. 

Germans   Feel   Confident. 

The  best  of  writers  could  hardly  con- 
vey to  you  the  sense  of  order,  confi- 
dence and  satisfaction  existing  in  Ger- 
many. And,  In  view  of  what  we  have 
seen  and  heard  in  Germany,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  madness  of 
English  newspapers  in  their  policy  of 
trying  to  jolly  the  English  public  into 
a  belief  that  the  Germans  are  being 
thrown  back. 

In  the  face  of  these  "German  re- 
verses," Germany  is  constantly  sending 
more  men  (thou.sands  upon  thousands 
of  them)  by  train  through  Alx  to  the 
front. 


l'li;ST    AlLt 

German    Ited   Cross   Surgeons  giving  "First  Aid"  to  a   wounded   Comrade,   just 

found  by  the  Canine  Heroes  of  the  war.     The  Dog  again  proves  himself  Man's 

Friend  iu  the  service  of  the  Red  Cross 


Aix  is  absolutely  serene.  Manufac- 
turers are  even  about  to  launch  new 
building  operations  iu  this  vicinity  the 
day  after  tomorrow. 

Not   Allowed   to    Follow. 

Meanwhile  we  are  not  allowed  to  go 
into  Franco  in  the  wake  of  German 
columns,  because,  say  the  military  au- 
thorities, vast  plans  are  making  which 
must  in  no  way  be  imperiled  by  the 
prcsonco  of  outsiders. 

Those  plans  may  culminate  at  the 
end  of  next  week,  and  then,  according 
to  assurances  we  have  received,  we  may 
be  allowed  to  go  forward. 

This  chance  seems  to  us  worth  wait- 
ing for.     If  it  does  not  materialize  at 
the  end  of  the  week  there  is  nothing  for 
us  to  do  but  return  to  England. 
Extracts  from  Letters. 

.\s  to  the  kind  of  reception  that  may 
await  nie  in  England,  you  may  judge 
from  these  extracts  from  Mrs.  Bennett's 
letter  received  by  me  today  from  Lon- 
don. It  is  dated  Monday,  Sept.  7,  and 
has  been  a  week,  lacking  two  days,  in 
reaching  me : 

"My  greatest  anxiety  lately  has  been 
that  you  would  write  somi'lliing  pro- 
German.  That,  as  I  understand  the  sit- 
uation here,  would  get  you  Into  trouble 
with  the  English  authorities  upon  your 
return.  They  simply  will  not  have  it, 
no  matter  how  true  it  may  be. 

"I  wrote  you  a  long  letter  last  week 
telling  you  of  Mr.  Ileitkamii's  arrest 
(Mr.  neitkaui])  is  manager  of  the  Cur- 
tis Hrown  bureau,  which  serves  The 
Tribune  from  London)  at  the  Instiga- 
tion of  the  war  office.  He  was  arrested 
on  Thursday  night  and  not  releiised  im- 
til  Saturday  nfternoon. 

"lie  was  handled  very  roughly  and 
allowed  to  communion te  with  no  one — 


not  even  his  wife.  He  just  escaped 
penal  servitude  for  life,  and  he  still 
does  not  know  what  they  so  much  ob- 
jected to  in  what  he  had  written. 

Detectives  Search  Mail. 

"When  I  went  down  for  your  mail  at 
the  Curtis  Hrown  otl!<'es  1  found  the 
room  which  you  anil  Mr.  Heitkamp  oc- 
cupy full  of  Scotland  Yard  men. 

"They  were  going  through  Mr.  Heit- 
kamp'k  papers  and  they  went  through 
all  his  papers  and  letters  at  his  home. 
And  this  happened  to  an  American 
whose  people  have  lived  in  America 
since  the  seventeenth  century  and  whose 
daily  work  connects  him  with  the 
American  pressi 

"So  you  see,  my  dear,  Uow  useless  it 
is  to  try  to  say  anything  for  the  Ger- 
uians.  The  English  simply  won't  allow 
it  to  be  used,  and  one  takes  the  risk  of 
penal  servitude. 

".Vll  this  has  terrified  me  for  you. 
You  have  absolutely  no  chance.  I  felt 
so  sorr.v  for  Mrs.  Heitkamp.  She  was 
not  allowed   to  see  her  husband. 

"As  I  said,  I  wrote  you  all  al>out  this, 
but  could  not  get  the  letter  through,  and 
have  been  nearly  frantic  over  the  possi- 
bility of  their  arresting  you  when  you 
return  to  an  English  port  if  you  have 
sent  pro-German  copy  to  The  Tribune 
while  you  were  In  Germany, 
Fear  for  Safety. 

"My  never  knowing  for  so  many  days 
where  you  were  and  what  had  happened 
to  you   made  it  worse. 

"Please  realize  how  serious  this  Is 
and  be  very  careful  as  to  what  you 
write.  It  wouhl  gain  you  nothing  If  you 
tried  to  he  fair,  and  the  penalty  Is  too 
great.     You  will  be  careful? 

"This  fear  has  been  with  nie  con- 
stantly since  Mr.  Heltkamp's  arrest.  Of 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


course,  I  think  his  foreign  mime  and  his 
Italian  wife  may  have  made  a  differ- 
ence. 

••The  Scotland  yard  men  asUed  me  all 
about  you  and  put  it  all  down;  so  you 
are  on  the  records.  It  was  unfortunate 
I  went  for  the  mail  that  morning.  I 
can't  tell  you  how  this  terrifies  me.     .     . 

"Mr.  Brown,  by  the  way,  was  so 
frightened  over  Mr.  Heitkamp's  arrest 
and  the  possibility  of  his  being  in- 
volved himself  that  he  stayed  away 
from  the  office  (he  was  down  in  Corn- 
wall) and  quite  repudiated  Mr.  H.  It 
was  really  very  serious,  evidently,  and 
as  I  say,  Mr.  H.  cannot  see  what  he 
said  to  bring  it  on  himself.    .    .    . 

•'Do  listen  to  what  I  say  about  writ- 
ing anything  pro-German.     It  will  only 
react  on  you  and  do  no  good." 
BeUeve   What  They   Wish. 

Mrs.  Bennett's  little  sidelight  on  the 
state  of  feeling  in  London  will  Interest 
vou.    It  follows: 

"I  don't  read  the  papers  much,  for  I 
find  them  too  disturbing,  but  I  hear  a 
good  deal.  The  people  believe  what 
they  want  to  believe,  though  I  think 
that  down  in  their  hearts  they  know 
they  are  not  getting  the  real  state  of 
affairs. 

■'Just  the  same,  the  other  kind  of 
thing  buoys  them  up,  and  that  is  why  it 
is  done.  . 

"You,  I  suppose,  are  seeing  only  the 
other  side,  aren't  you?  So  be  careful 
and  unbiased.  Loving  England  and  the 
English  as  vou  do,  it  must  be  painful 
for  vou  to  have  to  think  of  its  future 
as  ynu  do  think.  I  hope  you  are  wrong, 
and  I  know  you  must  hope  so,  too." 
Not  Excitable  Woman. 

Thus  I  have  given  you  the  essentials 
of  the  young  lady's  letter.  Of  course, 
she  may  have  gained  an  overwrought 
impression  of  the  state  of  affairs,  but 
she  is  not  an  ill-poised  or  excitable 
woman — quite  the  contrary. 

In  any  case,  even  If  I  were  so  dis- 
loyal to  the  truth  as  to  wish  to  act  on 
her  warning,  that  warning  comes  too 
late.  Bv  this  time,  in  a  6.000  word  ar- 
ticle headed  "The  Solemn  Truth."* 
which  should  reach  you  in  Chicago  to- 
morrow (Sunday)  night,  and  in  a  7,000 
word  article  headed  "The  System  at 
Work,"  which  went  by  the  boat  from 
Rotterdam  this  morning — in  both  those 
articles  I  have  committed  myself  up  to 
the  neck. 

May  Be  Deported. 
If  reports  on  those  articles  are  sent 
back  to  the  English  authorities  after  the 
articles  appear  In  The  Tribune  I  may  be 
ditched  in  England.  They  may  deport 
me  if  I  try  to  land  there. 

But  a  man  who  failed  to  write  what 
I  have  seen  and  heard  in  Germany 
would  be  a  dog. 

I  came  to  Germany  anti-German.  So 
did  John.    But  London  lies  and  German 


•This  article  was  published  by  "The  Chi- 
cago Tribune"  in  its  issue  of  September  17 
headed :  "German  Atrocities  Fiction,  So 
Far  As  Tribune  Men  in  Belgium  Can 
Find  "  "War  Echoes"  would  be  sadly  in- 
complete without  Mr.  Bennett's  6.000-word 
article.  We  have  therefore  reprinted  it 
in  full  on  another  page,  and  express  the 
hope  that  it  a  copy  of  "War  Echoes"  ever 
reaches  Mr.  Bennett,  he  may  see  herein  a 
small  expression  of  our  deep  appreciation 
of  his  moral  courage  for  having  dared  to 
write  the  truth  and  thus  "committed  him- 
self up  to  the  neck."  We  most  sincerely 
hope  that  Mrs.  Bennett's  fears  will  not 
materialize. — Editor. 


dignity  and  solidity  have  about  brought 
me  over  to  the  German  side. 

If  America  thinks  Germany  Is  In  the 
least  frightened  or  if  America  thinks 
Germany  has  gone  mad  with  blood-lust, 
then  America  has  only  surrendered  to 
the  most  stupendous  campaign  of  lies 
that  has  been  launched  from  Europe 
since  Napoleon  made  "false  as  a  bulle- 
tin" a  proverb. 

If  what  we  have  seen  means  anything, 
the  world  is  going  to  wake  up  soon  to 
find  a  gigantic  new  world  power  in  the 
saddle. 

Troops  Bound  Southwest. 
In  view  of  our  chance — indefinite  as 
it  is — of  being  allowed  to  follow  a  Ger- 
man column  at  the  end  of  the  coming 
week,  it  seems  to  us  folly  to  leave  here. 
Evidently  something  tremendous  is  on, 
for  vast  bodies  of  troops  have  been 
pushed  through  Aix  by  trains  bound 
southwest  within  the  last  four  days. 

Just  before  that  there  had  been  a  lull 
of  several  days — perhaps  four — in  the 
rush  of  trains.  Then  it  was  resumed 
with  redoubled  vigor. 

Tou  will  say  that  we  should  have 
cabled  the  news  of  this  movement. 
Well,  there  is  no  cable,  we  are  told, 
connecting  Germany  with  the  outside 
world. 

For  a  few  days  we  could  have  cabled 
out  of  Holland,"  so  far  as  governmental 
permission  was  concerned,  but  we  could 
not  have  cabled  "collect." 

To  cable,  every  correspondent  would 
have  to  have  a  trunkful  of  gold  with 
him  to  pay  tolls.    That  is  impossible. 

Now  we  are  forbidden  to  make  the 
short  trip  into  Holland,  even  to  send 
personal  cables. 

Those  which  we  send  the  American 
consul  Is  so  kind  as  to  take  for  us.  He 
is  Robert  Thompson,  who  worked  on 
the  Times  in  World's  fair  days.  He  has 
done  all  he  can  for  John  and  me. 
Meets  Patterson  in  Aix. 
Last  Sunday  night  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  Joseph  Medill  Patterson  in 
Aix.  He  came  up  from  Berlin  under 
military  escort  with  five  other  American 
correspondents  and  was  permitted  to 
view   the   forts   at  Liege. 

He  was  much  discouraged  about  the 
war  correspondents'  game,  and  says  the 
Jig  is  up,  and  that  no  armies  will  longer 
tolerate  them. 

He  was  so  kind  as  to  say,  however, 
that  if  my  anti-atrocities  story,  which 
should,  as  I  said,  reach  you  tomorrow 
evening,  did  get  through  to  Chicago  it 
would  be  worth  the  trip  I  had  made 
from  London. 

The  government  did  not  ask  us  to 
make  this  statement.  We  made  it 
partly  for  its  news  value  and  partly 
from  a  sense  of  outraged  decency. 

Certainly  the  Germans  are  getting  a 
rotten  deal  from  the  rest  of  the  world 
in  the  press  reports  of  this  war.  T  hope 
.\merica  will  not  be  Inflamed  by  those 
reports  with  the  idea  that  It  ought  "In 
the  name  of  humanity"  to  mis  up  In 
the  trouble. 

Reshaping  of  Europe. 
All  the  men  in  the  groups  of  Ameri- 
cans here  have  been  convinced  by  a 
fortnight's  observation  with  the  troops 
on  the  countryside  and  with  1*e  citi- 
zens in  this  town  that  the  situation  in- 
volves nothing  less  than  the  reshaping 
of  Europe  by  Teutonic  hands.  It  is  a 
new  Eurojiean  empire  swinging  into  be- 


ing, and  if  Europe  doesn't  like  it  Eu- 
rope will  have  to  fight  over  the  matter 
for  the  next  five  and  twenty  years. 

To  us  the  German  ascendancy  seems 
as  inevitiable  as  sunrise  tomorrow.  God 
save  us,  but  the  system  and  the  power 
behind  the  system  are  just  incredible, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  people  is  overpow- 
ering. 

What  Joe  Patterson  had  seen  had 
him  talking  last  Sunday  night  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  strain  I  am  writing  to- 
night— a  strain  that  may  seem  to  you 
hysterical,  but  that  is  in  truth  very, 
very  grave. 

Would  Be  Held  Up. 

We  are  not  sending  any  of  our  ar- 
ticles on  the  state  of  affairs  In  Germany 
by  mail  to  the  Commercial  Cable  in 
London,  to  be  relayed  to  you  by  cable  in 
London,  because  we  think  that,  even 
if  we  stuck  to  the  bare  facts,  the  Eng- 
lish censor  would  not  let  them  through. 

We  can  keep  busy,  and  are  keeping 
busy,  writing  our  observations  and 
sending  them  off  by  the  weekly  Rotter- 
dam mail. 

Willing  to  Face  English. 

Does  this  seem  to  you  advisable.  This 
letter  will  reach  you  in  two  weeks.  Suji- 
pose  I  stay  here  until  it  does  reach  you, 
and  that  upon  arrival  of  the  letter  in 
Chicago  you  cable  me  [care  of  the  con- 
sul] what  you  think  as  to  my  returning 
to  London  and  facing  a  row  with  the 
English  authorities? 

As  to  that  prospect  I  am  not  fright- 
ened, but  If  I  were  jugged  It  might 
take  a  lot  of  fussing  and  cabling  to  get 
me  out.  That  would  waste  both  time 
and  money. 

If  I  leave  Aix  before  the  expiration 
of  two  weeks  I  shall  cable  you  my 
wherebouts,  though  if  I  am  permitted 
to  follow  the  army  I  may  not  be  able 
to  give  a  destination. 

In  any  event,  I  shall  cable  the  fact  of 
departure. 


A  VOICE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS. 

(Reprinted  from  "The  Father- 
land," New  York,  September  30, 
1914.) 

THE    LEADER'S    POSITION. 

Many  stories  of  alleged  atrocities 
committed  by  the  Germans  in  the 
European  war  are  being  circulated  in 
America. 

The  "Leader"  does  not  believe 
these  stories  to  be  true,  and  will  not 
publish    them. 

The  manner  of  life  of  the  many 
Germans  in  this  community  gives  the 
lie  to  any  charge  that  the  German 
people  are  barbarous.  America  has 
no  better  citizens  than  those  of  Ger- 
man   birth. 

No  race  of  people  surpasses  the 
Germans  in  humanity,  kindness  of 
heart  and  consideration  for  those 
about  them.  It  is  impossible  that 
the  charges  sent  out  against  them 
could  be  true. 

The  "Leader"  believes  that  the  al- 
legations of  atrocities  are  baseless, 
and  are  issued  merely  to  influence 
American  opinion  against  the  Ger- 
mans. 

Before   the   "Leader"     prints    any 
such  stories  they  will  have  to  be  bet- 
ter authenticated  than  at  present. 
"Pittsburg  Leader." 

September  16,  1914. 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


247 


LUiNCH  TIME  OF  THE   GERM^VX  AIJMY 

Note  the  uniformly  orderly  and  serious,  yet  pleasant  aspect  of  the  men 
(Photograph   by   the   International   News   Service) 


A     WEEK      WITH     VOX      KLUCK; 


Or    How    They    Brought    the    Good 
News  from  the  Alsne  to  Hand. 


By  Siegfried  Jacobsolm  in  "The  Fa- 
therland," Xew  York,  October 
28,   1»14. 

Monday — from    Paris. 

Von  Kluck's  army  is  annihilated!!! 

The  victory  cannot  be  overrated. 

It  was  a  terrible,  deadly  strife; 

Not  a  single  German  ascaped  with  his 
life, 

In  one  word,  as  already  stated. 

Von  Kluck  and  his  men  are  annihi- 
lated. 

Tuesday — from    London. 
The  victory  we  won  was  glorious! 
On  the  whole  line  we  were  victorious. 
The  enemy's  General   Von   Kluck 
Had  to  give  in  to  British  pluck! 
Therefore  to  us  his  sword  he  tendered 
And  he  and  all  his  men  surrendered. 

Wednesday — from  Rome. 
The   final   decision   of  this  campaign 
Was  yesterday  reached  on  the  River 

Aisne; 
A  movement  on  the  British  right 
Put  the  left  wing  of  the  foe  to  fllahf. 


The  Germans  are  beaten,  pursued  and 

hounded. 
Von  Kluck's  army  is  now  surrounded. 

Thursday — from  Copenhagen. 
The  British  Embassy  indorses 
The     following     news:      The     Allied 

forces 
Have  beaten  the  brutal  invaders  back. 
Pursuing  the  fleeing  in  their  track. 
The   beaten   foe — Von   Kluck   in   the 

lead — 
Are  running  away  with  the  greatest 

speed. 

Friday — from  Paris. 
W'p  hold  a  fortified  position. 
And  now  expect  the  final  decision. 
Von  ICIuck's  onslaughts  on  the  Allies 
Have    cost    the    Germans    an    awful 

price 
But  our  defence  is  still  unshaken. 
Our  fortified  hills  cannot  be  taken. 


LONDON  LETTER. 


Saturday — from   Berlin   via  Wireless 
to  Sayville,  Ij.  I. 
The   army   of   General   Von   Kluck 
won  a  decisive  victory  on  the  Aisne 
over  the  combined  French  and  Eng- 
lish   forces.      About    forty    thousand 
prisoners  and  five  hundred  guns  fell 
into  our  hands.     The  enemy  is  in  full 
retreat  and   pursued   by  o\ir  cavalry. 
VON  STEIN,        ' 
General  Quartermaster.  , 


By    .Shan    F.    Bullock   in   the    Friday 
Literary    Review    of    "The    Chi- 
cago Evening  Post,"  Oc- 
tober 9,  1914. 

London,  Sept.  29. — Were  I  a  phil- 
osopher— not  of  the  Bergson  type, 
but  rather  of  the  Anatole  France  sort 
— and  had  the  necessary  time  and 
energy,  I  should  write  a  book  on  the 
Humors  of  Rumor.  Practically,  we 
have  been  living — that  is,  so  far  as 
mental  and  moral  sustenance  are  con- 
cerned— for  weeks  now  on  many  in- 
ventions. From  time  to  time,  of 
course,  we  have  had  doled  out  to  us 
the  crumbs  that  fell  from  the  press 
bureau  table,  and,  to  give  our  author- 
ities justice,  they  have  never  been 
slow  to  douche  us  with  black,  naked 
truth;  but  in  the  awful  stress  of 
events  what  we  poor  humans  needed 
was  food  for  our  hungry  imagina- 
tions. The  old  war  correspondents 
used  to  supply  that  in  liberal  doses; 
now  they  are  gone  with  the  fine  old 
times  when  armies,  instead  of  fight- 
ing in  absurd  250-mile  line  forma- 
tions that  retired  this  way  for  a  hun- 
dred miles  and  then  advanced  the 
same  way  fifty  miles;  when  instead 
of  such  athletic  exercises  they  met  on 
a    decent-sized    field    in    solid    bodies 


248 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


and  gloriously  hammered  each  other 
for  as  long  as  they  had  endurance. 
But  our  needs  being  still  the  same — 
nay,  more,  in  those  days  of  light  and 
swiftness — we  have  had  lately  to 
keep  ourselves  alive  by  supplying  our 
own  inventions. 

How  the  Nation  Spoofed  Itself. 

Now  that  it  is  all  over,  some  of  our 
critics  are  talking  about  the  great 
Russian  movement  by  way  of  Arch- 
angel, Leith,  the  English  North  Sea 
coast  and  Ostend,  as  the  most  stu- 
pendous newspaper  spoof  in  journal- 
istic history.  Nothing  of  the  sort.  It 
was  a  spoof  invented  by  the  nation 
itself,  plaved  off  by  the  nation  itself 
upon  itself,  and,  official  contradiction 
notwithstanding,  still  persisted  in  by 
great  part  of  itself.  Its  origin  is  ob- 
vious. People  saw  the  Germans  aya- 
lanching  down  toward  Paris,  with 
those  vital  lines  of  communication 
through  Liege  and  Namur  continually 
lengthening,  and  they  said,  "My  God, 
if  only  we  could  get  at  them  thru 
Ostend  in  the  rear  with  200,000 
men!"  Well,  the  men  were  not  in 
England.  But  we  wanted  them.  So 
by  way  of  Archangel,  some  2,000 
miles  away,  and  connected  with  the 
interior  of  Russia,  I  believe  by  only 
a  single  line  of  railway,  on  timber 
ships,  Atlantic  liners,  men  of  war, 
Russian  cruisers,  fishing  boats, 
heaven  knows  what,  we  transported 
to  eastern  Scotland  a  Russian  army 
complete  in  every  detail  of  accoutre- 
ment and  impedimenta;  and  we  put 
It  in  trains  and  we  conveyed  it  to 
Dover;  and  not  a  man,  woman  or 
child  in  England  was  there  who  did 
not  know  somebody  who  had  seen 
those  trains  and  the  Russians  with 
their  beards  and  Astrakhan  caps  in- 
side them,  or  had  not  heard  about  the 
signal  men,  or  had  not  given  them 
apples  and  cigarettes  and  got  from 
them  "Thankski"  in  the  Russian 
tongue;  and  at  Dover  we  trans- 
shipped them  into  fleets  of  transports 
that  took  them  to  Ostend  between 
two  long  lines  of  protecting  war- 
ships; and  then  we  rubbed  our  hands 
and  said  quietly,  so  that  no  German 
spy  should  hear,  "Walt!  Lift  up  your 
hearts!  Oh,  soon  shall  we  hear  the 
news." 

A  Stupendous  Hoax. 

But  news  didn't  come,  save  by  way 
of  confirmation  from  Rome  and  Am- 
sterdam. And  we  grew  restive.  And 
those  who  knew  definitely  got  weak- 
kneed.  But  still  we  believed,  be- 
cause we  had  to  believe,  because  what 
true  to  that  which  should  have  hap- 
pened .  .  .  and  then  one  morn- 
ing from  the  official  press  bureau 
came  a  laconic  message  telling  us 
that  not  a  single  Russian  had  jour- 
neyed to  Belgium  via  English  soil. 
Not  one.  But  everyone  we  knew  had 
been  told  definitely  by  some  one  that 
250,000  Russians  had  gone.  The 
correspondent  of  the  "Daily  News" 
had  actually  seen  them  in  France  . 
Enough,  I  doubt  if  ever  before, 
even  in  the  days  of  apparitions  and 
portents,  the  English  people  have 
hoaxed  themselves  so   stupendously. 


BETWEEN     THE     FIRING     LINES. 


Editorial    from    "The    Chicago    Trib- 
une," September  30.  1914. 

One  of  our  readers  addresses  us  as 
follows: 

"Now  that  The  Tribune  has  got- 
ten its  German  number  out  of  its 
system— vide  this  morning's  issue — 
it  is  perhaps  preparing  for  its  White 
Man's  number,  and  I  send  the  in- 
closed as  a  contribution*  to  the  same. 
God!  You'd  think  that  the  German 
circulation  of  our  Chicago  newspa- 
pers was  really  important.  I  thought 
The  Tribune  was  an  independent 
newspaper." 

Another  reader  admonishes  us  as 
follows: 

"I  am  a  free  born  American  citi- 
zen, loyal  to  my  country  and  loyal 
to  right  and  fairness.  In  studying 
the  war  reports  in  your  paper  I  am 
convinced  that  a  preponderance  of 
your  articles  are  chosen  or  worded 
in  such  a  way  as  to  shape  public 
opinion  and  prejudice  against  the 
Germans." 

We  hear  from  many  readers  to  the 
same  effect,  and  the  plea  is  usually 
for  "fairness."  Evidently  we  are 
held  "unfair"  when  we  print  news 
or  views  favorable  to  the  Germans 
and  "unfair"  when  we  print  news 
or  views  favorable  to  the  allies.  Are 
we,  in  spite  of  our  effort  to  be  fair 
to  both  sides,  unfair  to  both  sides? 

After  publishing  column  after 
column  of  matter  which  the  parti- 
sans of  the  allies  call  "pro-German," 
we  are  bitterly  accused  of  being  anti- 
German.  In  spite  of  this  accusa- 
tion, on  the  other  hand,  we  are  ac- 
cused of  being  pro-German.  And  all 
this  in  the  name  of  "fairness!" 

Every  newspaper  which  tries  to  be 
neutral  is  having  the  same  rather 
amusing  experience.  They  are  be- 
ing abused  by  parties  on  all  sides 
who,  with  a  laughable  unconscious- 
ness of  their  own  bias,  demand  jus- 
tice when  what  they  wish  is  par- 
tisanship. Readers  who  believe  Ger- 
many is  wrong  were  entirely  satis- 
fied to  have  all  the  news  come  from 
London,  Paris  and  Antwerp  and  all 
the  British  and  French  polemics  pub- 
lished In  full.  Readers  of  contrary 
sympathy  do  not  protest  against  any 
publication  in  favor  of  their  own  side. 

The  Tribune  has  no  bias,  and  real 
neutrals,  we  feel  confident,  do  not 
see  any.  But  partisans  will  continue 
to  accuse  us  from  their  own  view- 
points; which  accusations,  we  must 
remind  them,  cancel  each  other  and 
renew  our  confidence  in  the  recti- 
tude of  our  own  practice.* 

It  seems  that  the  contribution  re- 
ceived from  the  rabid  sympathizer  of 
the  "All-lies"  and  his  admonition  for 
a  "White  Man's  number"  made  "The 
Tribune's"  editor  take  notice. 

Result:  The  following  two-inch 
headline  on  the  first  page  across 
seven  columns  in  the  very  same  Issue 


A  day  never  passes  that  the  Serv- 
ians do  not  annihilate  another  Aus- 
trian army! — From  the  "Public  Led- 
ger "   Philadelphia,   August   9,   1914. 


•We  have  heard  the  "All-lies"  repeat 
so  frequently  that  the  Germans  are  bar- 
barians that  we  presume  it  must  be  so. 
However,  that  they  are  not  even  WHITE 
barbarians,  we  did  not  suspect  until  we 
read  the  above. 


in  which  "Between  the  Firing  Lines" 
appeared: 

"REPORT  BIG  GERMAN  ROUT." 
Really  thoughtful  of  "The  Trib- 
une's" writer  of  headlines  to  try  to 
please  sympathizers  of  the  "All-lies" 
for  at  least  a  fleeting  moment. 

We  say,  for  a  fleeting  moment,  be- 
cause as  soon  as  one  had  read  the 
cablegram  reporting  this  "Big  Ger- 
man Rout,"  he  immediately  realized 
that  it  was  another  of  the  now  fa- 
mous products  emanating  from  the 
London-Paris  Company,  Unlimited. 
The  bulletin  in  question  said: 

"LONDON,  Sept.  30,  1  a.  m. — A 
Paris  dispatch  to  the  Exchange  Tele- 
graph company  says: 

'It  is  stated  here  that  the  German 
right  has  been  entirely  broken  and  is 
now  being  pursued  by  the  allies. 

'All  the  automobiles  in  northern 
France  have  been  requisitioned  for 
the  purpose  of  pursuit.  Armored 
motor  cars  with  mitrailleuses  are 
also  being  used  to  pursue  the  re- 
treating enemy. 

'The  official  communication  issued 
at  3  o'clock  demonstrates  unmistak- 
ably that  the  Germans  have  been 
surrounded  in  the  Somme  depart- 
ment, the  French  front  extending 
further  east. 

'It  is  officially  stated  that  Peronne 
has  been  recaptured.' 

"This  message  has  been  referred 
to  the  British  official  press  bureau, 
which,  while  not  objecting  to  its 
publication,  takes  no  responsibility 
for  its  correctness." 

So  the  hopes  of  the  "White  Man" 
were  drowned  when  he  read  that  the 
British  official  press  bureau,  while 
not  objecting  to  the  publication  of 
this  bulletin,  took  no  responsibility 
for  its  correctness. 

Whv  should  the  BRITISH  OFFI- 
CIAL PRESS  BUREAU  object? 

It  is  saved  the  trouble  of  having 
to  manufacture  lies  itself  when  it  re- 
ceives them  ready  made  from  its 
partner  in  Paris? 

Incidentally  such  dispatches  lend 
inspiration  to  the  hard  pressed  writ- 
ers of  glaring  head  lines  for  the  first 
pages  of  "War  Extras." 

We  had  lived  under  the  illusion 
that  only  yellow  newspapers  use 
head  lines  alluding  to  alleged  hap- 
penings as  poorly  substantiated  as 
in  this  Instance,  the  "Big  German 
Rout."  However,  we  are  never  too 
old   to  learn. 

On  October  23,  when  "The  Trib- 
une" desired  to  published  Mr.  James 
O'Donnell  Bennett's  new  dispatch 
wherein  he  states:  "I  am  in  a  posi- 
tion to  expose  of  few  more  of  tlie 
lies  which  have  given  an  unpre- 
cedented touch  of  horror  to  the  hos- 
tilities now  convulsing  Europe,"  it 
did  not  want  to  offend  the  "White 
Man"  again,  and  therefore  printed 
Mr.  Bennett's  new  disclosures  with 
a  small  type  head  line  on  the  third 
page,  thus  trying  to  appease  the 
"White  Man's"  wrath  if  he  ever  read 
Mr.  Bennett's  dispatch  at  all.  May 
be  the  "White  Man"  would  not 
bother  to  read  it  after  enjoying  the 
two-inch  head  line  across  seven 
columns  on  the  first  page  which  said: 
"CLAIMS  ALLIES  TAKE  70,000 
GERMANS." 


WITH  thp:  \vestp:rn"  cermax  armies 


249 


A  RATHER  DAN(;i:U(>I  s   l.ooKOI   1 
The  Fk-ture  shows  us  one  of  the  iii:ui.v   Methods  of  Sti  ite^\    eiiipliM  1   li\ 
most  advanceil   Scouts 
(By   Courtesy    ot   the    "Chicago    Abendpost") 


The  following  served  "The  Trib- 
une's" writer  of  head  lines  for  in- 
spiration in  this  instance: 

BuUetin. 

(By  Cable  to  The  Chicago  Tribune.) 

AMSTERDAM,  Oct.  22. — The  Am- 
sterdam Nieuws  Van  den  Dag  reports 
that  the  burgomaster  of  Wenduyne 
has  telegraphed  the  following: 

"The  victory  is  to  the  allies.  They 
have  taken  70,000  prisoners  between 
Chalons  and  Longwy  and  have  cap- 
tured 300  guns  and  thirty-one  flags." 

Of  course  this  was  only  a  new  prop 
to  the  failing  courage  of  John  Bull, 
and  his  sympathizers,  including  the 
fanatical  "White  Man." 

"The  Tribune"  might  even  follow 
Willie  Hearst's  example,  print  two 
separate  editions  of  its  valued  paper, 
one  in  English  favoring  the  Allies 
and  giving  all  rumors  of  pro-British 
victories,  the  other  in  German  with  a 
"Deutschland  fiber  Alles"  sentiment. 
(See  Herman  Ridder's  editorial, 
"The  Courage  of  Their  Convictions," 
which  we  reprint  for  our  readers.)  — 
Editor. 


GEHMAN    ATKOCITIES    ARE    FIC. 
TIOX. 


Liege  has  been  given  the  Cross  ot 
the  Legion  of  Honor;  the  taxpayers 
of  that  city  will  have  to  carry  that 
cross  for  a  long  time  to  come. — From 
"The  Fatherland,"  New  York. 


At  Lea-st  as  Far  as  Tribune  .Men  in 
Hel{L;iuni  (an  Find. 


The  I'hlraso  Tril)unf. 

Letters  iicnt  pom  the  icestern  war 
zone  1)1/  seliolarly  and  honorable  Amer- 
ieaii  iieirsjxiiier  reporters,  Mr.  James 
O'Donnell  Bennett  arid  Mr.  Herbert 
Core;/,  wlin  together  with  Mr.  Thomp- 
son, the  American  Consul  at  Aachen. 
Germain/,  and  Mr.  Patterson,  issued 
thai  r(  iiiarh-alile  ••Round  liohin  Report." 
irhieh  is  included  nitli  these  letters: — 
Editor,  ••War  Echoes," 

The  Tribune  last  evening  received  a 
six  thousand  word  dispatch  from  its 
staff  corrcsiMindent,  James  O'Donnell 
Bennett,  who  went  from  London  into 
Belgium  soon  after  the  European  war 
started.  The  disi)atch  is  dated  at  Alx- 
la-ChMpfllt".  (;erniaiiy,  and,  as  Mr. 
Bennett  explain.s,  was  sent  by  mall 
from  there  to  the  Western  I'nion  Tele- 
graph Company  In  New  York,  whence 
it  was   wlreil  to  "The  Tribune"  office. 

Mr.  Bennett  at  the  time  of  sending 
the  dispatch  (Septenil)er  2)  was  with 
John  T.  McC^utcheon.  nl.'io  of  "The 
Tribune"  staff,  and  Mr.  Bennett 
makes  It  clear  that  its  statements  have 
Mr.  McCutcheon's  full  approval.  They 
had  been  together  for  days  before  the 


dispatch     was    sent,    and    presumably 
are  still  together. 

The  dispatch  deals  with  the  charges 
of  cruelties  and  atrocities  lodged 
against  the  Germans  in  Belgium,  and  in 
specitie  detail  disputes  and  denies  those 
charges.  It  is  an  elal)oration  of  the 
•'round  robin"  signed  on  the  same  day 
by  Mr.  Bennett,  Mr.  MoCutcheon.  Irviu 
S.  Cobb  of  the  Saturday  Evening  Post, 
Harry  Hansen  of  the  Chicago  Daily 
News,  and  Roger  Lewis  of  the  Asso- 
ciated Press.  That  "round  robin"  was 
sent  from  Aix-la-Chapelle  to  Berlin  and 
forwarded  by  wireless  to  the  Associated 
Press  at  New  York  on  September  6. 

AVith  Mr.  Bennett's  dispatch,  pub- 
lished in  full  herewith,  there  came  to 
the  editor  of  "The  Tribune"  this  note: 

"John  McCutcheon  and  I  regard  the 
acciimpanying  dispatch  hy  me  as  highly 
important  both  as  news  and  truth.  We 
wish  you  would  give  it  your  best  atten- 
tion. "We  would  cable  the  substance  of 
it  extensively  if  «'e  thought  there  were 
any  hopes  of  its  getting  by  the  London 
censor.  We  do  not  think  so.  and  there- 
fore we  decide  on  the  mails  to  New 
York  and  thence  to  you  by  wire." 

That  Mr.  Bennett's  fears  of  British 
censorshii)  were  well  founded  Is  made 
clear  by  the  fact  that  the  copy  of  the 
"round  robin"  sent  by  Mr.  McC^utcheon 
and  himself  direct  to  "The  Tribune" 
has  never  been  received  in  this  office. 
The  copy  "wirelessed"  to  the  Associated 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


Press  from  Berlin  is  the  only  one  that 
got  through. 

The  question  of  the  truth  or  falsity 
of  Belgian  and  English  charges  that 
atrocities  against  women  and  children 
and  other  non-combatants  have  been 
committed  by  German  troops  has  vi- 
tally and  profoundly  stirred  the  Ameri- 
can people,  and  "The  Tribune"  is  glad 
to  present  the  accompanying  dispatch 
as  throwing  a  flood  of  light  on  the 
matter. 

(To  give  the  mdest  possible  pub- 
licity^ to  this  dispatch.  The  Tribune 
prints  on  page  5  a  German  transla- 
tion' of  the  major  portion  of  it.  The 
translation  was  done  through  the 
courtesy  of  the  Illinois  Staats-Zei- 
tung.) 

By  James  O'Donnell  Bennett. 

(War  Correspondent  of  Tlie  Tribune.) 

Hotel  Kaiserhof,  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
Germany,  Sept.  2. — The  solemn  truth. 
I  never  sat  down  to  write  with 
greater  conviction  than  I  purpose 
writing  now.  I  never  sat  down  to 
write  with  a  more  sincere  belief  that 
I  could  say  something  tliat  ought  to 
be  Itnown.  Today  I  had  my  share 
in  the  composition  of  a  round  robin 
on  the  so-called  "German  atrocities." 

That  round  robin  has  been,  the 
signers  of  it  hope,  started  on  its  way 
to  you  by  Marconi  wiresless  via  the 
African  coast  and  so  over  the  seas  of 
the  far  east  into  America.  There  is 
no  other  way  by  which  we  can  be 
sure  our  communication  will  reach 
you. 

"Fair   Play"    a   Myth? 

Germany's  direct  cable  communi- 
cation with  the  United  States  is  cut. 
We  also  cabled  our  round  robin  to 
you  out  of  Holland  via  London,  but 
whether  the  English  censors  will  let 
that  communication  pass  we  gravely 
doubt. 

If  such  a  thing  as  the  vaunted 
"English  sense  of  fair  play"  still  sur- 
vives in  panic-stricken  London  the 
censor  will  allow  our  dispatch  to  go 
through." 

The  Marconi  via  Africa  is  like- 
wise uncertain,  but  for  different  rea- 
sons. In  trusting  ourselves  to  the 
Marconi  we  are  contending  with  the 
baffling  ebb  and  flow  of  mysterious 
currents  in  the  ether:  in  trusting 
ourselves  to  the  English  military  cen- 
sorship we  are  at  the  mercy  of  rad- 
ical hatreds  that  seem  at  times  to 
mount  to  dementia. 


^In  accordance  with  "The  Trihune's" 
policy  of  giving-  this  article  all  possible 
publicity,  we  are  only  too  glad  to  re- 
print it  here,  where  it  will  reach  addi- 
tional thousands. — The  Publisher  of 
"War   Echoes." 

^This  kindness  on  the  part  of  the 
seemingly  impartial  "Tribune"  brought 
down  upon  its  head  the  wratli  of  one  of 
its  readers,  a  fanatical  sympathizer  of 
the  Allies.  It  elicited  from  "The  Trib- 
une" the  editorial.  "Between  the  Firing 
Lines."    on    another   page. — Editor. 

'"Mr.  Bennett  evidently  knows  by 
this  time  that  the  "vaunted  English 
sense  of  fair  play"  was  a  myth.  The 
London  censor  did  not  allow  a  syllable 
of  the  report  to  get  through  wherein 
Mr.  Bennett  and  his  four  companions 
stamped  the  "barbarities  alleged  to 
have  been  perpetrated  by  German 
troops  on  an  inoffensive  Belgian  coun- 
tr\-side    Hs    shorkine    falsehoods." 


Can   Trust    the   Mails. 

But  the  mails  out  of  Holland  to 
America  we  believe  we  can  trust  and 
we  have  some  solemn  truth  to  tell 
in  detail  now. 

The  round  robin  was  a  bare  state- 
ment in  which  we  expressed  our  ear- 
nest belief — a  belief  based  on  days 
of  personal  observations  in  the  thea- 
ter of  war — that  the  reports  of  bar- 
barities alleged  to  have  been  perpe- 
trated by  German  troops  on  an  in- 
offensive Belgian  countryside  are 
shocking    falsehoods. 

We  believe  this  as  firmly  as  we  be- 
lieve that  we  are  now  safe  in  the  an- 
cient city  of  Ai.x-la-Chapelle  after 
more  than  a  week  of  wandering  over 
that  very  countryside,  sometimes  in 
the  rear  of  and  sometimes  alongside 
German  columns. 

Right  in  Midst   of  AVar. 

We  have  traveled  on  foot,  on  bi- 
cycles, by  horse  and  cart,  and  by  train 
more  than  100  miles.  We  have 
passed  through  twenty  towns  and  vil- 
lages. We  have  moved  from  Brus- 
sels on  the  north  to  Beaumont  on  the 
south,  and  to  Aix-la-Chapelle  on  the 
east. 

We  have  been  within  100  feet  of 
the  Belgian-French  border  on  the 
south  and  we  have  crossed  the  Bel- 
gian-German border  o:i  the  east.  We 
have  shared  the  food  and  wine  and 
the  straw  beds  of  German  soldiery. 
We  have  sung  songs  with  them  in  the 
posts  of  the  rear  guard  at  night,  and 
we  have  talked  with  scores  of  Belgian 
peasant  men  and  women  across 
whose  fields  and  through  whose  vil- 
lages the  German  host  has  passed. 
Of  German  soldiers  we  must  have 
seen  at  least  500,000  with  our  own 
eyes. 

The  reliability  of  the  now  famous 
London  War  Lies  News  Factory  was 
further  enlianced  by  the  opening  par- 
agrapli  of  Mr.  Joseph  Medill  Patter- 
son's letter  sent  from  The  Hague  to 
"The  Chicago  Tribune,"  which  ap- 
peared in  the  latter's  issue  of  Sep- 
tember 26  and  which  reads  as  fol- 
lows: 

"I  have  just  returned  from  Ger- 
many, and  anything  I  may  write  can- 
not be  in  the  least  influenced  by  the 
fear  of  the  German  censorship.  The 
British  censorship,  however,  is  to  be 
feared.  All  the  American  correspon- 
dents in  Berlin  report  that  not  only 
liave  vital  facts  of  their  dispatclies 
been  cut  out  by  British  censors,  but 
other  wholly  untrue  dispatches  have 
been  added." 

Yes,  "The  truth  must  out,"  as 
the  sanctimonious  "London  Times" 
naively   remarked    the    other    day. — 

Although  quite  contrary  opinions 
are  held  by  the  "Chicago  Herald's" 
editorial  writer.  Read  "The  Right  to 
Defend  Your  Home,"  editorial  re- 
printed on  another  page  of  this  book. 

Saw  No  Atrocities. 

And  amid  all  we  have  heard  and 
all  that  we  have  seen  in  ten  tumul- 
tuous, wearing  days  we  have  neither 
heard  of  a  single  "atrocity"  that  our 
investigations  verified  nor  seen  a  sin- 
gle atrocity  perpetrated. 

The  rigors  and  the  shocking  waste 
of  war  we  have  seen. 


We  have  seen  burning  villages  and 
women  weeping  over  their  desolated 
homes. 

We  have  seen  miles  of  highway 
strewn  with  the  caps,  coats,  bloody 
shoes,  bloody  bandages,  smashed 
rifles,  empty  knapsacks,  band  instru- 
ments, field  glasses,  and  wine  bottles 
of  the  retreating  French. 

We  have  seen  new  made  English 
graves  in  the  lonely  fields  over  which 
the  evening  mist  hung  like  a  pale 
shroud. 

We  have  beheld  the  wreck  and  the 
gTlnie  and  the  squalor  of  war's  pass- 
ing, but  -.ve  have  been  spared  the 
sight  of  outraged  women  and  tor- 
tured children. 

Believe   Germans    Misjudged. 

Why  is  this? 

We  firmly  believe  that  it  is  be- 
<ause  no  such  atrocities  have  been 
committed  by  the  German  soldiery. 

And  yet,  safe  in  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
safe  though  still  under  the  surveil- 
lance of  German  military  authorities 
— who,  like  all  Europe,  are  "spy 
mad" — sate  and  well  and  bathed  and 
shaven  at  last,  we  open  bundles  of 
London  newspapers  in  the  quiet  of- 
fices of  the  American  consul,  Thomp- 
son, and  we  read  column  after  col- 
umn of  the  most  harrowing  and 
dreadful  accounts  of  most  infajnous 
barbarities  inflicted  upon  the  Bel- 
gian peasantry  by  German  troops. 

We  are  aghast  as  we  read.  We 
turn  to  the  consul  and  say,  "What 
does  this  mean?  How  is  it  that  we 
have   seen    nothing   of   this?" 

He  looks  gravely  back  at  us  and 
says: 

"I  have  been  reading  those  things 
for    days   before    you    came." 

The  American  consul  has  lived 
seven  years  in  Germany  and  he  has 
carried  on  special  studies  concerning 
the  volume,  the  nature,  and  the  effect 
of  German  immigration  into  America 
from  the  beginnings  of  that  immigra- 
tion in  colonial  times  to  the  present 
day. 

The  defining  of  the  contributions 
of  German  blood  and  German  culture 
to  the  life  of  the  republic  is  a  field 
of  investigation  in  which  he  has  made 
himself  an   authority. 

Germans  to  Be   Trusted. 

Few  Americans  know  the  German 
people  half  so  well  as  he  does. 

He  likes  them  and  trusts  them. 

His  observation  of  the  present  war 
has  not  extended  into  the  field,  but 
he  is  no  less  baffled  by  the  frantic 
reports  from  London  than  are  we 
whose  scouting  has  taken  us  to 
scenes   of   actual   operations. 

He  is,  and  from  the  nature  of  his 
position  must  be,  officially  noncom- 
mittal. To  us  he  only  nods  his  head 
and  says,  "I  can't  understand  it." 

As  for  the  Germans,  both  military 
and  civilian,  with  whom  we  have 
talked  in  Aix-la-Chapelle,  they  are 
distressed  and  shamed  by  the  reports 
that  are  pouring  into  America  via 
London. 

So  were  the  officers  with  whom  we 
talked  when  we  were  following  the 
columns.  But  they  hid  their  dis- 
tress under  sneers  at  once  stoical  and 
bitter. 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


251 


(From  the  National  Geographic  Magazine) 

TIIK  WESTERN  WAH   ZONE 


2S2 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


One  of  them  said:  "We  must  bear 
it.  In  two  months  the  world  will 
know  the  truth.     We  can  wait." 

Five  Men  Want  Justice. 

It  was  in  the  name  not  alone  of 
justice  but  of  common  decency  that 
the  five  of  us  signed  that  "round 
robin"   this  afternoon. 

We  five  are  trained  newspaper 
men,  accustomed  to  observing,  to  de- 
ducting from  our  observations,  and 
to  putting  our  deductions  into  rea- 
sonably   lucid    language. 

We  are  John  T.  McCutcheon  and 
James  O'Donnell  Bennett  of  The  Chi- 
cago Tribune,  Irwin  S.  Cobb  of  the 
Saturday  Evening  Post,  Roger  Lewis 
of  the  Associated  Press,  and  Harry 
Hansen   of  the   Chicago   Daily  News. 

We  have  hardly  been  out  of  each 
other's  sight  for  ten  days,  and  not 
for  a  half  a  day  have  we  been  out  of 
sight  of  German  troops. 

Kiss,  Slap,  Then  a  Smile. 

The  most  terrific  outrage  any  of  us 
has  seen  was  seen  by  Cobb.  With 
his  own  appreciative  eyes  he  saw  a 
laughing  German  soldier  who  was 
crossing  a  street  in  Louvain  lean  for- 
ward and  imprint  a  kiss  on  the  cheek 
of  a  Belgian  girl  who  was  bantering 
him. 

The  girl  promptly  slapped  his  face. 
The  soldier  laughed  the  louder.  The 
girl  began  to  laugh,  too.  The  inci- 
dent was  closed. 

Cobb  said  it  was  as  quaint  and 
merry  a  scene  in  homely  life  as  ever 
he  saw.     That  was  week  before  last. 

Blames  IJonvain  Citizens. 

A  few  days  later  Louvain  lost  its 
head.  It  went  mad.  Its  civilians 
fired  from  ambuscade  upon  German 
soldiers. 

The  deed  was  the  supreme  outrage 
against  laws  of  civilized  warfare. 

The  punishment  was  terrible  and 
it  has  put  the  fear  of  the  Prussian 
god  into  every  Belgian  city  and  ham- 
let from  Antwerp  to  Beaumont,  from 
Ostend  to  LiJge. 

Today  the  ancient  and  renowned 
university  city  of  northern  Europe 
lies  in  ashes. 

The  halls  in  which  so  many  Amer- 
ican priests  of  the  Roman  church  are 
proud  to  tell  you  they  have  studied 
are  level  with  the  ground.  It  was 
awful,  but  it  was  war. 

Vnable  to  Verify  Crimes. 

Always  on  our  march  the  facts  rel- 
ative to  the  German  atrocities  evaded 
us.  Always  it  was  in  "the  next  vil- 
lage" that  a  woman  had  been  out- 
raged, a  child  butchered,  or  an  in- 
nocent old  man  tortured.  Arriving 
at  that  "next  village,"  we  could  get 
no  confirmation  from  the  inhabitants. 

"No,"  they  would  say,  "it  did  not 
happen  here;  but  we  heard  that  it 
was  in  the  next  village,   messieurs." 

But  the  next  village  would  de- 
velop naught  authentically  —  only 
wild  stories,  rumors,  hearsay.  At 
Soire-sur-Sambre,  all  around  which 
there  had  been  fighting  on  Sunday 
and  Monday,  the  23d  and  the  24th 
of  August,  the  burgomaster  said  to 
us  in  the  late  afternoon  of  W'ednes- 
day,  the  26th,  "as  reports  come  in 
from  surrounding  towns  I  am  unable 


to  verify  these  rumors  of  cruelties, 
perpetrated  against  unarmed  civilians 
and  I  give  no  credence  to  them." 

Houses  Fired  by  Shells. 

Let  no  man  suppose,  however,  that 
there  has  not  been  bitter  business. 
The  burning  cottages  of  the  peasants 
prove  that. 

But  almost  every  time  we  asked 
the  causes  of  that  destruction  we 
learned  that  the  houses  had  been 
fired  by  the  explosion  of  shells  hurled 
into  them  by  Germans  to  clear  them 
of  soldiers  of  the  allies  or  by  the 
allies  to  clear  them  of  Germans. 

Less  frequently — far  less  frequent- 
ly— the  story  was  that  from  the  win- 
dows of  the  attic  in  yonder  unroofed 
and  smoking  ruin  a  party  of  brave 
but  misguided  civilians  of  the  coun- 
tryside had  fired  upon  the  German 
advance  guard. 

Reprisals  were  then  Instant  and  se- 
vere. We  have  been  unable  to  learn, 
however,  that  in  this  meting  out  of 
punishment  any  woman  or  child  was 
harmed. 

Schooled  by  Editorials. 

I  think  there  is  not  a  man  in  our 
party  who  did  not  come  to  the  conti- 
nent from  London  in  a  pro-English 
state  of  mind,  if  not  in  an  anti-Ger- 
man state  of  mind. 

For  days  before  our  departure  we, 
too,  had  been  fed  on  London  news- 
papers. 

"  We  had  read  the  famous  "mad 
dog"  editorials  day  by  day  and  the 
tales  of  atrocities  alleged  to  have 
been  committed  around  Lifge. 

We  believed  that  so  far  as  Ger- 
many was  concerned  this  was  em- 
phatically the  Emperor's  war  and  not 
the  empire's  war. 

An  American  magazine  writer 
named  Arno  Dosch,  who  is  of  Ger- 
man extraction,  also  shared  our 
views. 

Find  Gennans  Human. 

Slowly,  not  impetuously  nor  senti- 
mentally, we  found  those  views  mod- 
erating. For  four  days  we  observed 
the  temperance,  good  nature,  tact, 
and  strict  discipline  of  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  German  soldiers  who 
were  passing  through  Brussels. 

Many  detachments  of  them  were 
halted  there  for  many  hours.  Hun- 
dreds of  soldiers  moved  freely  about 
the  streets. 

In  tour  days  we  did  not  hear  a 
cross  word  exchanged  between  the  in- 
habitants and  soldiers  nor  did  we  see 
one  boisterous  or  insulting  act. 

The  fact  is  that  within  four  hours 
after  the  first  detachment  of  German 
troops  had  come  swinging  down  the 
steep  Boulevard  Du  Jardin  Botanique 
the  Brussellians  were  not  precisely 
fraternizing  with  the  Germans  but 
were  quietly  and  comfortably  chat- 
ting with  them  in  the  streets. 

Invaders  Prove  Quiet. 

That  began  about  7  o'clock  on 
Wednesday  evening.  Aug.  19.  and  we 
who  left  Brussels  the  following  Sun- 
day had  for  more  than  three  days 
seen  the  spirit  of  quiet,  unaffected, 
unforced  good  feeling  steadily  deep- 
ening. One  does  not  imagine  these 
things. 


The  German  soldier  who  was  doz- 
ing with  his  detail  of  guards  on  the 
sidewalk  in  front  of  the  Gard  du 
Nord  and  who  good  naturedly  drew 
in  his  long  Saxon  legs  in  order  to  let 
a  Brussels  pedestrian  pass  comfort- 
ably was  no  figment  of  imagination, 
nor  was  his  wide,  sleepy  smile 
founded  on  anything  but  fact. 

The  three  young  German  officers 
who  reined  up  in  front  of  the  Pal- 
ace hotel  in  the  Place  Rogier,  who 
bowed  suavely  to  the  porter  and 
who  called  out  to  him,  "Will  you 
permit  us  to  quarter  ourselves  here 
for  the  night,"  were  too  substantial 
to  be  fairy  figures. 

We  saw  scores  upon  scores  of  such 
incidents. 

Tolerated  by  Germans. 

Working  slowly  up  to  the  German 
line  of  advance  on  Sunday,  Monday, 
Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  of  last  week 
we  entered  a  different  and  more  dra- 
matic field  of  observation. 

We  were  there  by  suffrance  merely 
and  we  knew  it.  No  German  corre- 
spondents were  with  these  German 
columns,  and  no  correspondents  of 
any  nationality  were  wanted. 

But  everywhere,  though  our  pass- 
ports were  closely  scrutinized  and  we 
were  sharply  interrogated,  we  met 
with  kindness  and  received  assist- 
ance. 

I  think  the  grim  German  oflicers 
felt  that  the  five  weary  men — all  ten- 
derfoots— who  had  marched  twenty 
miles  through  a  hostile  countryside 
under  a  hot  August  sun  were  un- 
doubtedly crazy,  but  were  a  pretty 
good  sporting  proposition. 

Make  It  Hard   for  Scribes. 

Often  and  often  we  caught  them 
grinning  as  they  looked  at  our  be- 
draggled, sweating  ranks. 

Slowly  they  would  unbend.  We 
would  be  taken  from  one  lieutenant 
to  another  for  examination  as  to  our 
status. 

In  an  hour  we  would  find  ourselves 
seated  at  tables  in  a  Belgian  inn  par- 
lor with  two  or  three  young  German 
officers  as  our  hosts.  Many  of  these 
were  university  men  who  spoke 
charming  English. 

The  beer  and  the  good  talk  would 
go  round  for  an  hour,  then  we  would 
separate,  the  officers  leaping  into 
their  saddles  and  we  resuming  our 
weary  but  fascinating  march. 

Gi-eeted  by   Boy  Officers. 

Two  or  three  hours  later  we  might 
meet  one  of  those  officers  on  his  way 
back  to  the  rear  of  the  miles  upon 
miles  of  wagon  trains  he  was  helping 
to  guard.  He  would  recognize  us 
with  the  enigmatical  grin  that  we  had 
become  accustomed  to,  though  we 
could  not  always  fathom  it,  and  he 
would  fling  us  a  cheery  hail,  asking  us 
if  there  was  anything  he  could  do  for 
us. 

Several  officers  said  they  wished 
they  could  permit  us  to  ride  in  the 
army  wagons,  but  that,  he  would  add, 
was  strictly  "verboten." 

Indeed,  everything  that  is  the  least 
casual,  exceptional,  or  irregular 
seems  to  be  strictly  "verboten"  when 
this  superb  machine,  the  German 
army,  is  operating  in  the  field. 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


NOTHING  NEGLECTED 
A  Gernjiiu  Bicycle  .Scout,  making  an  Entry  in  his  Diary,  showing  some  more  of  the  systematic  and  tliorounhgoinj;  German. 
It  is  one  of  the  characteristic  Features  of  the  German  Sohlier   in    the   Field,    that    he   generally    Ueeps   a    Kecord   of   his 

Experiences 
(Photograph  by  the  International  News  Service) 


Henimed  in  German  Crush. 

Things  like  this  happened: 

After  our  first  half  day's  march 
from  Nivelle,  whither  we  had  come 
from  Brussels  hy  carriage,  we  reached 
the  little  town  of  Fait-les-Cenifte. 

The  village  street  was  packed  with 
army  wagons.  The  whole  train  had 
been  halted   for  food  and  rest. 

We  were  in  the  thick  of  a  crush 
and  clamor  that  still  was  not  con- 
fusion, and  we  were  very  weary. 

After  we  had  been  passed  from  un- 
der lieutenants  on  up  to  the  general, 
who  passed  favorably  on  our  creden- 
tials, we  met  up  with  friendly  offi- 
cers at  the  inn. 

We  drank  with  them  and  they  with 
us.  With  apologies  to  them  for  seem- 
ing uncouth — for  they  are  very  punc- 
tilious and  ceremonious  in  details  of 
conduct — we  said  we  were  very  hun- 
gry and  would  eat  the  sandwiches  we 
had  brought  in  our  packs. 

Lunch  with  Officers. 

At  this  one  of  them  said:  "You 
will,  perhaps,  honor  us  by  having 
luncheon  with  us.  I  am  in  charge  of 
the  officers'  mess  today,  and  we 
should  like  to  have  you  try  some  of 


our  famous  German  army  soups  that 
were  put  up  in  1911  and  that  will 
keep  sound  and  good  until  1931,  un- 
less they  all  are  eaten  in  those  twen- 
ty years." 

With  a  salute,  he  vanished,  bid- 
ding us  meet  him  at  our  pleasure  in 
the  house  across  the  way,  where 
luncheon  would  be  served. 

That  house  was  the  principal  one 
of  the  town,  and  in  it  German  offi- 
cers were  (luartered. 

The  parlor  floor  had  been  cleared 
and  was  strewn  with  mattresses.  On 
one  of  them  an  officer  lay  asleep. 
When  we  were  ushered  into  the  room 
he  opened  his  eyes,  rose,  and  bowed, 
uttering  some  commonplace  of  greet- 
ing in  German. 

Scribes  Go  to  Sleep. 

That  left  five  unoccupied  mattress- 
es on  the  floor.  I  gazed  longingly  at 
one.     The  room  was  cool  and  dark. 

I  could  conceal  my  weariness  no 
longer  and  asked  an  officer  if  1  might 
lie  down.  "Certainly,"  he  said,  and 
offered  to  help  me  smooth  out  the 
bedding  on  the  mattress  nearest  the 
folding  doors  of  the  room.  I  fell  on 
what  seemed  to  me  the  best  bed  I 
had  ever  occupied  and  in  fifteen  sec- 


onds was  asleep.  My  companions  fol- 
lowed suit.  We  were  overtired  and 
slept  by  fits  and  starts,  with  nervous 
jerks. 

In  perhaps  twenty  minutes  I  op- 
ened my  eyes,  and  what  1  saw  in  the 
dim  light  was  a  middle-aged  German 
officer  tiptoeing  across  the  room  to 
shut  one  of  the  folding  doors  that  had 
swung  half  way  open. 

The  passageway  or  hall  that  ran 
through  the  house  was  paved  with 
stone  and  constantly  there  was  a  clat- 
ter of  the  heavy  boots  of  sergeants 
going  to  and  fro.  The  noise  pene- 
trated to  the  dark,  cool  parlor  where 
the  five  American  correspondents 
were  dozing. 

Very  softly  the  German  officer  shut 
the  half  opened  flap  of  the  folding 
door  and  then  with  equal  solicitude 
turned  its  heavy  handle  so  that  we 
were  quite  shut  away  from  the  clat- 
ter in  the  paved  hall. 

Then  he  tiptoed  back  to  his  chair 
and  resumed  his  intent  manipulation 
of  some  bit  of  accoutrement  that  hung 
at  his  side.  My  own  mother  could 
not  have  more  gently  or  tenderly 
maneuvered  the  act  of  closing  the 
door  for  the  comfort  of  the  sleep- 
ing men. 


254 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


Summoned  to  Luncheon. 

In  a  few  minutes  we  were  sum- 
moned to  luncheon.  The  long  table 
was  crowded.  The  soup,  which  con- 
tained savory  bits  of  sausage,  gave 
off  a  delicious  odor. 

Three  hungry  officers,  who  were 
eager  to  get  to  their  horses  and  go  to 
the  van  of  the  wagon  trains,  stood 
for  twenty  minutes  in  the  dining 
room  and  hall  while  five  American 
newspaper  men,  utterly  unknown  to 
them,  ate  and  drank. 

When  wine  was  served  our  glasses 
were  filled  first,  our  healths  were 
drunk  with  courteous  formality  and 
wishes  for  our  success  ran  around 
the  table. 

Cigars   Pay  for  Food. 

We  could  only  repay  our  hosts  with 
cigars  we  had  brought  from  Brussels 
and  these  they  were  loth  to  take, 
saying  that  it  was  not  fair  to  dip  into 
our  little  store.  McCutcheon  had 
fairly   to  force  them  on   the  officers. 

I  shall  never  forget  either  the  food 
or  the  etiquette  of  the  luncheon  in 
Falt-les-Ceneppe.  It  was  a  lesson  in 
general  things. 

And  these  are  the  men  we  are 
asked  to  believe  torture  people  of 
an  inoffensive  countryside. 

I  could  relate  twenty  such  inci- 
dents out  of  our  personal  experi- 
ences during  the  days  of  our  wan- 
derings, but  details  which  would  be 
largely  repetition  would  grow  tedi- 
ous. 

Acknowledge  Hospitality. 

On  many  doorways  as  we  passed 
along  we  saw  chalked  in  German 
script  the  words,  "good  people"  or 
"very  good  people" — words  written 
there  by  advance  guards  who  had 
gone  ahead  of  the  main  body  to  se- 
lect quarters  for  ofBcers,  men,  and 
horses. 

The  number  of  officers  and  men 
each  house  would  hold  and  the  num- 
ber of  horses  that  could  be  stabled  in 
each  barn  also  was  chalked  on  the 
doors  of  these  Belgian  farm  houses, 
villas,  and  cottages. 

"Good  people"  meant  that  the  ad- 
vance guard  had  been  received  with 
civility.  "Very  good  people"  meant 
that  they  had  met  with  helpfulness  in 
making  their  arrangements. 

On  one  house  which  stared  blankly 
out  on  a  village  street  from  broken 
windows  there  was  written  in  Ger- 
man  script  these  words: 

"This  house  has  been  unjustly  at- 
tacked; go  easy  now." 

Belgian  Women  Aid. 

In  the  region  around  Pait-les-Ce- 
neppe  the  invaders  seemed  to  have 
been  quietly  received  by  the  non- 
combatants,  the  inhabitants  evidently 
understanding  the  status  fixed  for 
them  by  the  laws  of  war.  As  a  re- 
sult we  did  not  see  a  broken  window 
nor  a  smouldering  roof  for  a  distance 
of  perhaps  ten  miles. 

As  the  afternoon  wore  on  the  Ger- 
man soldiers,  parched  with  dust  and 
heat  were  met  at  the  country  cross- 
ways  and  village  street  corners  by 
Belgian  women,  who  gave  them  cups 
of  water  from  buckets  that  would 
be  many  times  refilled  before  the 
column  had  passed. 


Sometimes  I  saw  this  merciful  act 
accompanied  by  cheerful  smiles  from 
the  women  and  grateful  nods  from 
the  men,  who  would  utter  hoarse 
words  of  thanks. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  all 
this  time  we  were  drawing  closer  and 
closer  to  the  French  border  and  that 
naturally  throughout  this  region  the 
pro-French  feeling  of  the  Belgians 
would  be  more  intense. 

Saw  Little  Drunkenness. 

In  Beaumont  the  vast  cellars  of 
that  Prince  de  Caraman  Chimay  who 
married  Clara  Ward  of  Detroit  were 
liberally  but  not  indecently  drawn 
upon  by  the  Germans,  but  during  the 
two  long  days  we  were  prisoners 
there  we  saw  only  two  German  sol- 
diers whom  you  would  describe  as 
really  under  the  influence  of  wine. 

Both  were  privates.  One  was  bois- 
terous and  friendly  and  a  little  wear- 
ing, as  men  in  that  state  are  apt  to 
be.  The  other,  who  came  into  the 
inn  room  that  served  as  our  prison 
on  the  second  night  of  our  detention, 
was  surly  and  suspicious  and  kept 
muttering  that  we  were  spies.  He 
sobered  with  amazing  rapidity  when 
an  officer  entered  the  room,  and  his 
departure  was  as  swift  and  quiet  as  it 
was  comical. 

Writers   Under  Guard. 

As  we  lay  down  to  sleep  that  night 
young  Lieut.  Rosenthal  came  in  to 
give  final  instructions  to  our  two 
guards.  He  directed  one  of  his  men 
to  take  down  a  big  cardboard  placard 
which  hung  on  the  wall  and  so  to 
place  it  against  the  oil  lamp  which 
stood  on  the  inn  bar  that  the  glare 
from  the  lamp  would  be  shut  off  from 
the  corner  of  the  room  in  which  the 
five  of  us  lay  on  mattresses. 

It  was  Rosenthal,  too,  who  had  or- 
dered his  men  to  bring  to  tlie  inn  the 
mattresses  on  which  we  lay.  The  sol- 
diers helped  us  to  adjust  them  in  the 
most  comfortable  and  convenient 
way. 

Gets   More   Comfort. 

The  night  before  we  had  slept  on 
a  little  straw  in  the  cold  schoolroom 
of  a  convent  which  had  been  turned 
into  barracks. 

Rosenthal  knew  that  and  was 
sorry,  lience  the  mattresses  on  the 
second  night.  He  regretted  he  could 
not  get  us  blankets. 

After  the  extemporized  lamp  shade 
had  been  adjusted  Rosenthal  sat  at  a 
table  with  the  two  sentries  and  spoke 
in  a  monotone  to  them.  I  lay  on  the 
pallet  nearest  them  and  could  hear 
all  that  was  said. 

Rosenthal  is  not  3  0,  but  hearing 
his  talk  you  would  have  thought  he 
was  8  0.  Indeed,  I  think  both  the 
sentries  to  whom  he  spoke  are  older 
than  he  is. 

"Now,  my  children,"  he  began, 
"you  can  have  all  you  want  to  drink 
tonight,  but  God  help  the  man  who 
gets  drunk.  He  will  get  seven  years 
in  prison  and  I  shall  have  no  hesita- 
tion in  reporting  him;  do  you  under- 
stand that,  children?" 

Guards  Obey  Lieutenant. 

The  men  said  they  did  under- 
stand and  tltat  what  the  Herr  lieu- 
tenant said  was  perfectly  right.  There 
was  some  more  talk  and  with  a  final 


"Good  night,  my  children,"  Rosen- 
thal disappeared  and  I  fell  off  to 
sleep. 

In  the  early  dawn  I  was  awakened 
by  somebody  standing  at  my  feet.  It 
was  Rosenthal,  quietly  arranging  his 
mattress  for  an  hour's  repose. 

The  greenish  light  of  a  rainy  dawn 
stole  in  at  the  one  window.  The 
lamp  was  burning  low.  The  two  sen- 
tries were  sitting  at  the  table,  their 
rifles  across  their  knees. 

Rosenthal  sighed  and  muttered  to 
himself  as  he  felt  for  his  pillow, 
which  was  a  bit  of  window  curtain 
rolled  up,  and  in  ten  seconds  was 
snoring  triumphantly. 

I  lay  thinking  of  Clara  Ward  of 
Detroit,  who  had  been  a  princess 
here,  and  one  of  whose  husband's 
empty  wine  bottles  stood  on  the  inn 
bar  in  the  low  companionship  of 
gaudily  labeled  bottles  of  cheap 
French  brandy. 

Since  the  divorce  from  Clara  Ward 
the  prince  has  taken  a  second  prin- 
cess. Today  he  is  burgomaster  of 
Beaumont. 

Surly  Soldier  Again. 

In  the  afternoon  the  soldier,  who 
was  surly  and  suspicious,  had  shown 
me  a  huge  commemorative  medal, 
evidently  of  gold  plate,  which  was 
engraved  with  the  words:  "In  mem- 
ory of  the  happy  entry  into  Beau- 
mont of  the  Princess  De  Caraman 
Chimay."  I  think  the  date  was  1911, 
so,  of  course,  the  bauble  must  have 
recorded  the  entry  of  the  second 
princess. 

The  soldier  was  solicitous  to  know 
whether  I  thought  the  medal  was  of 
solid  gold.  I  said  I  thought  not,  and 
thereupon  my  place  in  his  regard 
grew  visibly  less. 

Sword  Edge  Meant  Silence. 

He  did  not  tell  me  how  he  had 
come  by  the  medal,  but  in  departing 
he  invited  me  to  run  my  finger 
lightly  along  the  edge  of  his  sword 
that  I  might  feel  how  sharp  it  was. 
I  complied  with  alacrity,  and  ex- 
pressed admiration  in  sincere,  though 
broken,  German.  He  understood  and 
appeared  satisfied. 

The  man  was  the  only  rude  fel- 
low of  the  baser  sort  I  liave  encoun- 
tered in  the  German  host. 

To  go  back  to  Rosenthal,  I  should 
ndd  that  on  our  ride  on  one  day  and 
two  long  nights  by  train  from  Beau- 
mont to  Aix-la-Chapelle  he  frequent- 
ly brought  us  loaves  of  black  bread 
and  shared  liis  wine  with  us.  Food 
was  hard  to  get,  but  after  he  liad  ob- 
tained it  for  his  wounded  his  next 
thought  seemed  to  be  for  us. 

Treat  Frenchmen  Well. 

The  treatment  German  officers  ac- 
corded a  French  prisoner  of  rank 
who  was  brought  from  the  common 
guard  liouse  at  Beaumont  to  our 
more  select  quarters  was  exquisite  in 
its   punctiliousness. 

The  Frenchman  was  a  sad-eyed  lit- 
tle man  with  a  delicate  face  and  a 
manner  of  soft,  but  not  excessive, 
courtesy.  He  was  very  weary  and 
very  melancholy,  grieving,  the  Ger- 
man officers  said,  for  his  sister's  hus- 
band, who  had  fallen  in  battle  the 
day  before. 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


255 


We  were  forbidden  to  speak  to 
him,  formally  giving,  In  truth,  our 
word  of  honor  that  we  would  not 
do  so. 

Lieut.  Mittendorfer,  an  over  lieu- 
tenant, and  Rosenthal,  the  under 
lieutenant,  seemed  to  be  the  officers 
responsible  for  the  French  prisoner. 

Salute  Their  Prisoner. 

When  they  entered  the  room  they 
would  come  to  attention  with  a  click 
of  the  heels  and  salute  him,  begging 
him  instantly  to  resume  his  chair 
when  he  rose  to  return  their  salutes. 
When  they  talked  with  him  it  w-as  in 
tones  fraught  with  consideration  and 
reassurance.  They  spoke  his  lan- 
guage and  the  conversation,  though 
subdued,  was  fluent. 

When  evening  drew  on  they  came 
again  to  him  and  escorted  him  to 
dine  at  the  officers'  mess  in  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  a  noble  building  packed 
with  books,  paintings,  and  trophies 
of  the  chase  belonging  to  the  present 
burgomaster,  the  Prince  De  Caraman 
Chimay. 

Nothing  Against  Foe. 

Regarding  the  attitude  of  certain 
German  soldiers  toward  the  people  of 
the  Belgian  countryside  I  must  quote 
the  words  of  an  officer  whose  card  I 
have  lost,  hence  I  cannot  give  his 
name. 

His  experience  with  the  Belgian 
peasants  had  evidently  been  altogeth- 
er serene. 

These  were  his  words  to  me: 

"They  have  been  very,  very  kind. 
I  may  say  nothing  against  them." 

In  Belgian  villages  so  remote  and 
so  small  that  possibly  reports  of  high 
handed  actions  would  never  have 
reached  the  outer  world  1  have  time 
and  again  been  in  tiny  provision 
shops,  linen  drapers'  shops,  apothe- 
cary shops,  and  stationers'  shops 
when  German  soldiers  were  making 
their  purchases. 

Pay    for   What   They    Buy. 

They  talked  quietly  with  the  shop 
people,  handled  the  wares  with  con- 
sideration and  invariably  paid  for  all 
they  took. 

As  they  left  they  would  lift  or 
touch  their  caps  and  bid  the  mer- 
chant and  his  wife  behind  the  count- 
er good  day.  Payment  was  always 
scrupulously  made.  Generally  the 
German  mark  was  the  coin.  It  was 
of  course,  instantly  accepted. 

More  often  than  not  the  purchas- 
ers were  private  soldiers.  They  mani- 
fested the  dignity  of  bearing  though 
not  the  grace  of  their  officers. 

Play  After  Bayonet  Charge. 

Here  is  a  more  essential  example 
of  the  conduct  of  the  Germans.  On 
Wednesday  afternoon,  Aug.  2G,  we 
reached  La  Buissiere,  where  there 
had  been  a  sharp  engagement  the 
Monday  before  between  French  in- 
fantry and  artillery  posted  on  a  bluft 
seventy  feet  high  and  German  in- 
fantry and  artillery  in  the  fields  and 
town  below. 

Five  hundred  Germans  made  a 
bayonet  charge  up  the  heights  and 
cleared  out  the  French.  Houses, 
breweries,  and  shops  in  the  little 
town  suffered  badly  by  shot  and 
flame. 


The  Germans  made  a  successful 
occupation  and  within  twenty-four 
hours  after  the  last  shot  was  fired 
many  of  the  townspeople  were  back 
in  their  homes.  Forty-eight  hours 
after  the  last  shot  we  saw  Belgian 
children  playing  in  the  street. 

No  Panic  After  Battle. 

A  German  soldier  was  teaching  his 
good  natured  companion  how  to  ride 
the  bicycle.  Once  the  pupil  fell  off; 
he  laughed.  The  children  laughed, 
too.  "The  soldier  looked  around  at 
them,  waved  his  hand,  and  continued 
to  laugh. 

At  the  upper  end  of  the  main  street 
a  group  of  Belgian  women  was  wash- 
ing clothes:  another  group  was  knit- 
ting. Within  twenty  paces  of  them 
the  courtyard  of  a  livery  stable  was 
packed  with  French  prisoners,  guard- 
ed by  German  sentries. 

German  officers  and  soldiers  occu- 
pied houses  along  the  main  street. 
Devastation  everywhere  was  appar- 
ent, but  there  was  not  a  suggestion 
of  fear  or  panic  anywhere. 

Shows  German   Patience. 

Again — 

I  had  occasion  to  enter  the  hallway 
of  a  Belgian  villa  near  the  frontier  to 
meet  a  German  officer. 

The  front  door  of  the  house  admit- 
ted one  to  a  wide  hall  at  the  oppo- 
site end  of  which  was  another  door 
opening  on  the  gardens  of  the  villa. 
That  back  door  was  ajar. 

It  was  a  breezy  day,  and  when 
the  front  door  was  opened  a  strong 
draft  was  created  through  the  hall. 

Two  German  soldiers  were  on  their 
knees  in  the  hall  sorting  big  bundles 
of  regimental  mail  which  had  just 
come  in  from  Germany. 

Two  children  pushed  open  the 
front  door  and  many  of  the  batches 
of  sorted  letters  were  blown  the 
length  of  the  hall.  The  children 
passed  along  and  the  soldiers  did 
not  say  a  word,  laboriously  gathered 
up  the  scattered  letters. 

Naughty  "Liebe  Kinder." 

Pretty  soon  two  more  children 
coming  in  from  the  street  opened  the 
door  and  left  it  open  as  they  paused 
to  look  at  the  soldiers.  Again  little 
piles  of  neatly  sorted  letters  were 
scattered. 

Then  one  of  the  soldiers  blew  up. 
With  a  gesture  of  desperation  he 
cried  in  German  words  which  I  trans- 
late  thus: 

"Dear  children  (liebe  kinder), 
for  the  love  of  heaven  shut  the  door! 
Don't  you  see  you  are  making  the 
letters  blow  away?  You  are  naughty 
children.  Run  away  now  like  good 
children  and   don't  bother  us." 

Gerinan.<i  Make  Friends. 

The  little  people  hurriedly  shut 
the  door  and  scurried  past  the  soldier 
who  had  spoken  to  them.  As  they 
did  so  he  reached  forward  and  gave 
one  of  them  a  jovial  pat,  laughing 
and  uttering  homely  expletives  in 
German   as   he   did   so. 

The  child  looked  frightened  at  first 
and  then  began  to  giggle.  By  the 
time  he  reached  the  garden  door  he 
was  bold  and  turned  and  waved  his 
hands  at  the  soldier. 


The  soldier,  still  chuckling  and  do- 
ing a  comic  imitation  of  despair, 
waved  back  as  he  stooped  to  gather 
up  the  scattered  letters  again. 

The  children  vanished  into  the  gar- 
den. 

Teuton  All  Politeness. 

Four  times  I  have  seen  German 
officers  who  had  been  billeted  at  the 
house  of  a  Belgian  citizen  over  night 
going  after  breakfast,  caps  in  hand, 
to  pay  their  respects  to  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  thanking  her  for  the 
good  offices  of  herself  and  her  serv- 
ants, apologizing  for  the  inconve- 
nience they  had  caused,  and  closing 
with  wishes  for  another  meeting  "in 
happier  times,"  a  phrase  with  which 
everybody  in  northern  Europe  says 
goodby   now. 

On  all  of  these  occasions  the  re- 
sponse of  the  involuntary  hostess  of 
these  wartime  guests  was  cordial. 

At  Faits-les-Ceneffe  three  officers 
even  paused  an  instant  in  the  hall  to 
thank  and  say  good-by  to  the  serv- 
ant who  had  waited  on  them  at 
table. 

liind  to  Their  Horses. 

I  have  seen  German  drivers  of 
wagon  trains  and  German  artillery- 
men, weary  though  they  were,  de- 
scending from  their  seats  during  a 
brief  halt  by  the  roadside  to  run  into 
the  fields  to  tear  up  handfuls  of 
clover  blossoms  for  their  horses.  If 
there  was  time  they  rushed  back  for 
a  second  handful. 

Such  things  I  have  seen  for  ten 
days.  They  seem  to  me,  in  view  of 
the  ghastly  reports  in  the  London 
papers  and  in  view  of  one  editorial  in 
an  important  American  paper  we 
have  read  since  arriving  in  Aix,  to 
constitute  important  news. 

The  reports  of  German  atrocities 
against  Belgian  noncombatants  seem 
to  this  group  of  American  corre- 
spondents to  have  reached  the  pro- 
portions of  a  hideous  scandal. 

Not  Defending  Germans. 

I  am  not  defending  the  Germans. 
I  owe  them  nothing  except  what  any 
man  owes  another  who  treats  him 
with  decency.  I  expect  nothing  from 
the  Germans. 

The  truth  is  that  all  of  us  corre- 
spondents have  a  right  to  feel  a  little 
resentful  toward  the  German  authori- 
ties, both  military  and  civil. 

They  have  balked  our  work  at  ev- 
ery turn. 

They  have  delayed  and  Inconve- 
nienced us  and  they  have  had  us  un- 
der guard  during  three  days  and 
under  surveillance  during  four  days. 

Always  they  have  been  polite  about 
it,  but  that  has  not  mitigated  the  dis- 
tracting delays  we  have  had  to  en- 
dure in  forwarding  our  news  to  our 
papers. 

Truth  Remains  Truth. 

Truth,  however,  remains  truth, 
and  in  tlie  matter  of  those  alleged 
atrocities  wo  led  there  lias  been 
sliocking    falsehood. 

I  give  my  most  solemn  word  as 
to  tlie  truth  of  what  I  have  written. 

AVe  have  .seen  no  atrocities. 

We  can   get  i>r<><>f  of  none. 

We  do  know,  on  the  contrary,  that 
flonnan  oflicers  have  fraternized  with 


256 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


English  officers  thejr  have  taken  pris- 
oners and  have  parted  with  these 
words,  "A  dinner  at  the  Carlton,  old 
fellow,  when  we  meet  at  London  in 
happier    times." 

Once  more  I  say,  there  has  been 
the  inevitable  and  shocking  waste 
and  misery  of  war  in  tliis  Belgian 
campaign,  but  to  find  the  fiendish- 
ness  of  it,  as  that  fiendishness  is 
charged  against  the  German  troops,  a 
man  will  have  to  travel  farther  and 
observe  more  sharply  than  five  intel- 
ligent, zealous  American  correspond- 
ents have  traveled  and  observed.* 


*The    last    six    paragraphs    are   empha- 
sized in  bold  type  by  the  Editor. 


LIES,  LIES,  LIES. 


Editorial     from     "The     Fatherland," 

Xew   York,    September   30, 

1914. 

If  we  are  to  believe  the  mendacity 
mills  of  St.  Petersburg  and  London, 
the  German  army  is  bent  on  carry- 
ing out  on  a  large  scale  the  theory 
of  a  pessimist  philosopher,  Eduard 
von  Hartmann,  who  advocates  uni- 
versal suicide.  First  General  Em- 
mich  after  "wasting"  the  lives  of 
45,000  Germans  before  Lifge,  com- 
mitted "suicide."  The  fact  that  he 
conquered  an  almost  impregnable 
fortress  with  small  loss  of  life  after 
a  few  days  siege  was  never  brought 
out  in  the  dispatches  of  the  Allies. 
Even  to  this  day  many  American 
readers  are  under  the  impression  that 
the  gallant  general  is  dead.  This  be- 
lief, needless  to  say,  is  not  shared 
by  the  general.  After  that  we  were 
told  that  a  troop  of  German  soldiers 
shot  at  themselves  in  Louvain  and 
that  the  city  was  destroyed  to  cover 
up  this  blunder.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  city  did  not  meet  its  deserved 
fate,  being  only  partially  demolished, 
as  a  punishment  for  the  "snipers" 
who  cowardly  attacked  and  mutilated 
German  soldiers.  We  also  heard  that 
one  hundred  German  Socialist  leaders 
were  shot  by  the  Kaiser  and  that  one 
hundred  Polish  leaders  met  a  similar 
fate  in  Austria.  We  realize  some,  in- 
cluding the  Socialist  leader,  Dr. 
Franke,  were  shot,  but  at  the  front, 
and  by  the  enemy.  The  last  piece  of 
"news"  made  to  order  in  St.  Peters- 
burg informs  us  that  one  portion  of 
the  German  navy  attacked  another 
portion  in  the  Baltic,  and  that  sev- 
eral ships  were  sunk  in  the  ensu- 
ing engagement  which  lasted  several 
hours.  How  long  will  American 
readers  permit  the  newspapers  to 
feed  them  such  pap?  The  capture 
of  Maubeuge  when  reported  by  way 
of  Sayville  was  denied  again  and 
again  in  official  reports  from  Paris 
and  London.  It  was  not  until  the 
19th  of  September  that  the  German 
dispatch  was  verified  by  London.  The 
Sayville  station  is  the  only  souroe 
of    reliable    information. 


He'll  «et  His  if  He  Can. 

When  the  victors  sit  around  to  divide 

up  the  map 
They    had    better   keep    all    of    their 

eyes  on  the  Jap! 
— From     the     "Chicago   Examiner," 
September   17,   1914. 


CHEATING  THE   WORLD   IN   COL- 
ORING NEWS  OF  THE  WAR. 

Some  time  ago,  in  commenting 
upon  the  character  of  the  censorship 
exercised  over  war  news,  the  "Dis- 
patch" suggested  that  the  activities 
of  the  censors  would  be  limited  to 
deleting  all  that  might  be  objection- 
able or  offensive  from  their  point  of 
view.  Unfortunately  it  transpires 
that  the  British  censors  have  gone 
further,  much  further.  Not  only 
have  they  deleted  the  news  reports 
of  information  they  deemed  inimical 
to  their  cause,  but  they  deliberately 
have  added  words  and  sentences  cal- 
culated to  mislead  the  world  and  to 
keep  it  in  ignorance  of  what  was 
transpiring  in  the  war  theater. 

The  letter  of  Herbert  Corey  in  to- 
day's "Dispatch"  is  a  revelation.  Mr. 
Corey  has  long  been  a  member  of  the 
"Dispatch"  staff  of  correspondents. 
His  accuracy  and  ability  have  been 
proved  to  a  demonstration  long  be- 
fore this  war  broke.  What  he  says 
of  the  British  system  of  misleading 
the  British  people  and  creating  false 
world  opinion  may  be  accepted  as 
true. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  prac- 
tically all  of  the  channels  of  Euro- 
pean news  are  controlled  in  England 
and  that  all  information  except  the 
trifling  amount  that  comes  by  wire- 
less is  sifted  through  the  British  cen- 
sor sieve,  the  importance  of  the 
disclosures  by  Mr.  Corey  will  be 
appreciated.  All  that  we  can  receive 
of  the  news  of  the  great  war  drama, 
except  that  which  practically  is 
smuggled  through  by  mail  or  indi- 
vidual carriage  and  is  therefore  be- 
lated beyond  the  value  point,  is  what 
the  British  censors  will  permit,  after 
they  have  eliminated  what  is  detri- 
mental to  their  side  and  colored  the 
residue  to  suit  their  views. 

This  reveals  a  very  lamentable 
state  of  affairs.  The  world  is  prac- 
tically helpless  before  such  a  situa- 
tion. It  explains  a  condition  of 
which  the  "Dispatch"  frequently  has 
complained  and  which  it  has  been 
careful  to  impress  upon  its  readers. 
Fortunately  this  tyrannical  and  over- 
reaching system  operates  only 
against  immediate  news.  No  censor- 
ship can  long  obscure  facts.  The 
truth  cannot  remain  concealed.  Re- 
bellion has  arisen  already  in  London, 
where  the  public  sense  of  right  re- 
fuses to  submit  to  imposition,  even 
under  the  guise  of  the  public  wel- 
fare. 

American  newspaper  enterprise — 
and  that  enterprise  deals  with  exact 
truth  and  accurate  reports — is  at  war 
with  any  and  every  news  suppression 
system  and  will  win  out.  The  world 
wants  the  facts,  regardless  of  how 
they  may  strike.  It  demands  to  be 
informed  accurately  of  the  daily 
progress  of  the  war,  and  it  will  be 
informed,  despite  the  medieval  and 
misguided  efforts  of  the  censor  sys- 
tem. And  this  applies  with  equal 
force  to  news  suppression  and  dis- 
coloration, no  matter  where  the 
operation  is  performed. — From  the 
"St.  Paul  Dispatch." 


BRITISH  CENSORS  FORGE 
DISP.\TCHES. 


Remarkable  Statement  by  Mr.  Corey, 
St.  Paul  Dispatch. 


One  Extreme  Case  Shows  Words  and 
Sentences  Were  ."Vdded  to  "Copy" 
of  Correspondents — Deliberate  At- 
tempts M.ide  to  Delude  People  of 
the  United  States. 


Which  side  began  it  is  not  halt  so 
important  as  which  side  will  end  it. 
— From  the  "Public  Ledger,"  Phila- 
delphia, August  9,  1914. 


Asserts  Many  London  Messages  Have 
Been  Totally  Suppressed. 

(Herbert  Corey,  who  makes  the 
charge  that  news  dispatches  of  Amer- 
ican correspondents  to  newspapers 
In  this  country  not  only  are  cen- 
sored, but  also  have  words  and  sen- 
tences added,  is  an  American  writer 
absolutely  without  bias  toward  any 
of  the  belligerents.  He  is  the  special 
representative  of  the  "Dispatch"  and 
"Pioneer  Press"  in  London,  and  these 
papers  put  absolute  reliance  on  his 
articles.') 

By  Herbert  Corey. 

London,  Oct.  .5. — Lord  Kitchener 
and  Hilaire  Belloc  came  into  collision 
the  other  day.     Kitchener  won. 

Kitchener  is  the  military  gentle- 
man who  is  running  this  empire,  the 
peanut  stand  on  the  corner,  and  that 
bulwark  of  a  free  people,  an  en- 
lightened press.  Belloc  is  a  well 
known  journalist,  who  is  obsessed  by 
a  liking  for  facts.  French  by  blood, 
English  by  birth,  soldier  by  educa- 
tion, and  a  publicist  by  profession, 
his  weekly  letter  on  the  war  lifted 
a  dying  magazine  out  of  the  ditch. 
People  began  to  read  it. 

"Ah,"  his  readers  would  say  to 
themselves,  "now  I  begin  to  under- 
stand." 

Pretty  Close  to  High  Treason. 

People  in  America  cannot  compre- 
hend how  nearly  that  approaches  to 
high  treason.  Kitchener  not  only  has 
the  contempt  of  the  military  man  for 
civilians  who  do  not  clank  and  rattle, 
but  he  fears  war  correspondents. 
They  criticize,  damn  'em!  They  jab 
holes  in  reputations  with  their  filthy 
pencils.  Years  before  his  name  had 
ever  been  heard  in  England  Kitch- 
ener said: 

"If  ever  I  have  the  power,  I  will 
forbid  the  publication  of  any  news 
whatever  about  a  war  which  is  be- 
ing fought." 

Kitchener    Believes    His    Course     Is 
Right, 

Bear  in  mind  that  Kitchener  sin- 
cerely believes  that  this  course  is 
best  for  the  country.  It  is  the  coun- 
try's duty  to  raise  money,  send  fight- 
ing men,  donate  blankets  and  let 
Kitchener  do  the  thinking.  This 
may  seem  a  long  way  around  Hilaire 
Belloc's  barn,  but  wait.  We're  com- 
ing to  it.  People  began  to  read  the 
official  communiqu.'-s  issued  by  the 
war  oflice  in  the  light  furnished  by 
Hilaire  Belloc's  letters. 

"So,"  said  they.     "So." 

Belloc  is  as  patriotic  as  Kitchener. 
But  he  thinks  this  British  nation  Is 
big  enough  and  brave  enough  to  face 


'We  reprint  below  the  editorial  which 
was  published  in  the  same  issue  of  the 
"St.     Paul     Dispatch." — Editor. 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


257 


a  fact  without  screaming.  He  didn't 
put  his  facts  in  blunt,  cold,  shocking 
language.  He  sugar-coated  'em.  But 
they  were  there.  He  intimated  that 
the  German  army  is  not  composed  ex- 
clusively of  child-killers  and  cow- 
ards. He  said  that,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  they  are  fighting  quite  as  well 
as  the  English  and  French.  Belloc's 
portion  was  that  this  war  is  not  to 
be  decided  by  popular  vote.  It 
didn't  do  any  good  to  mislead  people. 
Trouble    for   Other   Patriots. 

There  isn't  a  more  acidulously 
loyal  paper  in  London  than  the 
Globe.  Its  military  correspondent  is 
Major  Redway,  a  retired  officer  of 
the  army.  Redway  has  carefully 
avoided  printing  anything  in  his  col- 
umn which  might  give  aid  or  com- 
fort to  the  enemy.  He  lived  up  to 
the  war  office  theory  that  the  reason 
for  a  censorship  is  to  keep  informa- 
tion out  of  German  brains  and  hands. 

But  he  couldn't  help  seeing  that 
the  battle  of  the  Aisne  was  not  the 
sort  of  an  affair  that  the  Kitchenered 
communiques  indicated.  It  took  an 
acute  mind  to  burrow  this  conviction 
out  of  the  mass  of  words  with  which 
Redway  surrounded  it.  The  censor 
came  down  on  Redway.  The  latter 
indicated  that  "an  attempt  to  voice 
professional  opinion  is  resented  by 
those  in  authority.  We  must  learn 
to  look  upon  the  manufacture  of 
mendacities  during  the  war  as  a 
heroic  attempt  to  keep  us  going  in 
the  absence  of  truth." 

What  HapiHjned  to  Patterson. 

.Joseph  Medill  Patterson'  was  one 
of  the  American  correspondents  who 
had  been  with  the  German  army  and 
later  with  the  Belgians.  Patterson 
didn't  believe  the  reiterated  talk  of 
German  atrocities.  He  didn't  say 
they  were  not  possible.  He  only  said 
that  patient  investigation,  personally 
conducted,  had  failed  to  discover 
them.  He  had  traced  yarn  after  yarn 
only  to  find  them  wholly  untrue,  or 
the  quite  natural  exaggeration  of  war 
time  incidents.  Some  of  Patterson's 
stuff  got  back  to  Antwerp.  The  Bel- 
gians— who  are  pretty  good  sports — 
didn't  care.  Then  the  English 
reached  Antwerp. 

"Did  you  write  this?"  Patterson 
was  asked. 

He  said  he  did — and  he  was  frog- 
marched across  the  frontier.  The 
London  correspondent  of  the  Asso- 
ciated Press  has  had  frequent  reason 
to  complain  of  the  manner  in  which 
his  dispatches  have  been  altered  or 
suppressed.  There  was  a  typical  case 
in  which  the  present  pope  had  issued 
a  note  to  his  cardinals — I  am  not 
clear  as  to  the  precise  form  of  this 
papal  communication,  for  reasons 
that  will  appear — in  which  he  urged 
upon  thorn  that  their  duty  Is  to  pray 
for  peace.  The  English  censors, 
through  their  control  of  the  only  Eu- 
ropean cable,  except  the  French 
cable,  which  is  similarly  under  the 
control  of  the  French  censors,  as- 
sume to  feed  the  American  people 
upon  what  news  they  ■will.  Pope 
Benedict's  note  was  "killed." 


=Mr.  .Joseph  Medill  Patterson  la  "The 
Chicaeo  Tribune's"  special  representa- 
tive In   the  war  zone. — Editor. 


One  Correspondent  Beat  Censor. 

"Why?"  asked  Frederick  Roy  Mar- 
tin, assistant  general  manager  of  the 
Associated  Press,  now  in  charge  of 
the  situation  here.  The  chief  censor 
tried  to  sidetrack  Mr.  Martin's  ques- 
tion by  asking  him  to  lunch.  Lunch 
has  been  a  complete  answer  to  all 
protests  voiced  heretofore  by  Eng- 
lish journalists.  Martin  would  not 
be  shifted.  The  chief  censor,  in 
honeyed  tones  and  rose-petaled 
words,  explained: 

"No  doubt  the  censors  thought  It 
inadvisable  that  the  millions  of 
Catholics  in  the  world  should  learn 
that  the  pope  desired  peace.  It 
might  interfere  with  the  proper  con- 
duct of  the  war — " 

"But  they  have  learned,"  said  Mar- 
tin. 

The  chief  censor  was  bland  and  in- 
credulous until  he  learned  that  Mar- 
tin sent  on  every  America  bound 
steamer  a  complete  file  of  all  dis- 
patches cabled  from  London.  In 
New  York  the  originals  of  the  cables 
are  compared  with  the  mutilated  re- 
mains received  there.  Then  the 
words  and  sentences  eliminated  by 
the  censors  are  replaced  in  red  ink 
capitals  in  a  newly  typed  file.  That 
file  is  tremendously  illuminating. 

"You  mail  these  files  to  New 
York?"  asked  the  chief  censor, 
kindly. 

"I  do  not,"  said  Martin.  "I  send 
them  by  my  trusted  triende  to  be  de- 
livered by  hand." 

Sharp  Surprise  for  Censor. 

The  chief  censor's  face  fell.  He 
began  to  be  alarmed  by  the  situation. 
Obviously,  a  rigid  censoring  of  the 
mail  was  not  to  be  resorted  to.  But 
Mr.  Martin  left  with  the  impression 
that  the  censorship  would  be  quite  as 
severe  in  the  future  as  in  the  past. 
So  far  as  the  war  office  can  prevent, 
the  world  is  to  be  kept  in  ignorance 
of  what  is  going  on  in  France.  It 
may  be  that  the  arms  of  the  allies 
are  being  crowned  with  success. 
They  may  be  on  the  verge  of  defeat. 
No   one   can   certainly   say. 

Jimmy  Hare  is  easily  the  dean  of 
war  photographers.  He  has  smelled 
powder  in  every  war  for  twenty 
years.  He  ventured  over  into  France 
in  the  very  week  that  the  British 
had  succeeded  in  rounding  up  the 
last  seven  war  correspondents  still  at 
large.  These  men  had  all  been  put 
under  a  pledge  not  to  write  any  more 
war  news  until  the  war  office  gave  its 
assent,  on  pain  of  being  held  pris- 
oners until  the  end  of  the  war. 

"But  I'm  not  going  to  write,"  said 
Hare.  "I  only  want  to  take  a  few 
pictures." 

"We'll  have  no  pictures  of  this 
hell  going  to  our  folks  at  home,"  said 
an  officer.  "What  effect,  do  you 
think,  they  would  have  on  recruit- 
ing?" 

No  Chance  for  JInuny  Hare. 

"But  I'll  not  take  that  sort  of 
pictures,"  pleaded  Hare.  "I  only 
want    news    pictures — not    horrors." 

"We  want  no  news  pictures 
printed."  said  the  ofllcer. 

So  Hare  came  back  and  started 
for    Belgium.       The    very     day    he 


started,  the  newspaper  offices  and 
correspondents  here  got  this  word: 

"Nothing  Is  to  be  printed  of  the 
arrival  of  British  troops  in  Belgium 
or  the  bombardment  of  Antwerp." 

The  first  part  of  that  order  must 
be  taken  as  quite  a  legitimate  exer- 
cise of  the  censor's  functions.  Per- 
haps the  Germans  may  not  have 
known  that  the  English  were  going 
into  Belgium.  One  is  permitted  to 
doubt  this,  but  the  criticism  may  be 
made  of  the  order.  The  second  part 
was  obviously  designed  to  conceal 
from  the  world  the  fact  that  Ant- 
werp was  beleaguered.  English 
military  authorities  always  have  as- 
sumed in  print  that  Antwerp  is  im- 
pregnable. In  private  they  always 
have  doubted  it.  This  order  was  a 
part  of  the  plan  to  keep  truth  from 
the  people.  There  are  hard  times 
ahead  for  Jimmy  Hare. 

Tried  to  Suppress  Antwerp  Story. 

Of  course,  the  bombardment  was 
so  huge  a  story  that  the  military  au- 
thorities could  not  suppress  it  long. 
The  net  result  of  the  suppression  plus 
revelation  was  to  render  the  think- 
ing portion  of  the  public  that  buys 
newspapers  most  uneasy.  For  three 
weeks,  as  Major  Redway  said  in  the 
"Globe,"  the  public  "has  been  per- 
suaded that  we  are  engaged  In  a 
battle"  in  the  territory  of  the  Aisne. 
The  day  that  Antwerp's  bombard- 
ment began  a  note  appeared  in  the 
paper  that  General  von  Kluck's  army 
is  "being  pushed  north." 

Maybe  he  was  marching  north.  No 
one  knows.  But  he  certainly  could 
not  be  "pushed"  north.  If  he  moved 
north  it  was  in  the  effort  to  outflank 
the  French  army  opposing  him.  So 
persistently  has  the  British  public 
been  fed  on  military  half-truths  and 
no-truths  that  such  a  statement  be- 
comes at  once  alarming.  Before  this 
letter  appears  in  print  something  may 
be  known  of  the  situation.  Today 
London  is  beginning  to  get  fright- 
ened. The  city  has  been  so  persist- 
ently misled  by  the  war  office  that 
It  is  beginning  to  dread  the  unknown. 

London  Papers  Bei^n  Rebelling. 

The  London  newspapers,  patient, 
as  they  have  been  under  this  mili- 
tary despotism,  are  beginning  to 
rebel  in  a  mild,  tea-and-milk  sort  of 
way.  Almost  without  exception  they 
are  referring  to  the  military  censor- 
ship as  stupid.  But  their  criticism 
does  not  extend  to  what  may  be  con- 
sidered the  legitimate  operations  of 
the  censorship.  They  are  genuinely 
proud  of  the  fact  that  the  expedi- 
tionary force  of  1.50,000  was  landed 
in  France  before  a  word  had  ap- 
peared in  the  papers.  Every  editor 
knew — but  not  one  broke  faith. 

The  70,000  Indian  troops  were 
landed  at  Marseilles  four  days  before 
the  fact  was  printed.  That  was  quite 
all  right,  too.  But  it  happened  that 
the  day  the  Indians  were  landed 
Prime  Minister  .Vsquith  delivered  a 
speech  at  Dublin.  He  told  his  audi- 
ence that  the  Indians  had  been 
landed  that  day.  The  news  came  to 
London  in  the  report  of  his  speech. 
It  was  printed  in  Ireland.  Here  it 
was    submitted    to    the    censors. 

"That  must  not  be  printed."  said 
the  censors. 


258 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


Suppressing  the  Prime  Minister. 

And  so  it  wasn't.  There  is  a  cer- 
tain quality  of  mirth  in  the  thought 
that  the  utterances  of  Prime  Minister 
Asquith  are  suppressed  as  dangerous 
by  some  pig-headed  retired  coloneL 
The  qualifying  adjective  is  not  mine. 
It  was  first  used  by  Prime  Minister 
Asquith  when  for  seven  days  the  cen- 
sors would  not  permit  a  report  of 
Asquith's  speech,  delivered  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  to  be  cabled  to 
America. 

Nothing  will  be  printed  that  has 
not  the  approval  of  the  war  oftice. 
The  editors  know  perfectly  well  what 
would  happen  to  them  if  they  of- 
fended. Being  a  citizen  of  a  more  or 
less  free  land  I  have  been  incredu- 
lous.    So   I   have  asked  editors. 

What  Kit<'hener  Would  Do. 

"Kitchener  would  suppress  a  paper 
that  defied  him  and  put  the  editors 
In  jail."  they  say. 

Lately  the  gossip  of  Fleet  Street 
is  that  Lord  Kitchener  is  seriously 
displeased  with  the  manner  in  which 
some  of  the  London  papers  have  been 
conducted.  It  is  not  that  they  are 
not  fully  patriotic.  It  is  not  that  they 
have  printed  anything  which  is  not 
perfectly  well  known  to  the  enemy. 
But  they  have  permitted  certain 
doubts  to  find  their  way  into  the  tone, 
rather  than  into  the  words,  of  edi- 
torials. They  have  not  dreamed — any 
more  than  I  have — that  the  allies 
will  not  be  successful  in  the  end. 
But  it  would  seem  that  they  are  not 
quite  satisfied  that  the  success  of  the 
allies  has  been  absolutely  over- 
whelming in  the  first  sixty  days  of 
the  war. 

"Mark  my  words,"  said  an  editor 
who  is  suspected  of  being  well  liked 
at  the  war  oflRce,  "if  this  keeps  on 
Kitchener  will  take  the  papers  over 
and  run  them  himself." 

Couldn't  Bluff  Ja«k  Spurgeon. 

But  this  may  not  be.  There  is  a 
certain  amount  of  bluff  discoverable 
at  every  military  headquarters.  Some 
weeks  ago  the  New  York  "World," 
"Tribune"  and  "Times"  in  order  to 
reduce  cable  costs  "Siamesed"  their 
services.  One  day  an  item  which 
displeased  the  censors  was  stopped  In 
their  report.  Jack  Spurgeon  of  the 
"World."  who  had  been  in  charge  on 
the  night  in  question,  was  called  up. 


He  explained  that  the  error  had  been 
a  perfectly  innocent  one,  as  shown 
by  the  form  In  which  it  reached  the 
cable  censors. 

"We  will  do  this  and  that,"  said 
the  three  censors  who  acted  as  a  trial 
board.  They  were  very  severe  and 
unkind  to  him.  By  and  by  Mr.  Spur- 
geon's  nimble  American  goat  began 
to  parade. 

"You  will?"  he  asked,  in  low,  gen- 
tle tones.  "I  am  representing  three 
great  American  papers,  and  what  will 
you  three  gentlemen  do  to  them?" 

Well,  on  second  thought  it  ap- 
peared the  censors  wouldn't  do  any- 
thing to  the  three  papers.  There  is 
a  rumor  that  Mr.  Spurgeon  was  asked 
to  lunch.  But  that  isn't  the  worst 
charge  that  American  correspondents 
have  brought  against  the  censors. 
Some  of  the  censors  seem  to  have 
felt  from  time  to  time  that  America 
was  not  being  properly  informed  as 
to  the  conduct  of  the  war.  So  they 
have  not  merely  struck  words  out  of 
dispatches,  but  have  struck  words  in. 

"This  isn't  your  stuff,"  the  editor 
of  a  great  American  daily  wrote  its 
correspondent.  "I  know  your  style. 
Some  one  has  been  tampering  with 
your  message." 

The  correspondent  referred  to  his 
file  and  found  that  some  one  in  the 
censor's  office  had  inserted  words  and 
sentences  in  his  "copy"  which  had 
completely  changed  the  tenor  of  the 
dispatch.  As  it  appeared  in  the  home 
office  it  was  of  a  character  highly 
pleasing  to  the  war  office.  As  it  left 
the  correspondent's  hands  it  liad  been 
a  dispassionate  review  of  the  situa- 
tion and  a  forecast  of  certain  future 
happenings  which  has  since  been 
shown  to  have  been  singularly  ac- 
curate. 

"Surely  you  are  wrong,"  said  a 
chief  censor  when  the  case  was  put 
before  him. 

"Refer  to  the  files  in  the  cable  of- 
fice," said  the  correspondent.  "That 
will  show  you  that  I  am  telling  the 
truth  and  will  give  you  the  name  of 
the  man  who  monkeyed  with  my  dis- 
patch." 

"Oh,"  said  the  censor,  "we  couldn't 
do  that."     And  they  didn't  do  that. 

Holding  Up  Mail  to  Read  It. 

Of  course,  that  is  an  extreme  case. 
But    there   is   no   doubt  In   my   mind 


that  the  war  office  made  up  its  mind 
at  the  beginning  that  the  world 
should  have  such  facts  as  it  chose  to 
give — and  only  such.  Because  it  has 
been  in  complete  control  of  all  the 
cables  it  has  partly  succeeded. 

Press  matter  coming  here  via  Hol- 
land is  not  only  censored  at  the  point 
of  origin,  but  is  censored  again  here 
before  it  Is  delivered  to  the  news- 
papers and  correspondents — and  even 
then  it  is  held  up.  All  Holland  mail 
is  held  up  five  days,  in  order  that 
the  letters  may  be  read.  One  news 
association  got  a  letter  from  Its  cor- 
respondent in  Amsterdam.  That  let- 
ter originally  contained  1,500  words. 
This  was  what  reached  the  associa- 
tion: 

"Telephone  to  my  wife  that  I  am 
quite  well." 

Stanley  Washburne  of  Minneapolis 
wanted  to  go  to  Russia  to  write  the 
story  of  the  war  in  the  East  for  a 
New  York  paper  and  the  London 
"Times."  Lord  Northcllffe,  editor  of 
the  "Times,"  Interested  himself  per- 
sonally in  the  project.  Through  the 
co-operation  of  the  Russian  ambas- 
sador in  London  he  secured  the  per- 
mission of  the  Russian  government. 
Washburne  started  for  Russia.  It 
seemed  that  he  was  to  be  enthusias- 
tically welcomed.  The  Russians 
actually  wanted  correspondents  with 
their  armies.  Then  General  Kitch- 
ener heard  of  it. 

But  Kitchener  Steps  In. 

"No  American  newspaper  man  can 
go  with  the  Russian  army,"  said  he. 

He  communicated  with  the  Rus- 
sian government,  and  Washburne  was 
headed  off.  It  is  quite  likely  that  if 
Washburne  had  been  permitted  to  get 
through  he  would  have  written  some 
of  the  real  news,  as  It  seemed  de- 
sirable that  whatever  Is  happening 
in  the  East  should  be  written  by 
British  hands,  this  morning's  papers 
contain   this  statement: 

"Mr.  Bernard  Pares,  professor  of 
Russian  at  the  Liverpool  university, 
has  been  appointed  official  corre- 
spondent with  the  Russian  armies. 
But  one  British  and  one  French  cor- 
respondent   have    been    authorized." 


Atrocity  Reports  are  Libelous 
Crime  of  Political  World  Machinations  and  Intrigue  ! 


A  SUPREME  TASK. 


Mr.   Asquith's   Stirring   Lead. 

SPEECHES    IN    THE    FOUR    CAPI- 
TALS. 

The  Prime  Minister  has  issue<l  a 
stirring  call  to  the  whole  United 
Kingdom  that  the  justice  of  our  rau,se 
may  be  nia<Ie  plain  and  the  <luty  of 
every  man  to  do  his  duty  may  l)e  en. 
force<l.  It  is  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing letter  which  he  has  addressed  to 
the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  the  Lord 
Provost  of  Edinburgh,  the  Lord 
Mayor  of  Dublin,  and  the  Lord 
Mayor  of  Cardiff:  — 


My  Lords: 

The  time  has  come  for  combined 
effort  to  stimulate  and  organize  pub- 
lic opinion  and  public  effort  In  the 
greatest  confiict  in  which  our  people 
has  ever  been  engaged. 

No  one  who  can  contribute  any- 
thing to  the  accomplishment  of  this 
supremely  urgent  task  is  justified  In 
standing  aside. 

I  propose,  as  a  first  step,  that 
meetings  should  be  held  without  de- 
lay, not  only  in  our  great  centers  of 
population  and  industry,  but  in  every 
district,  urban  and  rural,  throughout 
the  United  Kingdom,  at  which  the 
justice  of  our  cause  should  be  made 


plain,  and  the  duty  of  every  man  to 
do  his  part  should  be  enforced. 

I  venture  to  suggest  to  your  lord- 
ships that  the  four  principal  cities, 
over  which  you  respectively  preside, 
should  lead  the  way. 

I  am  ready  myself,  so  far  as  the  ex- 
igencies of  public  duty  permit,  to 
render  such  help  as  I  can,  and  I 
should  be  glad,  with  that  object,  to 
address  my  fellow-subjects  in  your 
cities. 

I  have  reason  to  know  that  I  can 
count  upon  the  co-operation  of  the 
leaders  of  every  section  of  organized 
political  opinion. 

Your  faithful  servant. 

H.    H.    ASQUITH. 


WITH  THE  WESTERN"  GERMAN  ARMIES 


259 


THE  RIGHT  TO  DEFEND  VOIR 
HOME. 

Kditoi'inl  fr<»ni  the  "C'liicago  Herald." 
September   12,    1914. 

The  German  Emperor  has  sent  a 
personal  protest  to  President  Wilson 
against  the  alleged  use  of  "dumdum" 
bullets  by  the  allies,  and  accusing  the 
Belgians  of  conduct  which  is  held  to 
justify  the  destruction  of  Louvain 
and  other  German  severities.  France 
retorts  that  the  Germans  have  been 
using  the  "dumdum"  bullets  quite 
extensively. 

The  use  of  "dumdums."  so  named 
from  an  Indian  town  where  these 
cartridges  are  made,  is  forbidden  by 
the  Hague  declaration  of  1899.  The 
French  and  English  governments 
deny  making  or  using  them.  That 
such  bullets  may  have  been  found  on 
captured  French  or  English  soldiers 
proves  nothing  against  their  govern- 
ments. 

Anybody  can  make  a  "dumdum" 
from  the  steel-jacketed  military  bul- 
let in  a  moment  with  a  common  file. 
They  were  first  so  made  by  British 
soldiers  in  India,  who  found  that  the 
new  small  caliber  bullet  would  not 
"stop"  fanatical  Mohammedan  tribes- 
nicii.  bent  on  dyiuK  in  lialtlc.  ;is  the 
old  large  bullet  did. 

The  (Jeniian  Emperor's  cliarfje  that 
"the  lielKian  government  has  openly 
incited  the  civil  population  to  partici- 
pate in  the  fiKhtinR"  will  not  arouse 
much  sympathy  for  Germany  in  this 
country.  To  the  average  -American 
the  IJeifcians  seem  altosether  .iu.stlfied 
in  defendin};  their  homes  against  the 
invaders.  Our  theory  of  the  rights 
of  an  Invaded  people  is  quite  different 
from  the  fierman  notion. 

In  Europe  the  notion  is  that  fight- 
ing should  l>e  confined  to  the  "reg- 
ular" armies,  and  that  "the  people" 
should  merely  look  on.  We  don't  look 
at  it  that  way.  We  cannot.  To  do  so 
would  l)rniid  as  criminals  the  farmers 
who  drove  the  Rritish  "regulars" 
from    Lexington    and    Concord. 

.Americans  honor  those  farmers  as 
patriots,  and  the  Helgiaiis  who  de- 
fended their  homes  as  best  they 
could,  without  wailing  for  red-tape 
fomialities,  swm  to  us  worthy  "f  the 
same   honor.* 

♦Emphasized  in  bold  type  by  the 
publisher  of  "War  Echoes"  in  order 
to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  "The 
Chicago  Tribune's"  editorial:  "Cruel- 
ty and  Inhumanity,"  reprinted  in  full 
on  this  page.  '"The  Tribune"  takes 
the  opposite  view  from  the  "Chicago 
Herald."  Unbiased  Americans  will 
know  how  to  judge  for  themselves 
as  to  which  of  the  two  powerful 
dailies  is  riglit. — Editor. 


It  may  be  all  right  for  "The 
World's  Greatest  Newspapers"  to 
write  sanctimonious  editorials  and 
then  print  without  comment  cable- 
grams such  as  the  one  printed  on 
September  14.  We  are  told  in  that 
that  "a  British  officer  had  caught  a 
German  I'hlan  officer  in  the  act  of 
cutting  off  both  breasts  of  a  poor 
Belgian  girl."  The  cablegram  is  re- 
printed in  full  on  another  page  under 
the  heading."  In  the  words  of  "The 
Tribune."  we  presume  that  if  Great 
Britain  "has  gone  to  war  cold."  it  can 


®  e  11  e  t  a  I  i  n  f  p  e  1 1  e  u  r  bet  VII.  2t  r  m  e  c  i  n  f  p  .  1 1  i  o  lu 

HERMANN  VON  EICHHOKN 
General   Inspector  of  the   Seventh   Army 
(By   Courtesy   of   the    "Illinois   Staats-Zeitung") 


be  aroused  to  what  is  regarded  as  a 
fighting  spirit  by  tales  of  cruelties  in- 
flicted upon  its  innocent  countrymen, 
in  the  present  war,  its  allies.  But  in- 
asmuch as  the  United  States  is  at 
peace  with  Germany,  and  its  citizens 
do  not  have  to  be  "aroused  to  what 
is  regarded  as  a  fighting  spirit  by 
tales  of  cruelties"  in  order  to  help 
take  the  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for 
Great  Britain,  we  believe,  it  is  not 
out  of  place  to  call  "The  Tribune's" 
attention  to  part  of  a  letter  it  re- 
ceived from  one  of  its  readers  and 
which  it  printed  in  its  "Voice  of  the 
People"  column  on  August  24.  The 
letter,  which  we  reprint  in  full  in  this 
book,  says  in  part: 

"•  •  *  But  I  am  convinced 
that  every  true  American,  regardless 
of  the  land  of  his  birth,  would  con- 
demn any  sneaky  reports  or  lies 
which  are  submitted  from  unscrupu- 
lous sources  across  the  ocean  and  re- 
printed by  some  of  our  papers  with- 
out any  comment  or  even  manufac- 
tured by  them.  That  is  not  true 
.'\merican  spirit,  nor  does  it  conform 
with  the  ideas  of  our  illustrious  Pres- 
ident, who  warns  his  officials  to 
strictest  neutrality  in  word  and  deed, 
and  who.  I  am  sure,  gladly  would 
mu77lp  some  of  the  papers  if  it  could 
be  done. 


On  the  face  of  it,  that  cablegram 
shows  its  origin.  It  spells  "London 
War  Lies  News  Factory."  If  "The 
Tribune"  really  was  hoodwinked  into 
believing  it  was  gospel  truth  because 
the  British  officer  had  told  the  nause- 
ating cruelty  of  the  German  cavalry 
officer  to  a  London  preacher  in  a  let- 
ter, as  the  cable  to  "The  Tribune" 
states,  then  we  really  pity  the  mil- 
lion daily  readers  who  were  served 
that  abominable  cablegram  at  their 
breakfast  table,  without  one  word  of 
comment  by  "The  Tribune"  as  to  the 
advisability  of  taking  the  cablegram 
with  an  extra  grain  of  salt.  There 
was  no  "kind"  editorial,  commenting 
on  the  fact,  because  the  space  occu- 
pied by  the  cablegram  had  to  be  filled 
and  nothing  else  was  handy  to  fill  it, 
in  the  rush  of  "making  up,"  the  nau- 
seating cablegram,  itself,  had  been  in- 
serted, merely  to  show  to  what  de- 
gree of  perfection  the  fanatical  hatred 
of  Germany  could  make  the  "London 
War  Lies  Factory"  work  overtime 
concocting  lies. 

Of  course,  "The  Tribune"  could 
have  added  a  postscript  so  as  not  to 
offend  such  of  its  readers  who  sym- 
pathized with  the  cause  of  the  Allies 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  believed 
the  German  barbarians  capable  of  the 
most  fiendish  outrages  imaginable  or 


260 


EVOLUTION   BV  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


unimaginable.  The  postscript  could 
have  said  that  "The  Tribune"  really 
did  believe  that  the  outrage  had  been 
committed,  and,  to  malce  the  pleasure 
of  those  who  sympathized  with  the 
Allies  still  more  complete,  it  could 
have  suggested  to  them  to  imagine 
that  the  fiendish  cavalry  officer  had 
been- — a  Prussian.  In  that  way,  the 
editorial  comment  would  have  been 
complete  and  would  have  pleased 
even  Messrs.  H.  G.  Wells,  A.  Conan 
Doyle,  Rudyard  Kipling,  Jerome  K. 
Jerome  and  the  other  thirty  famous 
writers  who,  on  September  17,  signed 
the  statement  which  we  took  the  lib- 
erty of  reprinting  from  "The  Tri- 
bune" on  another  page  of  this  book. 
—Editor. 


CRITELTY  AND  INHUMANITY. 


Editorial. 
The   Chicago  Tribune. 

By  the  representations  and  plead- 
ings of  belligerent  nations  the  United 
States  is  being  set  up  in  a  judicial 
position  to  hear  accusation  and  de- 
fense. Germany,  France,  and  Bel- 
gium are  making  official  presentation 
of  their  cases,  the  Belgians  by  the 
submission  of  evidence  and  the  Ger- 
mans and  French  by  definite  protest. 

Charges  that  humanity  has  been 
Ignored  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes,  one  having  to  do  with  severe 
measure  taken  upon  authority  and 
the  other  with  the  acts  of  individuals 
or  groups  of  individuals  unauthor- 
ized. 

The  burning  of  Louvain  was  an 
authorized  act.  Attack  by  civilians 
upon  troops  probably  is  unauthor- 
ized.! The  revenge  taken  by  the 
troops  might  be  by  order  or  upon 
individual  initiative. 

American  opinion  is  being  appealed 
to  by  the  nations  at  war,  and  if  they 
recognize  that  it  has  a  value  we  ought 
to  recognize  the  importance  of  form- 
ing it  fairly. 

The  first  thing  that  will  be  con- 
sidered   is   that   such    destruction   as 


fThere  are  strong  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  the  Belgian  authorities 
Incited  the  civilian  population  to  fire 
from  ambuscade  upon  German  sol- 
diers. 

Also  note  that  Mr.  James  O'Donnell 
Bennett,  "The  Chicago  Tribune's" 
war  correspondent,  says:  "A  few 
days  later  Louvain  lost  its  head.  It 
went  mad.  Its  civilians  fired  from 
ambuscade  upon  German   soldiers. 

"The  deed  was  the  supreme  out- 
rage against  laws  of  civilized  war- 
fare *  *  *."  This  entire  article 
to  "The  Chicago  Tribune,"  entitled 
"German  Atrocities  Fiction,  So  Far 
As  Tribune  Men  in  Belgium  Can 
Find,"  is  reprinted  elsewhere  in  this 
book. 

We  will  not  comment  on  the  fact 
that  the  strong  pro-British  "Chi- 
cago Herald,"  in  an  editorial  entitled, 
"The  Right  to  Defend  Your  Home" 
(also  reprinted  in  full  on  this  page) 
should  defend  the  act  of  Belgian  ci- 
vilians firing  from  ambuscade  upon 
German  barbarians.  We  prefer  to 
leave  the  "Herald's"  editorial  to  the 
careful  consideration  and  judgment 
of  our  readers. — Editor. 


Belgium  has  seen  is  apt  to  craze  a 
population.  Men  and  women  are  In 
danger  of  becoming  lunatic  in  such 
circumstances,  of  losing  all  restraints 
and  forgetting  all  humanity. 

Germany  charges  that  some  Bel- 
gian peasant  women  were  converted 
into  fiends  and  went  out  like  Afghan 
women  to  mutilate  the  dead  and  kill 
the  wounded.  This  seems  incredible 
here,  but  we  have  no  conception  of 
the  terrors  of  the  invasion  of  Belgium 
and  scarcely  any  of  their  effect  upon 
the  mind. 

Germany  also  charges  that  civil- 
ians have  taken  opportunity  to  shoot 
soldiers.  This  is  entirely  credible 
and  understandable — and  unforgiv- 
able. The  civilian  is  not  treated  as 
an  enemy;  soldiers  are  not  on  their 
guard  against  civilians;  and  an  attack 
by  civilians  is  not  an  act  of  war,  but 
one  of  murder.  If  an  army  knew  that 
resistance  would  be  offered  by  every 
person  in  the  country  invaded,  the 
objection  to  civilian  attack  would  not 
be  made,  but  every  civilian  would  be 
shot  as  soon  as  he  showed  himself.* 

The  explanation,  il  not  defen.se,  in 
the  case  of  Belgium,  is  that  citizens, 
finding  themselves  over  night  sub- 
jected to  the  destraction  of  a  war 
in  which  they  had  no  concern,  be- 
haved much  as  they  would  if  a  band 
of  I'ohbers  had  set  upon  them.  In 
doing  so  they  made  themselves  liable 
to  ])unishnient.* 

"The  whole  question  between  Ger- 
many and  Belgium  concerns  the 
nature  of  the  provocation  and  the 
severity  of  the  punishment.  Ger- 
many may  find  it  expedient  to  deny 
that  any  German  troops  were  guilty 
of  inhuman  practices  upon  Belgians. 
That  individual  Germans,  demented 
or  intoxicated,  escaped  from  disci- 
pline, crazed  by  the  sight  of  the 
slaughter  of  comrades  or  infuriated 
by  battle,  would  mistreat  Belgians 
is  just  as  probable  of  occurrence  as 
the  outrages  said  to  have  been  com- 
mitted by  the  Belgians  upon  Ger- 
mans. 

Nations  cannot  be  convicted  upon 
evidence  of  brutal  acts  by  individuals. 
If  they  could,  then  any  Mississippi 
town  would  have  the  character  of  the 
whole  United  States  in  its  keeping. 
The  burning  of  one  negro,  in  such  a 
case,  would  be  sufficient  excuse  for  a 
world  combination  in  the  name  of 
civilization  against  such  a  country. 
It  is  the  policy  of  nations  at  war  to 
hurt  their  enemies  in  the  opinion  of 
neutrals.  For  that  reason  the  indi- 
vidual cases  are  seized  upon  as  bases 
for  generalizations  which  are  not 
justified  and  cannot  stand. 

We  do  not  believe  that  the  Bel- 
gians are  a  barbarous  people ;  we  do 
not  believe  that  the  Germans  have 
an  army  of  brutes.  There  are  then 
to    be   considered   the   admitted   acts 


•Emphasized  in  bold  type  by  the 
publisher  of  "War  Echoes."  in  order 
to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  the 
"Chicago  Herald's"  editorial  entitled, 
"The  Right  to  Defend  Your  Home," 
reprinted  in  full  on  this  page.  The 
"Chicago  Herald"  takes  the  opposite 
view  from  "The  Chicago  Tribune." 
Unbiased  Americans  will  know  how 
to  judge  for  themselves  as  to  which 
of  the  two  powerful  dailies  is  right." 
—Editor. 


of  repression  which  the  German  army 
authorized  against  the  Belgians.  It 
is  upon  these  that  judgment  finally 
will  be  given. 

Was  the  punishment  of  the  inno. 
cent  demanded  by  the  offenses  of  the 
guilty?  W^as  the  destruction  of  a 
town  like  Louvain  demanded  by  the 
military  exigencies  of  the  army?  Did 
the  punishment  fit  or  exceed  the 
crime?  Was  there  a  crime  which  de- 
manded punishment?  Have  hasty 
acts  of  great  severity  been  such  as 
will  make  Germans  themselves  apol- 
ogetic? 

As  to  dumdum  bullets,  rational 
opinion  wanders  hopelessly  afield. 
The  accusations  that  these  hideous 
bullets  are  being  used  is  the  first 
to  get  circulation  in  any  war. 

The  United  States  does  not  ask  to 
be  set  up  in  a  judicial  character  in 
these  disputes,  but  if  its  opinion  can 
have  weight  for  the  good  of  humanity 
it  is  willing  to  exert  it. 

And  if  the  belligerents  want  our 
opinion  of  the  whole  business,  they 
may  have  it.  It  is  that  a  wasteful, 
unnecessary,  wicked  war  is  in  prog- 
ress; that  it  never  will  have  a  result 
which  will  justify  it,  and  that  the 
only  good  thing  it  can  come  to  is  its 
end. 


LE.ST  WJ;  FORGET. 


Extracts  from  Editorial.     New 

Yorker  Staatz-Zeitung, 

New  Y'ork,  Herman 

Ridder. 

It  serves  no  purpose  to  exaggerate 
the  stories  of  German  brutality. 
Neither  is  it  worth  while  to  minimize 
the  horrors  of  war.  It  will  in  all 
probability  be  found  on  Investigation 
that  the  cathedral  of  Rheims  has  suf- 
fered no  worse  fate  than  the  cathe- 
dral of  Strassburg  during  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war.  It  is  incredible  that 
the  Germans  wantonly  and  deliber- 
ately destroyed  that  magnificent 
landmark  of  mediaeval  art.  I,  for 
one,  do  not  believe  it.  Military  ne- 
cessity knows  no  law,  and  that  Is  as 
true  of  French  necessity  as  of  Ger- 
man. 

1  do  not  wish  to  draw  odious  com- 
parisons, but  it  does  seem  to  me  that 
the  British  people  forget  a  great  deal 
of  their  own  history  when  they  raise 
the  cry  of  Louvain  and  Rheims.  It 
was  only  fourteen  years  ago  that 
General  Wilson,  U.  S.  A.,  brought  the 
blush  to  the  cheeks  of  a  British  Gen- 
eral on  the  outskirts  of  Peking,  when 
he  asked  permission  to  withdraw  his 
troops  from  the  punitive  expedition 
sent  against  the  Western  Hills,  before 
the  threat  of  the  British  to  blow  up 
the  White  Pagoda  of  Pa-ta-chu's  was 
carried  out.  Europe  has  other  cathe- 
drals, but  China  had  only  one  White 
Pagoda,  and  the  destruction  of  that 
priceless  piece  of  religious  architec- 
tecture  was  carried  out  by  a  British 
commander  not  during  the  bombard- 
ment of  a  city  held  by  the  enemy,  but 
as  an  act  of  cold-blooded  retaliation. 
The  British  have  painted  on  their 
legation  walls  in  Peking  the  motto: 
"Lest  we  forget."  It  would  seem  as 
If  the  time  had  come  when  those 
same  words  might  well  be  painted  on 
the  British  conscience  at  home. 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


261 


WHO  MAIMS  THE  DEAD*; 


Editorial,  the  Fatherlainl,  New  York. 
Evidences    that   the   Victims   of   Bel- 
gian   Mobs    are    Passed    Off    as 
Those  of  German  Barbarians — 
Asquith    Has   Heard    of   No 
German  Atrocities. 

Ordinarily  the  New  York  daily  pa- 
pers would  rather  miss  the  greatest 
news  item  of  the  hour  than  copy  it 
out  of  the  columns  of  a  rival  with 
full  credit.  But  since  they  have  be- 
come allies  of  Russia  and  Japan  as 
well  as  Servia,  Montenegro,  England 
and  France,  they  are  the  best  of 
bed-fellows. 

If  the  "World"  has  a  particular 
gruesome  story  of  German  barbarity 
which  the  "Times"  has  missed,  it  is 
promptly  copied  by  that  paper  and 
displayed  under  a  pyramid  of  start- 
ling headlines.  Even  Premier  As- 
quith  on  September  14  told  the 
House  of  Commons  that  "no  official 
information  had  reached  the  Minis- 
try of  War  concerning  the  reported 
stories  that  German  soldiers  had 
abused  the  Red  Cross  flag,  killed  and 
maimed  the  wounded,  and  killed  wo- 
men and  children  as  had  been  al- 
leged so  often  in  stories  of  the  bat- 
tlefields" (Associated  Press  cable), 
and  a  group  of  American  correspond- 
ents recently  denied  similar  stories 
of  atrocity  credited  to  the  German 
troops.  In  spite  of  which  the  or- 
ganized press  campaign  in  the  New- 
York  editions  of  the  London  dailies 
goes  merrily  on. 

Who  Maimed  the  Body? 

The  "World"  on  September  13 
published  an  alleged  interview  be- 
tween General  von  Boehn  of  the 
German  army  and  E.  Alexander 
Powell,  commissioned  by  the  Belgian 
Government  to  familiarize  American 
readers  with  the  tales  of  cruelty  at- 
tributed to  the  Germans.  General 
Boehn  denied  these  accounts  and 
told  Powell  to  look  at  his  officers  and 
note  that  they  were  gentlemen,  and 
the  German  troops  marching  by,  most 
of  them  fathers  of  families.  But 
Powell  retorted  promptly,  "How 
about  a  woman's  body  I  saw  with 
hands  and  feet  cut  off?" 

The  inference,  of  course.  Is  that 
this  mutilated  body  was  that  of  a 
Belgian  woman,  and  that  the  muti- 
lation was  the  work  of  the  German 
troops. 

Since  this  war,  as  reflected  in  the 
American  press,  is  the  first  w^ar  in 
which  German  troops  have  been  ac- 
cused of  positive  savagery — even  De 
Maupassant,  going  to  the  last  ex- 
treme of  vindictive  spite  in  "Mile. 
Fife,"  never  went  farther  than  to 
coin  a  licentious  story  of  a  carousal 
of  young  lieutenants  with  a  bevy  of 
French  demi-monde  in  the  war  of 
1870-71 — is  it  not  far  more  prob- 
able that  tlie  iMidy  of  the  woman  ob- 
served by  Mr.  Powell  was  that  of 
a  German  woman  killed  and  muti- 
lated l)y  the  Belgians? 

When  the  truth  about  this  cam- 
paign of  lies  comes  out  we  shall 
learn  the  other  side.  We  have  be- 
fore us  now  a  pitiful  picture  of  two 
men  and  a  woman  who  are  shown 
with  their  hands  completely  severed 
by  the  Belgians. 


Belgians  on  Kecord. 

This     picture     is    from     authentic 


sources,  photographed  for  the  Brit- 
ish investigating  committee,  which 
unearthed  the  Belgian  atrocities 
committed  against  the  natives  of  thu 
rubber  districts  in  the  Congo  and 
South  America,  and  is  but  one  of  h 
large  manifest  of  proof  which  shock- 
ed the  civilized  world  a  few  years 
ago. 

As  to  the  character  of  these  fright- 
ful cruelties,  and  incidentally  what 
a  high  literary  authority  deposes  as 
to  German  civilization,  let  us  quote 
Sir  Conan  Doyle's  "The  Crime  of  the 
Congo"    (1909). 

"Sir  Edward  Gray  has  told  us  in 
his  speech  of  July  22nd,  1909,  the 
danger  of  European  peace  lies  in 
this  matter.  Let  us  look  this  danger 
squarely  in  the  face.  Whence  does 
it  come?  Is  it  from  Germany,  with 
her  traditions  of  kindly  home  life — 
is  this  the  power  which  raised  a 
hand  to  help  the  butchers  of  the 
Mongolia  and  of  the  Domaine  de  la 
Courenne?  Is  it  likely  that  those 
who  so  .justly  admire  tlie  splendid 
private  and  public  example  of  Wil- 
liam II  would  draw  the  sword  for 
Belgium?  Both  in  the  name  of  trade- 
rights  and  of  Humanity  Germany  has 
a  long  score  to  settle  on  the  Congo. 
"The  witnesses  of  the  crime  are 
of  all  nations,  and  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  error  concerning  the  facts. 
There  is  finally  the  incorruptible  evi- 
dence of  the  kodak.  The  terrible 
facts  set  out  here,  and  which  we 
know  are  only  the  mere  margin  of 
that  welter  of  violence  and  injustice 
which  the  Jesuit  Father  Verreersch 
has  summed  up  in  the  two  words: 
'Immeasurable  Misery.' 

"Often  the  white  man  acted  him- 
self as  torturer  and  executioner. 

"They  talk  of  philanthropy  and 
civilization.  Where  it  is,  I  do  not 
see.  In  one  instance  Captain  Le- 
thaire  had  put  sixty  women  in  irons 
and  allowed  nearly  all  of  them  to 
die  of  hunger,  because  one  village 
had  not  brought  in  enough  rubber. 
One  Lacroix  writes  a  letter  to  the 
"Niew  Gazet,"  of  Antwerp,  that  he 
had  murdered  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  and  crucified  women  and  chil- 
dren and  had  mutilated  many  men. 
"Sums  aggregating  at  least  7,000,- 
000  pounds  of  money  have  been 
traced  to  the  King,  and  this  money 
has  been  spent  in  buildings  in  Bel- 
gium, in  buildings  on  the  Riviera,  in 
corruption  of  public  men.  and  of  the 
European  and  .American  press,  the 
English  not  excepted,  and  finally  in 
such  a  private  life  as  has  made  the 
king's  name  notorious  throughout 
Europe" 

In  August,  1909,  a  year  after  Bel- 
glum  had  annexed  the  Congo  Free- 
State,  Prince  Albert,  the  heir  to  the 
Belgian  throne,  returning  from  the 
Congo,  said:  "What  we  must  do  is 
to  work  for  the  moral  regeneration 
of  the  natives,"  etc.  On  that  occa- 
sion Sir  Doyle  has  this  to  say:  "Mor- 
al regeneration  of  the  natives! 
Moral  Kegeneration  of  his  own  fam- 
ily and  of  his  country — that  Is  what 
tlie  situation  demands."  "The  hon- 
esty of  CJerman  <'oloniiil  policy  is  a 
proof    of    the    fitness    of    (iermany    to 


be  a  gi-eat  land-owning  power."  "Re- 
form is  an  absolute  impossibility  as 
long  as  Belgium  holds  the  Congo." 
"Surely,  there  should  be  some  pun- 
ishment for  those  who  by  their  in- 
justice and  violence  have  dragged 
Christianity  and  civilization  in  the 
dirt.  The  wretched  agents  on  the 
spot  will  be  offered  up  as  victims, 
whereas  the  real  criminals  will  es- 
cape; but  the  curse  of  blood  and  the 
scorn  of  every  honest  man  rest  upon 
them  already.  They  have  been  guil- 
ty of  the  greatest  crime  in  all  history, 
the  greater  for  having  been  carried 
out  under  the  odious  pretence  of 
philanthropy.  Surely,  somehow, 
somewhere,  they  will  have  their  re- 
ward." 


Belgian  Atrocities  Ignored. 

The  German  press  has  been  glut- 
ted with  accounts  of  Belgian  atroc- 
ities committed  upon  defenseless 
Germans  at  Louvain  and  Antwerp. 
But  of  these  the  New  York  editions 
of  the  London  papers  take  no  notice. 
A  gentleman  acting  for  a  large  Ger- 
man firm  in  Antwerp  makes  affidavit 
that  he  saw  the  German  barmaids 
in  Antwerp  stripped  by  the  mob  and 
dragged  through  the  streets  by  their 
hair.  He  also  testifies  that  in  mak- 
ing his  escape  from  the  city  he  saw 
the  body  of  a  German  woman  in  a 
public  place.  She  had  been  hacked 
to  death,  and  Belgian  viragoes  were 
kicking  her  lifeless  form  and  spit- 
ting in  her  face.  German  laborers 
escaping  from  Antwerp  were  found 
crucified  by  the  wayside.  In  many 
places  German  soldier  boys  were 
found  with  their  arms  tied  and  their 
eyes  cut  out  of  their  sockets.  But 
why   dwell   on   these  horrors! 

The  Belgians  have  been  equalling 
the  Cossacks  in  inhuman  cruelty.  It 
will  stagger  humanity  to  know  the 
truth.  But  the  truth  must  be  offset. 
So  the  Germans  must  be  made  to 
appear  equally  barbarous.  To  this 
end  the  testimony  of  milk  maids  and 
strumpets,  hoboes  and  irresponsible 
vagrants  are  quoted  as  authorities. 
Premier  Asquith  hasn't  heard  of  any 
such  outrages.  American  newspaper 
men  deny  charges  over  their  signa- 
tures. Authoritative  French  sources 
say  they  are  ignorant  of  them.  Let 
the  reader  draw  his  own  conclusion. 
But  the  "Times"  reprints  the 
"World's"  story,  and  then  adds  in  a 
cable  dispatch  of  its  own  from  Lon- 
don that  the  correspondent  of  the 
"Standard"  has  it  from  a  resident  of 
Aershot  "that  the  chief  of  staff  of 
General  von  Boehn  at  night  while 
drunk  entered  the  sleeping  room  of 
the  daughter  of  the  burgomaster  and 
that  the  burgomaster's  son  thereupon 
shot  and  killed  the  invader." 

No  responsibility  attaches  to  this 
informant;  anyone  inspired  with  mal- 
ice can  twist  the  truth  to  make  out 
a  justifiable  case  under  such  circum- 
stances. But  the  assumption  that 
the  chief  of  staff  of  a  commanding 
general  who  was  enjoying  the  hos- 
pitality of  a  private  home,  that  of 
a  man  of  the  indispensable  educa- 
tion and  dignity  of  character  pre- 
supposed in  a  man  of  such  age  and 
rank,  should  get  drunk,  and  assault 
the  defenseless  daughter  of  the  house 
is   so    preposterous   that   none   but   a 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


thoroughly  vitrified  brain  would 
credit  the  story.  On  the  face  ot  it, 
the  account  is  a  mere  variation  on 
the   fiction   of   De   Maupassant. 


WAR   OB   VANDALISM. 


Editorial. 


ALLEGED  CRUELTY  OF  GERMANS 
UNTRUE. 


.Statement    of    Tribune    War 

Correspondent.     The 

Chicago  Tribune. 

New  York,  Sept.  6. — The  Asso- 
ciated Press  has  received  by  wire- 
less from  Berlin  a  message  which 
was  sent  from  Aix-la-Chapelle  to 
Berlin  for  transuils.sidn.  The  authors, 
all  of  whom  are  well  known  Amer- 
ican newspaper  men,  were  originally 
assigned  to  Brussels,  and  when  that 
city  was  taken  they  were  returned  to 
Alx-la-Chapelle,  from  which  city 
they  have  been  endeavoring  to  reach 
London,   but  without  success. 

The  telegram  was  partly  mutilated 
by  Interference  and  certain  words  are 
missing,  but  the  text  here  given  is 
clearly  that  intended*  by  the  au- 
thors: 

In  spirit  we  are  a  unit  in  render- 
ing German  atrocities  groundless,  as 
far  as  we  are  able  to.  After  spending 
two  weeks  with  and  accompanying  the 
troops  upward  of  one  hundred  miles,  we 
are  unalile  to  report  a  single  instance 
unprovoked. 

We  are  also  unable  to  confirm 
rumors  of  mistreatment  of  prisoners 
or  of  noncombatants  with  the  Ger- 
man columns.  This  is  true  of  Lou- 
vain,  Brussels,  Lnneville,  and  Nancy, 
while  in  Prussian  hands. 

We  visited  Chateau  Soldre,  Sam- 
bre,  and  Beaumont  without  substan- 
tiating a  single  wanton  brutality. 
Numerous  Investigating  rumors 
proved  groundless.  Everywhere  we 
have  seen  Germans  paying  for  pur- 
chases and  respecting  property  rights 
as  well  as  according  civilians  every 
consideration. 

After  the  battle  of  Blass  (probably 
Barse,  a  suburb  of  Namur)  we  found 
Belgian  women  and  children  moving 
comfortably  about.  The  day  after 
the  Germans  had  captured  the  town 
In  Merbes  Chateau  we  found  one 
citizen  killed,  but  were  unable  to  con- 
firm lack  of  provocation.  Refugees 
with  stories  of  atrocities  were  unable 
to  supply  direct  evidence.  Belgians 
in  the  Sambre  valley  discounted  re- 
ports of- cruelty  in  the  surrounding 
country.  The  discipline  of  the  Ger- 
man soldiers  is  excellent,  as  we  ob- 
served. 

To   the   truth   of   these   statements 
we  pledge  our  professional  and  per- 
sonal word. 
JAMES  O'DONNELL  BENNETT, 

Chicago  Tribune. 
JOHN  T.  McCUTCHEON, 

Chicago  Tribune. 
ROGER  LEWIS, 
The  Associated  Press. 
mVIN  S,  COBB, 
Saturday  Evening  Post. 
HARRY  HANSEN, 
Chicago  Dally  News. 


*We  reprint  elsewhere  in  this  book 
the  confirmation  of  this  telegram 
under  the  heading:  "German  Atroc- 
ities Fiction.  "-^Editor. 


Illinois   Staats-Zeitung,   Chicago. 

Under  this  heading,  "The  Chicago 
Tribune"  writes  editorially,  in  its  is- 
sue of  September  21st,  1914,  partly 
as  follows: 

"Military  necessity  pleaded  by  the 
German  government  in  defense  of  the 
violation  of  Belgium's  neutrality  will 
doubtless  be  advanced  to  cover  the 
destruction  ot  Rheims  cathedral  by 
cannon  fire.  The  statement  of  the 
general  staff  as  to  Louvain  is  not 
satisfying  and  the  destruction  of  the 
Rheims  cathedral  following  it  quick- 
ly will  encourage  the  charge  by  Ger- 
many's enemies  and  the  suspicion 
among  neutrals  that  the  German  gen- 
eral staff  is  willing  to  punish  her 
enemies  at  the  cost  of  all  civilization 
."  "No  time  should  be  lost 
in  making  the  fullest  and  most  satis- 
factory statement  as  to  both  inci- 
dents if  a  most  unfavorable  impres- 
sion upon  intelligent  American  opin- 
ion  is   to   be   avoided      .       .       . " 

We  are  not  authorized  by  the 
German  government  to  explain  why 
Louvain  was  partially  destroyed,  nor 
why  Rheims  was  bombarded.  There- 
fore our  remarks  are  expressions  of 
our  opinions  and  as  such  are  en- 
titled to  the  same  careful  considera- 
tion as  are  the  opinions  of  "The 
Tribune." 

Our  opinion  is,  that  the  present 
German  general  staff  is  as  loath  to 
destroy  property  in  Belgium  and  in 
France  as  it  was  loath  to  do  so  in 
1870.  We  firmly  believe  that  Amer- 
icans will  bring  proof  of  this  conten- 
tion in  the  future  notwithstanding 
the  highly  colored  reports  now  com- 
ing to  us  from  London,  Paris,  Bor- 
deaux and  Antwerp.  The  Belgian 
charges  of  German  atrocities,  now 
disproved  by  American  war  corre- 
spondents, have  been  shifted  to 
charges  against  Germany  of  vandal- 
ism and  unnecessary  destruction  of 
Belgian  and  French  cathedrals  and 
art  treasures.  Truthful  accounts 
from  Americans  will  reach  us  later, 
entirely  disproving  these  latter 
charges. 

The  first  line  in  "The  Tribune's" 
editorial  proves  that  the  writer  of 
that  editorial  does  not  remember 
that  which  he  surely  must  have  read 
many  times,  viz:  Belgium's  neutral- 
ity was  violated  by  the  French  long 
before  a  German  soldier  set  foot  upon 
Belgian  soil: 

1.  By  French  troops  assembled 
"en  masse"  at  the  railway  station  at 
Exquellines  on  August  1st,  1914. 
(See  reports  of  hundreds  of  eye. 
witnesses  as  printed  in  Belgian  and 
German  newspapers.) 

2.  By  French  troops  massed  on 
the  Belgian  border  prior  to  August 
1st,  1914.  (See  official  report  of 
German   government.) 

3.  By  French  aviators  flying  from 
Belgian  soil  over  the  German  boun- 
dary, into  German  jurisdiction,  re- 
connoitering  German  military  man- 
euvers and  then  returning  to  Bel- 
gian soil.  (See  statement  by  German 
government,  never  denied  by  Bel- 
gium nor  by  France) 


4.  By  French  military  aviators 
over  Nuernberg,  a  German  city,  and 
dropping  bombs  upon  it  before  war 
was  declared  between  France  and 
Germany.  (See  official  statement  of 
German  government  never  denied  by 
the  French) 

France  did  not  first  request  Ger- 
many to  permit  its  aviators  to  drop 
bombs  upon  Nuernberg,  nor  was 
Nuernberg  in  a  state  of  siege,  nor 
had  the  city  first  been  asked  to  sur- 
render, nor  were  the  inhabitants 
warned  that  French  bombs  would 
drop  out  of  the  clouds  .  .  .  Ger- 
many and  France  were  at  peace  with 
each  other     .     .  but  the  French 

bombs  were  dropped  upon  Nuernberg 
and  France  does  not  deny  it. 

France  did  not  request  Belgium's 
permission  to  send  French  troops  to 
Exquellines  (in  Belgium)  although 
Prussia  (  before  the  German  Empire 
existed)  together  with  France  and 
England  did  guarantee  to  respect  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium,  and  Prance 
does  not  deny  that  French  troops 
were  at  Exquellines  "en  masse"  be- 
fore England  declared  war  upon  Ger- 
many and  consequently  before  a 
single  German  soldier  had  set  foot 
upon  Belgian  soil. 

Let  the  really  neutral  American 
citizen  weigh  above  facts  and  THEN 
endeavor  to  convince  the  biased 
American  that  Belgium's  neutrality 
was  first  violated  by  France  without 
official  England  making  it  a  cause 
for   declaring  war   upon  France. 

The  "Tribune"  (in  its  editorial) 
sneers  that  "military  necessity"  will 
be  advanced  to  excuse  the  burning 
of  Louvain  and  Rheims.  We  have 
seen  that  "military  necessity"  was 
NOT  the  reason  for  breach  of  Bel- 
gian neutrality — for  Belgian  neutral- 
ity no  longer  existed  when  German 
troops  entered  Belgium,  but  "mili- 
tary necessity"  is  the  reason  given 
for  entering  France  via  Belgium,  in- 
stead of  Alsace,  Switzerland  or 
Luxemburg. 

Nor  will  "military  necessity"  be 
given  as  the  reason  for  burning  part 
of  Louvain.  The  citizens  of  Louvain, 
in  great  numbers,  fired  from  the 
windows  of  houses  and  of  churches 
upon  the  German  soldiers  as  they 
marched  through  the  streets  of 
Louvain  after  its  capitulation.  In 
retaliation  the  German  army  attack- 
ed those  civilian  belligerents  as  a 
military  force  and  in  doing  so  de- 
stroyed many  of  the  houses  and 
churches  in  which  they  were  con- 
cealed. 

The  case  is  not  parallel  with  our 
occupation  of  Vera  Cruz,  Mexico, 
where  a  few  Mexican  soldiers  con- 
cealed in  houses,  fired  upon  and 
killed  a  few  American  marines.  Vera 
Cruz  had  not  capitulated  to  the 
Americans,  the  soldiers  had  a  right 
to  fire  from  houses  and  we  had  a 
right  to  fire  at  them — but  not  at 
peaceful  civilians — nor  burn  houses 
in  which  citizens  had  concealed 
themselves.  We  had  a  right  to 
riddle  those  few  houses  from  which 
Mexican  soldiers  fired  upon  our 
marines  and  in  fact  those  houses 
were  attacked,  searched  and  cleared 
of  our  enemy.  In  Louvain,  the  citi- 
zens in  very  large  numbers  attacked 
an  unsuspecting,  victorious  army  and 


WITH  THE  WESTERN"  GERMAN  ARMIES 


263 


killed  a  great  many  of  its  soldiers; 
in  Vera  Cruz,  a  few  Mexican  soldiers 
attacked  an  invading  army  and  killed 
a   few   marines. 

Nothing  very  authentic  is  known 
about  the  attack  upon  the  Rheims 
cathedral.  No  German  report  has 
affirmed  the  French  version  of  the 
burning  of  the  Rheims  cathedral. 
Therefore,  in  the  words  of  President 
Wilson;  "We  will  NOT  condemn  any 
one  of  the  warring  nations  at  pres- 
ent, because  to  do  so  would  be  to 
pass  judgment  prematurely.  To 
condemn  Germany  because  the 
French  reports  depict  the  bombard- 
ment of  Rheims  and  the  burning  of 
its  cathedral  even  before  word  of 
confirmation  has  come  from  German 
or  American  sources  would  indeed 
be  passing  judgment  prematurely." 

Nor  is  the  judgment  of  the 
"Tribune"  correct,  that  "military 
necessity"  will  be  pleaded  by  the 
Germans  in  defense  of  the  violation 
of  Belgium's  neutrality,  (nor  the  ex- 
cuse for  burning  part  of  Louvain), 
nor  will  it  "doubtless  be  advanced 
for  the  destruction  (if  this  be  true) 
of  the  Rheims  cathedral  by  cannon 
fire." 

If  the  "statement  is  not  satisfying" 
as  to  Louvain,  then  the  statement  of 
any  man,  who  is  attacked  from  be- 
hind "is  not  satisfying,"  when  that 
man  says  he  struck  his  assailant 
down,  where  he  found  him,  because 
he   had   been    first   attacked. 

If  there  is  a  vestige  of  an  opinion 
left  in  the  mind  of  an  American  that 
Louvain  was  partly  destroyed  because 
the  "German  general  staff  is  willing 
to  punish  her  enemies  at  the  cost 
of  all  civilization"  then  that  Ameri- 
can is  NOT  neutral,  but  like  the 
Tribune's  editorial  writer,  does  NOT 
want  to  accept  any  reason  whatever 
for  changing  his  biased  view  con- 
cerning tiie  fact  that  part  of  Lou- 
vain  was   destroyed   by   Germans. 

Denial  of  the  Atrocity  Charges. 

(Editorial  from  "The  Chicago  Tri- 
bune,"  September   S,    1914.) 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  direct 
special  attention  to  the  importance 
of  the  message  of  the  five  war  cor- 
respondents— two  of  whom  are  rep- 
resentatives of  The  Tribune  and 
known  throughout  the  country — 
with  reference  to  the  charges  of 
atrocity  and  savage  cruelty  that 
have  been  made  against  the  German 
troops  in  Belgium. 

The  correspondents  refute  the 
charges,  naturally  only  "so  far  as 
they  are  able  to,"  but  their  testi- 
mony, as  far  as  it  goes,  is  direct  and 
significant,  as  well  as  highly  gratify- 
ing. They  speak  of  the  excellent  dis- 
cipline of  the  German  soldiers;  they 
investigated  various  reports  and 
rumors  only  to  find  them  untrue. 
They  had  ample  opportunities  for 
observation  and  have  not  one  single 
case  of  unprovoked  cruelly  to  record. 
They  say  that  the  Belgians  them- 
selves discount  rumors  of  this  kind, 
and  that  refugees  who  circulated 
them  were  unable  to  furnish  evi- 
dence. 

If  the  Belgian  commissioners  now 
on  the  way  to  this  country  have  facts 
and  evidence  to  present,  they  will  be 


heard  and  their  case  will  be  con- 
sidered. Meantime  to  repeat  the  de- 
nial is  grateful  and  reassuring.  The 
charges  of  atrocity  against  the  army 
of  a  great  and  civilized  people  have 
had  a  depressing  and  profoundly 
disquieting  effect.  One  London 
weekly  of  weight  and  character  has 
appealed  to  President  Wilson,  as 
head  of  the  greatest  neutral  nation, 
to  address  Emperor  William  openly 
and  ask  him  what  "hla  intentions 
are"  with  regard  to  respect  for  the 
laws  of  humanity  and  the  prohibi- 
tions by  solemn  treaties  of  savage 
and  barbarous  forms  of  warfare.  If 
the  charges  were  well  grounded  in 
most  cases  one  would  despair  of  civ- 
ilization and  culture. 

The  message  should  at  least  cause 
everybody  to  suspend  judgment  and 
demand  convincing  testimony. 


\\    .\lTHOHlTATIVE  STATEMENT 
<).\   (;EH>1AX  "AT1{<)(  ITIES." 


E<litoiial. 
Tlie  Springfl<'I(l   I'uion. 

The  I'nion  has  n^p'-atodly  admon- 
ished its  readers  to  fnke  with  a  grain 
of  salt  the  stories  of  German  atro- 
cities emanating  very  largely  from 
sources  hostile  to  the  German  cause, 
and  now  comes  a  statement  signed 
by  American  correspondents  of  the 
highest  repute  that  most  of  these  re- 
ported atrocities  are  utterly  without 
foundation.  That  there  have  been 
certain  outrageous  and  uncivilized 
acts  committed  by  German  soldiers 
probably  is  true,  just  as  it  is  equally 
true  that  individual  soldiers  among 
the  Allies  have  not  been  without 
fault  in  these  respects.  War  Is  not 
a  lovely  thing  whether  engaged  in 
by  so-called  civilized  peoples  or  by 
savages.  It  arouses  passion  and  Im- 
pulses sure  to  find  expression  In 
deeds  that  seem  to  offer  no  excuse. 
It  has  been  so  with  every  war,  and 
so  It  will  be  so  long  as  war  endures. 
But  to  charge  the  German  troops, 
as  they  have  been  charged,  with  un- 
speakable cruelties,  such  as  might 
be  expected  from  barbarians.  Is  as 
unfair  as  it   Is  senseless. 

Roger  Lewis,  of  the  Associated 
Press;  Irvin  R.  Cobb,  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Public  Ledger;  Harry  Han- 
sen, of  the  Chicago  Dally  News,  and 
.lames  O'Donnell  Bennett  and  .lohn 
T.  McCutcheon.  of  the  Chicago  Trib- 
une, after  spending  two  weeks 
with,  and  accompanying  the  German 
troops  upwards  of  100  miles,  .nssert 
that  they  are  unable  to  find  a  single 
instance  in  which  unprovoked  atro- 
cities have  been  committed.  "Every- 
where." they  eay,  "we  have  seen  Ger- 
mans paying  for  purchases  and  re- 
specting property  rights  as  well  as 
according  civilians  every  considera- 
tion." To  this  they  add:  "The  dis- 
cipline of  the  German  soldiers  is  ex 
cellent,"  and  to  the  proof  of  their 
statements  they  pledge  their  "pro- 
fesBional  and  personal  word." 

These  correspondents  are  wholly 
disinterested.  They  are  concerned 
merely  with  reporting  the  facts  as 
they  find  them,  and  until  there  Is 
overwhelming  evidence  to  the  con- 
trary,   their    findings    in    this    matter 


should  be  accepted  by  the  American 
public.  The  Germans  apparently 
have  much  to  answer  for  in  the  de- 
struction of  Louvain,  but  already  ac- 
counts of  their  operations  there  are 
being  somewhat  toned  down  by  later 
versions.  It  is  just  as  well  not  to 
convict  the  Germans  on  testimony 
emanating  from  Paris  and  London, 
neither  should  the  allied  forces  be 
convicted  of  anything  on  the  strength 
cif  re]Mirls  scul  nut  rrciiii  Berlin,  ."^n 
long  as  the  present  indefensible 
censorship  continues,  accounts  are 
bound  to  be  colored  according  to  the 
sources  from  which  they  originate. 
If  the  respective  nations  are  really 
desirous  of  setting  themselves  right 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  they  cannot  go  about 
it  better  than  by  giving  the  corre- 
spondents of  the  press  associations 
and  individual  newspapers  a  full  op- 
portunity to  record  and  transmit 
llieii'  (iliservnliiius. 


TIIE    I  ALL   OK   AXTWEKP. 


riic   New    York  Evening:  I'ost. 

(Reprinted  from  the  "Milwaukee 
Free  Press,"  Otcober  16,  1914.) 

Despite  the  efforts  in  dispatches 
from  Paris  to  minimize  the  fall  of 
Antwerp,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
German  elation  over  its  capture  is 
justified.  It  is  not  only  that  they 
have  smashed  to  pieces  in  ten  days 
what  was  considered  to  be  an  impreg- 
nable stronghold,  and  thereby  con- 
summated a  feat  of  arms  which  is 
only  partially  paralled  even  In  the 
l;ili  lit  lAv'A-  and  N'MUiur;  lliey  have 
achieved  a  success  which  cannot  but 
have  a  profound  moral  effect  upon 
their  enemies. 

A  week  ago  the  value  of  Antwerp 
was  admitted  in  dispatches  which  rep- 
resented the  allies  as  racing  to  the 
rescue  of  the  city;  the  hasty  dispatch 
of  the  British  naval  guns  that  were 
so  effective  in  South  Africa  Is  further 
proof  that  the  allies  recognized  the 
enormous  value  of  a  German  check 
or  of  a  long-delayed  siege.  French 
newspapers  freely  stated  that  Ant- 
werp was  sure  to  hold  out  for  weeks 
or  months;  but  just  as  the  expert  of 
the  London  times  declared  the  day 
before  the  fall  of  Namur  that  that 
city  would  block  the  Germans  for 
four  weeks,  so  the  experts  again  went 
astray.  The  German  attack  was  be- 
yond anything  ever  seen  in  modern 
warfare,  and  the  Krupp  artillery  can 
now  boast  of  unsurpassed  victories. 

The  military  value  to  the  Germans 
of  the  capture  of  Antwerp  Is  best 
measured  If  we  think  what  would 
have  happened  if  the  allies  had  suc- 
ceeded In  preventing  Its  capture,  or 
raised  the  siege.  Then  they  would 
have  been  In  a  position  gravely  to 
menace  Brussels  and  the  German 
communications  In  Belgium.  It 
would  have  been  hailed  as  necessi- 
tating the  retirement  of  the  kaiser's 
forces  from  France,  as  well  it  might 
have,  and  the  allies  would  have 
cheered  It  as  Indicating  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end  of  the  struggle  on 
anything  except  German  territory. 


EVOLUTIOxN  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


Now  conditions  are  reversed;  the 
Belgian  army  has  again  received  a 
stunning  blow,  and  may  have  lost  as 
high  as  40,000  more  men  by  casual- 
ties and  internments  in  Holland,  the 
latter  are  said  to  total  2(J,<XM),  all  in  ad- 
dition to  the  British  loss  of  2,300 
from  similar  causes.  That  the  Brit- 
ish marines'  support  was  so  futile  and 
that  they  were  bundled  out  so  uncere- 
moniously in  forty-eight  hours  will 
cause  more  rejoicing  in  Berlin  than 
anything  else,  since  the  feeling 
against  England  is  so  Intensely  bit- 
ter. 

Ab  to  the  direct  military  advan- 
tages to  the  Germans,  that,  as  we 
have  already  pointed  out,  lies  chiefly 
in  the  fact  that  the  attacking  army 
Is  now  free  to  move  on  Ostend  and 
Calais,  and  that  the  last  menace  to 
the  German  communications  in  Bel- 
gium Itself  Is  at  an  end.  It  is  the 
great  battle  line  in  France  and  the 
extreme  northwest  corner  of  Belgium 
which  is  now  protecting  the  trans- 
portation lines  to  Cologne  and  Aix-la- 
Chapelle.  Everything  but  a  skeleton 
force  of  railroad  guards  may  now  be 
thrown  towards  Lille  or  towards  Os- 
tend, to  meet  the  allied  troops.  With 
them  must  now  be  fought  out  the 
question  whether  the  Germans  can 
cut  off  and  hold  the  channel  ports 
as  far  as  Calais,  or  whether  they  must 
content  themselves  by  building  the 
last  link  in  the  300-mile  line  of 
breastworks  from  Switzerland  to  the 
sea,  and  waiting  until  the  German 
artillery  can  crack  the  hardest  nuts 
of  all,  Toul  and  Verdun,  or  until  they 
are  compelled  to  tall  back  toward  the 
Rhine. 

Whatever  the  outcome  of  the  next 
moves,  the  allies  fight  with  a  heavier 
burden  than  before.  In  England 
fresh  anxiety  and  a  recognition  of 
the  heartening  effect  upon  the  Ger- 
mans must  bring  about  considerable 
depression,  not  because  of  any  real 
danger  of  the  enemy's  using  Antwerp 
for  naval  or  aerial  attacks — we  can- 
not believe  that  they  will  seek  to 
violate  Dutch  neutrality — but  be- 
cause of  the  plain  fact  that  every 
such  German  success  means  the  stif- 
fening of  the  backbone  of  the  empire. 
In  Austria,  as  in  Italy  and  Turkey, 
the  moral  results  will  be  far-reach- 
ing as  well.  To  the  hard-pressed 
Austrians  this  fresh  proof  of  the 
power  of  the  German  arms  comes  in 
the  nick  of  time.  In  France,  too, 
with  her  large  reliance  upon  those 
eastern  fortresses  which  have  fought 
so  manfully,  the  collapse  of  Ant- 
werp must  have  a  chilling  effect.  In- 
deed, the  whole  world  outside  of  the 
sympathizers  with  Germany  must 
grieve  at  this  fresh  evidence  that  we 
are  In  for  a  long-drawn-out  brutaliz- 
ing struggle.  In  which  the  pogr  Bel- 
gians are  apparently  to  be  ground  to 
pieces,  since  there  is  every  prospect 
for  further  terrible  fighting  upon 
their  soil. 

There  is  but  one  satisfaction  for 
the  humanitarian  and  anti-militarist 
In  it  all — ^the  universal  admission  that 
fortresses  have  been  vanquished  by 
ordnance,  unless  supported  by  great 
mobile  forces,  in  which  case  hasty 
earthworks  seem  to  serve  about  as 
well.  As  the  honors  at  sea  are  for 
the  moment,  at  least,  with  the  sub- 
marine,  so  on  land   the  prestige  be- 


longs to  the  guns,  not  the  forts.  Ant- 
werp's defences  were  planned  by  the 
ablest  French  and  Belgian  engineers, 
only  to  go  down  like  paper  before 
what  was  probably  chiefly  an  army  of 
reserves  and  of  the  Landsturm. 

It  will  be  difficult,  hereafter,  for 
war  ministers  to  demand  millions  for 
structures  that  are  certain  to  prove 
merely  the  tombs  of  their  defend- 
ers. In  addition  to  this  the  question 
must  also  be  asked  whether  the 
money  which  may  be  lost  by  the 
shelling  of  so  great  and  rich  a  city 
as  Antwerp  does  not  now  exert  a 
powerful  if  unconscious  influence 
against  the  defenders  and  in  favor 
of  an  early  surrender.  In  the  future 
it  should  be  a  powerful  argument 
against  fortifying  any  great  urban 
marts  of  trade. 


army?  Will  it  be  as  serious  to  the 
army  of  the  allies  as  the  reinforce- 
ment of  the  Japanese  at  Mukden  by 
Nogi  after  the  fall  of  Port  Arthur  and 
the  release  of  Nogi's  army  from  that 
task?  A  few  days  must  tell  decis- 
ively. 


ANTWERP  AND  AFTER. 


The   Chicago   Ti-ibune. 

The  fall  of  Antwerp  adds  another 
sanguinary  act  to  that  tragic  drama 
whose  denouement  waits  behind  the 
Impenetrable  curtain  of  the  future. 
In  all  that  drama  the  most  heroic  fig- 
ure is  little  Belgium,  little  in  physi- 
cal power,  great  in  high-hearted 
courage  and  patriotic  sacrifice;  little 
in  physical  power  and  yet  history  may 
record  how  that  little  turned  the 
scale  of  battle  and  gave  victory  to 
the  allied  arms.'  Indeed,  we  know 
now  that  Liege  saved  Paris:  that  the 
stubborn  resistance  of  the  small  Bel- 
gian army,  which  will  go  down  in 
history  as  one  of  the  most  heroic 
feats  in  the  records  of  war,  parried 
the  deadly  lunge  that  German  war- 
craft  had  leveled  at  the  French  cap- 
ital. 

And  now  Belgium  has  lost  all  the 
great  citadels  the  genius  of  her  great 
military  engineer,  Brialmont,  had  de- 
signed for  such  an  extremity  as  this. 
She  has  paid  in  blood  and  sorrow,  but 
not  a  drop  in  shame.  Whatever  her 
fortune  may  be  from  now  on  she  has 
this  to  sustain  her. 

As  to  the  military  consequences  of 
the  capture  of  Antwerp,  it  is  foolish 
to  prophesy.  The  talk  of  Antwerp  as 
a  Iiase  asainst  Enptland  is  exagser- 
ated.  Napoleon  is  quoted  as  calling 
Antwerp  a  pistol  at  the  head  of 
England.  But  it  was.  a  pistol  that 
he  could  not  discharge.  Germany 
had  a  base  for  operations  against 
England,  but  she  will  not  be  able  to 
use  it  until  the  British  fleet  is  beat- 
en.' Zeppelin  raids  will  count  for 
little  except  to  rouse  British  war  feel- 
ing still  more  and  increase  the  rate 
of  enlistment. 

The  main  strategic  motives  for  the 
determined  attack  upon  Antwerp 
were  based  upon  the  fact  that  it  was 
a  danger  to  the  German  communica- 
tions and  the  fact  that  its  existence 
on  the  flank  or  rear  of  the  German 
advance  necessitated  withholding  a 
large  force  from  the  main  battle  line. 

What  will  be  the  result  of  the  re- 
lease of  the  large  body  of  troops  and 
heavy  guns  assigned  to  the  taking  of 
Antwerp?  The  Belgian  defending 
force  was  not  captured  and  will  join 
the  allies.  What  will  be  the  effect  of 
the     reinforcement    of    Von    Kluck's 


'It  is  heart-rending  to  watch  the 
crocodile  tears  which  "The  Tribune" 
sheds,  editorially,  for  poor  "little 
heroic  Belgium"  at  every  available 
opportunity.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
at  the  same  time  how  this  friend  of 
the  Allies  is  hoping  against  hope  that 
the  allied  arms  may  yet  lick  the 
"German  barbarians." — Editor. 

"From  "The  Chicago  Daily  News" 
of   October    16: 

"London,  England,  Oct.  16,  1:42  p. 
m. — Another  thrust  from  the  Ger- 
man submarine  service  has  robbed 
the  British  navy  of  the  cruiser  Hawke 
and  has  raised  the  tally  of  the  list  of 
warships  sunk  by  the  Germans  to 
seven.  To  this  must  be  added  the 
virtual  destruction  of  the  cruiser  Pe- 
gasus by  a  German  warship  at  Zanzi- 
bar. 

"The  Hawke,  a  cruiser  of  7,350 
tons,  under  command  of  Capt.  Hugh 
Williams,  was  sunk  yesterday  in  the 
North  sea,  the  graveyard  of  six  other 
warships,  which  were  the  victims  of 
German    torpedoes.      *      •      * 

"*  •  •  According  to  one  re- 
port, she  had  only  400  aboard.  What- 
ever the  number,  only  fifty-two  men 
were  saved,  and  there  was  not  a  sin- 
gle commissioned  officer  among 
them. 

Iiist  of  British  Naval  Losses. 

"The  Cruisers  Amphion,  Pathfind- 
er, Aboukir,  Cressy,  Hogue,  Pegasus 
and  Hawke,  and  the  torpedo  gunboat 
Speedy  make  up  the  British  formid- 
able list  of  losses  in  warships  in  the 
first  ten  weeks  of  the  war.  Against 
this  the  British  admirality  claims 
four  German  cruisers,  two  torpedo 
boat  destroyers,  one  torpedo  boat, 
three  submarines  and  eight  torpedo 
commerce  destroyers. 

"Omitting  the  armed  merchant- 
men, the  aggregate  warship  tonnage 
loss  to  England  is.  of  course,  much 
greater  than  that  to  Germany." 

Slowly,  but  surely  the  German 
beavers  are  doing  their  work,  Mr. 
Editorial  Writer  of  "The  Tribune." 
Contrary  to  English  reports,  the  sub- 
marine U9  was  unaccompanied  when 
it  sank  the  British  cruisers  Aboukir, 
Cressy  and  Hogue  in  September.  It 
was  again  the  same  submarine  U9, 
with  Captain  Otto  Weddingen.  Lieu- 
tenant Spiess  and  twenty-four  men 
on  board,  that  also  sank  the  cruiser 
Hawke.  Winston  Churchill  has  not 
been  making  any  more  "Dig  German 
warships  out  like  rats  from  holes" 
speeches  of  late.  If  the  British  war- 
ships at  the  bottom  of  the  North 
Sea  have  failed  "to  rouse  British 
war  feeling"  we  cannot  believe  the 
prophesy  of  this  champion  of  Eng- 
land that  Zeppelin  raids  will  rouse 
it  still  more  "and  increase  the  rate 
of  enlistment." 

An  article  entitled  "For  King  and 
Country"  in  "The  Outlook"  (New 
York)  for  October  14,  says: 

"You  pass  through  Tottenham 
Court   Road   into   Oxford   Street  and 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


265 


Regent  Street  (London).  In  many 
of  the  shop  windows  are  such  printed 
appeals  as  these,  in  large  letters: 

TO  ARMS  FOR  KING  AND  COUN- 
TRY! 

YOUR  COUNTRY  NEEDS  YOU! 

LORD  KITCHENER  WANTS  100,- 
000  MORE  VOLUNTEERS. 

JOIN  THE  ARMY  TILL  THE  WAR 
IS  OVER. 

"And  then,  more  rarely,  such  a 
pithy,  appealing  notice  as  this  to  any 
Britisher  of  backbone: 

UP  TILL  NOW  YOU  HAVE 
LOOKED  ON  AT  THE  GAME.  WE 
CALL  UPON  YOU  TO  PLAY  IT 
NOW.  FORWARDS  WANTED!  NO 
BACKS!      PLAY  UP! 

"And  then,  above  all,  this  one: 

COME  NOW,  DON'T  HAVE  TO 
BE  FETCHED!  THE  PEOPLE  WILL 
LOOK  AFTER  YOUR  HOMES. 

"Just  how  any  Englishman  who 
believes  in  his  country's  cause  can 
withstand  this  last  appeal  is  beyond 
me. 

"Then  there  are  other  and  rather 
more  commercial  appeals  In  the  shop 


windows.     In  a  Piccadilly  cigar  em- 
porium there  is  this: 

ALL  TOBACCO  AND  CIGARS  FOR 
THE  CONTINENT  ARE  NOW  DUTY 
FREE.  REMEMBER  OUR  MEN  AT 
THE  FRONT. 

"And  then  there  Is  still  another 
kind  of  appeal: 

YOU  DON'T  WANT  US  TO  CLOSE 
UP  BECAUSE  OF  THE  WAR,  DO 
YOU?  TWO  HUNDRED  AND  FIF- 
TY EMPLOYEES  ARE  DEPEN- 
DENT FOR  THEIR  DAILY  BREAD 
ON  THIS  ESTABLISHMENT.  PAT- 
RONIZE US  INSTEAD  OF  BUYING 
GOODS  "MADE  IN  GERMANY." 

"But  the  recruiting's  the  thing.  It 
is  going  bravely  forward,  and  an  ad- 
ditional fillip  is  given  wherever  a 
band  is  present  outside  the  recruiting 
office  playing  patriotic  airs.  Several 
orchestras  make  a  point  of  accom- 
panying, without  charge,  the  various 
contingents  from  the  London  Central 
Recruiting  Depot  in  Great  Scotland 
Yard  to  the  railway  station. 

"Yet  with  all  the  recruiting  there 
comes  to  us  who  have  been  in  Ger- 


many two  pathetic  convictions.  The 
first  is  that  these  preparations  are 
being  made  much  too  long  after  the 
war  has  begun.  The  second  is  that 
the  preparations  are  meeting  with  in- 
adequate response.  Day  before  yes- 
terday was  London's  largest  recruit- 
ing day;  four  thousand  men  joined 
the  ranks.  But  the  total  of  recruits 
is  small  as  compared  with  the  TWO 
MILLION  VOLUNTEERS  IN  GER- 
MANY." (The  last  five  words  are 
euijihasizeil  by  caiiitals  \>y  the  Editor. 

In  Germany  there  were  two  mil- 
lion volunteers,  besides  the  million 
and  more  men  that  were  compelled 
by  law  to  join  the  standards  at  the 
mobilization  of  the  German  army.  In 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Anti-Ger- 
man press  says  it  is  the  "Kaiser's 
war"  and  the  Germans  are  but  "his 
pawns."  However,  if  that  is  the 
case,  and  many  Anglomaniacs  still  as- 
sert it,  Dr.  von  Bethmann-Hollweg, 
the  Imperial  Chancellor,  did  not  have 
to  go  on  the  stump  and  make 
speeches  to  arouse  the  furor  teuton- 
icus.  But  he  accompanied  the  "War 
Lord"  to  the  front.      *      *      » 


The  Position  of  France 
How  France  has  Behaved  for  a  Century  among  her  Neighbors! 


WILL  H1.STORY  REPEAT  ITSELF'2 


The  Fatherland,  Xew  York. 
EXTRA!  EXTRA!  EXTRA! 


SIX  OEKMAN  BATTLESHIPS  SUNK. 


FRANCE     WHIPS    THE     KAISER'S 
ARMY. 


Entire  Corps  of  Uhlans  Mowed  Down 
By   French   Machine   Guns. 


Paris  Delirious  With  Joy  Over  First 

Victory. 

In  the  above  manner  the  first 
events  (or  suppositions,  rather)  of 
the  gigantic  struggle  are  being  dis- 
played to  New  York.  The  people 
show  a  feverish  interest,  and  "ex- 
tras" are  sold,  aggregating  a  tre- 
mendous total.  Today,  the  newsboy 
is  the  only  business  man  downtown 
doing  a  real  business. 

The  sentimental  effect  of  these 
glaring  headlines  on  the  masses  vary: 
Delight — disbelief — and  a  little  de- 
pression. To  those  who  are  taking 
the  present  "war  news"  with  a  good 
grain  of  salt,  and  those  who  feel  un- 
easy over  the  members  of  their  fam- 
ilies and  friends  who  may  be  fighting 
for  the  "Vaterland"  or  are  within 
the  danger  zone,  a  reproduction  of 
the  "New  York  World"  exactly  4  4 
years  ago  will  be  of  Interest. 

To  explain  the  actual  situation,  it 
should  be  stated  that  the  serious 
ighting  had  started  with  the  en- 
gagement at  Saarbrucken  on  August 
2,  the  French  occupying  the  city, 
Paris  at  once  heard  of  the  "grande 
victolre."  With  his  breakfast  on 
August  4,  1870,  the  New  Yorker  was 


served   the    following   "extras"   from 
the  war: 

The  Fight  at  Saarbrncken. 

Napoleon's  Account  of  the  Storming 

of  the  Heights. 

His   Despatch   to   Eugenie. 

Half  of  the  Town  Destroyed. 

The  Mitrailleurs  at  Work. 

Moral    Effect    of    the    First    French 

Victory. 

More  Fighting. 

Reported    Storming    of    Weissenberg 

by   the  French. 

Bazaine's  Corps  Engaged. 

King  William  Assumes  Command  of 

His  Army. 

Position  of  the  Prussians. 

The  Whole  of  Europe  a  Vast  Camp. 

England  Distrusted  Everywhere. 

Negotiations  to  Keep  Open  the  Ports 

of  Hamburg  and  Bremen, 

etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

Three  Thou.sand  Prisoners  Captured. 

Paris,  Aug.  3.- — -The  division  of  the 
French  army  under  General  Bataille, 
captured  the  town  of  Saarbrucken 
and  took  3,000  Prussian  prisoners. 

The  Battle  of  Saarbrucken. 

London,  Aug.  3.  (Noon) — The  fol- 
lowing details  of  the  affair  at  Saar- 
brucken have  been  received  here: 

The  fight  began  at  11  o'clock  yes- 
terday forenoon.  The  French  passed 
the  frontier  in  force.  The  Prussians 
were  driven  from  their  strong  posi- 
tion by  the  sharp  artillery  fire  of  the 
French.  The  latter  remained  mas- 
ters of  the  position,  which  they  won 
without  serious  loss.  The  Emperor 
and  Prince  Imperial  witnessed  the 
conflict,  and  returned  to  Metz  to  din- 
ner. 


London,  Aug.  3.  —  Saarbrucken 
was  taken  by  the  French  this  morn- 
ing.     The   loss   was   slight   on   both 

sides. 

Half  of  the  Town  Destroyed. 

Paris,  Aug.  3. — The  French  jour- 
nals this  morning  publish  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  Saarbrucken  af- 
fair: 

Metz,  Aug.  2. — The  French  troops 
passed  the  frontier  at  11  o'clock. 
They  instantly  encountered  the  Prus- 
sians, strongly  posted  on  the  heights 
commanding  Saarbrucken,  which 
were  carried  by  a  few  battalions. 
The  capture  of  the  town  instantly 
followed,  the  artillery  compelling  the 
Prussians  to  evacuate  it  in  great 
haste.  General  Frossard  with  one 
division  defeated  three  divisions  of 
the  enemy.  Buildings  in  Saar- 
brucken caught  fire  from  the  French 
artillery,  and  lialf  of  the  to\vn  was 
destroyed.  The  mitrailleurs  were 
used  for  the  first  time,  and  are  re- 
ported to  have  worked  wonders. 

Napoleon's  De.spatcli  to  Eugenie. 

The  Emperor,  on  his  return  to 
Metz,  after  the  battle,  sent  the  fol- 
lowing telegraphic  despatch  to  the 
Empress: 

"Louis  has  received  his  baptism  of 
fire.  He  was  admirably  cool,  and 
little  Impressed.  A  division  of  Fros- 
sard's  command  carried  the  heights 
overlooking  the  Saar.  The  Prussians 
made  a  brief  resistance.  Louis  and  I 
were  in  front  where  the  bullets  fell 
about  us.  T.,ouiB  keeps  a  ball  he 
picked  up.  The  soldiers  wept  at  his 
tranquillity.  We  lost  an  officer  and 
10  men.  Napoleon." 

The  City  of  Meti  was  Illuminated 
last  night  In  honor  of  the  victory. 
After  the  retreat  of  the  Prussians 
the  French  did  not  occupy  the  place. 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OK  WAR 


The  Empress  with  her  nieces  went 
this  morning  to  the  Chapel  of  Notre 
Dames  des  Victoires  to  offer  prayers 
of  thanksgiving  for  the  safety  and 
success  of  the  Emperor  and  Prince 
Imperial. 

The  Victory  Important. 

Paris,  Aug.  3. — The  Figaro  claims 
that  the  victory  at  Saarbrucken  was 
one  of  great  importance.  The  Em- 
peror wished  to  gain  possession  of 
Saarbrucken  because  it  commands 
the  valley  of  the  Saar  and  the  rail- 
way to  Treves.  The  latter  cannot 
now  be  of  any  service  to  the  enemy. 
A  comparison  of  the  above  with 
the  actual  facts  is  interesting  and 
instructive.  It  supplies  a  good  par- 
allel of  what  we  see  today  in  the 
Anglo-American  press. 

The  garrison  of  Saarbrucken  con- 
sisted of  two  battalions  of  the  In- 
fantry Reg.  No.  40  and  one  escadron 
of  7th  Uhlans.  "Sniping"  had  been 
going  on  at  the  border  for  more  than 
a  week.  An  effort  was  made  to  con- 
ceal the  weakness  of  the  garrison. 
They  turned  out  in  various  combina- 
tions of  uniforms,  and  in  order  to 
increase  the  variety  they  borrowed 
the  outfit  of  the  local  fire  depart- 
ment. 

They  succeeded  very  well.  The 
French  wasted  many  a  valuable  day 
before  they  marched  on  to  Saar- 
brucken. The  garrison  withdrew 
after  stubborn  resistance.  In  the 
meantime,  the  concentration  of  the 
First  German  army  had  been  com- 
pleted. The  French  withdrew  to 
Spichern  Heights  on  the  fifth  of  Au- 
gust— their  position  had  become  dan- 
gerous. 

The  telegram  Napoleon  sent  to 
Paris  about  the  "elan"  of  troops  and 
the  rejoicing  in  Paris  was  more  than 
premature.  In  fact,  it  was  a  "joke." 
Later,  news  from  Amsterdam  spoke 
of  it  as  a  "coup  de  theatre." 

It  will  be  noted  that  General 
Bataille  reports  the  capture  of  2,000 
Prussians.  Probably  an  error  in 
transmitting  the  telegram,  unless  he 
estimated  the  population  of  Saar- 
brucken at  2,000  and  considered 
them  prisoners  of  war. 

Frossard's  army  was  severely 
beaten  four  days  later  on  the 
Spichern  Heights. 

Very  interesting,  indeed,  is  the  re- 
port that  the  French  Wid  stormed 
Weissenberg.  The  report  was  only 
partly  correct.  There  was  some 
"storming."  but  Bavarians  and  Prus- 
sians did  it,  and  a  part  of  the  French 
army  under  McMahon  received  its 
first  blow,  which  was  followed  by  a 
severe  defeat  at  Worth  on  the  sixth 
of  August. 

A  study  of  the  subsequent  issues 
of  the  daily  papers  at  that  time  dis- 
closes that  the  news  became  more 
unreliable  as  the  war  progressed. 
For  instance,  on  September  3,  1870, 
New  York  papers  report  from  Paris: 
Great  French  Victory  Near  Sedan! 

McMahon  Effects  Juncture  With 
Bazaine! 

Although  the  German  troops  had 
succeeded  in  closing  the  ring  around 
Sedan  on  September  1,  and  Napo- 
leon, McMahon  and  their  entire  army 
had  become  prisoners  of  war  on  Sep- 
tember 2. 


PARIS  \OW  AND  IX  1870. 


Editorial. 
Boston  Evening  Transcript. 

Forty-four  years  ago  today,  on 
September  15,  1870,  the  siege  of 
Paris  began.  The  first  fighting  of 
any  moment  did  not  occur  until  the 
19th,  but  the  15th  is  commonly  reck- 
oned as  marking  the  beginning  of  the 
investment.  Ingress  and  egress  were 
prohibited  without  the  permit  of  the 
military  authorities  of  Paris  from  the 
lath,  and  the  city  settled  down  to 
endure  a  long,  formal  investment, 
with  the  imminent  probability  of 
bombardment.  We  know  how  well 
Paris  held  out,  the  capitulation  not 
coming  until  the  28th  of  January, 
1871,  more  than  four  months  after 
the  German  advance  guard  began  the 
operations  preliminary  to   the  siege.' 

A  fortnight  back  Paris  was  pre- 
paring to  sustain  a  second  siege.  The 
German  army  rolled  on  with  a  force 
which  compelled  the  Allies  to  fall 
back  until  they  should  gather  up  re- 
enforcements  and  come  in  touch  with 
the  great  garrison  of  Paris.  The 
French  Government  took  refuge  at 
Bordeaux.  Paris  was  cleared  for 
action.  The  people  who  would  eat 
and  could  not  be  expected  to  fight 
were  urgently  invited  to  leave  the 
city.  Today  Paris  is  resuming  some- 
thing of  its  old  ante-bellum  aspect. 
The  enemy  is  retreating;  =  he  is  rap- 
idly approaching  the  bases  from 
which  tliat  great  raid  started  that 
was  to  carry  the  Kaiser  to  Paris  by 
Sept.  !.■>.*  Sept.  15  has  come  and 
the  German  army  has  gone  out  of 
the  region  in  which  it  was  operating 
within  ten  days. 

The  contrast  between  the  situation 
today  and  that  in  which  Paris  found 
itself  in  1S7  0  is  a  contrast  between 
the  vigorous  France  of  the  Republic, 
and  the  debilitated  France  of  the 
Empire.  Today  from  a  military 
standpoint  France  is  four  or  five 
times  as  strong  as  she  was  when  the 
great  Moltke  sat  down  to  besiege 
Paris.  The  contrast  on  the  German 
side  is  found  apparently  in  the  medi- 
ocrity <if  tlie  present  German  lead- 
ers.*" Those  who  headed  the  Ger- 
man hosts  of  1870  were  men  of  more 
than  ordinary  ability.  Indeed,  Bis- 
marck' and  Moltke  come  in  the  cate- 
gory of  genius.  The  military  sub- 
ordinates of  Moltke  were  all  men 
who  added  to  special  training  special 
fitness.  Today,  if  there  is  among  the 
German  generals  one  who  rises  above 
the  level  of  a  good  routine  officer'  he 
has  yet  to  make  his  presence  and  his 
infiuence  manifested.  The  German 
army  of  invasion  is  far  larger  than 
any  Moltke  ever  handled,"  but  it  lacks 
a  real  Moltke  to  handle  it  to  the  ut- 
most advantage.  It  is  on  the  defen- 
sive now  and  when  it  assumes  that 
liosition  the  power  of  the  initiative 
passes  from  it  and  goes  over  to  the 
Allies.*" 


♦Emphasized  in  bold  type  by  the 
Editor. 

'The  "Transcript's"  editorial  writer 
forgets  that  in  187  0  "Tante  Bertha 
from  Essen"  had  not  yet  made  her 
appearance.  "Tante  Bertha  from 
Essen"  is  the  nickname  the  German 


soldiers  have  given  to  the  4  2  centi- 
meter Krupp  siege  guns  that  reduced 
the  powerful  fortress  Namur  in  two 
days,  while  Antwerp,  one  of  the 
strongest  fortresses  in  the  world, 
could  withstand  their  fire  for  only 
ten  days.  What  these  mousters  have 
ildue  at  Liege.  Namur,  Maubeuge 
and  Antwerp,  they  will  do  again  at 
Paris,  when  they  get  there.  The 
"Transcript's"  enthusiastic  prophet 
therefore  should  not  crow  too  early 
about  the  "mediocrity  of  the  pres- 
ent German  leaders."  He  will  find 
out  yet  that  "the  great  Moltke  was 
not  an  accident." — Editor. 

'A  perusal  of  the  article  "Retro- 
spective," reprinted  on  another  page, 
will  help  the  "Transcript's"  mili- 
tary expert  to  grasp  at  least  in  part 
the  reasons  for  the  German  army's 
retreat,  a  retreat  which  the  jingo 
press  of  London,  Paris  and  this  side 
of  the  water  gleefully  termed  a  hope- 
less rout. — Editor. 

^Does  the  "Transcript's"  editorial 
writer  wish  to  have  his  readers  be- 
lieve that  Bismarck  "headed  the 
German  hosts  of  1870"? — Editor. 

'It  would  be  really  interesting  to 
know  whether  this  miltiary  critic 
considers  the  elusive  von  Kluck  as 
at  least  deserving  to  be  counted  as 
"one  who  rises  above  the  level  of  a 
good  routine  oflicer."  He  certainly 
seems  to  be  a  general  "of  more  than 
ordinary  ability."  .\fter  the  Al- 
lies have  repeatedl.v  reported  his 
army  retreating,  annihilated  and 
captured,  he  is  still  successfully  forg- 
ing ahead.  "Verschiedene  Anzeichen 
s|ireeheii  dafiir,  dass  auf  dem  Kluck 
schen  Fliigel  das  Ei  bald  gelegt 
wird,"  says  the  "New  Yorker  Staats- 
Zeitung"  in  a  recent  issue,  which 
translated  means:  "Several  symp- 
toms indicate  that  the  egg  will  soon 
be  laid  in  Kluck's  nest." — Editor. 

'Precisely.  But  does  the  "Tran- 
script's" editorial  writer  realize  what 
science  is  required  to  handle  suc- 
cessfully a  "far  larger"  number  of 
men?  He  does  not  or  he  would  not 
infer  that  the  successors  of  the  great 
Moltke  in  the  present  German  Gen- 
eral Staff  who  are  battling  success- 
fully against  tremendous  odds  in  a 
war  at  two  frontiers,  do  not  add  "to 
special  training  special  fitness"  and 
that  the  German  army  "lacks  a  real 
Moltke  to  handle  it  to  the  utmost  ad- 
vantage." 

What  can  be  said  of  the  extraor- 
dinary ability  of  the  German  General 
Staff  is  also  true  of  the  generals  who 
are  carrying  out  its  orders,  and 
therefore  it  would  seem  that  gen- 
erals must  be  endowed  with  "more 
than  ordinary  ability"  and  besides 
must  possess  the  power  of  the  initia- 
tive to  perform  feats  such  as  von 
Hindenburg  at  Tannenberg  and  else- 
where in  the  eastern  theater  of  war, 
and  such  as  have  been  performed  on 
the  western  by  von  Kluck. 

Of  the  latter  general  the  "Mil- 
waukee Free  Press"  in  its  issue  of 
October   24   says  editorially: 

Gen.   Von    Kluclc. 

Among  air  the  names  that  will  go 
down  to  history  from  the  great  Eu- 
ropean war,  none  will  shine  with 
greater  luster  on  the  military  roll 
than  that  of  Gen.  von  Kluck. 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  GERMAX  ARMIES 


267 


Of  all  the  problems  offered  by  the 
conflict  in  the  eastern  field,  his  has 
been  the  most  difficult,  and  he  has 
met  it,  and,  up  to  this  time,  solved 
it,  with  a  display  of  soldierly  skill, 
energy  and  daring,  as  well  as  con- 
summate strategy,  that  has  won  for 
him  the  praise  of  the  enemy's  gen- 
erals. 

The  operations  of  the  German 
right  wing  have  been  so  generally 
mispointed  in  America,  that  the 
achievement  of  von  Kluck  has  won 
scant  measure  of  appreciation  outside 
of  military  circles.  Yet  ever  since 
he  accomplished  his  remarkable  cov- 
ering movement  that  led  him  almost 
to  the  gates  of  Paris  and  thereupon 
began  his  masterly  withdrawal,  the 
fortunes  of  the  German  cause  in 
France  have  largely  rested  upon  the 
ability  of  this  general. 

It  is  true  that  his  operations  have 
been  directed  by  the  general  staff  of 
the  German  army,  but  it  is  von 
Kluck  and  not  the  staff  who  with 
greatly  inferior  numbers  has  met  and 
checked  every  attempt  of  the  Franco- 
British  flanking  movement,  drawn 
their  left  wing  away  from  its  base 
and  isolated  this  new  battle  front 
from  that  which  runs  east  and  west. 
In  other  words,  he  has  created  and 
maintained  a  situation  against  tre- 
mendous odds,  which,  because  of  its 
peculiar  triangular  form,  permits  the 
Germans  to  resist  successfully  a  nu- 
merically superior  force,  and  in  case 
they  reduce  the  fortifications  oppos- 
ing their  center,  to  roll  back  each 
wing  of  the  allies  with  little  hope  of 
future  juncture. 

Since  the  reports  from  Paris  and 
London  have  been  almost  exclusively 
concerned  with  the  fighting  against 
von  Kluck,  the  impression  has  gained 
currency  here  that  the  German  right 
wing  was  the  offensive  force.  This 
is  not  the  case.  Von  Kluck's  prob- 
lem has  been  to  resist,  weaken,  and 
if  possible  overcome  the  offensive  of 
the  allies,  at  least  to  hold  the  situa- 
tion until  the  German  center  could 
break  through  tlie  French  fortifica- 
tions that  block  their  way. 

His  accomplishment  of  this  feat 
thus  far  is,  as  we  have  said,  the  most 
remarkable  that  the  European  war 
has  had  to  offer,  and  it  enrolls  Gen. 
von  Kluck  among  the  really  great 
military  leaders  of  his  time. — From 
the   "Milwaukee   Free   Press." — Editor. 

'It  seems  that  no  statement  is  too 
idiotic  for  a  certain  class  of  news- 
papers to  make,  as  long  as  it  dis- 
credits or  ridicules  German  institu- 
tions, the  "War  Lord"  and  his  army. 
— A  Friend. 

No,  no.  Brother!  you  are  on  the 
•wrong  track ;  it's  the  Pennies  they 
need  I — Editor. 

Mr.  Editorial  Writer  of  the  "Bos- 
ton Evening  Transcript,"  what  say 
you  when  even  "The  World,"  yes, 
the  New  York  "World,"  tries  to  im- 
mortalize the  military  abilities  of 
this  "mediocre  leader"  by  the  follow- 
ing near-verses  in  a  recent  issue? 

Von  Kluck. 
It  was  three  weeks  ago  today 
That   first  we  heard  the  allies  say 
"Tomorrow      morning     you'll      have 
learned 


How    von    Kluck's    right    flank    has 

been    turned." 
Somehow      the      turning     movement 

stuck; 
He     didn't     budge,     did     Herr     von 

Kluck! 

A    few   days    later    word    from    Paris 
Announced     that      two      new     corps 

would  harass 
Von  Kluck's  right  wing,  and  rank  by 

rank, 
Maneuver  round  and   turn   his  flank. 
But  these  new  corps  had  rotten  luck; 
It's  no  dead  cinch  to  turn  von  Kluck. 

A  week  went  by  when  we  were  glad 
To  get  a  cable  from  Petrograd. 
It  said  von  Kluck's  communication 
Was  threatened  with   annihilation. 
But    he    stood    pat    and    passed    the 

buck; 
He's   got   some   flank,   has    Herr    von 

Kluck! 

.•\nd  all  last  w^eek  our  headlines 
whirled 

With  the  various  ways  von  Kluck 
was  "hurled"; 

^■on  Kluck's  right  flank  was  being 
pounded; 

Von  Kluck's  whole  army'd  been  sur- 
rounded : 

The  hour  for  turning  that  flank  had 
struck! 

But  the  flank's  still  there,  and  so's 
von   Kluck. 

So  take  your  kaisers  and  princes  and 

Grafs, 
Your  iron  crosses  and  general  staffs. 
Your    Gen.     Joffre's    and    Sir    John 

Frenches, 
With    all    their    men    in    the    shelter 

trenches; 
I'll    take    for    mine    that    game    old 

buck 
Who  won't  be  turned — ja.   Herr  von 

Kluck! 

— From  the  New  York  "World  " — 
Editor. 


RETROSPECTIVE. 


Editorial    from    the    "Chicagocr 
I'resse,"  October  9,  1«14. 

The  rapid  victorious  advances  of 
the  Germans  apparently  came  to  a 
sudden  stop.  The  advance  guards 
of  the  armies,  that  had  reached 
Meaux,  Sezanne,  and  even  Vitry  le 
Francois  and  Troyes  fell  back  as  rap- 
idly as  they  had  advanced,  followed 
by  the  exultant  French  and  English, 
while  our  hearts  began  to  feel  the 
sting  of  doubt. 

What  had  happened? 

The  western  seat  of  war  is  divided 
into  three  sections.  In  the  southern 
section  extending  from  Basel  to  the 
heights  at  Strassburg  everything  is 
quiet.  The  French  are  guarding  the 
defiles  of  the  Vosges.  the  danfjoroiis 
line  of  attack  on  Belfort.  German 
skirmishes  incessantly  harass  the  en- 
emy, thereby  forcing  the  enemy  to 
keep  a  large  force  in  this  region. 

In  the  center  the  struggle  for  the 
possession  of  Verdun  and  Nancy  is 
continuing.  The  French  armies  of 
the  field  operating  in  Louvain,  are 
supported  by  the  strongest  line  of  for- 
tifications  ever  known   to  the   world 


and  their  obstinate  resistance  shows 
the  effectiveness  fortified  towns  still 
possess.  When  isolated  and  defended 
only  by  their  garrison,  fortifications 
that  formerly  held  out  for  months, 
now  fall  quickly  as  did  the  strongly 
fortified  Maubeuge  with  its  garrison 
of  40,000  men.  A  force  of  this 
size  is  needed  to  defend  a  post 
of  moderate  dimensions.  When  how- 
ever a  fortress  is  supported  by  an 
army  they  work  together  like  a  cen- 
ter rush  and  goalkeeper  at  a  football- 
game:  If  the  attacking  partv  is  suc- 
cessful on  the  field,  the  fortifications 
deprive  them  of  the  fruits  of  the 
victory. 

The  great  victory  of  the  Bavarian 
Crown  Prince  between  Strassbourg 
and  Metz  could  not  be  fully  utilized 
owing  to  the  proximity  of  fipinal 
and  Toul. 

But  how  different,  the  advance  in 
the  North,  where  the  French  circle 
of  fortifications  was  entered  into: 
Maubeuge  could  not  check  the  vic- 
torious advance  of  the  Germans,  its 
fall  was  only  a  question  of  a  few 
days.  After  the  battle  of  St.  Quentin 
the  French-British  had  entirely  dis- 
appeared. La  Fere,  Laon  and  the 
Rheims  forts  that  obstructed  the 
road  to  Paris — were  deserted.  With 
fabulous  rapidity  German  cavalry 
swarmed  forth  as  far  as  Cnmiiiegne. 
Paris  seemed  to  be  the  goal  of  the 
German  army.  Onward  they  rushed 
at  an  incomprehensible  mad  pace. 
The  report  that  German  soldiers  had 
taken  Troyes,  which  lies  on  the  road 
from  Belfort  to  Paris  and  to  the 
rear  of  Toul  and  fipiual  seemed  like 
a  fairy  tale. 

And  now  for  the  second  time  the 
question  arises:  What  has  happened? 
Joffre,  whom  the  impatient  French 
had  already  began  to  call  Cunctator, 
knew  full  well  that  his  army  could 
no  longer  withstand  the  onslaught 
of  the  Germans  in  the  open.  Only 
when  supported  by  strong  forts  and 
where,  after  giving  way  it  could  seek 
cover,  it  was  still  strong.  The  psv- 
cholosry  of  the  French  soldier,  who. 
whenever  there  is  a  chance,  fires 
from  houses,  is  the  psychology  of  the 
French  army. 

Why  lose  from  4  0,000  to  60,000 
men  at  Loan,  La  Fere  and  Rheims. 
which  would  only  share  the  fate  of 
Maubeuge  and  Namur?  The  com- 
mander needs  them.  To  make  a 
stand  at  Paris  would  be  fruitless. 
The  defeated  armies  needed  time  to 
recover.  More  English  should  be 
brought  on.  In  Paris  and  the  South 
there  were  new  fresh  troops.  The 
army  with  w-hom  the  fate  of  France 
rests,  should  retire  to  the  west  of 
Paris.  Then  the  Germans  might 
come  and  settle  down  before  the 
capital.  Woe  to  the  Germans,  if  they 
attempted  to  foil  this  plan  and  at- 
tempt to  force  a  battle  in  the  rear  of 
Paris.  Being  far  away  from  their 
own  country  and  depending  on  an 
endless  line  of  supply  that  could  be 
interfered  with  by  every  French 
native — man,  woman  or  child,  with 
all  the  means  at  their  command,  the 
slightest  set  back  would  mean  catas- 
trophy  for  them.  .Toffre  would  have 
retired  as  far  as  Langres  and  Dijon  to 
prep.Tre  this  cal.Tstrophe  for  the  en- 
emy.      »      •      • 


268 


EVOLUTION  BV  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


Ideals,  Customs,  Laws,  Progress,  and  the  Laws  of  War 
The  First  Law  of  Nature 


IN  THE  GERMAN   TRENCHES   AGAINST   RUSSIA 
This  picture,  taken  at  Darkehmen  in  East  Prussia,  gives  an  excellent   idea  of 
the  plans  and  nature  of  German  Trenches.     It  has  been  a  hard  and  wearisome 

conflict 


MODERN    WARFARE    AND    THE 
PRESENT   WAR. 

This  is  the  ninth  article  of  a  series 
on  THE  EUROPEAN  WAR.  ichich 
appeared  in  the  October  Number  of 
THE  OPEN  COURT,  under  the  title 
"Modern  Warfare."  icrittcn  by  the  Edi- 
tor, Dr.  Paul  Cams. 

Conmlt  the  INDEX  for  the  complete 
series,  and.  in  order  to  see  where,  in 
the  various  Chapters  of  the  book,  the 
different  articles  of  this  treatise  mail 
be  found,  look  for  EUROPEAN  WAR 
(THE).  In  this  icaii  the  reader  may 
read  the  entire  series  of  articles  in 
their  original  order,  if  he  chooses  to  do 
so.  ichile  the  present  arrangement  still 
gives  him  the  advantage  of  bringing 
the  various  articles  under  their  proper, 
respective  Chapter-headings  of  the 
book. 

This  Is  a  series  of  exceptionally  fine 
articles  on  the  subject  in  question,  and 
they  bear  a  unique  and  important  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  Be  sure  to  read 
them  alio  in  their  original  order. — 
Editor,  "War  Echoes." 

Modem  Warfare. 
W^hat  wrong  notions  prevail  ahout 
warfare  can  be  seen  in  almost  every 
American  newspaper.  In  the  opinion 
of  many  people,  including  reporters 
in  America  as  well  as  abroad,  the 
purpose  of  war  seems  to  be  to  kill  as 
many  of  the  enemy  as  possible,  and 
the  losses  of  the  victor  are  sometimes 
described  and  emphasized  as  if  the 
vanquished  army  had  got  the  best  of 
the  battle.  This  might  be  compared 
to  a  game  of  chess  in  which  he  would 
be  the  victor  who  loses  the  fewest 
pieces.  It  is  true  that  every  party 
laments  the  loss  of  men  for  humani- 
tarian reasons  and  also  on  account  of 
■weakening  its  forces,  but  for  the  sig- 


nificance of  the  war  the  purpose  of 
a  battle  is  to  gain  a  position  which 
dominates  the  roads  and  places  the 
enemy's  country  at  the  invader's 
mercy. 

For  this  reason  the  Germans  have 
introduced  the  use  of  bullets  making 
clean  wounds  from  which  a  healthy 
man  may  easily  recover.  There  is 
no  advantage  in  massacring  the 
enemy,  but  it  is  very  desirable  to  put 
great  numbers  of  them  hors  dc  combat. 
The  humanitarian  motive  of  sparing 
the  lives  of  the  enemy  is  not  upper- 
most in  this  idea,  but  the  practical 
advantage  of  burdening  the  enemy 
with  the  care  of  their  wounded  men. 

For  the  same  reason,  the  principle 
has  been  adopted  in  the  international 
agreements  as  to  the  rules  of  warfare 
that  all  expanding  rifle  bullets  shall 
be  strictly  barred.  It  is  sufficient  to 
hit  an  enemy  and  wound  him;  it  is 
unnecessary  to  cause  him  to  die  in 
agony,  or  to  inflict  upon  him  wounds 
that  are  incurable.  Dumdum  bullets 
are  no  factor  in  the  decision  of  vic- 
tory in  battle  and  are  barbarous  and 
inhuman. 

A  French  report  informs  the  French 
public  that  only  two  per  cent  of  their 
wounded  soldiers  die,  which  means 
that  98  per  cent,  i.  e.,  almost  all  of 
them,  survive;  and  the  writer  of  that 
note  adds  that  the  Germans  are  poor 
riflemen;  they  cannot  shoot,  and 
when  they  hit  they  do  not  kill. 

Victories  may  be  gained  without  a 
battle,  by  forced  marches;  for  a  vic- 
tory consists  in  gaining  a  dominant 
position.  How  little  the  British  gen- 
erals know  of  warfare  appears  from 
the  report  of  General  French  who 
finds  himself  in  an  untenable  position 
and  is  proud  of  having  escaped  anni- 
hilation.    Tommy  Atkins  is  brave  in 


battle,  but  he  must  be  placed  in  the 
right  position  or  his  courage  will 
manifest  itself  in  his  "brilliant  re- 
treat." Courage  is  an  essential  ele- 
ment in  the  winning  of  a  victory,  but 
leadership  cannot  be  dispensed  with. 
A  general  should  at  least  be  familiar 
with  the  fundamentals  of  warfare. 

There  is  another  superstition  prev- 
alent which  is  that  the  results  of 
war  may  be  calculated  by  seeing 
troops  on  paper.  England  will  find 
out  that  material  consisting  of  raw 
recruits  is  not  dangerous  to  her  ene- 
mies. A  new  army  of  one  or  several 
hundred  thousand  may  be  raised  to 
serve  as  food  for  cannons,  not  to  turn 
the  tide  of  German  triumph.  In  war, 
as  everywhere,  it  is  quality  that 
counts  and  not  quantity;  efDciency, 
not  numbers. 

Still  another  error  is  rejieated  ad 
nauseam  in  Britsh  and  French  pa- 
pers. Whenever  the  Germans  are  to 
be  recognized  for  advantages  gained, 
they  are  accused  of  unintelligent 
energy,  slavish  obedience,  or  the  dis- 
play of  brutal  force  with  their  supe- 
riority of  numbers.  As  to  numbers, 
there  is  no  question  that  the  Ger- 
mans are  by  far  inferior  in  this  re- 
spect to  their  enemies,  the  allied 
troops;  but  it  is  an  important  prin- 
ciple in  warfare  that  at  the  critical 
point  there  must  be  a  display  of  su- 
perior strength,  and  it  is  the  part  of 
strategy  to  recognize  the  decisive 
point  and  concentrate  there  a  supe- 
rior number  of  men.  This  is  not 
brute  force  but  superior  intelligence. 
By  and  by  the  English  will  learn 
more  of  warfare  and  will  gradually 
appreciate  the  part  which  Intelligence 
plays  in  battle. 

Modern  warfare  is  based  upon  the 
principle  that  the  armies  should  fight, 
not  the  citizens.  When  the  citizens 
of  a  village  or  a  city  attack  soldiers 
from  their  windows,  thus  taking  part 
in  battle,  they  forfeit  the  right  to 
have  their  lives  and  their  property 
respected,  and  the  enemy  punishes 
them  by  burning  their  houses.  Strict 
neutrality  on  the  part  of  civilians  is 
universally  considered  an  indispensa- 
ble rule  because  only  in  this  way  can 
an  invading  army  be  expected  to  con- 
fine its  attack  to  the  hostile  soldiers. 
If  invading  troops  were  obliged  to 
regard  every  inhabitant  as  an  enemy 
who  may  shoot  from  an  ambush,  they 
would  have  to  massacre  every  one  in 
sight  in  self-defense.  The  participa- 
tion of  civilians  in  the  fight  is  of  no 
assistance  to  their  country,  for  they 
are  necessarily  unorganized  bodies  of 
fighters;  though  they  inflict  damage, 
they  suffer  more  in  return.  Thus 
they  would  renew  the  savage  condi- 
tion in  which  hostility  between  two 
nations  becomes  a  struggle  for  mu- 
tual extermination.  For  this  reason 
a  civilized  army  can  not  allow  civil- 
ians to  take  up  arms  and  participate 
in  the  war;  nor  can  any  government 
let  such  occurrences  go  unpunished, 
first  because  it  must  protect  its  own 
men,  and  then  because  a  combat  of 
civilians  leads  back  to  a  most  ter- 
rible barbarism. 

Now  the  Germans  claim  that  while 
the  Belgians  made  a  sortie  from  Ant- 


BV  THEiLAWiOF   WAR  AND  THE  FIRSTJLAW  OF  NATURE 


269 


werp,  some  patriotic  Belgians  dis- 
tributed rifles  among  the  citizens  of 
Louvain,  who  thereupon  suddenly  at- 
tacked the  small  force  of  Germans  in 
their  midst.  After  a  battle  in  the 
streets  they  were  overpowered  and 
for  punishment  the  city  or  part  of  the 
city  was  doomed  to  destruction.  It 
is  stated,  however,  that  the  quaint  old 
City  Hall  was  spared.  The  incident 
of  Louvain,  having  occurred  simul- 
taneously with  an  Antwerp  sortie, 
seems  to  have  been  inspired  by  Bel- 
gian government  officials  acting  in 
concert  with  military  authorities  at 
Antwerp.  Similar  outbreaks  of  the 
same  kind  have  happened  before  and 
the  King  of  the  Belgians  officially  ex- 
pressed his  thanks  for  the  brave  re- 
sistance not  only  of  the  army  but 
also  of  the  people  against  the  invader. 
King  Albert,  of  Belgium,  has  given 
the  military  golden  cross  to  Private 
J.  J.  Rousseau  of  the  Fourth  Belgian 
Chasseurs  for  killing  Major  General 
von  Buelow  after  the  battle  of  Hae- 
len.  It  must  have  been  a  lonely  spot 
on  the  battlefield  where  the  German 
general  appeared  unfolding  a  map 
and  studying  the  geography  of  the 
place.  Rousseau  was  lying  on  the 
ground  among  the  wounded;  he  fired 
and  mortally  wounded  the  general. 
The  newspaper  account  adds:  "On 
the  general's  person  the  Belgians 
found  besides  a  number  of  dispatches 
$3.3,000  in  currency  which  money  was 
turned  over  to  the  Red  Cross."  Dis- 
guised with  the  helmet  of  a  Prussian 
cuirassier,  Rousseau  escaped.  The 
deed  was  confessedly  done  from  am- 
bush, not  in  open  battle,  so  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  appreciate  its  heroism;  and 
the  appropriation  of  the  dead  man's 
property  is  scarcely  defensible. 

The  government  of  France  has  been 
guilty  of  similar  offenses.  The 
French  have  preached  revenge  in 
their  schools  and  have  praised  the 
brave  fraiu-s-tirvui-K,  thus  encounig- 
ing  a  repetition  of  civilian  hostility 
against  the  Germans  by  sowing  ha- 
tred against  them  in  the  minds  ot 
the  children  and  fostering  the  bar- 
barous habit  of  allowing  the  partici- 
pation of  the  populace  in  war.  To 
reproach  the  Germans  for  burning 
Louvain  is  the  more  unfair,  as  under 
the  same  circumstances  every  other 
army  would  have  done  the  same. 
Think  of  the  treatment  which  the 
English  accorded  to  their  Hindu  pris- 
oners as  presented  in  a  most  horrify- 
ing picture  by  Verestchagin! 

The  Belgian  explanation  of  the  oc- 
currence in  Louvain,  to  the  effect  that 
the  Germans  had  shot  upon  their 
own  men  by  mistake  and  had  then 
attempted  to  cover  up  their  error  by 
accusing  the  inhabitants  of  Louvain. 
is  strangely  improbable  and  lacks 
verification  as  much  as  the  accusa- 
tions of  other   alleged   "atrocities."* 

There  are  vulgar  men  in  every 
army,  but  any  one  who  is  really  ac- 
quainted with  armies  of  different  na- 
tionalities will  grant  that  the  German 
men    are    more    cultured    and    ot    a 


•The  reader  will  find  this  awful  pic- 
ture In  "War  Echoes."  which  I  repro- 
duce with  a  Kreat  reluctance,  person- 
ally, but  as  they  have  set  the  example 
they  should  at  least  be  wllllne  to  ac- 
cept some  of  their  own  medicine.  This 
tio  German  will  give  even  to  the  worst 
ot   them. — Editor. 


higher  moral  standing  than  any  other 
private  soldiers  the  world  over;  and 
the  reason  is  that  they  are  not  sol- 
diers proper,  but  sons  of  honest  citi- 
zens, children  of  home  folks  who  per- 
form their  military  duties  w^hile  be- 
ing themselves  traders  or  craftsmen 
or  laborers,  who  before  and  after 
military  service  earn  their  honest  and 
peaceable  living  in  some  regular  call- 
ing in  the  community.  There  are  no 
soldiers  of  fortune  among  them,  no 
adventurers,  no  warriors  by  profes- 
sion. 

Americans  have  heard  only  one 
side  of  the  situation.  The  cable  be- 
ing cut,  uncensored  news  begins  to 
reach  us  very  slowly,  so  the  sympa- 
thy with  Belgium  has  developed 
among  us  an  unfair  hostility  towards 
Germany.  Not  only  was  it  known 
to  the  Germans  that  the  French 
would  break  Belgium's  neutrality 
with  the  consent  of  the  Belgian  gov- 
ernment, but  hatred  against  the  Ger- 
mans was  spread  among  the  popula- 
tion, afterwards  causing  many  civil- 
ians to  take  part  in  the  fighting. 
Shortly  before  the  actual  beginning 
of  the  war  the  Germans  were  treated 
most  barbarously  in  Antwerp.  The 
Chicago  Herald  of  September  15  con- 
tains a  letter,  written  August  7, 
which  Mrs.  O.  C.  Buss,  of  6104  Ken- 
wood Avenue,  received  from  her  sis- 
ter: 

"In  Belgium  they  are  murdering 
Germans  everywhere.  They  dragged 
German  women  out  of  their  beds  and 
through  the  streets  by  the  hair. 
Threw  little  children  out  of  windows 
while  their  mothers  begged  for 
them." 

About  happenings  which  took  place 
during  the  war  the  same  lady  writes: 
"They  fired  on  and  killed  Red  Cross 
nurses  and  murdered  the  wounded. 
They  went  into  a  house  where  three 
wounded  German  soldiers  were  and 
murdered  them.  At  the  railroad  sta- 
tion when  Germans  and  Austrians 
were  leaving,  they  tore  children  from 
their  mothers'  arms,  and  the  mothers 
have  never  seen  them  again.  .  .  . 
One  poor  fellow  was  wandering  about 
with  his  hands  tied  behind  his  back, 
and  his  eyes  gouged  out.  Others 
were  found  dead  from  the  same  treat- 
ment. .  .  .  All  war  news  is  given  to 
the  people  through  the  police.  Every 
policeman  stands  at  the  corner  and 
cries  out  the  news  like  a  'barker.'  " 

The  French  did  not  remain  behind 
the  Belgians  in  maltreatment  of  in- 
offensive Germans.  We  will  quote 
only  one  statement  of  an  American 
eyewitness,  dated  New  York,  August 
24,  and  published  in  the  Chicago  Ex- 
aminer, August  25: 

"  'It  will  never  be  known  how 
many  Germans  were  killed  in  Paris 
during  the  riots  July  30  and  31  and 
August  1.  The  crimes  of  that  pe- 
riod, could  they  become  known, 
would  shame  the  civilized  world.' 

"This  statement  was  made  today 
by  Henry  M.  Ziegler,  a  Cincinnati 
millionaire  who  has  made  his  home 
In  Paris  for  five  years,  but  fled  with 
the  American  refugees  on  the  steam- 
ship La  France.  Describing  the 
scenes  in  Paris  during  these  three 
days,  before  martial  law  was  de- 
clared, Mr.  Ziegler  said: 

"  'It  was  unsafe  for  any  foreigner, 
particularly  one  who  could  not  speak 


French,  to  go  on  the  streets.  For 
a  German  it  was  little  short  of  sui- 
cidal. I  saw  one  German  driving 
down  a  boulevard  with  a  woman  in  a 
cab.  The  mob  upset  the  cab.  The 
woman  fainted  and  was  trampled  on, 
but  some  one  finally  dragged  her 
away. 

"The  man  made  a  gallant  fight  for 
his  life.  With  his  back  to  the  over- 
turned cab  he  fought  desperately  for 
several  minutes.  He  was  a  big  fel- 
low, too.  He  struck  out  right  and 
left  with  his  fists  and  bowled  over 
his  assailants  as  fast  as  they  got 
within  reach,  but  he  was  finally  over- 
powered, trampled  and  stabbed  to 
death. 

"I  know  a  family  that  had  a  Ger- 
man cook  who  had  been  with  them 
many  years.  The  sons  went  off  to 
war,  but  that  was  no  guarantee  of 
protection  for  the  woman.  Some  one 
told  the  mob,  and  my  friends  had  to 
hide  the  old  woman  in  the  cellar  to 
save  her  life. 

"One  evening  a  friend  and  I  saw 
the  mob  chasing  a  German.  He  al- 
most got  away,  but  was  caught  in  an 
alley.  My  friend  recognized  one  of 
his  employes  in  the  mob.  The  next 
day  his  employe  boasted  that  they 
not  only  got  the  German  we  saw  them 
after,  but  three  others.  All  were 
stabbed  to  death  after  being  beaten 
into  insensibility. 

"One  of  the  most  noticeable  things 
in  Paris  are  the  electric  signs  of  a 
big  milk  distributor.  He  has  up- 
wards of  100  milk  depots  in  Paris, 
and  is  worth  more  than  $5,000,000. 
He  is  a  German  who  has  lived  in 
Paris  for  twenty  years.  The  mob 
wrecked  his  electric  signs  and  milk 
depots,  and  then  some  one  started 
the  report  that  he  had  poisoned  the 
milk  and  was  going  to  kill  all  his 
customers.  The  mob  went  hunting 
for  him,  but  he  escaped." 

According  to  German  testimony 
recorded  in  German  papers,  the 
cruelty  of  civilians  towards  helpless 
wounded  German  soldiers  on  the 
battlefield  has  become  quite  commoft 
in  Belgium,  and  gouging  out  the  eyes 
seems  to  have  developed  into  a  sport 
among  a  certain  class  of  patriots 
who,  when  caught,  are  not  treated 
very  tenderly.  It  is  the  punishment 
of  these  offenders  which  has  given 
rise  to  the  stories  of  German  atroc- 
ities, so  far  as  they  are  based  on 
facts. 

Five  American  reporters,  three  of 
whom  are  residents  ot  Chicago  and 
all  well  known  throughout  the  United 
States,  write  thus  in  a  round  robin 
about  the  alleged  German  atroci- 
ties: * 

"After  spending  two  weeks  with 
and  accompanying  the  troops  upward 
of  one  hundred  miles,  we  are  unable 
to  report  a  single  instance  unpro- 
voked. 

"We  are  also  unable  to  confirm 
rumors  of  mistreatment  of  prisoners 
or  of  non-combatants  with  the  Ger- 
man columns.  This  is  true  ot  Lou- 
vain, Brussels  and  Lun«''ville  while  In 
Prussian  hands. 


•An  extensive  report  of  these  men 
and  detailed  circumstances  preceding 
and  nttcndlnff  the  Round  Robin  re- 
ferred to.  is  Riven  elsewhere  In  "War 
Echoes."     (See    Atrocities.) — Editor. 


270 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


GERMAN   ORDNANCE  OFFICERS   IN  POLAND 
a  Telephone  Message  at  their  Field  Telephone  Station  in  a  Polish  Village. 
Coat ;  also  the  seriousness  of  the  Situation 
(Photograph  by  the  International   News  Service) 


Note  the  heavy,  white  Sheepskin 


"We  visited  Chateau  Soldre,  Sam- 
bre,  and  Beaumont  without  substan- 
tiating a  single  wanton  brutality. 
Numerous  investigated  rumors 
proved  groundless.  Everywhere  we 
have  seen  Germans  paying  for  pur- 
chases and  respecting  property  rights 
as  well  as  according  civilians  every 
consideration. 

"After  the  battle  of  Biass  (prob- 
ably Barse,  a  suburb  of  Namur)  we 
found  Belgian  women  and  children 
moving  comfortably  about.  The  day 
after  the  Germans  had  captured  the 
town  of  Merbes  Chateau  we  found 
one  citizen  killed,  but  were  unable 
to  confirm  lack  of  provocation.  Ref- 
ugees with  stories  of  atrocities  were 
unable  to  supply  direct  evidence. 
Belgians  in  the  Sambre  valley  dis- 
counted reports  of  cruelty  in  the  sur- 
rounding country.  The  discipline  of 
the  German  soldiers  is  excellent,  as 
we  observed. 

"To  the  truth  of  these  statements 
we  pledge  our  professional  and  per- 
sonal word. 

James  O'Donnell  Bennett, 

Chicago  Tribune. 

John  T.  McCutcheon, 

Chicago  Tribune. 

Roger  Lewis, 

The  Associated  Press. 


Irvin  S.  Cobb, 

Saturday  Evening  Post. 
Harry  Hansen, 

Chicago  Daily  News." 

Some  of  these  American  reporters 
had  been  arrested  for  some  time  in 
the  German  lines.  The  subject  is  re- 
sumed in  the  Tribune  of  September 
17  where  we  read  on  the  first  page 
in  big  print: 

"That  Mr.  Bennett's  fears  of  Brit- 
ish censorship  were  well  founded  is 
made  clear  by  the  fact  that  the  copy 
of  the  round  robin  sent  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Cutcheon and  himself  direct  to  The 
Tribune  has  never  been  received  in 
this  office.  The  copy  'wirelessed'  to 
the  Associated  Press  from  Berlin  is 
the  only  one  that  got  through." 

Mr.  James  O'Donnell  Bennett  is 
very  serious  in  his  insistence  that  the 
truth  shall  come  out  because  the  un- 
truth is  spread  with  the  obvious  in- 
tent to  injure  the  German  cause.  He 
speaks  of  the  "round  robin"  as  "a 
bare  statement  in  which  we  expressed 
our  earnest  belief — a  belief  based  on 
days  of  personal  observations  in  the 
theater  of  war — that  the  reports  of 
barbarities  alleged  to  have  been  per- 
petrated by  German  troops  on  an  in- 
offensive Belgian  countryside  are 
shocking  falsehoods." 


Referring  to  English  censorship  he 
speaks  of  that  "thing  as  the  vaunted 
English  sense  of  fair  play";  he  men- 
tions the  "bundles  of  London  news- 
papers" containing  "column  after  col- 
umn of  the  most  harrowing  and 
dreadful  accounts  of  most  infamous 
barbarities  inflicted  upon  the  Belgian 
peasantry  by  German  troops."  Try- 
ing to  verify  one  case  Mr.  Bennett 
says:  "Always  on  our  march  the 
facts  relative  to  the  German  atrocities 
evaded  us.  Always  it  was  in  'the 
next  village'  that  a  woman  had  been 
outraged,  a  child  butchered,  or  an 
innocent  old  man  tortured.  Arriv- 
ing at  that  'next  village,'  we  could 
get  no  confirmation  from  the  inhabit- 
ants. 'No,'  they  would  say,  'it  did 
not  happen  here:  but  we  heard  that 
it  was  in  the  next  village,  messieurs.' 
But  the  next  village  would  develop 
naught  authentically  —  only  wild 
stories,  rumors,  hearsay.  At  Soire- 
sur-Sambre,  all  around  which  there 
had  been  fighting  on  Sunday  and 
Monday,  the  23d  and  24th  of  August, 
the  burgomaster  said  to  us  in  the 
late  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  the 
26th:  'As  reports  come  in  from  sur- 
rounding towns  I  am  unable  to  verify 
these  rumors  of  cruelties  perpetrated 
against  unarmed  civilians,  and  I  give 
no  credence  to  them.'  " 


BV  THK   l.AU'  OF  WAR  AND  THE  FIRST  LAW  OK   NATURE 


27i 


Much  has  been  said  also  of  the 
maltreatment  of  women,  and  this  sub- 
ject, too,  is  mentioned  by  Mr.  Ben- 
nett, who  says: 

"The  most  terrific  outrage  any  of 
us  has  seen  was  seen  by  Cobb.  With 
his  own  appreciative  eyes  he  saw  a 
laughing  German  soldier,  who  was 
crossing  a  street  in  Louvain,  lean 
forward  and  imprint  a  kiss  on  the 
cheek  of  a  Belgian  girl  who  was  ban- 
tering him.  The  girl  promptly 
slapped  his  face.  The  soldier  laughed 
the  louder.  The  girl  began  to  laugh, 
too.  The  incident  was  closed.  Cobb 
said  it  was  as  quaint  and  merry  a 
scene  in  homely  life  as  ever  he  saw. 
That  was  week  before  last." 

Mr.  Bennett  in  speaking  of  the 
falsehoods  of  the  English  reports  of 
German  atrocities  blames  the  Louvain 
citizens  themselves  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  city.  Having  mentioned 
another  item  he  says:  "A  few  days 
later  Louvain  lost  its  head.  It  went 
mad.  Its  civilians  fired  from  ambus- 
cade upon  German  soldiers.  The 
deed  was  the  supreme  outrage  against 
laws  of  civilized  warfare.  The  pun- 
ishment was  terrible  and  it  has  put 
the  fear  of  the  Prussian  god  into 
every  Belgian  city  and  hamlet  from 
Antwerp  to  Beaumont,  from  Ostend 
to  Liege.  Today  the  ancient  and  re- 
nowned university  city  of  northern 
Europe  lies  in  ashes." 

Louvain  is  not  a  "university  city" 
in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word.  Its 
great  educational  institution  is  called 
"the  Catholic  University,"  in  con- 
trast to  modern  scientific  universities, 
and  some  young  priests  there  appear 
to  have  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the 
fight   against  the   heretical   Germans. 

While  I  write,  the  German  official 
report  of  the  destruction  of  Louvain 
reaches  me.  It  was  published  in  Ber- 
lin, August  30,  and  disposes  of  all 
the  Belgian  fables: 

"The  city  of  Louvain  surrendered 
and  was  given  over  to  us  by  the  Bel- 
gian authorities.     On  Monday,  August 

24,  some  of  our  troops  were  shipped 
there,  and  intercourse  with  the  in- 
habitants was  developing  quite 
friendly. 

"On     Tuesday     afternoon,     August 

25,  our  troops,  hearing  about  an  im- 
minent Belgian  sortie  from  Antwerp, 
left  in  that  direction,  the  command- 
ing general  ahead  in  a  motor  car, 
leaving  behind  only  a  colonel  with 
soldiers  Id  imilecl  Ihe  railroad  il.nntl- 
xturm   liataillon  "Neuss"). 

"As  the  rest  of  the  commanding 
general's  staff,  with  the  horses,  was 
going  to  follow,  and  had  gathered  on 
the  market  place,  rifie  fire  suddenly 
opened  from  all  the  surrounding 
houses,  all  the  horses  being  killed  and 
five  officers  wounded,  one  of  them 
seriously. 

"Simultaneously  fire  opened  at 
about  ten  different  places  in  town, 
also  on  some  of  our  troops  just  ar- 
rived and  waiting  on  the  square  in 
front  of  the  station,  and  on  incoming 
military  trains.  That  it  was  a  de- 
signed co-operation  with  the  Belgian 
sortie  from  Antwerp  was  established 
beyond  a  doubt. 

"Two  priests  who  were  caught 
handing  out  ammunition  to  the  peo- 
ple were  shot  at  once  in  front  of  the 
station. 


"The  street  fight  lasted  till  Wednes- 
day, the  26th,  in  the  afternoon 
(twenty-four  hours),  when  stronger 
forces,  which  arrived  in  the  mean- 
time, succeeded  in  getting  the  upper 
hand.  The  tow^n  and  northern  suburb 
were  burning  at  different  places,  and 
by  this  time  probably  have  burned 
down  altogether. 

"On  the  part  of  the  Belgian  gov- 
ernment a  general  rising  of  the  popu- 
lace against  the  enemy  had  been  or- 
ganized for  a  long  time;  depots  of 
arms  were  found,  where  to  each  gun 
was  attached  the  name  of  the  citizen 
to  be  armed. 

"A  spontaneous  rising  of  the  peo- 
ple has  been  recognized  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  smaller  states  at  The 
Hague  conference,  as  being  within 
the  law  of  nations,  in  so  far  as 
weapons  are  carried  openly  and  the 
laws  of  civilized  warfare  are  ob- 
served; but  such  rising  was  only  ad- 
mitted in  order  to  fight  the  attack- 
ing enemy. 

"In  the  case  of  Louvain  the  town 
had  already  surrendered  and  the 
populace  submitted  without  resist- 
ance, the  town  being  occupied  by  our 
troops. 

"Nevertheless  the  populace  at- 
tacked us  on  all  sides  and  discharged 
murderous  fire  on  the  occupying 
forces  and  newly  -  arriving  troops, 
which  came  in  trains  and  automo- 
biles. 

"Therefore  it  is  not  a  question  of 
the  means  of  defense  allowed  by  the 
law  of  nations,  nor  of  a  warlike  am- 
bush, but  only  of  a  treacherous  at- 
tack by  the  civilian  population  all 
along  the  line.  This  attack  is  all  the 
more  to  be  condemned  as  it  was  ap- 
parently planned  long  beforehand  to 
take  place  simultaneously  with  an  at- 
tack from  Antwerp;  for  arms  were 
not  carried  openly,  and  women  and 
young  girls  took  part  in  the  fight, 
blinding  our  wounded  and  gouging 
their  eyes  out. 

"The  barbarous  attitude  of  the 
Belgian  population  in  all  parts  occu- 
pied by  our  troops  has  not  only  justi- 
fied our  severest  measures,  but  forced 
them  upon  us  for  the  sake  of  self- 
preservation. 

"The  violence  of  the  resistance  of 
the  populace  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  in  Louvain  twenty-four  hours 
were  necessary  to  break  down  their 
attack. 

"We  ourselves  regret  deeply  that 
during  these  fights  the  town  of  Lou- 
vain has  to  a  large  extent  been  de- 
stroyed. Needless  to  say,  these  con- 
-seciuences  were  not  intentional  on 
our  part,  and  could  not  be  avoided." 
The  truth  leaks  out  more  and 
more.  Mr.  Joseph  Medill  Patterson, 
editor  of  the  "Chicago  Tribune,"  now 
on  the  theater  of  war,  writes  an 
explicit  account  of  the  alleged  atroc- 
ities and  says:  "I  firmly  believe 
that  all  the  stories  put  out  by  the 
British  and  French  of  torture,  muti- 
lation, assaults,  etc.,  by  Germans  are 
utter  rubbish." 

George  F.  Porter  of  Chicago,  now 
in  London,  writes  in  the  same  spirit. 
Here  is  an  account  of  one  of  his 
many  personal  investigations  and  the 
inkling  of  truth  it  contained: 

"They  did  tell  me,  however,  of  a 
Belgian    nurse    at    the    St.    Thomas 


Hospital  here  (London)  with  the 
tendons  of  her  wrist  cut.  I  went 
there  immediately,  saw  the  secretary 
of  the  hospital  and  found  there  was 
a  nurse  there,  but  that  instead  of 
the  tendons  of  her  wrists  being  cut 
she  had  burned  her  wrists  badly  by 
the  explosion  of  a  spirit  lamp  on 
which  she  was  making  tea.  Here 
was  a  typical  example  of  the  way 
stories  are  fabricated  out  of  noth- 
ing." 

We  learn  from  German  papers  that 
only  about  one-sixth  of  Louvain  has 
been  burned  down.  The  rest  has 
been  preserved.  Some  churches  and 
other  valuable  buildings  were  de- 
stroyed during  the  fight,  but  were 
not  set  on  fire  by  the  Germans. 
Some  German  officers  did  their  best 
to  save  valuable  pictures. 

The  lies  of  German  atrocities  are 
strangely  offset  by  the  great  wrongs 
committed  by  the  Belgians,  not  only 
in  taking  an  active  part  in  the  war 
but  also  in  the  most  heinous  crimes 
of  battle-hyenas.  Many  persons  have 
been  captured  who  found  a  pastime 
in  torturing  wounded  German  sol- 
diers and  indulged  mainly  in  gouging 
out  the  eyes  of  their  helpless  vic- 
tims.* 

The  Belgians  complain  of  German 
atrocities,  but  they  seem  to  think 
that  private  citizens  are  not  bound 
to  respect  the  rules  of  warfare.  They 
deemed  it  right  to  drive  German  in- 
habitants out  of  Antwerp  in  a  most 
cruel  feud;  and  the  French  and  Eng- 
lish make  use  of  dumdum  bullets. 
The  Kaiser  made  the  following  state- 
ment to  President  Wilson,  to  whom 
complaints  had  been  submitted  by 
the  Belgians: 

"I  consider  it  my  duty,  sir,  to  in- 
form you  as  the  most  notable  repre- 
sentative of  the  principles  of  human- 
ity— that  after  the  capture  of  the 
French  Fort  of  Longwy  my  troops 
found  in  that  place  thousands  of 
dumdum  bullets  which  had  been 
manufactured  in  special  works  by  the 
French  government.  Such  bullets 
were  found  not  only  on  French  killed 
and  wounded  soldiers  and  on  French 
prisoners,  but  also  on  English  troops. 
You  know  what  terrible  wounds  and 
awful  suffering  are  caused  by  these 
bullets,  and  that  their  use  is  strictly 
forbidden  by  the  generally  recog- 
nized rules  of  international  warfare. 

"I  solemnly  protest  to  you  against 
the  way  in  which  this  war  is  being 
waged  by  our  opponents,  whose 
methods  are  making  it  one  of  the 
most  barbarous  in  history. 

"Besides  the  use  of  these  awful 
weapons,  the  Belgian  government  has 
openly  incited  the  civil  population  to 
participate  in  the  fighting,  and  has 
for  a  long  time  carefully  organized 
their  resistance.  The  cruelties  prac- 
ticed in  this'  guerrilla  warfare,  even 
by  women  and  priests,  toward 
wounded  soldiers  and  doctors  and 
hospital  nurses  —  physicians  were 
killed  and  hospitals  fired  on — were 
such  that  eventually  my  generals 
were  compelled  to  adopt  the  strong- 
est measures  to  punish  the  guilty  and 
frighten   the   bloodthirsty   population 

•  The  ChlcnKO  Herald  of  September  22, 
pace  1,  contains  an  extract  from  W. 
Scheuermann's  report  of  the  cruelty  of 
RelBlan  civilians,  among  them  young 
girls. 


272 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR. 


from  continuing  their  shameful 
deeds. 

"Some  villages,  and  even  the  old 
town  of  Louvain,  with  the  exception 
of  its  beautiful  town  hall  (Hotel  de 
Ville),  had  to  be  destroyed  for  the 
protection  of  my  troops. 

"My  heart  bleeds  when  I  see  such 
measures  inevitable  and  when  I  think 
of  the  many  innocent  people  who 
have  lost  their  houses  and  property 
as  a  result  of  the  misdeeds  of  the 
guilty." 

The  worst  feature  of  the  citizens' 
fight  in  Louvain  is  the  attitude  of  the 
Belgian  government  in  sending  out 
official  orders  in  writing  to  the  lead- 
ers of  the  patriotic  party.  These 
misguided  fanatics  had  hoped  to  ex- 
terminate the  entire  little  garrison. 
That  the  Belgian  government  had 
taken  an  important  part  in  this  mur- 
derous work,  may  serve  as  an  excuse 
to  the  citizens  who  ventured  into  the 
fight,  but  we  can  not  blame  the  Ger- 
mans for  insisting  on  severe  punish- 
ment. Apparently  in  the  opinion  of 
the  King  of  Belgium  there  is  no  dif- 
ference between  war  and  assassina- 
tion. He  may  be  well-intentioned, 
but  appears  to  lack  judgment. 


MODERN    WARFARE    AND    THE 
WAR. 

(Continued.) 


Modern   Warfare. 

And  here  is  Mr.  Jourdain's  reply  to 
the  Editor's  discussion  of  this  subject.— 
Editor,    War  Echoes. 

This  section  attempts  the  defense  of 
the  German  army  by  stating:  (1)  that 
German  "atrocities"  In  Belgium  did  not 
take  place;  (2)  that  the  Belgians  com- 
mitted atrocities  against  Germans. 
With  regard  to  the  first  contention  it 
may  be  pointed  out  that  the  only  offi- 
cial inquiry,  the  Belgian,  produces  a 
vast  mass  of  evidence  from  sufferers 
and  eye-witnesses ;  while  the  round 
robin  of  the  five  American  reporters' 
only  comes  to  this,  that  these  five 
gentlemen,  after  spending  two  weeks 
with,  and  accompanying  the  troops  up- 
ward of  one  hundred  miles,  were  "un- 
able to  report  a  single  instance  unpro- 
voked." This  is  quite  possible  with 
regard  to  the  districts  seen  by  them, 
but  obviously  does  not  cover  the  whole 
country  of  Belgium.  The  German  offi- 
cial statement  that  "the  only  means  of 
preventing  surprise  attacks  from  the 
civil  population  has  been  to  Interfere 
with  unrelenting  severity,  and  to  create 
examples  which  by  their  frightfulness 
vould  be  a  warning  to  the  whole  coun- 
try" seems  by  its  wording  to  allow  for 
atrocious  treatment  of  the  civil  popula- 
tion. 

The  destruction  of  Louvain.  whether 
the  civil  population  fired  upon  the  Ger- 
mans or  no,  has  shocked  all  neutral 
countries.  The  Editor  gives  the  Ger- 
man official  report'  (published  in  Ber- 
lin, August  20),  as  disposing  of  "all 
the  Belgian  fables,"  while  he  describes 
the  Belgian  account  as  improbai^le  and 
lacking  verification.'     The  utmost  that 


'  Quoted  In   "O.  C,"  p.  620.   • 

•"Ibid.,"   pp.   632-633. 

'  "Ibid.."  p.  628.  The  Belgian  account 
was  issued  to  the  British  press  on  Sep- 
tember 15  by  thf-  Press  Bureau. 


could  be  said  is  that  the  two  accounts 
are  inconsistent ;  and  neither  side  gives 
"verification."  It  cannot  be  said  that 
the  German  version  disposes  of  the  Bel- 
gian, any  more  than  that  the  Belgian 
disposes  of  the  German,  as  far  as  evi- 
dence is  concerned,  though  one  may 
have  a  clear  idea  as  to  which  story  is 
the  more  probable.  It  Is  not  correct 
to  say  that  "to  reproach  the  Germans 
for  burning  Louvain  is  the  more  un- 
fair as  under  the  same  circumstances 
every  other  army  would  have  done  the 
same;"'"  as  the  English,  French  and 
Italian  presses  have  repudiated  such 
measures.  The  execution  of  a  certain 
number  of  Indian  rebels  as  a  definite 
punishment  of  the  guilty  cannot  be  com- 
pared with  the  German  treatment  of 
Louvain,  Termonde  and  Aerschot,  in 
which  many  innocent  civilians,  women 
and  children,  perished.  In  the  sugges- 
tion that  Belgians  have  been  guilty  of 
"the  most  heinous  crimes  of  battle- 
hyenas,"  and  that  many  people  have 
been  captured  who  found  a  pastime  In 
torturing  German  soldiers.'  no  proof  is 
adduced ;  and  as  far  as  the  evidence  of 
hospitals  is  available  the  "Vorwarts," 
investigating  this  question,  found  there 
was  absolutely  no  foundation  for  these 
imaginary  "atrocities." 

The  final  "atrocity"  charge  made  by 
tile  German  emperor^  to  President  Wil- 
son, is  that  French  and  English  troops 
make  use  of  dumdum  buliets.  Such 
accusations  are  easy  to  make,  and  no 
verification  is  attempted  on  the  German 
side ;  that  is,  the  German  emperor 
merely  states  that  "after  the  capture 
of  the  French  fort  of  Longwy  my 
troops  found  in  that  place  thousands 
of  dumdum  bullets  which  had  been 
manufactured  in  special  works  by  the 
French  government.  Such  bullets  were 
found  not  only  on  French  killed  and 
wounded  soldiers  but  also  on  English 
troops."  The  German  case  was  that 
the  Government  supplied  large  quanti- 
ties of  these  bullets,  and  the  German 
legation  in  Berne  invited  all  and  sun- 
dry to  go  and  see  the  dumdum  bullets 
in  their  possession  which  had.  it  was 
said,  been  taken  from  French  and 
British  soldiers.  The  "Journal  de 
Geni've"  sent  Herr  Meyer  von  Stadel- 
hofen.  the  well-known  Swiss  rifle 
champion,  who  also  carefully  scrutin- 
ized these  bullets  in  the  German  lega- 
tion.    He  reported : 

"I  noticed  first  that  the  transforma- 
tion had  been  effected  with  the  help  of 
rudlmentar.v  tools,  such  as  a  file,  a 
saw.  or  a  puncheon ;  secondly,  that  of 
these  five  bullets  no  two  were  cut  in 
the  same  place,  the  mark  of  the  instru- 
ment having  been  sometimes  made 
nearer  and  sometimes  farther  from  the 
nose  of  the  bullet:  thirdly,  that  the 
scooiiing-ont  was  not  done  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  bullet;  fourthly,  that  the 
metal  had  been  recently  worked,  for 
the  lead  was  still  very  bright." 

His  conclusions,  therefore,  are  that 
obviously  these  bullets  were  not  altered 
by  mechanical  means,  and  that  they 
were  not  altered  at  the  time  or  under 
the  conditions  referred  to  in  the  Ger- 
man note  handed  to  him.  To  put  It 
plainly,  the  statements  of  this  note  are 
not  borne  out  by  the  examination  of 
the  bullets  with  which  it  was  accom- 


panied, while,  to  put  it  still  more 
plainly,  the  famous  dumdum  bullets 
were  made  in  Germany,  or,  at  any  rate 
turned  into  dumdum  bullets  there. 
Herr  Meyer  von  Stadelhofen  then 
asked  whether  the  secretary  of  the 
Berlin  foreign  office  had  sent  the  Ger- 
man legation  in  Berne  any  medical  evi- 
dence testifying  to  the  use  of  dumdum 
ammunition,  to  which  the  answer  was 
"Xo,"  an  explanation  being  added, 
about  which  an  army  surgeon's  opin- 
ion would  be  highly  interesting,  that 
"German    doctors    consider    that    it    Is  . 

virtually  almost  impossible  to  know 
whether  a  wound  is  or  is  not  due  to 
a  dumdum  bullet,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  modern  bullets  have  such  a  rotary 
movement  that  they  often  cause  wounds 
similar  to  those  produced  by  dumdum 
bullets,  especially  when  they  do  not 
strike  quite  direct,  as  is  frequently  the 
case."  3  * 

Corroborative  testimony  directly  con- 
troverting the  use  of  dumdum  bullets 
by  the  allies  Is  that  of  Dr.  Hiiberlln,  a 
member  of  the  Ziirich  medical  associa- 
tion, who  acted  as  a  volunteer  surgeon 
In  various  military  hospitals  in  Arlen 
(Grand  Duchy  of  Baden)  and  Lud- 
wigsburg,  and  reported  he  never  heard 
anything  of  a  dumdum  bullet  wound. 
I  have  given  prominence  to  these  re- 
ports of  neutrals,  but  the  memorandum 
issued  from  the  War  Office,  dated  Oc- 
tober 7,  denies  the  use  of  dumdum  bul- 
lets by  English  troops.  There  is.  the 
report  runs,  clear  evidence  that  Ger- 
many has  not  confined  herself  solely 
to  the  use  of  unobjectionable  ammuni- 
tion. Her  troops  both  in  Togoland  and 
in  France  have  been  proved  to  have 
used  bullets  with  a  soft  core  and  hard 
thin  envelope,  not  entirely  covering  the 
core,  which  type  of  bullet  is  expand- 
ing and  therefore  expressly  prohibited 
by  The  Hague  Convention.  Such  bul- 
lets of  no  less  than  three  types  were 
found  on  the  bodies  of  dead  native 
soldiers  serving  with  the  German 
armed  forces  against  British  troops  in 
Togoland  in  August,  and  on  the  per- 
sons of  German  European  and  native 
armed  troops  captured  by  us  in  that 
colon.v.  All  the  British  wounded 
treated  in  the  British  hospitals  during 
the  operations  In  Togoland  were 
wounded  by  soft-nosed  bullets  of  large 
calibre,  and  the  injuries  which  these 
projectiles  inflicted,  in  marked  con- 
trast to  those  treated  by  the  Brit- 
ish medical  staff  amongst  the  German 
wounded,  were  extremely  severe,  bones 
being  shattered  and  the  tissue  so  ex- 
tensively damaged  that  amputation  had 
to  be  performed.  The  use  of  those  bul- 
lets was  the  object  of  a  written  pro- 
test by  the  general  officer  commanding 
the  British  troops  in  Nigeria  to  the 
German  acting  governor  of  Togoland. 
Again,  at  Gundeln.  in  France,  on  Sep- 
tember 19,  1914,  soft-nosed  bullets  (i. 
e..  those  in  which  the  lead  core  is  ex- 
posed and  protrudes  at  the  nose)  were 
found  on  the  dead  bodies  of  German 
soldiers  of  the  Landirehr.  and  on  the 
persons  of  soldiers  of  the  LaruJirehr 
made  prisoners  of  war  by  the  British 
troops. 

One  of  these  bullets  has  reached  the 
War  Office.   It  is  undoubtedly  expand- 


•""Ibid.,"  p.  628. 
'  "Ibid.,"  p.  634. 
'"Ibid.."  p.  63  4. 


•But  how  about  the  packages  found 
with  the  French  manufacturing  stamp  on 
them,  Mr.  Jourdain? — Editor,  War  Echoes. 

'  Quoted  in  the  "Morning  Post,"  Octo- 
ber 30,   1914. 


BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR  AND  THE  FIRST  LAW  OF  NATURE 


273 


ing,    and    directly    prohibited    liy    the 
Hague  Convention.* 


•To  say  "it  is  reported,"  or  "undoubt- 
edly." is  not  "proof."  Mr.  Jourdaln,  and 
furthermore,  if  Germans  should  have  used 
such  bullets  in  Togoland  as  are  prohibited 
by  law,  it  was  the  British  who  first  taught 
this  trick  by  the  malting:  and  introducing 
them  in  Dum-Dum,  India,  against  their 
"Dear  Allies." — Editor,   War  Echoes. 


THE   MOBILIZATION   OP   GERMAN 
WOMEN. 

The  war  has  swept  away  the  chief 
argument  against  the  admission  of 
women  to  political  and  industrial 
equality  in  Germany.  The  opponents 
of  women's  rights  have  lieeu  willing 
to  admit  that  the  bearing  of  children 
demanded  as  much  courage  as  military 
service  and  even  that  it  was  as  use- 
ful to  the  nation,  but  since  it  was  an 
individual  act  it  could  not — in  Ger- 
man estimation — rank  with  the  organ- 
ized activities  of  men.  So  long  as 
women  showed  themselves  deficient  in 
the  ability  to  organize  and  co-operate 
they  could  not  claim  membership  in 
the  supreme  organization,  the  state. 

But  now  the  women  have  demon- 
strated that  they  can  equal  the  other 
sex  in  what  the  Germans  regard  as 
the  highest  attainment  of  Kultur. 
Their  success  in  forming  and  manag- 
ing an  association  of  varied  activities 
and  national  scojie  is  in  some  respects 
a  more  remarkable  feat  than  the  mobi- 
lization of  the  German  army,  for  it 
was  effected  without  compulsion  or 
previous  training.  On  the  morning  of 
the  day  when  tiermany  declared  war 
against  Russia  Dr.  Gertrud  Biiumer. 
president  of  the  Federation  of  Wom- 
en's Clubs,  issued  a  call  for  the  mobi- 


lization of  German  women  for  social 
service.  The  Federation  itself  in- 
cludes half  a  million  members  and 
with  it  are  associated  all  the  philan- 
thropic and  relief  organizations  of  the 
country  as  well  as  an  army  of  other 
women  all  working  under  the  general 
direction  of  the  "Nationalc  Frauen- 
dicn^t."  It  corresponds  somewhat  to 
the  Ladies'  Aid  Society  of  our  Civil 
War,  but  has  a  wider  range.  While 
one  branch  is  working  with  the  Ked 
Cross  and  another  caring  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  the 
chief  duty  assumed  is  looking  after 
the  homes  deprived — pertiaps  forever 
— of  the  breadwinner.  Here  are 
women  and  children,  sometimes  sick 
and  often  helpless,  thrown  suddenly 
upon  their  own  resources  when  in- 
dustry is  paralyzed  and  times  are 
hardest.  Self-supporting  women  were 
deprived  of  employment  and  the  sing- 
ers and  actresses  were  harder  to  place 
than  the  discharged  factory  girls  and 
housemaids.  During  the  first  months 
the  volunteer  visitors  in  Berlin  made 
personal  investigations  of  255.000 
cases  and  in  October  the  twenty-three 
relief  committees  distributed  100,000 
bread  tickets,  56.000  milk  tickets  and 
300,000  meal  tickets  to  the  needy  of 
the  capital. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  forms  of 
social  service  has  been  the  establish- 
ment of  cooking  schools  in  various 
quarters  of  the  cities,  where  free  in- 
struction has  been  given  to  housewives 
in  the  preparation  of  cheap  and  nutri- 
tious foods,  in  the  use  of  the  fireless 
cooker  and  in  making  bread  twenty 
per  cent  potatoes  and  cooking  accord- 
ing to  the  Government  War  Cook 
Book.  In  the  National  Women's  Serv- 
ice the  same  spirit  of  unity  has  been 


displayed  as  elsewhere  in  Germany, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  the  country  rich  and  poor,  bourgeois 
and  socialist,  churchly  and  worldly, 
worked  together  in  a  common  cause. 
Let  us  hope  that  when  peace  comes 
the  German  women  will  not  forget 
what  they  have  learned  to  do  and 
that  the  German  men  will  remember 
it,  too. — The  Independent. 


TO  GERMAN  WOJBEN. 


An    .Appeal    from   the   Kaiserin. 

On  the  summons  of  the  Emperor  our 
people  are  preparing  for  an  uni)rece- 
dented  struggle,  which  it  did  not  in- 
voke and  which  it  is  only  carrying  on  in 
its  defense.  Whoever  can  bear  arms 
will  joyfully  hasten  to  the  colors  to 
defend  the  Fatherland  with  his  blood. 
The  struggle  will  be  gigantic  and  the 
wounds  to  be  healed  innumerable,  there- 
fore I  call  upon  you  women  and  girls  of 
Germany,  and  all  to  whom  it  is  not 
given  to  fight  for  our  beloved  home,  for 
help.  Let  every  one  now  do  what  lies  in 
her  power  to  lighten  the  struggle  for 
our  husbands,  sons  and  brothers.  I 
know  that  in  all  ranks  of  our  peojjle, 
without  exception,  the  will  exists  to 
fulfill  this  high  ideal,  but  may  the  Ix)rd 
God  strengthen  us  in  our  holy  work 
of  love,  which  summons  us  women  to 
devote  all  our  strength  to  the  Father- 
land in  its  decisive  struggle. 

The  organizations  primarily  con- 
cerned who  should  be  supported  first 
have  already  sent  out  notices  regard- 
ing the  mustering  of  volunteers  and 
the  collection  of  gifts  of  all  kinds. 
AFGFSTE    VICTORIA. 

Berlin.  .\ug.  6. 


18,000,000   MEN    UNDER   ARMS; 

2,000.000    LOST. 


From  the  New  York  Evening  Sun. 

Even  the  most  exaggerated  predic- 
tions, made  sixty-six  days  ago  when 
the  European  war  began,  regarding 
the  number  of  men  that  would  be 
called  into  the  conflict  and  the  tre- 
mendous losses  that  would  accom- 
pany it  have  been  borne  out. 

Events  now  show  that  the  nations 
at  war  have  men  under  arms  or  at 
the  battle  fronts  as  follows: 

Russia    6,000,000 

Germany    4,300,000 

France     4,000,000 

Austria    2,500,000 

England    2.50,000 


Servia    300,000 

Japan     230,000 

Belgium     200,000 

Montenegro     80,000 

Total 17,860,000 

A  New  York  physician  has  received 
a  letter  from  a  reputable  source  in 
France,  saying  that  morn  than  300,- 
00  0  Frenchmen  were  killed,  wounded 
or  taken  prisoners  in  the  battle  of 
tlie  Marne  and  the  battle  of  the  Aisno 
so  far  as  it  lias  gone.  A  fair  esti- 
mate places  the  German  losses  in  the 
battles  at  500,000  men.  The  British 
loss  is  proportionate  to  the  French, 
and  a  conservative  estimate  places 
their  casualty  list  at  30,000. 

The  German  loss  in  the  eastern 
theater  of  war  is  largely  a  matter  of 


guesswork.  Colonel  R.  N.  Maude,  au- 
thor of  "The  Evolution  of  Strategy," 
estimates  the  total  German  loss  along 
all  the  battle  fronts  at  1,000,000. 

The  Austrian  loss  in  the  Galician 
campaign  in  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners  has  been  estimated  at  more 
than  500,000.  In  inflicting  this  d-nii- 
age  it  is  believed  that  the  Russians 
lost  at  least  250,000.  Then  there  are 
the  losses  to  the  Belgians  and  the 
casualties  of  the  fighting  in  the  far 
East. 

Thus  the  estimates  of  the  killed, 
wounded  and  missing  in  the  war  so 
far  place  them  in  the  neighborhood 
of  2,000,000  men. — Reprinted  from 
"The  Chicago  Evening  Post,"  October 
9,  1914. 


THE  EASTERN  CAMPAIGN     ' 
SECOND  GREAT  MOVE  AGAINST  THE  ENEMY 

According  to  the  Strategic  Plans  of  the  German  Military  Staff 
The  Russian  Mobilization  "Trick" — Mobilizing  long  before  a  Declaration  of  War 


THIS  FORCES  THE  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA  AND  GERMANY 
MAKES  POSSIBLE  THE  RUSSIAN  BARBARITIES  IN  EAST  PRUSSIA 
Accounts  for  the  sporadic  Russian  Successes  during  the  First  Stages  of  the  War 
France  and  Great  Britain  in  this  "Game"  with  Russia 
The  "Bear"  Must  Save  Us 


What  will  the  Coming  Century  bring  Germany  from  Russia? 
We  Dread  to  Think  of  it! 


VON    HINDENBURG    IS    HEKO    OF 
EVERY   GERMAN   TOWN. 


Geiieral     Who    Drove    Russians    Out 

Revels      in      Adulation;      Saved 

Mazurian  Lakes  by  Appeal 

to  Kaiser. 


Prom  the  "Chicago  Examiner,"  Feb. 
28,  1915. 

BERLIN,  Feb.  2  7. — There  is  no 
parallel  to  the  enthusiasm  Von  Hin- 
denburg's  name  has  invoked.  It  he 
had  descended  like  an  archangel  from 
the  skies  and  rushed  the  Russian 
armies  into  the  Black  Sea  there  could 
have  been  no  more  extravagant  accla- 
mation. 

Towns  and  villages  have  been  re- 
named after  him;  Hindenburgstrasse 
has  become  as  common  as  Friederich- 
strasse;  universities  have  showered 
their  dignities  upon  him;  Hindenburg 
marches  by  the  score  have  come  for 
his  acceptance;  hundreds  of  cigar 
merchants  have  implored  him  to  per- 
mit them  to  associate  his  name  with 
their  products;  honors  and  gifts,  tele- 
grams and  decorations  have  inun- 
dated him  beyond  precedent. 

Victory  Truly  Notable. 

Undoubtedly  the  achievement 
which  gave  rise  to  this  extravagant 
adulation  of  Hindenburg  was  a  very 
notable  thing.  The  victory  of  the 
Mazurian  Lakes,  which  resulted  in 
the  destruction  of  three  Russian  army 
corps  and  the  suicide  of  General  Sam- 
sonoff,  is  an  indisputable  triumph. 

Measured  by  the  standards  of  past 
wars,  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  and 
most  complete  disasters  in  history, 
and  in  the  horror  of  its  circumstances 
— the  shrieks  of  hosts  of  men  and 
horses  sucked  into  those  terrible 
swamps  are  said  to  have  driven  even 


GENERAL   VON   HINDENBURG 


some  of  the  German  officers  insane — 
it  has  rarely  been  paralleled. 
Saved  Mazurian  Ijake.s. 

That  it  discovered  a  man  of  bold, 
original  powers  among  the  "card- 
index"  minds  of  the  Prussian  hier- 
archy is  clear.  "Old  Hindenburg," 
as  they  call  him  affectionately — he  is 
not  old  as  generalship  in  this  war 
goes,  being  sixty-seven — belongs  to 
that  type  which  in  normal  times  is 
dismissed  by  conventional  official 
minds  as  a  crank,  and  in  times  of 
stress  is  found  to  be  a  genius.  The 
special  subject  of  his  supposed  cranki- 
ness was  the  Mazurian  Lakes. 

274 


About  the  military  meaning  of  this 
marshy  region  there  were  two  views 
in  Germany.  The  popular  view  was 
that  in  the  event  of  war  the  Russians 
must  not  be  permitted  to  reach  this 
region.  The  heterodox  view  was  that 
of  Hindenburg,  who  maintained  that 
the  Russians  must  be  forced  into  the 
Mazurian  Lakes. 

To  this  view  he  clung  with  an  ob- 
stinacy that  made  him  something  of 
a  jest,  and  when  he  heard  that  the 
Reichstag  was  about  to  consider  a 
scheme  for  draining  his  beloved 
marshes  and  bringing  the  land  under 
cultivation  he  descended  like  a  whirl- 
wind on  deputies,  party  leaders  and 
committees.  When  all  this  failed  he 
carried  his  cause  to  the  Kaiser  him- 
self. There  he  prevailed.  The 
marshes  were  saved,  and  "Old  Hin- 
denburg" went  on  with  his  study  of 
the  region,  and  every  year  at  maneu- 
vers punctually  drove  the  "Russian" 
enemy  into  the  swamps. 

"Today  we  shall  have  a  bath,"  was 
the  proverbial  saying  of  the  soldiers 
when  "Old  Hindenburg"  was  against 
them   in  the  maneuvers. 

But  when  the  war  came  Hinden- 
burg was  in  retirement  at  Hanover 
and  forgotten.  Weeks  passed  and 
his  offer  of  service  was  ignored. 
Meanwhile  the  Russians  were  over- 
running East  Prussia.  Then  the  boy- 
cott collapsed. 

"Suddenly,"  to  use  his  own  words, 
"there  came  a  telegram  informing  me 
that  the  Emperor  commissioned  me 
to  command  the  Eastern  army.  I 
really  only  had  time  to  buy  some 
woolen  underclothing  and  make  my 
old  uniform  presentable  again.  Then 
came  sleeping  cars,  saloon  cars,  loco- 
motives— and  so  I  journeyed  to  East 
Prussia  like  a  prince.  And  so  far 
everything  has  gone  jolly  well." 


WITH  THE  EASTERN  GERMAN  AR.\HES 


275 


®cfeif|4^.6ereitc  aiJniii)incnflc«)c6rn6tl)ct(uitg  in  SHuffifd)  ^oUn. 

MACHINE(;U\    DIVISION    IN    KISSIAN    I'OJ.ANl)    UKADY    KOU    ACTION 
(By   Courtesy   of   the    '■Illinois   Staats-Zeitung") 


Delights  in  Hero  Worship. 

For  he  is  a  garrulous  old  boy.  Per- 
haps it  was  that  quality  that  made 
him  distrusted,  for  there  Is  a  preju- 
dice in  fayor  of  the  silent  man.  who 
after  all.  may  only  he  silent  because 
he  is  dull. 

Hindenburg  is  neither  silent  nor 
dull.  He  has  torrential  gayety  and 
physical  enjoyment  of  his  job  and  he 
accepts  the  hero-worship  of  Germany 
with  unconcealed  delight. 


WHAT  RI.S.MARCK  SAID. 

"If  the  French  are  willing  to  keep 
peace  with  us  until  we  attack  them," 
he  said,  "then  peace  is  assured  for- 
ever." 

"If  Germany  became  Involved  in 
war  with  France,  it  would  not  be 
necessary  to  expect  Russia  to  strike 
Germany,  but  if  Russia  should  strike 
first.  France  would  be  sure  to  join 
her  in  attacking  Germany" — a  most 
remarkable  forecast  of  what  has  now 
actually  taken  place. 

As  early  as  1887  he  said;  "Russia 
and  France  will  sooner  or  later  at- 
tack Germany." 

"The  English  are  full  of  anger  and 
jealousy  because  we  fought  great 
battles — and  won  them.  They  do 
not  like  to  see  us  prosper.  We  only 
exist  in  order  to  fight  their  battles 
for  pay.  That  is  the  opinion  of  the 
entire  English  gentry.  They  have 
never  wished  us  well,  but  have  done 
all  they  could  to  injure  us.  This  is 
also  the  position  of  the  crown  prin- 
cess (the  Empress  Frederick,  mother 
of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.).  She  always 
thought  wonder  how  she  had  humili- 
ated herself  by  marrying  Into  this 
country.      I    remember   how   she   re- 


marked at  one  time  that  two  or  three 
Liverpool  merchants  possessed  as 
much  silver  as  the  entire  Prussian 
nobility.  'That  may  be  true,  your 
royal  highness,'  I  answered,  'but  we 
value  other  things  much  higher  than 
we  do  silver,'  " 

"German  rulers,"  he  said,  "are  in 
the  habit  of  leading  their  armies  In 
war  so  that  they  may  realize  its  hor- 
rors, which  would  haunt  them  if  they 
should  be  able  to  say  to  themselves, 
this  war  I  could  have  avoided  with 
honor.  Germany  would  never  begin 
aggressive  wars  or  wars  of  conquest, 
as  France  so  often  had  done,  nor 
would  she  bleed  a  conquered  nation 
as  Napoleon  had  bled  Prussia  in 
1807. 

"The  Germans  are  like  bears  in 
this  respect;  they  do  not  attack  of 
their  own  accord,  but  they  fight  like 
mad  when  they  are  attacked  in  their 
own  lairs.  An  appeal  to  fear  will 
never  find  an  echo  in  the  German's 
heart.  The  German  is  easily  be- 
trayed by  love  and  sympathy,  but 
never  by  fear.  The  Germans  will  not 
start  the  fire.  Some  other  nation 
may,  but  let  any  nation  that  provokes 
Germany  beware  of  'the  furor  teu- 
tonlcus.'  " 

"We  Germans  fear  God,  but  noth- 
ing else  In  the  world;  and  the  fear 
of  God  induces  us  to  love  and  seek 
peace.  Whoever  breaks  the  peace 
will  soon  realize  that  the  same  pa- 
triotism which  called  weak  and  down- 
trodden little  Prussia  to  the  stand- 
ards in  IS  I.'!  has  today  become  the 
common  property  of  united  Germany, 
and  that  whoever  attacks  the  German 
nation  will  find  her  presenting  a 
united  front,  every  soldier  having  in 
his  heart  the  firm  faith:  God  will 
be  with  us." 


SAVS     GERMANY     IS    BEATEN. 

Russians    Take    Optimistic    View    of 
War,  Jolm  Bass  Cables. 

From  "Cliicago  Daily  News,"  Thurs- 
day, March  18,  1915. 

By  John  F.  Bass. 

Sijecial  Cable  to  "The  Daily  News." 
Petrograd,  Russia,  March  IS. — I  am 
back  iu  I'etrograd,  where  I  find  that 
the  political  and  intellectual  center  of 
Russia  has  laid  aside  its  workaday  gar- 
ments of  pessimism  and  assumed  the 
bright  attire  of  self  confident  hope.  In 
well  informed  circles  there  is  a  firm 
convictiou,  which  has  not  hitherto  pre- 
vailed, that  Germany  is  beaten.  In 
.spite  of  the  ultra  and  at  times  exag- 
gerated optimism  of  the  local  press,  the 
prevailing  feeling  in  Petrograd  hereto- 
fore has  been  one  of  grave  doubt  a.s  to 
the  issue.  But  all  that  is  changed  and 
from  mouth  to  mouth  goes  the  word 
that  (Germany  has  beaten  her  array  to 
pieces  iu  fruitless  batterings,  without 
a  decisive  strategic  success. 

Russia  Ready  for  Emergency. 

Considering  the  war  as  a  whole,  it  is 
true  that  Germany  has  won  tactical  suc- 
cesses, as  for  instance,  in  Poland,  but 
no  one  of  the  allied  armies  has  been 
materially  weakened.  This  optimism 
finds  its  origin  in  the  check  of  the  great 
Austro-Germau  movement  of  the  last 
two  or  three  weeks  in  East  I'nissia  and 
Galicia.  The  information  given  out  is 
that  Russia  flually  has  met  the  situa- 
tion and  is  ready  for  every  emergency. 

At  Przasnysz  the  Russian  lines  are 
lengthening  and  pushing  around  the 
flanks  of  the  German  advance  here. 
The  Russians  have  taken  the  villages 
of  Jednowjcs  and  .Stegna,  northwest  of 
Przasnys/,  and  have  driven  the  Germans 
beyond  the  bridge  over  the  Orzyc  river. 
An  attempt  by  the  Germans  to  cross 
the  river  on  the  ice  is  said  lo  have  been 
frustrated  by  Russian  cavalry.  In  this 
region  the  fighting  is  gradually  edging 
toward  the  frontier. 

Ossowetz  is  not  actually  besieged,  the 
causeway  connection  being  still  intact 
on  the  south.  The  Germans  are  re- 
ported to  be  using  larger  guns  than 
formerly,  or  guns  similar  to  those  em- 
ployed at  Antweri).  They  were  able 
to  put  these  into  position  on  account  of 
the  recent  heavy  freezing.  This  fort 
and  that  at  I'rzomysl  are  now  the 
important  storm  centers.  At  the  latter 
fortress  a  relief  party  of  Austrians 
with  a  strong  force  of  (iermans  is  now 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Dukla  pass, 
while  the  Russians  have  closed  in  on 
the  fortress  in  hopes  of  ci\i>turing  it. 

Conditions  Reversed  at  Ossowetz. 

At  Ossowetz  the  conditions  are  re- 
versed, as  the  (icrman  forces  in  front  of 
Grodno  have  been  driven  back  into  the 
forest  of  Auguslowo.  News  from  the 
Bzura  front  Indicating  renewed  activity 
on  the  part  of  the  Germans  shows  that 
the  forces,  which  have  retired  from  the 
east  of  the  Prussian  front  are  now  be- 
ing switched  rapidly  lo  the  Warsaw- 
front  in  the  hope  that  the  Russian  line 
there  is  being  weakened  by  the  concen- 
tration on  the  East  Prussian  battle  line 
so  much  that  it  might  prove  loo  weak  to 
resist.  Indeed,  this  may  have  been  one 
reason  for  the  recent  (German  advance 
from  East  Prussia. 


276 


EVOLUTION  BV  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


J*i.  ..... 


">- 


/.. 


■T'":        /      op.u.; 


Liililm--.^  K* 


(From  the  National  Geographic  Magazine) 


THE  EASTERN  WAR  ZONE 


The  Germans  have  the  faculty  of  in  many  of  their  engagements,  but  ful  slaughter  at  Liege  shows  that  the 
not  knowing  when  they  are  whipped.  they  didn't.  On  the  contrary,  they  Teutons  have  lost  none  of  their  fight- 
In  1870-1871,  according  to  the  rules  kept  pouring  men  into  craters  until  ing  qualities. — From  the  "Public 
of  war,  they  should  have  withdrawn  they  reached  their  goal.    The  fright-  Ledger,"     Philadelphia,     August     9. 


WITH  THE  EASTERN  GERMAN  ARMIES 


277 


riCOI'LE   WAITING   IN  THE   STREETS   OF   LODZ  FOR   FOOD   FROM   THE   GERMAN    ARMY 

(Photograph   by   the   International  News   Service) 


The  Deadly  Parallel 

From  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York 


The  Duchess  of  Marlborough. 

From  New  York  papers: — Mrs. 
Oliver  H.  P.  Belmont  has  received  a 
letter  from  her  daughter,  the  Duchess 
of  Marlborough,  who  Is  engaged  as  a 
Red  Cross  nurse  in  a  London  hos- 
pital, charging  that  German  soldiers 
cut  off  the  hands  and  arms  of  Eng- 
lish surgeons  and  hospital  nurses  in 
order  to  disable  them  from  perform- 
ing  their    duties. 


Joseph  Medill  Patterson. 

The  Hague,  September  11. — To 
"The  Chicago  Tribune": — I  firmly 
believe  that  all  stories  put  out  by 
the  British  and  French  of  tortures, 
mutilations,  assaults,  etc.,  by  Ger- 
mans are  utterly  rubbish. 


In  casting  off  German  influence 
will  the  Russians  spurn  the  useful 
Vienna  roll,  the  succulent  Hamburg. 


I'reniier  A.squith. 

London,  September  14,  3:23  P.  M. 
— Premier  Asquith  told  the  House  of 
Commons  today  that  no  ofllcial  in- 
formation had  reached  the  Ministry 
of  War  concerning  the  repeated 
stories  that  German  soldiers  had 
abused  the  Red  Cross  flag,  killed 
and  maimed  the  wounded,  and  killed 
women  and  children  as  had  been  al- 
leged so  often  in  stories  of  the  battle- 
fields. 


.>LE.MEL  REGAINED. 

On  March  is,  Mcmp).  the  most 
northern  of  I'russliin  seaports,  was 
<ai)tured  by  a  force  of  G,000  to  10,000 
Russians.  The  town  was  defended  by 
a  small  force  of  the  Landsturm  or 
militia,  with  the  assistance,  according 
to  the  Russian  account,  of  civilians. 
Four  <lays  later,  on  the  approach  of 
a  land  force  of  (ierman  trmiiis  from 
the  soutli  and  the  arrival  of  German 
warsliips  in  the  harbor,  the  Russians 
retiretl,  taking  with  them  the  mayor 
of  Memel  and  tliree  othi>r  prominent 
rilizens  whom  they  had  seized  as 
liiislaws.  Rut  the  car  carrying  the 
hustaws  broke  down,  their  escort  fled 
and  the  prisoners  escaped.  The  raid 
on  Memel  was,  according  to  the  Rus- 
sian version,  for  the  purpose  of  break- 


ing up  the  contraband  trade  which  has 
been  passing  through  that  place.  The 
Russians  seized  large  quantities  of 
goods  stored  here  and  burned  what 
they  could  not  carry  away. 

The  Germans  accuse  them  of  burn- 
ing fifteen  villages  in  the  vicinity,  and 
wilful  destruction  of  private  property. 
As  reprisals  for  the  sacking  of  Memel 
the  (Jcrinans  have  imiKised  an  iiidem- 
luty  of  !i;2."iO,0(iO  on  the  city  of  Lodz. 
Poland,  and  .$25,000  on  the  town  of 
Suwalki. 

A  similar  raid  was  attempted  on 
Tilsit,  but  was  not  successful.  Along 
the  Niemen,  in  the  forest  of  August- 
owo  and  on  the  eastern  frontier  of 
East  Prussia  there  are  rumors  of 
(iglidng.  but  their  significance  is  ob- 
scure. 


The  German  lionibardment  of  the 
Polish  fortress  of  Osowiec  (Ossowetz) 
seems  to  make  liltle  progress.  Their 
big  siege  gtins  were  brought  up  to 
within  three  miles  of  the  fortiflcations, 
but  were  obliged  to  withdraw.  The 
new  42-centimeter  howitzers  were  used 
at  long  range,  but  according  to  the 
lUissiaii  account,  did  not  make  a  single 
hit.  and  the  2S-contimeter  howitzers 
(lid  little  damage  to  the  concrete  case- 
ments  when    thev   struck. 


The  correspondents  manage  to  get 
past  the  censors  with  stories  of  their 
personal  hardships  and  Insuperable 
dimcultles. — From  the  "St.  Louis 
Globe-Democrat,"    August    18,    1914. 


278 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


The  Central  Empires — Germany  and  Austria 
Past,  Present  and  Future 


AUSTRIA    AND    THE    NATIONAI 
LIBERTIES  OF  HER  PEOPLE. 


The  Vita!  Issue. 


Dr.  Irwin  Klein. 

From  many  quarters  attacks  have 
been  made  upon  Austria's  ruler  as 
the  oppressor  of  Servia's  freedom. 
However,  these  attacks  have  not 
taken  into  consideration  the  fact  that 
Austria  is  the  only  land  enjoying  per- 
fect national  freedom  and  equality, 
and  that  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  is 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  founder  and 
protector  of  this  national  freedom, 
and  that  his  policy  of  protecting  the 
various  races  combined  in  the  Aus- 
trian Empire  against  agitation  has 
hitherto  been  a  guarantee  for  the  in- 
terior peace  and  for  the  freedom  of 
his  people. 

To  be  sure,  the  United  States  is  a 
country  guaranteeing  the  freedom 
and  equality  of  all  races  and  yet  aiij 
one  asking  for  the  establishment  ni 
government  schools  in  which  the  Ian 
guage  of  the  teacher  shall  be  that  oL 
the  majority  of  the  foreign-born  pop- 
ulation settled  in  any  particular  lo- 
cality, would  be  ridiculed.  In  Aus- 
tria     now      there      are      government 


? 

t^ 

-  -x 

J| 

P^^ 

^ 

> 

.  --Ml  1 

K-:M 

Franz  Joseph— Austria-Hungary 


schools  conducted  in  the  German, 
Czech,  Italian,  Ruthenian,  Polish, 
Roumanian.    Croatian,    Turkish,   etc.. 


languages,  and  these  are  not  element- 
ary schools,  but  most  of  the  national- 
ities represented  have  institutions  of 
learning  corresponding  to  our  Ameri- 
can colleges. 

The  population  of  any  town  has  the 
right  to  demand  that  court  proceed- 
ings be  carried  on  in  their  own  lan- 
guage provided  that  the  number  of 
people  speaking  this  language 
amounts  to  25  per  cent  of  the  whole 
population.  Almost  all  the  above- 
named  languages  are  admitted  to 
parliament  as  a  vehicle  of  communi- 
cation. This  is  indeed  an  absolute 
national  equality. 

In  Switzerland  there  are  similar 
conditions,  but  there  the  situation  is 
tar  more  simple  since  only  three  lan- 
guages (German,  French  and  Italian) 
come  into  consideration  and  more- 
over since  these  three  nationalities 
are  settled  in  locally  separated  dis- 
tricts. 

Austria  (with  the  exception  of  four 
wholly  German  provinces)  has  not 
one  province  of  the  size  of  even  the 
smallest  American  state  where  three- 
fourths  of  the  population  are  mem- 
bers of  the  same  nationality.  If  we 
now  suppose  that  any  one  of  these 
Austrian  provinces  were  to  be  freed 
from  the  Austrian  "yoke,"  for  exam- 


LOYAL   COMRAIJES   IN   ARMS 

:^>00.000  Germans  are  said  to  have  gone  to  the  Assistance  of  the  Austrians  iu  Galicia 
(By    Courtesy    of    the    "Chicago    Abendpcst") 


WITH  THE  WESTERN  C.ERMAN  ARMIES 


A\    AM  A /.I  INK 

Olina  Slepanio  ^>t•  the  IKAIMC  I.I'XJIOX  ivicived  llie  Silver  MccImI  (<n-  I'.iMviny 
in  tlie  Ficlil 
(By    Courti'sy    of    tho    "Cliicago    Abendpost") 


pie  "Bucowina,"  we  will  find  that  at 
least  one-half  of  the  population  is 
not  composed  of  Ruthenians  (Slavs), 
but  of  Germans,  Roumanians  and 
Poles.  All  of  these  would  then  lose 
their  freedom  if  the  province  were 
to  be  turned  over  to  the  Slavs.  In 
Galieia  the  majority  of  the  popula- 
tion is  composed  of  Poles,  but  this 
constituent  does  not  quite  amount  to 
two-thirds  of  the  entire  population, 
the  balance  being  Germans  and  Ru- 
thenians. In  Bohemia  the  Czechs  are 
in  the  majority,  but  they  do  not  total 
more  than  75  per  cent  of  the  entire 
population. 


If  we  e.xcept  the  southern  provinces 
we  find  everywhere  from  15  to  30  per 
cent  Germans;  the  balance  is  com- 
posed of  Italians,  Croats  and  other 
South-Slavs  such  as  Serbs,  etc.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  say,  therefore, 
that  the  Italians  or  Slavs  anywhere 
amount  to  three-fourths  of  the  popu- 
lation. In  Bosnia  and  Ilerzegowina 
we  have  not  only  to  reckon  with 
Slavs,  Germans  and  Italians,  but 
there  is  also  a  large  percentage  of 
Turks. 

So  long  as  they  remain  under  Aus- 
tria's rule  all  these  nationalities  en- 
joy equal  rights.     But  if  any  one  por- 


tion were  to  be  severed  from  Aus- 
tria at  least  one-third  of  the  popula- 
tion of  this  portion  would  lose  their 
rights  in  favor  of  the  so-called  "lib- 
erators." 

Whosoever — no  matter  to  which  of 
the  nationalities  represented  in  Aus- 
tria he  may  belong — says  that  he  de- 
sires to  be  separated  from  that  coun- 
try for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  na- 
tional liberty  is  either  insincere  or 
else  his  wish  is  an  attempt  to  de- 
prive those  of  his  neighbors  who 
speak  a  different  language  of  their 
rights  and  privileges. 

The  promotion  of  this  absolute  na- 
tional equality  has  been  one  of  the 
chief  objects  under  the  sixtj-six 
years'  rule  of  KiiiiM-ror  Francis  Jo- 
seph, and  to  say  that  he  intends  to 
deprive  any  race  of  its  rights.  Is 
eitiier  a  sign  of  gross  ignorance,  or 
an  act  of  malice.  Any  TKUE  LOVER 
OP  FREEDOM  will  earnestly  hope 
that  the  Austrian  emperor  will  con- 
tinue to  regard  as  his  sacred  duty  the 
preservation  of  the  rights  of  the 
many  different  races  embodied  in  the 
Austrian  Empire. 

If  the  Seriian  Agitation  in  Aus- 
tria were  to  be  successful,  all  other 
races  residing  in  those  districts  would 
immediately  suffer  by  the  loss  of  all 
their  rights. 


AISTRIA'S  PART  IN  THE  WAR. 


The  Crucible. 

Reports  that  Austria  has  made 
overtures  for  peace  with  Russia 
through  a  neutral  party  are  to  be 
taken  with  reserve.  The  report 
comes  from  Italy  and  Russia,  which 
in  itself  throws  doubt  upon  its  au- 
thenticity. Part  of  the  Italian  public 
seems  to  have  convinced  itself  that 
Austria  is  on  the  verge  of  disruption, 
and  that  this  is  an  opportune  time 
for  beginning  a  war  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Adriatic  territory.  The  gov- 
ernment of  Italy,  however,  is  con- 
sidering long  and  seriously  the  conse- 
quences  that  might  follow  a  plunge 
into  war.     And  well  it  might. 

The  fighting  in  the  Carpathians  is 
of  the  bloodiest  and  most  desperate 
character.  It  could  not  be  so  it  Aus- 
tria were  decadent  and  disheartened. 
The  truth  is  that  Austrian  troops 
have  displayed  remarkable  bravery 
and  effectiveness  throughout  the  war. 
They  have  practically  disposed  of 
Serbia  and  are  holding  back  the  Rus- 
sian masses,  while  other  forces  are 
disposed  along  the  Italian  border 
ready  to  make  serious  work  for  any 
Italian  offensive  movement. 

There  have  been  many  reports  of 
conflicting  sentiment  in  Austria  and 
frequent  statements  that  the  Empire 
was  divided  within  itself.  But  the 
government  keeps  at  work,  the  troops 
are  effectively  used,  the  navy  is 
shrewdly  placed  and  the  wise  old 
man  at  the  head  of  affairs  is  appar- 
ently as  strong  and  capable  as  he  was 
in  his  prime. 

Germany  and  Austria  keep  their 
own  counsel  as  to  the  nature  of  their 
alliance.  That  it  is  a  compact  which 
holds  together  in  life-and-death  bonds 
is  conceded.  This  fact  alone  makes  it 
certain  that  Austria  will  not  make 
separate  peace,  and  it  also  serves  as 
a  warning  to  Italy  that  its  hopes  of 


280 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAWfOF  WAR 


AUSTKIAN    MOTOR-BATTERY    OX    THE    WAY 

(By   Courtesy   of   the    "Illinois   Staats-Zeitung") 


an  easy  acquisition  of  Austrian  ter- 
ritory are  vain.  Not  a  foot  of  Aus- 
trian or  German  territory  is  occupied 
by  any  enemy,  although  the  foes  con- 
tending against  them  are  immensely 
stronger  than  Italy. 

The  report  that  Austria  is  willing 
to  make  peace  is  echoed  in  Russia — 
an  indication  that  the  wish  is  father 
to  the  thought.  It  is  far  more  likely 
that   Russia   desires    to    make   peace 


than  that  her  enemies  are  seeking  it. 
Russia  has  nothing  to  gain  from  try- 
ing to  penetrate  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria. The  prize  she  really  seeks  is 
Constantinople — a  vain  and  empty 
ambition  so  long  as  Great  Britain 
stands  in  her  path.  Unquestionably 
if  Constantinople  were  handed  over 
to  Russia  she  would  quit  fighting  at 
once.  Should  the  fortunes  of  war  go 
against  the  Teutonic  allies,  they  may 


take  steps  to  placate  Russia  by  facili- 
tating her  ambitions  at  Constanti- 
nople. But  the  time  has  not  arrived 
when  either  Germany  or  Austria 
must  sue  for  peace.  The  havoc 
wrought  by  German  submarines,  the 
deadlock  at  Constantinople  and  the 
stout  opposition  to  Russian  advance 
by  Austria  are  sufficient  indications 
that  the  war  will  go  on  indefinitely — 
Washington  "Post,"  April  3. 


"What  right  had  Servia  to  call 
Austria  to  account  in  19  08  and  since 
then,  when  the  latter,  after  thirty 
years  of  faithful  administration,  ac- 
quired the  rights  of  a  lawful  owner 
from  Turkey,  the  former  owner,  with 
a  regular  deed  of  transfer  by  paying 
the  price  in  a  regular  bargain  with 
the  rightful  owner? 

"Servia  had  no  claim  whatever  on 
Bosnia.  She  had  never  ruled  Bosnia, 
but  rather  has  she  been  under  the 
rule  of  Hungary  for  many  years  in 
the  past.  Austria-Hungary,  on  the 
strength  of  these  historical  rights, 
has  never  laid  claim  to  her  territory. 
Yet  has  Servia  been  using  and  is  still 
using  the  devious  means  of  a  would- 
be  pretender." 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  bravery 
with  which  the  Allies  have  stormed 
the  German  breastworks,  and  it  is 
not  at  all  remarkable  that  this  has 
resulted  in  the  capture  of  so  many 
cannon  and  complete  batteries.  The 
total  number  is  so  great  that  those 
already  reported  cover  the  entire  sur- 
face of  France  about  three  layers 
deep — more  or  less.  Those  that  will 
be  captured  tomorrow  will  be  stored 
in   Spain,    and   the   following   day   in 


Portugal,  but  after  that  they  will 
have  to  be  dumped  into  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea  when  captured,  as  it  is 
impracticable  to  hire  storage  space  in 
Italy,   a  neutral   country. 

The  uniform  success  of  the  Allies 
and  the  constant  disaster  whicii  has 
met  the  attempt  of  the  Germans  to 
fight  against  them  shows  what 
patriotism  will  do  for  a  country.  It 
is  believed  that  the  Germans  are 
fighting  unwillingly,  while  the 
French  and  English  are  so  crazy  to 
fight  that  they  eat  bullets  to  load 
themselves  down  and  prevent  them- 
selves from  simply  galloping  over  the 
untrained  Uhlans,  etc.  Training  is  a 
great   thing. 

The  German  line  of  communica- 
tion to  the  base  of  supplies  has  been 
cut  repeatedly,  and  repeated  cut- 
tingly. The  consequence  is  that  the 
Germans  have  not  had  clean  laundry 
for  several  days,  and  a  number  of 
letters  have  gone  astray. 

In  short,  Messrs.  Editors,  you  have 
performed  a  great  service  to  man- 
kind in  keeping  it  so  well  posted 
with  such  accurate  information  and 
using  your  very  best  English  on  the 
Germans.      The    historical    value    of 


your  reports  cannot  be  estimated,  but 
probably  will  be  some  day.  A  grate- 
ful public  will  be  only  too  glad  to 
award  you  the  highest  praise  for  this 
great  public  service. 

The  writer  trusts  that  you  will 
continue  the  good  work,  as  thereby 
you  are  saving  the  populace  a  great 
deal  of  money.  People  don't  need 
to  buy  today's  paper  to  get  the  news. 
They  can  guess  it. 

George   Edward   Moray. 
524  West  162d   St.,   New  York  City. 


Aliens  are  returning  to  fight  for 
their  countries  in  such  numbers  that 
soon  we  won't  have  anybody  left 
but  the  I.  W.  W.'s,  the  Anarchists 
and  the  Black  Handers. — From  the 
"Boston  Evening  Transcript,"  Sep- 
tember 8,   1914. 


On  account  of  the  war  the  rule  of 
the  Red  Cross  Society  of  Russia  re- 
fusing admittance  to  Jewish  doctors 
and  nurses  has  been  indefinitely  sus- 
pended.— From  "The  Outlook,"  New 
York,  September  9,  1914. 


ITALY  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR 
BONE  OF  CONTENTION— ADRIATIC  PROVINCES 

Fact  and  Comment  on  Italy's  Position  in  the  World  War 


ITALY  AS  AN  ALLY,  A  NEUTRAL,  A  BELLIGERENT 

Let  Italy  ponder  well  the  Text:     As  ye  sow,  so  shall  ye  also  reap! 
What  is  Italy's  Harvest  going  to  be? 


Italy  in  the  World  Conflict 
Who  Will  \'enture  a  Guess  as  to  the  Wishes  of  the  Gods  in  Her  Case! 


ITALY'S  ENTRY   INTO   THE   WAK. 


By   the   Military   Expert   of   The 
Fatherland. 


(yothiiiff  is  quite  so  aniusinij  us  Hit' 
forecasts  of  the  American  niilitari/  e-v- 
pcrts.  Invariahly  tficsc  "criirrts,"  nrit- 
111(7  ill  our  greatest  jtiurnuls,  hare  been 
f;  rot  esq  II  rill  wroiifi  not  only  in-  their 
siieiiilations  of  what  is  proVahly  to 
hiiiiiH'ii.  hut  also  in  their  analysis  of 
hattlcs  and  campaifins  which  have  al- 
ready taken  place.  \Vith  the  nse  of  a 
few  technical  words  and  phrases  and 
an  attitude  of  certainty,  these  pen  war- 
riors have  fooled  the  patient  public 
<ier  since  the  icar  began.  To  read,  for 
instance,  the  reports  of  the  military 
expert  of  the  N.  Y.  "Times"  is  like 
perusing  the  irildrst  burlesque  by  Mark 
Twain.  With  pardonable  pride  ice 
point  to  the  ivork  of  The  Fatherland's 
military  expert,  ll'c  challenge  anyone 
to  point  out  in  his  admirable  articles 
any  exaggeration,  misstatements,  jin- 
goistic folly  or  ignorance.  He  mites 
with  the  lucidity  of  one  who  knows 
and  the  vision  of  one  who  sees.  He 
really  is  an  "expert.") 

On  August  3,  1914,  Sir  Edward 
Grey  justified  England's  declaration 
of  war  by  saying  that  "the  good  repu- 
tation of  England  would  be  lost  for- 
ever" if,  after  having  signed  and 
guaranteed  Belgium's  neutrality, 
she  would  not  take  up  arms  for  the 
protection  of  that  country — notwith- 
standing the  repeated  assurances  of 
Germany  that  she  would  not — in  case 
of  victory — cause  any  territorial 
changes  in  Belgium  or  France  nor 
attacli  these  countries  from  the  sea. 

This  certainly  is  a  lofty  conception 
of  a  country'^  obligations  as  a  party 
to  a  treaty,  especially  if.  as  in  the 
case  with  England  and  Belgium,  the 
treaty  is  not  one  of  alliance! 

Evidently  Baron  Sonnino.  the  off- 
spring of  a  North  African  Jew  and 
an  English  mother,  was  not  troubled 


by  such  scruples  with  regard  to  the 
national  honor  of  his  country.  Other- 
wise he  would  not  have  been  capable 
of  notifying  Austria — in  the  midst  of 
peaceful  negotiations — of  the  ter- 
mination of  an  alliance  which  for 
many  years  brought  advantages, 
prosperity  and  prestige  to  Italy,  and 
of  completing  the  breach  of  faith  on 
May  23. 

"riie  Green  Book,  published  by  the 
Italian  Government,  is  a  most  ridicu- 
lous document.  Therein  the  world 
is  told  that  Austria  had  disregarded 
her  treaty  obligations  by  declaring 
war  on  Servia  without  simultaneously 
offering  Italy  territorial  compensa- 
tion— since,  according  to  the  treaty 
of  alliance,  an  extension  of  Austro- 
Hungarian  territory  in  tlie  Balkans 
was  only  to  take  place  after  consul- 
tation witli  Italy. 

Baron  Sonnino  forgot  entirely  to 
mention  in  the  Green  Book  that  Aus- 
tria, on  July  26,  1914,  firmly  and 
solemnly  declared  that  she  would  not 
keep  an  inch  of  Servian  territory, 
and  that  on  the  day  of  the  Italian 
declaration  of  war,  Austria  was  not 
in  possession  of  an  inch  of  that  coun- 
try's soil. 

The  man  in  the  street  has  won! 
English  and  French  money  have  won. 
and  have  dragged  into  the  dust  the 
honor  of  a  nation  which  will  be 
stained  forever.  History  will  judge! 
It  does  not  forget. 

The  military  situation  of  Germany, 
regarded  generally,  is  better  to-day 
than  it  was  since  the  first  days  of 
September,  1914. 

The  Russian  lines  were  pierced  at 
several  points  between  the  Vistula 
and  the  Carpathian  Mountains,  and 
the  remains  of  the  Tliird  and  Tenth 
armies  were  driven  back  across  the 
San.  This  great  military  success, 
which  was  achieved  under  the  lead- 
ership of  General  von  Mackensen, 
caused  a  general  wavering  of  the  en- 
tire Russian  front  in  the  Carpathians, 
and     its     panicky     retreat     through 

281 


Northern  Galicia.  Partial  Russian 
successes  in  Poland,  near  Opatov  and 
in  the  Bukovina,  will  not  have  the 
least  influence  upon  the  success  of 
this  gigantic  battle  unless  the  Rus- 
sians should  be  in  position  to  throw 
vast  reinforcements  to  the  San. 

More  than  200,000  prisoners,  hun- 
dreds of  cannon,  machine  guns,  great 
stores  of  war  material  and  ammuni- 
tion, bear  witness  to  this  momentous 
victory,  the  meaning  of  which  the 
American  press,  because  of  their  bi- 
ased and  irreconcilable  attitude  to- 
wards the  Teutonic  Allies,  have  dis- 
credited to  the  best  of  their  ability 
or  passed  over  in  silence. 

The  question  which  commands  the 
greatest  interest  at  present  is  whether 
Italy's  entry  into  the  war  will  have 
an  immediate  influence  upon  the  sit- 
uation in  the  East.  We  do  not  think 
so. 

What  are  the  objectives  of  the 
Italian  war  policy?  First  of  all, 
probably,  the  "lost  Provinces";  then 
the  consolidation  of  her  position  in 
the  Adriatic  through  the  occupation 
of  Albania,  including  Valona; — and 
finally  the  "neutralization"  of  the 
Dardanelles. 

The  first  of  her  designs  will  nec- 
essitate an  advance  through  Trent  in 
a  northerly  direction  and  from  the 
district  of  Udine  across  the  lower 
Isonzo  in  the  direction  of  Laibach. 
An  Italian  offensive  movement  across 
the  mountain  passes  would  offer  im- 
mense difficulties  and  can  hardly  be 
expected  since  Austria  for  years  has 
used  all  available  means  towards  the 
strengthening  of  her  Alpine  boundary 
fortifications. 

Much  more  likely  will  be  an  at- 
tack across  the  flat  and  open  country 
at  the  southern  Isonzo  with  the 
strongly  fortified  camp  at  fdine  as 
a  basis. 

Since  the  Italian  fleet  is  superior 
to  the  Austrian  it  is  furthermore  to 
be  expected  that  an  army  will  be  sent 
across  the  Adriatic — perhaps  to  Ra- 


282 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OK  WAR 


gusa — in  order  to  launch  an  oftens 
ive  movement  from  Dalmatla  towards 
the  San.  When  considering  the 
merits  of  such  an  undertalcing  it 
must,  however,  not  be  forgotten  that 
there  is  no  railway  connection  what- 
soever from  the  coast  of  Dalmatia  to 
the  north  or  northeast,  since  the 
various  authorities  in  Austria  have 
never  come  to  an  understanding 
about  the  project  of  a  railroad 
through  the  Una  and  Lika  valley,  a 
fact  which  now  must  be  regarded  as 
offering  a  fortunate  advantage  to 
Austria. 

The  only  connection  existing  from 
the  coast  is  that  with  Sarajevo,  and 
even  from  here  the  narrow-gauge 
railway  to  Vienna  and  Budapest 
does  not  go  through,  since  the  track 
between  Banjaluka  and  Jajce  has 
not  yet  been  laid. 

He  who  knows  Dalmatia,  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina  can  well  imagine 
the  difficulties  which  an  army  will 
have  to  overcome  there. 

It  is  not  likely  that  the  further 
occupation  of  Albania  will  cause 
great  difficulties,  although  Greece, 
with  her  Interests  in  Epirus,  will 
hardly  remain  an  onlooker.  It  is 
very  doubtful,  however,  whether  the 
pacification  of  Albania  will  be  more 
successful  than  that  of  Tripoli,  where 
the  Italian  army  up  to  the  present 
time  has  hardly  dared  to  proceed 
beyond  the  reach  of  her  ship's  guns. 
My  friend.  Prince  v.  Wied.  the  re- 
tired ruler  of  turbulent  Albania, 
would  undoubtedly  answer  this  ques- 
tion in  the  negative. 

A  more  difficult  problem  is  await- 
ing Italy  at  the  Dardanelles.  Italy 
cannot  wish  for  a  Russian  Constan- 
tinople, which  would  be  a  permanent 
danger  to  her  influence  in  the  East- 
ern Mediterranean  and  which  would 
mean  a  constant  strengthening  of 
pan-Slavic  interests  in  the  Balkans 
with  Servian  harbors  on  the  Adriatic 
Sea. 

It  is  also  impossible  that  Italian 
forces  will  be  employed  at  the  right 
French  wing  near  Belfort,  since 
France  also  must  be  rewarded  for 
her  millions. 

Poor  Italian  people!  For  things 
which  they  might  have  obtained  with- 
out a  single  blow  they  now  have  to 
make  heavy  sacrifices,  simply  to  help 
corrupt  statesmen,  hired  agents  and 
morally  corrupt  poets  to  gain  mil- 
lions. 

One  cannot  help  recalling  that 
memorable  answer  which  Bismarck 
gave  to  Benedetti  on  July  4,  1866, 
when  France  tried  to  despoil  Prussia 
of  the  fruits  of  the  victory  of  Sadowa. 

Let  us  hope  that  in  Germany, 
which  as  during  the  time  of  Freder- 
ick the  Great  is  opposed  by  the  whole 
world,  a  man  may  arise  whose  mas- 
terful diplomacy  will  aid  the  glorious 
work  of  the  invincible  and  victorious 
German  and  Austrian  Armies! 


Victor  Emmanuel — 'King  of  Italy 


many  indicates  that  a  new,  and  if 
possible,  stronger  wave  of  absolute 
confidence  in  Germany's  final  and 
complete  victory  is  passing  through 
Germany.  German  officials  point 
with  pride  to  the  entire  nation  work- 
ing harmoniously  to  keep  the  war 
machine  running  smoothly  and  also 
to  forces  amounting  to  twelve  mil- 
lion. 

The  view  is  expressed  there  that  it 
matters  little  whether  Italy  joins  the 
entente  powers  or  not.  It  is  asserted 
that  if  she  declares  war  Germans  will 
be  in  Italy  in  a  very  few  days.  Or- 
ders have  been  sent  out  to  every 
newspaper  office  in  Germany  to  re- 
frain from  all  hostile  criticisms  of 
Italy,  whatever  nation  she  hates.  The 
opinion  is  held  in  Germany  that  Italy 
has  already  deserved  punishment 
from  Germany  and  that  within  a 
few  years  this  will  be  administered 
without  mercy. 


ITALY'S  CAUSES  FOR  WAR. 


GKRMANS   DISDAIX   ITALY. 


She   Deserves   I'unishnient,   and   Will 
Get  it   Anyhow,  Without  Mercy. 

Amsterdam. —  (Dispatch  to  the 
London  Daily  Chronicle) — The  lat- 
est impression  brought  bv  a  resnon- 
sible  Dutch   business  man    from   Ger- 


TRANSLATION  OF  EDITORIAL 
WHICH  APPEARED  IN  "ILLINOIS 
STAATS-ZEITUNO"     IN     GERMAN: 

It  was  a  just  condemnation  of 
Italy  which  the  old  emperor  on  the 
Austrian  throne  rightfully  expressed 
in  his  appeal  to  his  people. 

"The  king  of  Italy  has  declared 
war  on  me.  Perfidy,  the  like  of 
which  history  does  not  know  was 
committed  by  the  kingdom  of  Italy 
against  both  allies.  After  an  alliance 
of  more  than  thirty  years'  duration, 
during  which  it  was  able  to  increase 
its  territorial  possessions  and  develop 
itself  to  an  unthought-of-flourishing 
condition.  Italy  abandoned  us  in  our 
hour  of  danger  and  went  over  with 
flying  colors  into  the  camp  of  our 
enemies. 

"We  did  not  menace  Italy;  did  not 
curtail  her  authority;  did  not  attack 
her  honor  or  interests.  We  always 
responded  loyally  to  the  duties  of 
our  alliance  and  afforded  her  our 
protection  when  she  took  the  field. 
We  have  done  more. 


"When  Italy  directed  covetous 
glances  across  our  frontier,  we,  in 
order  to  maintain  peace  and  our 
alliance  relation,  were  resolved  on 
great  and  painful  sacrifices  which 
particularly  grieved  our  paternal 
heart. 

"But  the  covetousness  of  Italy, 
which  believed  the  moment  should 
be  used,  was  not  to  be  appeased,  so 
fate  must  take  its  course." 

By  these  words  of  the  aged  ruler 
of  the  Austro-Hungarian  dual  mon- 
archy, the  veil  was  removed  which 
the  Italian  government  in  the  form 
of  a  Green  book  had  woven  to  cover 
and  justify  a  faithlessness  such  as, 
fortunately,  has  never  before  been 
known  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

In  this  Green  book  the  Italian  gov- 
ernment boldly  presents  two  causes 
for  its  entrance  into  the  war  against 
its  former  allies.  These  causes  will 
form  the  block  on  which  the  present 
political  leaders  of  Italy  will  be 
morally  decapitated  by  universal  his- 
tory. These  causes  will  destroy  all 
confidence  in  a  faithful  compliance 
by  any  nation  with  her  treaty  obliga- 
tions, for  they  show  that  Italy  in 
1882  with  her  dagger  hidden,  entered 
into  an  alliance  to  which  she  owes 
her  development,  her  present  power. 

It  is  stated  among  other  things  in 
this  Green  book,  which  will  go  down 
in  Italy's  history,  as  a  Black  book, 
that  her  national  aspirations  impera- 
tively demand,  that  all  Austrian  prov- 
inces inhabited  by  Italians  be  freed 
and  annexed  to  Italy. 

This  assertion  alone  proves  that 
Italy,  treacherous  at  heart  and  with 
hostile  intention,  for  thirty  years 
was  a  party  to  a  compact  which  af- 
forded her  advantages  only.  The 
provinces  in  question  were  in  Aus- 
tria's possession  prior  to  1882,  and 
if  Italy  had  had  any  national  honor 
whatever,  she  would  have  made  the 
ceding  of  these  provinces  conditional 
to  her  becoming  a  member  of  the 
Triple  .\lliance,  or  otherwise  re- 
frain from  joining  it  at  all.  But 
that  the  government  of  Italy,  not 
until  now  when  Austria,  being  sur- 
rounded by  enemies,  could  justly  call 
on  her  ally  Italy  for  aid,  remembers 
these  provinces,  that  Italy  now  tries 
to  put  her  foot  upon  the  breast  of 
distressed  Austria  and  after  numer- 
ous attempts  at  extortion  tears  into 
shreds  the  agreement  of  thirty  years 
and  joins  the  enemies  of  her  allies, 
to  properly  describe  such  action 
words   fail. 

The  Italian  government  asserts, 
however,  that  the  principal  cause  of 
her  betrayal  of  Austria,  and  conse- 
quently of  Germany  also,  was  the 
sending  of  an  ultimatum  by  Austria 
to  Servia,  by  which  the  balance  of 
power  in  the  Balkans  had  been  dis- 
turbed and  Italy's  dignity  impaired 
and    her   interests    damaged. 

It  is  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
all  that  when  Austria-Hungary  found 
it  necessary  to  send  an  ultimatum  to 
Servia  and  as  a  result  of  its  rejec- 
tion was  forced  to  declare  war,  she 
publicly  obligated  herself  to  main- 
tain the  status  quo  in  the  Balkans, 
and  declared  that  the  punitive  ex- 
pedition against  Servia  would  not  be 
used  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  ter- 
ritory. 


ITALY'S  POSITION   IN  THE  WORLD  WAR 


283 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


As  Austria's  ally  Italy,  It  is  only 
reasonable  to  assume,  ought  to  have 
accepted  Austria's  declaratiou  seri- 
ously and  placed  absolute  faith  in  it. 
But  for  the  sake  of  argument  let  us 
grant  that  Austria  was  not  deserv- 
ing confidence,  and  that  Italy's  dig- 
nity had  really  been  Impaired  and 
her  Interests  damaged.  This  being 
the  case  no  alternative  presented  it- 
self, if  Italy  had  been  honest,  than 
to  cancel  the  treaty  and  forsake  her 
allies. 

But  Italy  preferred  to  complete  her 
preparations  for  war  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Triple  Alliance,  and 
when  ready  to  place  the  dagger  at 
Austria's  breast,  despite  the  fact  that 
only  two  years  ago  she  signed  a 
written  agreement  whereby  a  twelve 
months  notice  of  withdrawal  from 
the  treaty  must  be  given. 

Sir  Grey  is  rejoicing.  He  takes 
pride  in  his  pupils  at  the  Tiber  who 
have  accomplished  an  act  of  diplo- 
matic brigandage  which  disturbs  the 
rest  of  real  statesmen  such  as  Ca- 
vour,  Minghetti  and  Crispi,  and  dis- 
honors the  Italian  people. 

War  has  been  declared  and  has 
already  begun.  The  Italian  army 
and  the  Italian  navy  entering  this 
war  will  find  little  encouragement 
in  the  memory  of  Kustozza  and  Lissa. 
The  Austrian  army  and  the  Austrian 
navy,  however,  strengthened  by  the 
spirit  of  Radetzky  and  Tegethoff. 
which  still  lives  In  them,  will  suc- 
ceed in  administering  a  defeat  to  the 
traitors  which,  to  be  sure,  will  de- 
stroy the  fruits  of  thirty  years  of 
honest  labor  of  honest  Italian  states- 
men, but  will,  nevertheless,  teach 
Italy  that  treachery  is  not  the  seed 
which  gives  birth  to  the  greatness 
of  a  nation. — Illinois  Staats  Zeitung, 
Chicago. 


ITALY'S    ACTION    TO   PROLOXO 
WAR;    PEACE    FAR    OFF. 


Germans  in  Washington  Hold  Victory 

is  Bound  to  Materialize,  Despite 

Heavy  Odds. 


Chicago    Tribune. 
[By    a    Staff    Correspondent.] 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  23. —  [Spe- 
cial.]— So  far  there  are  no  signs  that 
the  entrance  of  Italy  into  the  war 
has  produced  the  ardently  hoped  for 
psychological  moment  for  bringing 
the  war  to  an  end. 

The  peace  advocates  expected  that 
if  Italy  decided  to  remain  neutral  the 
allies  would  regard  the  prolongation 
of  the  contest  futile;  that  if  Italy 
joined  the  allies  Germany  would 
throw  up  the  sponge.  Now  that  Italy 
has  cast  its  lot  with  the  allies  Ger- 
many seems  as  far  as  ever  from  con- 
ceding eventual   defeat. 

"The  action  of  Italy  will  only  pro- 
long the  war  and  postpone  German 
victory,"  said  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent officials  of  the  German  embassy 
today.  "Germany,  is  fighting  a  war 
of  defense  and  will  be  successful  in 
keeping  her  territory  free  of  invad- 
ers, no  matter  how  many  enemies 
combine  against  it. 

"The  question  of  peace  is  only  the 
question   of   Germany's  enemies  per- 


11111  the  National  Geosraplr 

ITALY  AND  THE  ADRIATIC 


ceiving  and  realizing  the  futility  of 
further  wasting  of  men  and  money 
to  attain  their  ends." 

Not  Afraid  of  Italy. 

The  Germans  and  Austrians  are 
confident  that  Italy  will  cause  them 
little  trouble.  They  say  that  the 
Austrian  fortifications  and  300,000 
men  will  be  sufficient  to  check  the 
Italian  attempt  to  invade  Austria. 
Austrian  and  German  officials  pro- 
nounce the  fortifications  on  the 
Italian  frontier  impregnable. 

Military  experts  here  are  specu- 
lating upon  the  possibility  that  Ger- 
many will  invade  Switzerland  in  or- 
der to  combat  Italy  more  effectively. 
Switzerland  unquestionably  would 
consider  such  invasion  a  violation  of 
neutrality  analogous  to  the  German 
invasion  of  Belgium  in  the  effort  to 
outflank  the  French. 

Swiss   Invasion   Planned. 

The  charge  has  been  made  that 
Austrian  and  German  plans  for  the 
invasion  of  Switzerland  were  drawn 
up  more  than  a  year  ago. 

Inasmuch,  however,  as  Switzerland 
has  an  army  of  500,000  and  a  stra- 


tegic position  on  the  German  frontier 
it  is  regarded  as  unlikely  that  the 
kaiser  will  permit  any  disregard  of 
Swiss  neutrality. 


NO  QUARTER  TO  "DEVILS  OF 
HELL". 


Hungarian   Premier,   Assailing   Italy, 
Sees  Victory  Won  from  Fate. 


Chicago   Tribune. 

BUDAPEST,  May  26,  via  Amster- 
dam, May  2  7. — Count  Stephan  Tisza, 
the  Hungarian  premier,  today  deliv- 
ered a  stirring  speech  before  the 
chamber  of  deputies.  He  explained 
Austria-Hungary's  position  toward 
the  Italian  demands  during  the  last 
four  weeks,  and  received  a  tremen- 
dous ovation  when  he  closed  his  per- 
oration with  the  following  declar- 
ation: 

"We  conducted  our  negotiations 
with  Italy  in  the  belief  that  it  would 
be  Impossible  for  a  state  calling  it- 
self civilized,  and  which  was  allied 
to  us,  to  attack  us  while  we  were  at 


ITALY'S  POSITION"  I.N  THE  WORLD  WAR 


285 


war;   all  the  more  so.  as  we  had  of- 
fered her  everything. 

Force  Victory  from  Fate. 

"We  shall  now,  more  than  before, 
astonish  the  entire  world  with  the 
spectacle  of  our  power  of  action,  vir- 
ility, unity,  and  resolution.  The  Hun- 
garian nation,  united  with  all  the 
peoples  of  the  Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy  and  with  our  powerful 
ally,  will  wage  this  war  to  the  last 
breath  against  all  the  devils  of  hell 
and  force  victory  from  fate." 

Explaining  the  negotiations  with 
Italy,  Count  Tisza  said: 


"The  latest  speech  of  the  Italian 
premier,  Sig.  Salandra,  contained 
three  accusations.  The  first  was  that 
the  ultimatum  to  Serbia  upset  the 
equilibrium  of  the  Balkans.  It  is 
generally  known  that  we  gave  a  dis- 
tinct declaration  to  all  the  great  pow- 
ers that  we  desired  no  territorial 
changes  whatever.  The  assertion  of 
the  Italian  premier,  therefore,  is  a 
notorious   untruth. 

Denies  Balkan  .Alteration. 

"The  second  accusation  was  that 
we  altered  the  spheres  of  influence 
in  the  Balkans.  This  assertion  is 
somewhat  incomprehensible.     As  re- 


gards the  Balkans  we  always  took 
the  standpoint  that  no  division  of 
the  spheres  of  influence  was  possible; 
that  we  were  interested  in  the  entire 
Balkans,  but  claimed  no  hegemony 
whatever. 

"Signor  Salandra's  third  accusa- 
tion was  that  we  violated  the  triple 
alliance  treaty  because  we  neglected 
to  come  to  an  agreement  with  Italy 
regarding  our  ultimatum  to  Serbia. 
The  only  mention  of  an  antecedent 
agreement  with  Italy  in  the  triple  al- 
liance treaty  states  specifically  that 
this  was  required  only  in  the  event 
of  the  alteration  of  the  status  quo  in 
the  Balkans." 


'M.ADK   I.\   GERM.4NY" 
(^'Al-.SE  OF  WAR. 


By  .Sam  H.  Clark  in  "Jim  Jam  Jems," 

Bismarck,   North  Dakota, 

October,  1914. 

To  the  thinking  man  who  has 
made  a  study  of  the  situation  with 
bias  and  prejudice  eliminated,  just 
one  cause  can  be  assigned  to  the 
present  European  conflict.  Jealousy 
— trade  jealousy^jealousy  of  the 
growth,  the  advancement  and  the 
progress  of  Germany  has  brought 
down  upon  her  the  united  strength . 
of  practically  all  Europe  in  the  at- 
tempt to  cripple  and  crush  the  growth 
and  advancement  with  which  no 
other  nation  in  the  world  has  been 
able  to  keep  pace.  That  simple 
trade-mark,  "Made  in  Germany," 
which  has  been  stamped  as  if  by 
magic  on  the  trade  products  of  the 
world,  has  for  the  past  several  years 
kept  the  British  lion's  tail  switching 
in  a  furious  an.xiety  to  spring  upon 
German  commerce  and  crush  it ;  with 
covetous  eyes  England  has  watched 
and  waited  for  the  hour  that  came 
with  the  declaration  of  war  against 
Germany,  the  hour  when  she  would 
have  the  support  and  backing  of  the 
allies  in  what  she  considered  a  suffi- 
cient number  to  deal  the  death  blow 
to  Germany.  But  the  best  defense 
of  a  nation  is  not  ships  of  iron  and 
forts  of  stone,  but  hearts  of  oak! 
Washington's  ragged  continentals 
with  their  flint-locks  proved  this  fact 
to  Britain,  and  Germany  is  going  to 
prove  it  to  Britain  again.  This  Is  the 
death  struggle  of  a  giant.  Germany 
is  fighting  for  her  life,  and  while  she 
may  be  overwhelmed  in  armed  forces 
and  driven  to  the  defensive  within 
her  present  territory,  all  the  allies 
that  England  is  able  to  summon  to 
her  aid  will  never  crush  Germany. 

To  cripple  Germany's  wonderful 
commerce  is  England's  sole  purpose 
in  the  present  struggle.  This  fact  is 
well  discerned  in  the  recent  edict 
issued  from  London  to  the  effect  that 
"there  can  never  be  peace  until  Ger- 
many's military  power  is  crushed  and 
her  fleet  destroyed."  Britannia  must 
bo  king  of  the  high  seas  and  it  is  war 
to  the  death  so  long  as  Germany 
threatens  to  usurp  the  commerce  that 
has  made  England  mighty. 

Just  what  the  war  situation  really 
l8  at  the  present  time  we  can  only 
conjecture.  The  American  Press  Is 
certainly  not  telling  the  truth.    While 


most  of  the  newspapers  of  the  coun- 
try have  printed  the  thoughtful 
"Proclamation  of  Neutrality"  by 
President  Wilson,  most  all  of  them 
have  disregarded  it.  The  American 
press  has  done  its  utmost  to  preju- 
dice the  American  people  against 
Germany;  column  after  column  of 
manufactured  war  news  has  appeared 
and  editorial  influence  has  been 
wielded  in  behalf  of  Great  Britain. 
The  German  Emperor  has  been 
styled  a  bloodthirsty  maniac  who 
sought  war;  we  have  been  told  that 
Germany's  sons  have  been  ordered 
to  set  their  bared  breasts  against  the 
bayonet,  to  drink  hot  blood  out  of 
the  camp  skillet,  just  to  satisfy  the 
martial  soul  of  the  Kaiser  with  the 
glorious  pomp  and  circumstance  of 
war.  There  seems  to  be  a  wilful  de- 
sire and  a  studied  move  on  the  part 
of  the  press  to  present  only  the  Brit- 
ish side  of  the  crisis  and  to  harm 
Germany's  cause  as  much  as  possible. 
There  has  been  no  spirit  of  fair  play. 
The  German  Emperor  has  been 
dubbed  a  murderer  and  a  madman; 
he  has  been  charged  with  precipita- 
ting this  war  without  cause. 

For  the  moment  let  us  consider 
some  of  the  dope  handed  out  by  the 
American  press.  For  instance,  we 
read  that  .")0  0,0  00  Russians  were 
landed  in  Aberdeen  on  the  23rd  of 
August.  Anyone  with  an  atom  of 
sense  must  know-  that  it  would  re- 
quire at  least  400  to  500  large  trans- 
port steamers  to  accomplish  this  feat, 
and  yet  it  is  supposed  to  have  been 
done  on  the  quiet  without  arousing 
suspicion  from  anyone  until  the  500,- 
000  Russian  troops  had  landed.  But 
If  this  report  is  true,  then  it  must  be 
admitted  that  these  transports  were 
in  readiness  long  before  there  was 
any  war  talk,  and  that  the  ships  had 
been  at  Archangel  as  early  as  the 
middle  of  July — long  before  the  out- 
break of  the  war.  This  fact  would 
throw  a  curious  light  on  England's 
boasted  efforts  to  maintain  peace, 
wouldn't  it? 

Another  phenomenon  that  deserves 
attention  in  this  connection  is  the 
statement  that  Hindu  troops  passed 
through  Canada  on  the  27th  of  Au- 
gust. The  newspapers  speak  of  no 
less  than  thirty  trainloads.  These 
Hindu  troops  must  have  been  shipped 
from  India  not  later  than  the  end  of 
July — that  is.  before  the  declaration 
of  war — or  they  could  not  possibly 
have  reached  Canada  so  early. 


This  is  the  kind  of  bunk  that  the 
newspapers  have  been  handing  out — 
manufactured  war  news  favorable  to 
England  and  her  allies  in  the  hope 
to  stampede  American  sentiment 
against  Germany  when  it  rightly  be- 
longs with  Germany. 

Then  again  comes  the  cry  that  the 
Germans  are  bloodthirsty  bandits  and 
that  in  the  invasion  of  Belgium  the 
most  diabolical  atrocities  were  per- 
petrated. But  when  investigation  is 
made,  not  one  instance  can  be  veri- 
fied where  atrocities  have  been  com- 
mitted by  the  Germans.  Right  at 
this  juncture  it  might  not  be  amiss 
to  reproduce  the  signed  statement 
made  by  five  of  America's  most  dis- 
tinguished newspaper  reporters  who 
are  at  the  front;  their  statement  is 
as  follows. 

It  must  be  recognized  by  the 
American  people  that  a  uniform  ef- 
fort has  been  made  since  the  very 
outbreak  of  the  war  to  prejudice  the 
minds  of  our  people  against  Ger- 
many. 

And  while  the  press  of  .\merica 
has  been  discrediting  Germany  and 
giving  every  favorable  advantage  in 
news-column  and  editorial  to  Great 
Britain,  the  .American  people  have 
failed  to  see  the  menace  that  threat- 
ens in  the  alliance  of  England  and 
Japan.  Had  we  not  better  look  a 
little  to  our  own  colors?  Is  there 
not  a  deep  significance  to  this  alli- 
ance between  the  Jap  and  England? 
Will  .\merica  not  have  to  reckon  with 
this  alliance  in  the  future,  and  espe- 
cially if  the  allies  are  successful  in 
the  present  crisis? 

It  is  high  time  that  the  American 
people  acquaint  themselves  with  the 
true  situation  in  Europe  and  with 
the  real  causes  which  brought  about 
this  terrible  conflict  between  the 
great  nations  of  the  old  world.  Prob- 
ably the  most  comprehensive  and 
thoroughly  reli.able  analysis  of  the 
situation  yet  attempted  is  that  given 
to  the  American  ptiblic  by  Prof.  John 
W.  Burgess  of  Columbia  University. 
Prof.  Burgess,  through  this  analysis, 
shows  a  clear  grasp  of  the  situation 
and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
causes  that  led  up  to  the  present 
crisis,  but  of  course  the  newspapers 
will  not  give  space  to  an  article  of 
this  kind.  For  the  benefit  of  Jim 
Jam  Jems  readers  and  in  the  spirit 
of  fair  play,  we  reproduce  several  ex- 
tracts from  Ibis  masterful  analysis. 


MODERN  NAVAL  WARFARE 
BATTLE  SHIPS,  CRUISERS,    SUBMARINES 

Cutting  the  German  Cable — Capturing  the  Enemy's  jMerchant  Marine 
Neutral  Shipping,  Naval  Battles,  Blockades 

"The  German  Submarine  will  Win  the  War" 
By  An  American  Army  General 


The  Influence  of  Precedent,  and  Modern  Naval  Warfare 
Blockades  and  Submarines 


ENGLAND'S    CONTEMPT    l'X>R 
AMERICAN    BIGHTS. 


A  Pro-English  Sheet  Answered — 
Gross  Insnlts  to  the  American 
Flag — American  Ship  with  Non- 
Contraband  Cargo  Dragged  Captive 
to  an  English  Port^ — American 
Farmers  and  Cattle  Raisers  De- 
prived of  the  Right  to  Sell  and 
Ship  Their  Products  to  Non-Com- 
batant  Populations — Our  Sea  Com- 
merce and  Sea  Prestige  Must  Be 
Defended — May  Bring  About  a 
War  Between  America  antl  Eng- 
land. 


(William  Bayard  Hale,  writer  of  the 
following  letter  addressed  to  the  New 
York  Tribune,  was  selected  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  to  represent  the  United 
States  in  arranging  the  Mexican 
troubles.  He  has  the  reputation  of  be- 
ing exceptionally  well  informed  in  re- 
gard to  international  law  and  is.  there- 
fore fully  competent  to  pass  judgment 
on  England's  flagrant  violation  of  It. 
His  criticism  of  the  pro-English  policy 
of  the  intensely  pro-English  New  York 
Tribune  is  well  founded. — Ed.  I.  W. ) 

From  "The  Irish  World,"  New  York, 
Saturday,   March   13,    1915. 

Sir:  From  the  standi>oint  of  abso- 
lute neutrality  between  Great  Britain 
and  Germany,  I  am  nevertheless  con- 
strained to  put  it  to  the  Tribune  that 
in  fulminating  against  what,  in  com- 
plete indifference  to  the  facts,  it  de- 
scribes as  the  German  "paper  block- 
ade." the  German  "lynch  law  threat," 
the  German  "arrogant  invasion  of  neu- 
tral rights."  the  German  "relapse  to- 
ward barbarism."  it  is  surprisingly  un- 
complimentary to  the  understanding  of 
the  American  people. 

Does  the  Tribune  believe  that  any 
considerable  proportion  of  us  are  ignor- 
ant of  the  fact  that  in  its  order  of  Feb. 
4,  Germany  was  only  doing  what  Great 
Britain  had  done  precisely  three 
months  before?  Does  the  Tribune  be- 
lieve that  we  are  unaware  that  the  first 
version  of  the  order  cabled  to  New 
York  was  a  false  one,  representing  as 
included  within,  and  not  (as  in  fact  it 
wasl    excluded  from,  the  danger  zone 


.\DMIR.VL    VON    TIRPITZ 
In  Command  of  the  German  Navy 


a  thirty  nnle  strip  along  the  Dutch 
coast?  Does  the  Tribune  believe  that 
we  are  so  dull  as  not  to  have  noticed 
that  the  English  order  closing  the 
North  Sea  became  effective  after 
twenty-four  hours'  notice,  while  the 
German  order  closing  the  Britisli  Chan- 
nel was  effective  only  after  fifteen  days' 
notice? 

Does  tlie  Tribune  really  expect  any 
considerable  part  of  its  clientele  to  ac- 
cept its  editorial  denunciation  of  the 
German  policy  of  attacking  neutral 
ships,  when  every  declaration  of  the 
German  government  declares  that  only 
ships  of  Great  Britain  and  her  .\llies 
are  to  be  treated  as  enemies,  and  that 
neutral  ships  will  not  be  touched? 

England   the  Real  .\ggressor. 

Does  the  Tribune  expect  us  to  forsrot 
that    it    is    England    which     is    seizing 


American  ships  and  other  neutral  ships 
at  sea  and  dragging  them  c-aptive  to  her 
IMirts;  that  it  is  England  which  denies 
.\uiericau  farmere  and  cattle  raisers  the 
rii-'ht  to  sell  and  ship  their  products  in 
.\iiierican  bottoms  to  the  non-combatant 
populations  of  Germany  and  Austria; 
that  it  was  England  which  hauled  down 
the  American  flag  on  the  .\merican  ship 
Greenbrier  and  took  her  ignominiously 
ciiptive;  that  it  is  England  which  re- 
fuses to  allow  Americans  to  buy  a  for- 
eign vessel,  the  Daeia.  in  good  faith,  se- 
cure -\merican  registry  and  sail  the 
seas  protected  by  the  American  flag: 
while  it  is  the  same  England,  which, 
either  in  fear  or  in  an  attempt  to  in- 
vcilve  the  United  .States  in  war,  appro- 
I)riates  our  national  emblem  and  under 
its  protection  flees  through  her  own 
waters  from  the  foe  with  which  she 
seeks  to  embroil  us? 

Complaisance    Under    English    .Arro- 
gance May   Bring  -\bout  an 
Ajiglo-.\merican  War. 

Some  of  us  are  concerned  not  in  the 
least  as  to  the  conflict  now  being  waged 
in  Europe,  but  very  much  indeed  as  to 
the  maintenance  of  an  attitude  of  real 
neutrality  between  the  combatants,  to- 
gether with  the  preservation  of  the 
rights  that  belong  to  neutrals.  It  is 
due  no  doubt,  to  the  naval  superiority 
of  tireat  Britain  over  Germany,  and  to 
the  policy  consequent  upon  that  su- 
periority, but,  to  wliatever  cause  it  is 
due.  it  is  the  simple  fact  that  the  neu- 
trals at  sea  have  been  attacked  only  by 
Great  Britain  and  her  Allies  so  far  in 
this  war.  No  doubt  if  the  relative  na- 
val i)Ositions  of  Great  Britain  and  Ger- 
many were  reversed,  it  would  be  Ger- 
many that  would  be  attacking  our  com- 
merce and  contempting  our  flag  at  sea. 
But  by  whomsoever  our  sea  commerce 
and  our  sea  prestige  is  attacked,  against 
him  it  must  l)e  defended. 

.\n  editorial  policy  such  as  that 
which  the  Tribune  is  pursuing  arouses 
in  me.  as  an  .\merican  citizen  indiffer- 
ent to  the  outcome  of  the  war  abroad, 
the  gravest  anxiet.v  lest  our  complai- 
sance under  the  arrogance  of  Great 
Britain  may  tempt  it  to  steps  which 
may  at  last  arouse  this  country  to  a 
ilargerous    temper. 


PROCRESS  AND  MODERN   NAVAL  WARFARE 


(From  the  National 


^rrapliir  Masazine) 


Till-:   DAKDAXKLLKS  AND  THE  AEGEAN 


TKKItOHS    OK    THF,    SKA     ()«  XKI) 
BY   GEK.MAXY. 


I'ndersea     DreadnouKlils     That     Are 

Menacing  Commerce  of  the 

World. 


KIltST      WAS      UriLT 


When  Ituilding  of  Siiliniariiu's  Megan 

In   Kmpire,   Kaiser   Speeilt-d   il 

Along. 

Germany's  ambitious  (ipclaration 
of  a  submarine  blockade  of  England 
has  directed  attention  anew  to  that 
style  of  warship.  The  successful  out- 
come of  Germany's  plan  would  prove 
a  revolution  in  naval  warfare  as  far 
reaching  as  the  defeat  of  the  ."Vlerri- 
niac  by  the  Monitor. 


No  one.  aside  from  a  few  high  offi- 
cials perhaps,  know's  exactly  what 
Germany's  submarine  strength  is  at 
present.  In  August  the  I'nited  States 
naval  institute  estimated  it  as  twenty- 
eight  to  thirty  boats,  with  nine  on 
the  stocks.  A  reasonable  estimate 
now,  accepting  the  foregoing  as  true, 
would  be  at  least  thirty-seven,  pos- 
sibly as  many  as  forty-five  boats. 
I'nited  States  naval  authorities  be- 
lieve  the   number  is  thirty-eight. 

.\II  .\re  of  Recent  Date. 

It  is  only  nine  years  since  Ger- 
many adopted  the  submarine  as  a 
part  of  its  naval  forces,  a  writer  in 
the  Kansas  City  Star  says.  The  effi- 
ciency that  branch  of  its  service  has 
now  attained  speaks  well  for  Ger- 
man  thoroughness.     The   Kaiser  was 


content  to  allow  England,  France, 
Italy  and  the  United  States  to  ex- 
periment with  submarines,  then, 
when  their  serviceabiliy  was  demon- 
strated, he  adopted  them. 

The  first  German  submarine,  the 
U-l,  was  built  in  1906.  France  then 
had  twenty-five  submarines  and  Eng- 
land nearly  as  many.  The  U-l  was 
a  tiny  craft,  compared  with  recent 
boats.  It  had  a  length  of  128  feet, 
and  a  beam  of  eight  feet  ten  inches. 
It  was  slow  and  unseaworthy,  traits 
which  now  are  not  characteristic  of 
German  submarines. 

German  submarines  are  numbered 
in  order  of  the  date  of  launching. 
The  "U"  stands  for  unterseeboot 
(under-sea-boat).  Thus  the  U-9  is 
the  ninth  German  submarine  in  point 
of  age.  It  is  possible  that  the  new 
submarines  being  launched  in  Ger- 
many are  given  low  numbers  in 
order  that  the  nation's  underwater 
strength  should  not  become  known 
to  its  enemies. 

Built  Submarines  Rapidly. 

In  1908-09  Germany  built  three 
submarines  of  200-225  tons  displace- 
ment, mounting  two  torpedo  tubes, 
having  a  surface  speed  of  fifteen 
knots  and  a  submerged  speed  of 
eight  and  a  half  knots.  They  proved 
efficient,  so  four  more  were  built  at 
Kiel  and  another  batch  of  four  at 
Danzig.  That  gave  Germany  three 
flotillas  of  four  boats  each.  It  is  be- 
lieved the  T'-l  was  replaced  by  a  sis- 
ter boat  of  the  three  built  following, 
making  that  flotilla  homogeneous. 

In  1911-12  the  German  program 
called  for  six  boats,  U-13-18,  inclu- 
sive. They  were  the  first  designed 
for  offensive  work.  They  displaced 
800  tons,  carried  four  torpedo  tubes 
and  a  small  gun  on  a  disappearing 
mount. 

Then   Dreadnought   Submarines. 

In  1913  Germany  ordered  nine 
boats,  U-19-27,  from  the  Krupp 
works  at  Kiel.  Their  displacement 
was  840-890  tons,  with  a  speed  of 
seventeen  knots  on  the  surface  and 
tw'elve  knots  submerged.  They  were 
213.8  feet  long,  with  a  beam  of 
twenty  feet.  The  torpedo  tubes  were 
increased  to  three  and  a  quick  firing 
gun  mounted  on  the  superstructure 
forward  of  the  conning  tower.  These 
boats  were  armored  on  their  vital 
parts,  the  deck,  the  conning  tower 
and  that  part  of  the  hull  exposed 
when  running  on  the  surface.  They 
were  dubbed  dreadnought  submarines 
in  popular  talk.  Each  boat  had  two 
Diesel  motors,  aggregating  a  horse 
power  of  1,800.  Oil  was  used  as  fuel 
on  the  surface  and  electricity  under- 
neath. They  were  armed  with  twen- 
ty-one inch  automobile  torpedoes  in- 
stead of  the  nineteen  inch  of  the 
earlier  boats. 

When  these  boats  joined  the  Ger- 
man fleet  the  Kaiser  had  an  un- 
dersea fleet  nearly  as  powerful  as 
England  or  France.  As  soon  as 
the  dreadnought  submarines  were 
equipi)pd  they  left  for  open  water 
and  conducted  severe  tests.  The  re- 
sult caused  the  laying  down  of  an- 
other batch  of  nine  boats,  1^-28-36. 
When  the  war  began  these  were 
under  way.     It  is  probable  that  they 


EVOLUTION  BV  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


have  long  since  been  finished  and 
Germany  has  now  from  fifteen  to 
tliirty  submarines  in  process  of  com- 
pletion at  its  different  yards. 

The  newest  German  submarines 
might  be  termed  the  super-dread- 
noughts of  the  undersea  boats. 
They  will  be  nearly  a  thousand  feet 
in  length.  They  will  be  armed  with 
a  14-pound  gun  on  a  disappear- 
ing mount  and  a  1-pounder  on  a 
fixed  pedestal,  "experiments  having 
shown,"  the  United  States  Naval  In- 
stitute has  said,  "that  it  is  possible 
to  expose  this  gun  to  salt  water  with- 
out serious  disadvantage." 

Can  Cruise  for  a  Month. 

German  submarines  of  the  U-19- 
27  class  and  also  the  U-2  8-3  6  class 
are  armed  with  one  14-pounder  and 
It  is  believed,  a  1-pounder.  They  all 
have  a  working  radius  of  approxi- 
mately 2,-500  miles.  It  would  be  en- 
tirely feasible  for  a  flotilla  of  them 
to  journey  around  England,  staying 
away  from  their  bases  from  three 
weeks  to  a  month. 

At  nights  the  submarines  could 
ride  the  surface  in  any  obscure  spot, 
practically  free  from  danger.  They 
could  cruise  slowly  by  day,  either 
just  awash  or  showing  only  their 
periscope.  Communication  could  be 
maintained  between  boats  of  a  flotilla 
by  wireless,  and  perhaps  by  sub- 
marine signaling  in  some  instances. 
When  necessary  they  could  develop 
a  speed  equal  to  that  of  most  dread- 
noughts and  superior  to  that  of 
older  vessels.  Small  merchant  ships 
would  be  at  their  mercy. — From  the 
"Chicago  Daily  News," 


A   TRUMP  CARD. 


The     Xe«     York    Times     Says    That 

Washington  Officials  Consider 

Germany  Played  a  Clever 

Game. 

The  Washington  correspourteut  of 
the  "New  Tork  Times"  writes : 

It  has  dawned  upon  ofiicials  here 
that  the  German  government  had  exe- 
cuted a  rather  neat  and  clever  counter- 
diplomatic  stroke  in  notifying  the 
world  of  its  intention  to  create  a  war 
zone  around  the  British  Isles  by  taking 
a  leaf  out  of  the  British  book,  and  do- 
ing the  very  thing  that  the  British 
government  had  done.  The  British 
and  German  war  zone  orders,  as  offi- 
cially communicated  to  the  State  De- 
partment, were  compared  and  closely 
studied  today.  This  comparison  was 
not  found  to  be  to  the  disadvantage  of 
the  Germans.  It  was  even  suggested 
that  the  German  government  had 
played  a  trump  card. 

The  Situation. 

The  situation  resolves  itself  some- 
thing after  this  fashion  :  For  England, 
the  official  date  of  the  beginning  of 
the  war  was  August  4.  England 
waited  until  three  months  of  the  war 
had  Vieen  fought  and  then  served  no- 
tice on  the  neutral  powers  of  the  world 
of  her  intention  to  establish  a  war 
zone.  The  British  war  zone  was  set 
up  on  November  5.  The  Germans 
waited  an  additional  three  months, 
twice  as  long  as  did  Great  Britain,  or 
until    February   4.    exactly   six   months 


from  the  official  British  beginning  of 
the  war,  and  then  announced  its  deci- 
sion to  establish  a  war  zone  very  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  Great  Britain,  although 
somewhat  more  extensive.  However, 
the  principle  involved  with  respect  to 
both  war  zones  is  the  same,  since  each 
is  extensive  enough  to  cover  the  high 
seas  outside  of  the  three-mile  terri- 
torial limit,  and  the  two  war  zones 
differ  in  importance  only  in  degree  and 
the  character  of  the  operations  to  be 
conducted  in  them,* — The  "Continental 
Times,"  Berlin. 


*The  g^eiierous  "New  Tork  Times" 
reporter  has  another  guess  coming  as 
regards  a  real  blockade  tliat  Great 
Britain    is    maintaining. — Editor. 


LUSIT.INIA   A   FLOATING 
.\RSENAL. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Hon.  Dud- 
ley Field  Malone,  C-ollector  of  the 
Port  of  New  York,  two  representa- 
tives of  the  "Irish  World"  were  per- 
mitted to  examine  the  records  of  the 
Collector's  Office  on  Monday  even- 
ing, May  10,  and  they  found  that 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  contra- 
band articles  were  shipped  from  the 
Port  of  New  York  to  France  and 
England,  under  the  flags  of  the  Al- 
lies, principally  English  and  French 
vessels,  from  August,  1914,  to  May, 
191"). 

We  give  a  partial  list  of  the  ship- 
ments of  fire  arms,  cartridges,  etc., 
etc.,  during  the  period  mentioned. 
It  will  be  noted  that  the  list  does 
not  include  shipments  of  horses, 
military  saddlery,  shoes  for  soldiers 
or  other  war  supplies.  Large  guns 
are  shipped  under  the  name  of  hard- 
ware  or  machinery. 

Month,  destination 

and  material  Value 
August,   1914,  France;   fire- 
arms   $      1,898 

August,       1914,       England; 

firearms    3,646 

September,   1914,  England; 

cartridges     214,401 

September,   1914,   England; 

firearms     40,087 

October,       1914,       France; 

cartridges 383,250 

October,  1914,  France;  fire- 
arms      ;    392,812 

October,      1914,      England; 

cartridges     700,699 

October,      1914,      England; 

firearms    80,473 

November,     1914,     France; 

cartridges     336,411 

November,     1914,     France; 

firearms    80,242 

November,    1914,   England; 

cartridges     649,01.5 

November,    1914,    England; 

firearms    83,149 

November,    1914,   Scotland; 

firearms    1,656 

December,     1914,     France; 

cartridges     273,559 

December,     1914,     France; 

explosives 655,810 

December,      1914,     France; 

firearms    110,2  21 

December,    1914,    England; 

cartridges 566,016 

December,    1914,    England; 

firearms    104.480 


December,    1914,   Scotland; 

firearms    1,077 

January,       1915,      France; 

cartridges 372,648 

January,       1915,      France; 

gunpowder 93,319 

January,       1915,      France; 

explosives     917,270 

January,      1915,       France; 

firearms    50,550 

January,      1915,      England; 

cartridges     716,561 

January,     1915,     England; 

firearms    108,639 

January,     1915,     Scotland; 

firearms    689,953 

February,      1915,     France; 

cartridges     661,232 

February,      1915,     France; 

explosives     606,713 

February,      1915,      Prance; 

firearms   7,354 

February,    1915,    England; 

cartridges     599,021 

February,    1915,    England; 

explosives     70,135 

February,    1915,    England; 

gunpowder     400 

February,    1915,    England; 

firearms    4  7,9  91 

March,  1915,  France;  ex- 
plosives         485,698 

March,  1915,  France;  cart- 
ridges       620,554 

March,  1915,  France;  fire- 
arms        71,826 

March,  1915,  England;  cart- 
ridges      633,700 

March,  1915,  England;  ex- 
plosives              9,436 

March,  1915,  England;  fire- 
arms       160,228 

April,  1915,  England;   arms 

and  ammunition    923,550 

April,    1915,    France;    arms 

and  ammunition    582,207 

There  were  two  items  in  the  list 
of  the  Lusitania's  $750,000  cargo 
over  which  the  knowing  ones  of  the 
maritime  world  gravely  shook  their 
heads  as  soon  as  the  news  of  her 
sinking  became  common  knowledge. 
That  was  the  entry  of  her  manifest 
of  5,4  71  cases  of  ammunition  and 
cartridges  valued  at   $200,024. 

"The  cartridge  alone  would  have 
been  enough."  was  the  opinion  of 
one  large  shipper  who  discussed  the 
question,  "but  that  additional  'am- 
munition' means  bulk  powders  of 
high  explosive  power,  and  in  their 
presence  on  board  the  steamship 
may  be  seen  one  reason  for  her  sink- 
ing so  suddenly." 

It  was  generally  conceded  that  the 
Lusitania,  following  the  precedent 
set  early  in  the  war.  approached  the 
Irish  coast  with  all  her  watertight 
bulkheads  closed  against  any  emer- 
gency. In  this  case  the  explosion  of 
two  or  even  three  torpedoes  against 
her  sides  would  not  have  torn  her 
sufficiently  to  sink  her  in  the  little 
time  that  elapsed  before  she  went 
down.  Consequently  the  theory  that 
some  of  this  large  amount  of  am- 
munition completed  the  work  of  the 
torpedoes  took  precedent  over  all 
others. 

The  manifest  of  the  Lusitania  in- 
cluded the  following  entries:  260,- 
000  pounds  sheet  brass,  valued  at 
$49,565;  111,762  pounds  of  copper, 
valued  at  $20,955;  58,465  pounds  of 
copper   wire  valued   at   $11,000;    189 


PROGRESS    AND    MODERN    N.WAL   WARFARE 


289 


packages  of  military  goods  valued  at 
$66,221;  5,471  cases  ot  ammunition 
and  cartridges,  valued  at  $200,023. 
The  total  value  of  the  cargo  was 
$725,000. 

The  Lusitania  seems  to  have  been 
the  vessel  on  which  the  largest  ship- 
ments of  arms  and  ammunition  were 
sent  to  England.  On  its  trip  of 
April  1,  it  carried  military  goods, 
valued  at  $204,064;  cartridges  and 
ammunition  valued  at  $151,800,  and 
firearms  valued  at  $3,379. 

On  the  books  of  the  Cunard  line 
the  Lusitania  is  valued  at  a  flat  $5,- 
000,000,  and,  according  to  the  offi- 
cials at  the  New  York  office,  she  was 
insured  for  this  amount.  The  ques- 
tion of  making  good  her  loss  is  as 
yet  an  involved  one  because  of  the 
war  insurance  issued  by  the  British 
government  which  has  been  in  force 
on  all  vessels  of  the  British  merchant 
marine  since  the  war  began. 

The  premiums  for  this  insurance 
are  e.xlremely  high  and  are  quoted 
on  such  vessels  as  the  Lusitania  and 
the  Olympic  at  about  $50,000  for 
each  voyage.  In  return  for  this 
premium  the  government  offered  to 
the  vessels  the  protection  of  the  de- 
fense squadrons  off  the  English  coast 
and  insured  the  vessels  against  such 
loss  as  the  Cunard  line  has  now  suf- 
fered. The  Lusitania  also  carried 
insurance  from  Lloyd's  and  the  cargo 
was  insured  by  the  shippers. — The 
Irish  Voice. 


TERRIBLE  REVELATIONS. 


THE  LISITAXL\  DIS.\STER. 


DID   THE   BRITISH  AD.MIRALTY 
PLOT   THE    DESTKltTlOX? 


Read  what  Congressman  Hobson  Says. 


The  Cunard  People  Warned  Their 
Friends. 


(lioiii    the    N.   V.   Tribune,    .May    l.>, 
191.5.) 

What    <'<)nj;ressnian    Hohson    said: 

"A  widowed  cousin  of  mine",  said 
fprmer  Congressman  Richmond  P. 
Hobson  in  an  interview  on  May  l.'i, 
1915.  "applied  at  the  New  York  office 
of  the  Cunard  Line  for  passage  on 
the  Lusitania.  The  booking  agent, 
an  old  friend,  took  her  off  apart  and 
told  her  that  the  vessel  was  acting 
under  Admiralty  orders  and  that  she 
simply  must  not  take  passage  upon 
it.  He  pledged  her  to  secrecy  until 
after  the  trip.  This  fact  brings  up 
pertinent    questions. 

"Why  did  not  the  Cunard  Company 
give  to  all  parties  applying  for  pas- 
sage the  same  humane  advice  its 
agent,  for  old  friendship's  sake,  gave 
to  my  cousin,  instead  of  loading  the 
vessel  down  with  a  full  passenger 
list,  including  many  distinguished 
Americans,  whose  loss  would  nec- 
essarily strike  the  American  imagi- 
nation?" 

"Knowing  that  German  submarines 
were  operating  in  the  south  of  the 
Irish  coast,  why  did  not  the  British 
Admiralty,  which  controlled  the  Lusi- 
tania's  movements,  order  her  to  use 


the     uninfested     route     around     the 
north   of    Ireland? 

"Why  was  the  ship,  having  a  speed 
of  25 1-  knots — a  very  substantial 
aid  to  security — ordered  by  the  Ad- 
miralty to  slow  down  to  17  knots  in 
the   danger   zone? 

"How  could  a  torpedo  sink  such 
a  ship  in  twenty  minutes?  An  ele- 
mentary knowledge  of  naval  archi- 
tecture would  convince  any  one  that 
such  a  thing  is  impossible  unless 
there  was  contributing  cause  Inside 
the  vessel,  such  as  open  watertight 
doors  or   an   inside  explosion. 

"Why  was  there  no  protecting  con- 
voy  in  the  danger  zone? 

"Why  was  there  no  consort  for 
the  great  ship,  ready  for  rescue 
work? 

Who  Had  a  .Motive'.' 

"There  could  be  no  possible  mo- 
tive," he  continues,  "for  Germany 
wishing  to  destroy  American  lives. 
In  fact,  Germany  sought  by  extra- 
ordinary warning  not  to  destroy 
American  lives,  and  her  commander 
torpedoed  the  vessel  at  a  point  near 
the  shore  where  it  was  presumable 
there  would  be  ample  time  for  the 
rescue    of    life. 

"On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a 
full  motive  for  England  wishing  such 
a  tragedy — the  motive  for  thrust- 
ing America  into  war  with  Germany. 

The   Duty  of  the  United  States. 

"Our  own  self-respect  and  our  po- 
sition in  history  demand  at  least 
that  we  should  find  out  the  facts  by 
regular,  impartial  investigation  by  a 
naval  court.  We  could  not  condemn 
the  basest  criminal  without  a  fair 
trial.  We  cannot  pass  Judgment  on 
a  fellow  Christian  people  simply  from 
the  charges  of  their  enemy,  given  by 
a  burning  motive  to  embroil  us  in 
war. 

"The  American  people  are  not 
afraid  of  Germany  and  her  allies, 
nor  are  they  afraid  of  England  and 
her  allies,  but  we  are  a  God  fearing 
people,  alraid  of  His  righteous  wrath. 
We  are  not  too  proud  to  fight,  but 
we  are  too  brave  and  true  knowingly 
to  do  wrong." 


with  Winston  Churchill's  manage- 
ment of  the  admiralty. 

This  belief  was  strengthened  a 
thousand-fold  when  the  news  that  no 
patrol  had  guarded  the  Lusitania  was 
flashed.  Oflficers  immediately  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  tiny 
American  oil  tanker  Gulflight,  which 
was  torpedoed  last  week,  was  fur- 
nished with  a  patrol. 

Officers  were  of  the  opinion  that 
upon  the  British  admiralty  must  rest 
the  blame,  not  only  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Lusitania,  but  much  more 
so  on  account  of  the  tremendous  loss 
of  life. 

They  pointed  to  the  fact  that  if 
the  Lusitania  had  been  accompanied 
by  four  or  six  destroyers  at  least 
the  passengers  and  crew  would  not 
have  been  lost,  because  the  patrolling 
vessels  would  have  been  present  to 
pick  up  the  victims. — The  Daily 
News,  Chicago. 


U.  S.  NAVY  .MEX  BLAME  BRITISH. 

Washington,    May    10. 

Ranking  ofticers  of  the  American 
navy  expect  a  radical  change  in  the 
administration  of  the  British  admir- 
alty as  a  result  ot  the  destruction 
of  the  Lusitania. 

"Dunifounded"  is  the  only  word 
which  adequately  expressed  the  feel- 
ing of  naval  experts  when  they  were 
assured  positively  that  the  admiralty 
allowed  the  Lusitania  to  enter  the 
danger  zone  without  the  protection 
of  a  single  convoy. 

When  Germany  finally  announced 
its  intention  to  make  war  under  the 
water  by  the  use  of  submarines  and 
to  blow  up  every  British  ship  that 
passed  within  torpedo  range.  Amer- 
ican naval  experts  appeared  to  be 
satisfied  that  this  movement  would 
be   checkmated    without   delay. 

Great  Britain's  failure  to  take 
drastic  steps  to  put  an  end  to  the 
commerce  war  has  given  American 
naval  experts  the  impression  that 
there    is   something    radically    wrong 


PR03IIXEXT    ST.\TESMEX   OX 
LrSITAXI.\    CASE. 


General  Opinion  that  .\mericans  Took 

Their  Lives  in  Their  Hands  as 

Passengers  of  Enemy   Ship. 

Vice-president  Marshall  said  that 
anyone  who  puts  his  foot  on  a  ship 
flying  the  English  flag  is  practically 
on  English  soil. 

Captain  Turner,  commander  of  the 
Lii.s-ituiiiu,  said:  "Well,  it  is  the  for- 
tune of  war." 

Senator  T.  J.  Walsh:  "Our  citi- 
zens must  yield  to  the  warning  given 
to  keep  out  of  the  waters  surround- 
ing Great  Britain  or  we  must  take 
the  other  alternative  and  make  war. 
I  am  not  yet  prepared  to  declare 
that  either  interest  or  honor  requires 
that  we  choose  the  latter." 

Senator  Wm.  J.  Stone,  Chairman 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations: 
"American  citizens,  it  must  not  be 
forgotten,  went  aboard  a  belligerent 
ship  with  full  knowledge  of  the  risk 
and  after  official  warning  by  the  Ger- 
man Government.  When  on  board 
a  British  vessel  they  were  on  British 
soil.  Was  not  their  position  substan- 
tially equivalent  to  being  within  the 
walls  of  a  fortified  city?  It  appears 
to  me  that  from  our  standpoint  as  a 
neutral  nation,  the  diilflifjlit  case 
presents  a  more  delicate  and  serious 
complication  than  the  case  of  the 
Lusitania." 

Senator  Chas.  N.  Thomas:  "The 
Luxitania  tragedy  differs  only  in  de- 
gree from  that  of  the  Falaba.  Apart 
from  their  greater  fatalities  neither 
may  develop  a  condition  so  acute  as 
the  destruction  of  the  Giilfliiiht." 

Senator  Gilbert  M.  Hitchcock; 
"The  loss  of  .American  lives  was  not 
caused  by  desire  to  injure  .America, 
but  was  incidental  or  accidental,  and 
if  reparation  is  made  does  not  be- 
come a  cause  for  us  to  abandon  neu- 
tral attitude." 

Senator  Wm.  E.  Borah:  "That 
disaster  and  the  loss  of  the  lives  of 
American  citizens  would  be  calcu- 
lated ordinarily  to  arouse  great  feel- 
ing throughout  the  country,  and 
doubtless  the  .American  people  do 
feel  deeply  upon  the  subject:   but  to 


290 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


my  mind,  the  sinking  of  tlie  steam- 
ship of  a  foe  upon  which  happens  to 
be  found  American  citizens  is  by  no 
means  to  be  compared  with  the  act 
of  hunting  out,  robbing,  assaulting 
and  murdering  American  citizens  in 
a  neighboring  country.  We  have 
lost  more  citizens  in  Mexico  than  we 
will  lose  on  the  Liiaitunia,  and  as  our 
policy  with  reference  to  Mexico  seems 
to  be  well  settled  and  accepted,  there 
is  no  possible  reason  why  we  should 
apply  a  different  policy  toward  Ger- 
many. I  don't  anticipate  any  change 
of  policy  because  of  this  unfortunate 
alfair." 

Representative  W.  L.  Jones,  of 
Washington:  "Our  citizens  have 
rights,  but  they  should  not  insist  on 
exercising  them  in  a  way  likely  to 
involve  us  in  war.  When  they  sail 
in  foreign  ships  into  dangerous  ter- 
ritory they  should  understand  that 
they  take  the  risk.  Innocent  people 
at  home  should  not  be  embroiled  in 
war  on  their  account." 

Representative  A.  Mitchell  Palmer, 
of  Pennsylvania:  "The  Lusitania 
was  flying  the  British  flag,  and  car- 
rying munitions  of  war  tor  the  sup- 
port of  a  belligerent.  Neutral  pas- 
sengers, who,  in  the  face  of  warn- 
ings, undertook  this  perilous  voyage, 
certainly  assumed  some  risk  them- 
selves, for  which  the  entire  nation 
ought  not  to  be  asked  to  suffer.  Of 
course,  the  destruction  of  a  passenger 
boat  is  horrible.  War  is  always  hor- 
rible. This  method  of  fighting  is  not 
humane — it  is  hardly  civilized,  but 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  humanity  in 
civilized  warfare." 

Representative  Caleb  Powers,  of 
Kentucky:  "This  country  is  not  the 
Insurer  of  either  the  lives  or  the  safe- 
ty of  the  citizens,  especially  aboard 
foreign  vessels,  who  of  their  own 
volition  subject  themselves  to  the 
dangers  and  perils  of  the  war  zone, 
and,  while  this  country  does  and 
should  deeply  deplore  the  sinking  of 
the  Liis-itaiiiii,  yet  it  should  not  be 
involved  in   war  by  reason  thereof." 

Governor  Simeon  E.  Baldwin,  of 
Connecticut,  and  professor  in  the 
Yale  Law  School:  "If  I  recollect 
correctly,  the  dispatch  of  our  Gov- 
ernment to  Germany  with  reference 
to  the  previous  incident  of  sinking  a 
ship  by  a  German  submarine,  as  was 
supposed,  in  the  war  zone,  referred 
to  the  matter  as  something  occurring 
to  a  ship  sailing  under  American  col- 
ors. The  phrase  'strict  accountabil- 
ity' used  in  the  dispatch  did  not,  as 
I  recollect  it,  refer  to  a  foreign  ves- 
sel sailing  under  her  true  colors. 
The  responsibility  now  under  the 
present  circumstances  of  our  declar- 
ing our  policy,  is  somewhat  different 
in  character." 

Governor  Brewer,  of  Mississippi, 
in  a  statement.  May  13,  declared  that 
as  Americans  had  been  warned  not 
to  take  passage  on  the  British  steam- 
ship Lufiitauia  he  could  not  under- 
stand why  the  United  States  should 
quarrel  with  Germany  because  Amer- 
icans lost  their  lives  as  a  result  of 
the  torpedoing  of  the  vessel. 

"Americans  were  given  fair  warn- 
ing to  stay  off,"  he  said.  "The  pas- 
sengers knew  what  to  expect  and 
took  the  risk." 


Prof.  George  W.  Kirchwey:  "My 
advice  to  the  President  would  be: 
Don't  be  too  fond  or  too  stiff  about 
the  rights  of  neutrals.  Don't  take 
an  attitude  from  which  you  can't 
withdraw  without  war.  I  would 
make  the  American  people  count  un- 
til they  get  over  this  bellicose  feel- 
ing. There  is  no  doubt  that  there  is 
no  right  to  sink  living  persons  on 
ships,  but  I  think  there  is  need  of  a 
new  law  forbidding  neutrals  from 
sailing  on  enemy  ships  carrying  con- 
traband. The  need  of  this  is  caused 
by  the  new  emergencies  and  new 
conditions  found  in  present  maritime 
warfare  and  the  recklessness  of  all 
the  nations  at  war." 

Oswald  O.  Villard:  "A  war  now 
would  be  singularly  unremunerative, 
and  about  as  agreeable  as  a  conflict 
between  an  elephant  and  an  alligator. 
We  would  not  get  at  them  nor  they 
at  us.  We  should  be  pulling  Eng- 
land's chestnuts  out  of  the  lire  if  we 
were  to  send  troops  to  Europe,  which 
latter  action  could  be  justified  only 
on  the  wild  ground  that  all  our  civ- 
ilization was  in  danger." — From  Tlic 
Fatherland. 


'GERMANY    AVARNED    US"     SAY'S 
SENATOR   YARDAMAN. 


(By   International   News   Service.) 

Columbus,  Miss.,  May  9. — When 
asked  to  give  an  opinion  on  the  sink- 
ing of  the  Lusitania,  Senator  Varda- 
man  of  Mississippi  said: 

"I  see  no  reason  why  serious  com- 
plications between  the  United  States 
and  the  belligerent  governments  of 
Europe  should  grow  out  of  it. 

"Admitting  that  Germany  is  re- 
sponsible, she  is  only  guilty  of  re- 
taliation for  the  damage  to  her  own 
commerce  by  England.  Germany 
published  advertisements  in  Amer- 
ican and  British  press  warning  neu- 
trals against  use  of  the  belligerent 
ships.  They  disregarded  it  at  their 
peril. 

"President  Wilson  is  on  the  job, 
and  I  have  faith  in  his  prudence  and 
good   judgment." — Irish   Voice. 


CHIEF     .IXTSTICE     OLSON     IS     NOT 
YET     READY    FOR     A    JUDG- 
MENT ON  THE  LUSITANIA. 

That  German  rage  against  Amer- 
ican contractors  and  manufacturers 
who  have  been  supplying  the  Allied 
armies  with  ammunition  and  other 
contraband  of  war  lay  at  the  bottom 
of  the  destruction  of  the  Lusitania, 
was  the  statement  made  today  by 
Chief  Justice  Olson  of  the  Municipal 
Court,  who  declared  he  had  received 
his  information  from  an  attache-  of 
the  War  Department  now  in  Chicago. 

"My  informant  told  me  that  there 
were  fifty-three  American  business 
men  aboard  the  Lusitania  who  were 
on  their  way  to  England  solely  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  contracts  to 
supply  Great  Britain  with  fighting 
material,"  said  Judge  Olson. 

Tried  to  Intimidate  U.  S. 

"It  looks  as  if  the  Germans  had 
got  wind  of  this  fact  and  had  lain  in 


wait  for  the  special  purpose  of  blow- 
ing the  liner  to  atoms  and  intimidat- 
ing American  firms  from  carrying  on 
negotiations  with  the  Allies. 

"If  this  is  true,  it  is  easy  to  see 
why  the  German  submarines  took 
particular  care  to  see  that  the  Lusi- 
tania did  not  escape  them. 

"It  is  known  that  the  vessel  car- 
ried a  large  amount  of  ammunition 
consigned  to  the  British  government. 
For  my  part,  I  believe  that  any  man 
who  takes  passage  on  a  boat,  know- 
ing this,  and  in  the  face  of  the  adver- 
tisements sent  out  by  the  German 
Embassy  in  Washington,  does  so  at 
his  own  risk.  The  fact  that  the  Ger- 
mans sent  out  these  advertisements 
is  only  another  illustration  of  Ger- 
man eflSciency;  they  were  even  pre- 
pared sufficiently  to  send  a  warning 
throughout  our  country  of  what  was 
about  to  happen. 

Sees   Both   Sides. 

"The  fact  that  the  Lusitania  car- 
ried ammunition  which  was  to  be 
used  in  the  killing  of  German  sol- 
diers appears  to  me  to  be  the  most 
important  point  in  the  controversy 
that  is  certain  to  come  up  over  the 
sinking  of  the  ship.  Germany  cannot 
afford  to  have  her  soldiers  killed; 
she  needs  them. 

"On  the  other  hand,  it  does  not  ap- 
pear right  for  them  to  blow  up  the 
liner,  realizing  that  in  so  doing  they 
were  sending  hundreds  of  non-com- 
batants to  their  death. 

"The  German  commander  might 
have  made  known  his  intention  to 
the  commander  of  the  Lusitania  and 
permitted  the  passengers  to  debark 
before  destroying  the  vessel. 

"However,  it  is  not  up  to  the  or- 
dinary citizen  to  go  into  these  ques- 
tion at  length.  My  view  is:  Let  Wil- 
son attend  to  it.  He  will  find  some 
way  to  maintain  the  honor  of  the 
United  States  in  the  international 
situation,  I  am  sure." 


AMERICANS    WERE     AVARNED    IS 
DERNBERG'S    COMMENT. 


Former    German    Colonial    Secretary 
Upholds  Action   of  His   Govern- 
ment in   Sinking  Lusitania. 

New  York,  May  9. — Dr.  Bernhard 
Dernberg,  former  colonial  secretary 
of  the  German  empire,  tonight  reiter- 
ated and  emphasized  statements  he 
made  in  Cleveland  yesterday,  holding 
that  the  German  government  was  jus- 
tified in  its  action  of  sinking  the 
Cunard  liner  Lusitania. 

"I  am  sure,"  Dr.  Dernberg  said, 
"that  Germany  regrets  the  loss  of  life 
of  Americans  through  the  sinking  of 
the  Lusitania,  but  sufficient  warning 
was  given   before  the  ship  sailed. 

"In  an  incident  such  as  the  Lusi- 
tania affair,  a  submarine  cannot  give 
the  necessary  warning.  The  Lusi- 
tania is  a  fast  boat.  It  could  speed 
out  of  range  of  a  submarine  in  a 
short  time. 

"Every  person  seeking  passage  on 
a  vessel  crossing  the  Atlantic  can 
obtain  information  whether  that  ves- 
sel is  carrying  munitions  of  war  and 
stands  the  chance  of  meeting  the  fate 
the   Lusitania   met." — Irish   Voice. 


PROGRESS  AND  MODERN'  NAVAL  WARFARE 


291 


The    IJoast   of   the   Cunard  Company. 
From  the  Boston  Journal. 

When  the  German  Embassy  had 
issued  the  following  warning  on 
April  22,  nine  days  before  the  Lusi- 
tanid  sailed,  and  again  on  May-l,: 
"Travelers  embarking  on  an  Atlantic 
voyage  are  reminded  that  a  state  of 
war  exists  between  Great  Britain  and 
Germany;  that  the  zone  of  war  in- 
cludes the  waters  adjacent  to  the 
British  Isles;  that,  in  accordance 
with  formal  notice  given  by  the  Im- 
perial German  government,  vessels 
flying  the  flag  of  Great  Britain  are 
liable  to  destruction  in  these  waters, 
and  that  travelers  sailing  in  the  war 
zone  on  ships  of  Great  Britain  do  so 
at  their  own  risk — " 

The  Cunard  Company  answered  as 
follows:  "The  Germans  have  been 
trying  for  some  time  to  put  English 
lines  out  of  commission.  We  antici- 
pate that  from  this  time  on  every 
possible  means  will  be  used  by  the 
Germans  to  prevent  people  travel- 
ing on  English  lines.  The  fact  is 
that  the  Lusitania  is  the  safest  boat 
afloat.  She  is  too  fast  for  German 
warships  or  submarines.  She  will 
reach  Liverpool  as  per  schedule,  and 
arrive  in  New  York  on  time  as  long 
as  we  care  to  run  her." — From  The 
Boston   Patriot. 


WHY  THE 


"LCSIT.\XIA"  WAS 
SUNK. 


Last  week  we  predicted  the  fate 
that  has  overtaken  the  Lusitania. 
The  Katherland  did  not  reach  the 
news-stands  till  Saturday,  but  the 
editorial  in  questiozi  was  written  sev- 
eral days  before  publication.  To-day 
we  make  another  prediction.  Every 
large  passenger  ship  bound  for  Eng- 
land is  practically  a  swimming  ar- 
senal, carrying  vast  quantities  of  am- 
munition and  explosives  of  every  de- 
scription. An  arsenal,  whether  on 
sea  or  land,  is  not  a  safe  place  for 
women  and  children.  It  is  not  a 
safe  place  for  anyone.  Every  now 
and  then  we  read  of  a  warship  blown 
up  by  an  explosion  caused  by  spon- 
taneous combustion,  in  spite  of  the 
rigid  care  exercised  to  prevent  such 
an  accident.  Our  passenger  ships 
carry  more  explosives  than  the  or- 
dinary man-of-war.  No  innocent  pas- 
senger .should  be  allowed  to  embark 
on  a  vessel  carrying  explosives.  It 
stand.s  to  rea.son  that  a  fate  not  un- 
like that  of  (lie  Ijusilania  will  meet 
before  lonK  a  pa.ssen}i<'r  ship  l)y  an 
explosion  of  vast  stores  of  aniinuni- 
tion  within.  While  Germany  is  not 
bound  to  respect  a  flag  of  any  ship 
carrying  implements  of  murder,  Ger- 
man submarines  may  discriminate  in 
favor  of  a  neutral  flag.  Spontaneous 
combustion  recognizes  no  interna- 
tional convention. 

Much  as  we  regret  the  staggering 
loss  of  life  in  the  disaster  that  start- 
led the  world,  the  facts  in  the  case 
absolutely  Justify  the  action  of  the 
Germans. 

Legally  and  morally  there  is  no 
basis  for  any  protest  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States.  The  liusitania  was 
a  British  ship.  British  ships  have 
been  instructed  by  the  Admiralty  to 
ram   submarines   and   to   take   active 


measures  against  the  enemy.  Hence 
every  British  ship  must  be  consid- 
ered in  the  light  of  a  warship. 

The  Lusitania  flew  the  ensign  of 
the  British  Naval  Reserves  before 
the  submarine  warfare  was  initiated. 
Since  that  time  she  has  hoisted  many 
a  flag,  including  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
According  to  a  statement  issued  by 
the  advertising  manager  of  the  Cun- 
ard Line,  the  Lusitania  "when  tor- 
pedoed was  entirely  out  of  the  con- 
trol of  the  Cunard  Company  and  op- 
erated under  the  command  of  the 
British  Admiralty." 

The  Lusitania  carried  contraband 
of  war  from  this  country  to  England. 
If  this  contraband  had  reached  its 
destination  it  would  undoubtedly 
have  killed  far  more  Germans  than 
the  total  number  of  passengers  lost 
on  the  Lusitania.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  did  actually  kill  the  passen- 
gers by  precipitating  the  sinking  of 
the  ship.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  ship  would  not  have  sunk  for 
hours,  if  explosions  from  within  had 
not  hastened  its  end.  Every  passen- 
ger on  a  boat  carrying  contraband  of 
war  takes  his  life  info  his  hands.  The 
explosives  in  the  hold  of  a  ship,  we 
repeat,  constitute  a  graver  peril  to 
passengers  than  the  shots  of  Ger- 
man torpedoes. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  Lusi- 
tania was  torpedoed  without  warn- 
ing. Ordinarily  a  half  hour's  warn- 
ing is  regarded  sufflcient.  In  this 
case  the  ship  was  warned  of  its  fate 
four  or  five  days  in  advance.  W^e 
need  only  turn  to  the  warning  notice 
issued  by  the  German  Embassy  on 
the  day  before  the  Ijiisitania  left  the 
Harbor  of  New  York. 

Instead  of  urging  the  President  to 
take  steps  against  Germany,  we 
should  impeach  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  his  neglect  of  duty  in  not 
warning  all  Americans  of  the  peril 
of  ocean  trafllic  in  the  war  zone,  es- 
pecially under  the  flag  of  a  bellig- 
erent nation.  If  the  Secretary  of 
State,  in  accordance  with  the  Mex- 
ican precedent  had  issued  such  a 
warning,  not  a  single  American  life 
would   have  been    forfeited. 

Germany,  provoked  by  England 
which  established  a  war  zone  as 
early  as  November  and  made  the 
importation  of  foodstuffs  into  Ger- 
many practically  impossible,  decided 
upon  submarine  warfare  as  a  meas- 
ure of  retaliation.  She  vvas  forced 
to  do  so  by  the  signal  failure  of  the 
T'uited  States  to  protect  the  common 
rights  of  neutrals.  When  Germany 
determines  upon  a  plan  of  action  she 
means  business.  The  Germans  are 
not  a  nation  of  poker  players.  Ger- 
many does  not  bluff. 

The  sinking  of  the  liUsitania  is  a 
terrific  lesson,  but  in  order  to  drive 
home  its  force  more  fully  and  to 
safeguard  this  country  from  further 
losses  and  from  the  danger  of  com- 
plications with  Germany,  the  State 
Department  should  issue  at  once  a 
formal  notice  admonishing  Ameri- 
can citizens  to  shun  all  ships  flying 
the  flag  of  a  belligerent  nation  and 
all  ships,  irrosppctivo  <if  nationality, 
which  carry  across  the  sea  the  tools 
of   destruction. 

But  if  we  accuse  the  State  Depart- 
ment   of    negligence,    we    should    in- 


dict the  officials  of  the  Cunard  Line 
for  murder.  They  knew  that  the 
Lusitania  was  a  floating  fortress. 
Yet,  for  the  sake  of  sordid  gain,  they 
jeopardized  the  lives  of  more  than 
two  thousand  people.  When  the 
German  Embassy  issued  its  warning, 
the  Cunard  Line  pooh-poohed  the 
danger  so  as  not  to  forfeit  the  shek- 
els paid   for  the  passage. 

Did  the  Cunard  Line  tell  its  pros- 
pective passengers  that  its  crew  was 
short  of  eighty  or  ninety  stokers? 

Did  the  Cunard  Line  inform  its 
passengers  that  the  Lusitania,  as 
Marconi  states  in  an  interview,  nar- 
rowly escaped  an  attack  by  a  sub- 
marine on  a  previous  voyage? 

Did  they  inform  the  passengers  of 
the  fact  that  one  of  its  turbines  was 
defective? 

How  many  of  the  passengers  would 
have  remained  on  the  boat  if  the 
officials  of  the  Cunard  Line  had  not 
suppressed   the   truth? 

Those  innocent  victims  believed  in 
the  protection  of  the  British  Admir- 
alty. The  Captain  of  the  Lusitania 
admits  that  the  Admiralty  "never 
seemed  to  bother"  about  the  Lusi- 
tania. He  knew  that  England, 
though  she  waives  the  rules,  no 
longer  rules  the  waves.  He  is  a 
soldier  under  orders  of  the  Admir- 
alty. He  has  a  right  to  take  chances 
with  his  own  life.  But  what  right 
has  he  to  take  chances  with  the  lives 
of  his  crew  and  his  two  thousand 
passengers? 


Yos  hi:kx.st<)RFI''  regrets 

LO.SS    OF    AMERICANS. 


(By   the   Associated   Press.) 

Washington,  May  10. 

Count  Bernstorff,  the  German  am- 
bassador, went  to  the  state  depart- 
ment today  and  was  closeted  with 
Secretary   Bryan. 

After  a  half  hour's  conference  be- 
tween the  ambassador  and  Secretary 
Bryan  the  following  statement  was, 
by  mutual  agreement,  given  out  by 
the   secretary: 

"The  German  ambassador  called 
at  the  state  department  and  express- 
ed his  deep  regret  that  the  events  of 
the  war  had  led  to  the  loss  of  so 
many  American  lives." 

While  neither  the  ambassador  nor 
Secretary  Bryants  statement  men- 
tioned the  Lusitania  by  name,  it  was 
known  that  the  two  officials  talked 
of  it  specifically.  It  was  the  ambas- 
sador's first  visit  to  the  department 
since  the  disaster.  The  secretary 
received  him  immediately  and 
greeted  him  cordially. 

When  Ambassador  Bernstorff  came 
from  Secretary  Bryan's  office  he  par- 
ried all  questions  by  saying  he  could 
not  talk,  being  under  a  promise  to 
Secretary  Bryan  that  anything  to  be 
said  should  come  from  the  secretary. 
His  only  real  response  was  that  he 
had  made  no  appointment  with  Pres- 
ident Wilson. 

Both  Secretary  Bryan  and  Count 
Bern.storff  steadfastly  refused  to 
comment  upon  or  interpret  the  state 
department's  announcement,  hut  it 
was  interpreted  as  meaning  that  the 
ambassador  had,  for  his  government, 
expressed    deep    regret    not    only    for 


292 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


the  loss  of  life  on  the  Lusitania,  but 
for  the  Americans  lost  in  the  tor- 
pedoing of  the  American  steamer 
Gulflight  and  for  the  one  American 
lost  on  the  Falaba. — The  Daily  News, 
Chicago. 


THE    GERMAN   ANSWER. 

The  German  answer  must  be 
highly  pleasing  to  all  who  honestly 
desire  the  historic  friendship  be- 
tween Germany  and  the  United 
States  to  continue  without  interrup- 
tion. 

In  spite  of  heavy  provocation  on 
the  part  of  the  United  State.s,  Ger- 
many has  liept  her  temper.  Not  con. 
tent  with  furnishing  implements  of 
murder  to  Germany's  enemies,  we 
actually  ask  Gennany  to  commit 
suicide.  For  a  modification  of  sub- 
marine warfare  as  suggested  in  Sir. 
Bryan's  note  would  be  tantamount 
to "  self-destruction  on  Germany's 
part. 

It  may  be  said  that  we  were  actu- 
ated by'  no  selfish  motive,  for  our 
action  was  not  in  the  interest  of  the 
United  States:  we  were  merely  pull- 
ing England's  chestnuts  out  of  the 
fire.  This  may  make  us  more  noble 
in  our  own  eyes,  but  it  hardly  makes 
our  proposition  more  palatable  to 
Germany.  Nevertheless,  instead  of 
indignantly  refusing  to  discuss  so  ab- 
surd a  proposition,  (jermany's  an- 
swer is  sweetly  reasonable. 

Germany  is  evidently  perfectly 
willing  to  exi>lain  to  us  why  she  re- 
fuses to  commit  suicide.  In  fact, 
Germany  is  prepared  to  make  many 
concessions.  Evidently,  Germany  is 
willing  to  go  to  the  limit  in  order 
to  humor  us.  Germany  desires  no 
trouble  with  the  United  States.  If 
there  is  to  be  trouble,  the  word  must 
come  from  President  Wilson. 

We  prattle  about  humanity,  while 
we  manufacture  poisoned  shrapnel 
and  picric  acid  for  profit.  Ten  thou- 
sand German  widows,  ten  thousand 
orphans,  ten  thousand  graves  bear 
the  legend  "Made  in  America."  The 
German  Government  makes  no  ref- 
erence to  this.  The  German  note  is 
no  exercise  in  rhetoric.  It  states  the 
case  simply  and  bluntly  in  German 
fashion.  "The  German  Government 
believes  it  was  acting  in  self-defense 
in  seeking  with  all  means  of  war- 
fare at  its  disposition  to  protect  the 
lives  of  its  soldiers  by  destroying 
ammunition  intended  tor  the  enemy." 
We  have  reason  to  helicrc  that  the 
Ltixitania  carried  both  shrapnel  and 
explosive  acids.  We  kitoir  that  she 
carried  war  material.  We  believe 
that  the  Lii.iitaniu  carried  concealed 
weapons.  The  fact  that  the  Collector 
of  the  Port  had  not  seen  such  weap- 
ons is  no  proof  that  they  were  not 
on  board.  His  evidence  is  purely 
negative.  There  is  much  positive 
evidence  to  the  contrary. 

It  is  admitted  that  the  Liifitanid 
was  an  auxiliary  cruiser  and  that 
she  sailed  on  the  high  seas  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  British  Ad- 
miralty. The  English  are  attempting 
to  throw  dust  into  our  eyes.  But 
we  should  remember  that  those  who 
deny  the  warlike  character  of  the 
Cunard    liner    are    the    same    people 


that  advised  her  to  sneak  iiiidi  r  fulac 
colors  into  an  English  port.  The 
Cunard  Line  used  American  passen- 
gers as  a  shield,  just  as  it  fraudu- 
lently used  the  American  flag  as  a 
shield  tor  its  own  protection. 

Perhaps  the  Captain  of  the  sub- 
marine that  sank  the  Lu.sitania  to 
the  bottom  had  a  vision  of  a  thou- 
sand passengers  drowned.  But  above 
that  vision  he  must  have  seen  an- 
other vision  of  German  armies 
mowed  down  by  the  deadly  cargo 
within  her  htdd,  and  of  ten  times 
ten  thousand  widows  and  orphans 
pointing  an  accusing  finger  at  him 
if  he  failed  to  destroy  the  ammuni- 
tion on  its  passage  to  England.  The 
dictates  of  humanity  demanded  the 
destruction  of  the  death-carrying 
vessel. 

However  we  may  deplore  the  loss 
of  innocent  lives,  the  l.iisitinihi  de- 
served her  doom.  The  Cunard  Line 
deliberately  inveigled  American  pas- 
sengers to  imperil  their  lives,  al- 
though one  of  its  officials,  according 
to  Congressman  Hobson,  confiden- 
tially warned  a  friend  not  to  entrust 
herself  to  the  protection  of  what  was 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  an  Eng- 
lish warship  masquerading  as  a  pas- 
senger vessel. 

Last  w-eek  the  White  Star  Liner 
Arnhic  sailed  for  Liverpool  with  400 
cases  of  cartridges,  41  automobiles, 
795  barrels  of  lubricating  oil,  565 
barrels  of  grease,  5,047  pigs  of  lead, 
3,370  bars  of  copper,  730  reels  of 
barbed  wire,  1,516  pieces  of  forg- 
ings  for  guns,  14,014  packages  of 
steel  and — liro  American  paxsciificrtt. 
What  would  the  United  States  do  in 
a  similar  predicament?  From  a 
German  standpoint,  the  submarine 
commander  who  fails  to  blow  up  a 
ship  carrying  such  a  cargo  if  he  can, 
deserves  to  be  court-martialed. 

Germany  is  willing  to  give  up  her 
submarine  campaign,  if  England  will 
abide  by  international  convention. 
Germany  may  be  willing  to  meet  us 
more  than  halfway  if  we  stop  the 
shipment  of  arms,  which  under  the 
changed  conditions  of  this  unprece- 
dented war  has  ceased  to  be  a  neu- 
tral act.  Until  either  result  is  ac- 
complished, we  should  prevent  Amer- 
ican passengers  from  taking  passage 
on  any  vessel  carrying  contraband  of 
war.  Germany,  on  her  side,  should 
promise  not  to  torpedo  any  ships  car- 
rying a  certificate  signed  by  the 
American  authorities  and  the  Ger- 
man Consul-General  that  she  carries 
no  implements  of  destruction. 

Germany  and  the  United  States 
have  both,  in  the  past,  demanded  the 
sanctity  of  private  property  on  the 
sea.  England  refused  this  demand, 
and  our  representative,  Mr.  Choate, 
weakly  surrendered  to  English  pres- 
sure. It  Mr.  Choate  had  not  be- 
trayed the  interests  of  the  United 
States  and  of  humanity  at  that  con- 
ference, the  lives  of  civilians  and 
private  property  would  be  as  safe  to- 
day on  the  high  seas  as  they  are  on 
land. 

England  makes  international  law 
to  suit  herself.  In  doing  so  she  de- 
pends upon  her  dreadnoughts.  The 
marine  law  of  the  past  was  written 
by   the   battleship.      The   marine   law 


of  the  future  will  be  written  by  the 
submarine.  At  the  same  time,  it 
must  be  clearly  understood  that  the 
use  of  the  submarine  as  employed  at 
present  by  Germany,  is  permissible 
only  as  a  measure  of  retaliation.  As 
such  the  submarine  is  the  emblem  of 
humanity.  It  will  free  the  world 
from  the  incubus  of  Navalism.  The 
United  States  will  benefit  most  from 
this  transition.  We  need  not,  in  the 
future,  compete  with  England  and 
Japan  in  the  building  of  dread- 
noughts. All  we  need  for  our  pro- 
tection is  a  large  fleet  of  submarines. 
If  we  have  mastered  this  lesson,  even 
the  loss  of  a  hundred  American  lives 
is  not  too  great  a  price. 

We  have  concluded  thirty  treaties 
making  a  year's  discussion  obliga- 
tor.v  before  the  rupture  of  diplomatic 
relations.  This  is  America's  most 
substantial  contribution  to  the  civili- 
zation of  the  20th  Century.  Ger- 
iiian.v  has  accepted  this  theory  in 
principle.  She  now  accepts  it  in  prac- 
tice. We  cannot  refuse  her  proffered 
hand,  without  violating  the  spirit  of 
every  one  of  those  thirty  treaties. 
If  we  insist  upon  making  an  excep- 
tion to  the  noble  tradition  estab- 
lished by  us  solely  in  the  case  of  Ger- 
many, we  would  furnish  proof  both 
to  her  and  to  our  own  citizens  that 
we  are  intentionally  discriminating 
against  the  Germans. 

If  we  lash  ourselves  into  fury  be- 
cause Germany  is  unwilling  to  sur- 
render her  only  chance  for  naval  vic- 
tory, we  prove  to  every  fair-minded 
American  that  the  "understanding" 
which,  according  to  Professor  Usher 
e.visted  between  England  and  the 
United  States  during  the  Spanish- 
-Anierican  war  has  been  renewed  by 
the  Wilson  Administration.  .  W  e 
should  have  no  choice,  then,  but  to 
believe  that  the  United  States  is  no 
longer  a  sovereign  power  and  that 
whatever  the  immediate  issue  may 
be  we  need  a  third  war  of  independ. 
ence  to  free  ourselves  finally  from 
the  shackles  of  England. 

GEORGE  SYLVESTER  VIERECK. 
(From  the  Fatherland) 


BRITISH  REPLY  TO  WILSON  NOTE 
TO  CITE  MORE  GERMAN  FAULTS. 


From    "Chicago    Daily    News,"    Feb., 
1915. 

London,  March  11. — The  British 
reply  to  the  American  note  suggesting 
that  Great  Britain  allow  all  foodstuffs 
to  enter  Germany  in  return  for  Ger- 
many's abandonment  of  its  submarine 
warfare  on  merchant  vessels  and  its 
policy  of  mining  the  high  seas  is  ex- 
pected to  be  forthcoming  at  an  early 
date. 

While  the  contents  of  the  reply  are 
not  known,  it  is  possible  as  the  result 
of  inquiries  in  authoritative  quarters 
to  indicate  some  points  likely  to  carry 
weight  with  the  British  government 
and  to  emphasize  Sir  Edward  Grey's 
answer. 

There  is  a  strong  feeling  in  Down- 
ing street  that  the  "quid  pro  quo" 
put  forward  in  the  American  note 
does  not  go  far  enough. 


COLONIAL  CAMPAIGNS  IN  THE  WAR 


293 


Great  Britain  in  Africa,  Egypt,  and  at  Home 


Till:.    WORLD    AT    WAK 

(From    "The   Literary   Digest,"   New   Yorlt,   October   17,    1914) 

Germany  and  her  colonies  are  black  on  this  map,  and  her  smaller  island  possessions  are  surrounded  by  a  black  line     Her 

African  colonies  are    (I)    German  Southwest  Africa,    (2)    German    East    Africa,     (3)    Kamerun,     (4)     Togoland.      The    largest 

colonial  territory  outside  of  Africa  is    (5)    Kaiser  Wilhelm's  Land,  in  New  Guinea.    All  that  portion  of  the  world  not  involved 

in  the  European  War  is  shown  in  white  on  the  map. 


Officials  of  the  foreign  oflBce  point 
out  that  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war  Great  Britain  only  once  has  in- 
terfered with  the  supply  of  food  des- 
tined for  Germany,  and  then  only 
after  the  German  government,  by  as- 
suming control  of  all  foodstuffs,  had 
abolished  the  old  distinction  between 
the  civil  and  the  military  population. 

High  German  authorities  have  re- 
peatedly denied  the  British  claim  to 
cut  oft  supplies  of  food  from  civilians 
is  a  legitimate  act  of  war. 

Great  Britain,  it  is  insisted,  never 
adopted  this  view  until  the  Germans 
by  their  own  act  made  it  impossible 
any  longer  to  draw  the  line  between 
noncombatants  and  armed  forces. 
Furthermore,  it  is  added.  Great 
Britain  is  now  invited  by  the  United 
States  to  forego  a  clear  belligerent 
right  on  the  understanding  that  Ger- 
many will  abstain  from  committing 
two — but  only  two — of  many  crimes 
against  both  law  and  humanity. 


Authoritative  spokesmen  of  the 
British  view  lay  stress  on  the  "inade- 
quacy" of  this  proposal  from  two 
standpoints.  They  ask,  first,  what 
guarantee  is  forthcoming  that  Ger- 
many will  keep  to  its  agreement. 

Secondly,  they  urge  that  the  two 
offenses  specified  in  the  American 
note — submarine  warfare  on  mer- 
chant vessels  and  the  mining  of  the 
high  seas — are  far  from  being  the 
only,  or  even  the  worst,  offenses  of 
which  Germany  has  been  guilty. 

The  claim  is  set  up  that  it  has 
bombarded  unfortified  towns, 
dropped  bombs  on  places  inhabited 
solely  by  civilians,  and  sunk  both 
British  and  neutral  ships,  as  if  that 
were  the  ordinary  legal  way  of  dis- 
posing of  them. 

Great  Britain,  it  is  pointed  out,  has 
indulged  in  none  of  these  practices, 
and  such  mines  as  it  has  been  com- 
pelled in  self-defense  to  lay  have  been 


laid  in  strict  accordance  with  The 
Hague   conventions. 

The  policy  of  the  Germans,  which 
arouses  the  most  indignation  among 
the  directors  of  the  British  govern- 
ment is  its  continued  alleged  perse- 
cution of  the  Belgians,  millions  of 
whom,  it  is  declared,  "would  be  at 
this  moment  in  a  state  of  semi-starva- 
tion but  for  American  generosity  and 
assistance." 

The  view,  therefore,  held  in  the 
most  authoritative  quarter  of  Great 
Britain  is  that  if  there  is  to  be  any 
question  of  Germany's  conforming  to 
the  rules  of  civilized  warfare  with  re- 
spect to  all  points,  and  not  merely 
with  respect  to  two  of  them  which  it 
has  been  accused  of  departing  from, 
it  must  come  up  for  discussion,  and 
that  Great  Britain  could  enter  into 
no  agreement  a  subject  which  did  not 
include  a  radical  change  in  Germany's 
present  proceedings  in  Belgium. 


FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 


From    the    "Boston     Evening     Tran- 
script,"  .September   15,    1914. 

HEARD   AT   THE   BULLETINS 

Flippant  Youth  (reading  aloud) — 


"Kaiser  attacks  Nancy."  Shame  on 
him  to  hit  a  woman! 

First  Man  (reading) — "Czar  says 
he'll  get  to  Berlin  if  it  takes  his  last 
moujik." 

Second  JIan — That  means  his  last 
cent. 


"Talking  about  them  Belgians — 
say,  did  ja  ever  read  that  pome: 
"There  was  a  sound  of  deviltry  by 
night'?'" 

Man — I  tell  you  Germany's  got  a 
great  war  machine. 


294 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


ALL.  SUDAN  REPORTED  HELD  BY 

DERVISHES;  2,000  ENGLISH 

SLAIN. 


FIRST   NEWS  TO  REACH  PUBLIC. 


Gen.  Hawley  and  Many  Officers  Killed 
Also  When  His  Command  Is  At- 
tacked by  40,000  Along  the 
White  Nile. 


All  Prisoners   Are  Decapitated,   Rail- 
roads and  Telegraph  Lines  Are 
Destroyed  and  the  Conquest  in 
Egypt  Is  Kept  a  Secret 
(or  Months. 


From  "The   Daily    News,"   Thursday, 
March  18,  1915. 

Berlin,  Germany  (by  wireless  to  Say- 
ville,  L.  I. ) ,  March  18.— A  German  mer- 
chant who  has  returned  from  Egypt  is 
authority  for  the  declaration  that  the 
whole  of  the  Sudan,  Including  Khartum 
and  also  parts  of  Nubia.  Is  in  posses- 
sion of  the  dervishes.  The  statements 
of  this  traveler  are  published  in  the 
Vosslsehe  Zeitung.  He  describes  also 
an  engagement  near  Fashoda  last  De- 
cember, In  which  Gen.  Hawley  of  the 
British  army  and  a  number  of  other 
officers,  with  nearly  2,000  men,  lost 
their  lives. 

Battle  Nears  the  Pyramids. 

The  merchant  relates  a  story  of  the 
alleged  uprising  of  the  Seuussi  tribes- 
men in  November.  He  declares  that 
they  destroyed  an  Australian  camp  near 
the  pyramids  Nov.  19,  killing  200  Aus- 
tralians and  capturing  guns  and  pro- 
visions. 

Later  in  large  force,  not  fewer  than 
SO.IXM),  they  overflowed  the  entire 
province  of  Fayum  and  destroyed  all 
railroads,  including  the  Calro-Assuan 
line.  Dec.  1  they  destroyed  the  Alex- 
andria-Cairo railroad  near  Damanhur. 

Decapitates  All  the  Prisoners. 

Thousands  of  tribesmen  responded  to 
the  appeal  of  the  dervishes  and  Dec. 
13;  40,000  of  them  marched  In  the 
direction  of  Fashoda,  on  the  White 
Nile,  where  Gen.  Hawley  opposed 
them  with  6,000  troops.  Of  the  men 
under  Hawley  all  the  native  soldiers 
deserted  to  the  dervishes,  leaving 
him  only  2,000  men. 

Most  of  this  contingent  was  killed 
and  Gen.  Hawley  and  all  his  officers 
fell.  Nabur-El-Asl,  commanding  the 
dervishes,  had  all  his  prisoners  decapi- 
tated. 

Keep  Sudan  Conquest  Secret. 

As  a  result  of  this  victory  all  the  na- 
tive chiefs  joined  the  dervishes,  who, 
Jan.  1,  took  possession  of  the  Important 
military  post  at  Nasser,  in  the  district 
of  Sennaar. 

The  merchant  also  declares  that  the 
dervishes  destroyed  all  the  telegraph 
lines  in  lower  ICgypt.  xVo  word  of  the 
conquest  of  the  Sudan  has  been  allowed 
to  leak  out. 


Last  Reference  to  Sudan   Conditions 
Was  by  Wireless  Last  December. 

Granted  that  the  news  given  out  by 
the  German  merchant  from  Egypt  is 
true,  It  Is  the  first  definite  statement 
of  these  serious  conditions  to  reach  the 
public.  The  only  previous  reference  to 
any  such  state  of  affairs  came  from 
Berlin  the  latter  part  of  December, 
when  a  wireless  message  to  Sayville 
said  Constantinople  reported  an  upris- 
ing of  serious  dimensions  in  the  Sudan. 
Eighty  thousand  natives  had  started  to 
attack  the  British  province  of  El  Kad 
iuid  the  Moslem  population  of  certain 
districts  was  described  as  rising  against 
the  English.  The  Senussi  tribesmen 
are  members  of  a  Moslem  sect  of  North 
Africa. 


GERALVNY   AND  ATROCITIES. 


From  "The  Day  Book,"  Chicago,  Oc- 
tober 26,   1914. 

Editor   Day  Book: — If  not  out  of 
place,     I     wish     to     express     myself 
among  others  and  ask  why  it  is  that 
the    American    press    and    people    in 
general    criticize    and    condemn    the 
German    soldiery    tor   alleged   atroci- 
ties  and   depredations   committed  by 
them   in   this   European   war   just   as 
though     other    nations    lived    above 
criticism,  especially  during  war.    Eng- 
land,    which     is     among     the     most 
warlike  with    a    Bible  in    one    hand 
and    the    sword    in    the    other,    has 
set    us   an    example    of   her    civilized 
state,  when  during  the  Sepoy  mutiny 
in    India    she    tied    her    prisoners    to 
the  mouth  of  cannon  and  sent  them 
to    eternity    to    meet    the    Prince    of 
Peace.*    Spain  was  no  better  in  Cuba 
and  other  countries,  and  in  our  own 
so-called  Civil  war  we  had   the  Fort 
Pillow    massacre,    the    draft    riot    in 
New     York     City,     when     the     mob 
burned  down  the  colored  orphan  asy- 
lum and  hung  negroes  to  the  lamp- 
post.     The  burning  of  Atlanta,  Aus- 
tin,   Miss.,    and   other   cities,   tearing 
up  railroads,  cutting  off  communica- 
tion  from   the   outside   world   by    de- 
stroying  telegraphs,    etc.,    for   which 
we  now  condemn  Germany,   and  the 
inhuman    treatment    of    prisoners    in 
Southern  prison  pens,  Andersonville, 
Bell  Tole,  Libby,  Castle  of  Thunder, 
in     which     I     suffered     almost     nine 
months.     Not  even  Japan,  which  was 
not  among  the  so-called  civilized  na- 
tions,  treated    her    prisoners   so   bad 
during  her  war  with  China  and  Rus- 
sia, the  latter  the  massacre  of  Jews 
at   Kishnef    in    time    of    peace.      We 
should      remember      Germany       has 
helped  more  than   any  other  foreign 
country  to   make   this   country  what 
it  is'  today.      Besides  she  has  helped 
us  put  down  the  rebellion  by  furnish- 
ing   125,000    troops    and    some    able 
generals   to   command.     *      *      * 


A.  S.  What  was  the  "Fashoda  in- 
cident"? 

A  dramatic  recital  of  the  events 
which  took  place  in  the  Mudirieh  of 
Fashoda  in  1898,  much  of  it  from  the 
pen  of  Kitchener  Sirdar,  will  be 
found  in  the  British  "Parliamentary 
Publication";  Egypt,  Nos.  2  and  3, 
of  1898,  the  important  portions  of 
which  appear  in  Larned's  "History 
for  Ready  Reference  and  Topical 
Reading,"  vol.  VI,  p.   199  et  seq. 

In  brief,  the  Fashoda  incident  may 
be  described  as  a  clash  between 
French  and  British  claims  upon  the 
Nile  country.  When,  on  Sept.  10, 
1898,  Lord  Kitchener  arrived  at  Fa- 
shoda, after  his  success  at  Omdur- 
man,  he  found  a  small  French  force, 
under  command  of  M.  Marchand,  en- 
trenched in  the  old  government  build- 
ings of  the  place.  The  Sirdar  called 
upon  M.  Marchand  to  withdraw  his 
men  from  the  territory  which  they 
claimed  to  hold  by  right  of  occupa- 
tion, but  was  met  by  the  rejoinder 
that  as  a  soldier  the  French  leader 
could  not  but  obey  his  instructions. 
The  Egyptian  flag  was  thereupon 
promptly  raised  over  Fashoda  by  the 
British  commander  and  the  position 
of  M.  Marchand  relegated  to  diplo- 
matic settlement.  Great  Britain  suc- 
cessfully maintained  her  claim  to 
predominancy  in  the  Nile  valley  and 
the  French  troops  were  withdrawn. 
The  incident  drew  France  and  Eng- 
land to  the  verge  of  war  and  was 
brought  to  a  close  only  by  the  com- 
plete acceptance  by  France  of  the 
British  demands. — From  the  "Ques- 
tions and  Answers"  column  in  the 
"New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung,"  Octo- 
ber  30,    1914. 


W.  L.  J.  When  was  England's 
Opium  War?  Was  it  generally  ap- 
proved of  by  the  English  people? 

The  Opium  War  began  in  1839 
and  was  concluded  by  the  Treaty  of 
Nanking,  August  2  9.  184  2. 

It  was  not  approved  of  by  the  Eng- 
lish people  generally.  It  was  a  war 
for  the  extension  of  the  British 
opium  trade  in  China  and  was  pro- 
moted by  a  class  in  England  which 
had  arisen  from  the  old  East  India 
Company  monopoly.  It  had  the  sup- 
port of  this  class  and  of  the  rupee- 
mad  Government  of  today,  and  of  no 
one  else.  Gladstone,  who  on  occa- 
sion could  rise  above  the  mercenary 
spirit  of  his  age,  said  of  it:  "A  war 
more  unjust  in  its  origin,  a  war  more 
calculated  to  cover  this  country  with 
permanent  disgrace,  I  do  not  know 
and  I  have  not  read  of.  The  British 
flag  is  hoisted  to  protect  an  infamous 
contraband  traffic.  If  it  were  never 
hoisted  except  as  it  is  now,  on  the 
coast  of  China,  we  should  recoil  from 
its  sight  with  horror." — From  the 
"Questions  and  Answers"  column  of 
the  "New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung," 
October  27.  1914. — The  Publisher  of 
"War   Echoes." 


PRACTICAL  AERIAL  WARFARE 
ZEPPELINS,  AEROPLANES,  HYDRO-AEROPLANES 

The  I'se  and  Effectiveness  of  Modern  Air-fighting  Craft  in  the  War 
International  Law  on  the  Use  of  Aerial  Weapons  in  War,  and  Present  Necessities 


Aerial  Warfare 
Custom,  International  Law,  and  Progress 


COUNT  FEKDINAND  ZEPI'HMN 
(By  Courtesy  of  the  "Open  Court") 


Read  "Belgian  Neutrality,  Its 
Real  Meaning,"  by  Professer  Bur- 
gess, reprinted  on  another  page. — 
The  Publisher  of  "War  Echoes." 


Consult  index  for  "Was  Prussia's 
Treatment  of  Denmark  in  the  Schles- 
wig-Holsteln  Matter  Unfair?" — The 
Publisher  of  "War  Echoes." 


WAR   IN   THE   AIR   AND   LAW    OP 
NATIONS. 

The  "Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zei- 
tung"  writes  under  the  heading: 
"The  war  in  the  air": 

The  English  press  designates  the 
attaclt  of  our  marine  airships  upon 
the  east  coast  of  England,  as  entirely 
contrary  to  the  Law  of  Nations,  the 
Kame  as  it  did  at  the  time  of  our 
bombardment  of  the  English  coast 
towns  by  our  cruisers.  The  re- 
proaches are  also  this  time  absolutely 
without  foundation. 

In  the  present  war  the  interna- 
tional agreements  do  not  come  into 
consideration  with  regard  to  our  air 
forces,  especially  also  regarding  bom- 
bardments by  same.  The  declaration 
at  the  Hague  regarding  the  prohibi- 
tion of  throwing  bombs  and  other  ex- 
plosives from  airships,  has  expired  in 
its  original  form,  and  in  its  new  form 
it  has  been  ratified  neither  by  Ger- 
many nor  by  France  nor  by  Russia, 
and  is  therefore  not  binding  for  us 
with  respect  to  England.  The  Con- 
vention at  the  Hague  regarding  mili- 
tary matters  and  the  bombardment 
by  naval  forces,  regulates  only  the 
war  on  land  and  sea,  but  not  the  war 
in  the  air.  These  laws  are  therefore 
only  in  so  far  applicable  here,  as  they 
correspond  to  the  common  interna- 
tional laws.  However,  there  is  no 
doubt  whatever  that  such  laws  re- 
garding the  bombardment  by  air 
forces,  cannot  be  prohibited  where  a 
bombardment  by  military  and  naval 
forces  is  allowed. 

Accordingly  all  fortified  places  may 
be  bombarded  by  air  forces,  as  such 
bombardment  is  permissible  accord- 
ing to  Article  25,  as  also  according 
to  Article  1  of  the  above  mentioned 
Convention  at  the  Hague.  Further- 
more all  military  institutions  in  un- 
fortified places  come  under  the  same 
law,  as  is  seen  in  Article  2  of  the 
Hague  agreement  regarding  naval 
forces.  But  at  the  same  time  the 
common  martial  law  must  also  be  ad- 
mitted with  respect  to  the  war  in  the 
air,  that  the  military  power  of  a  na- 
tion at  war  may  answer  any  hostile 
attacli   with   a  counter-attack. 

According  to  the  reports  at  hand, 
the  German  airships  strictly  adhered 
to  these  principles.  The  aim  of  their 
operations  was  the  harbor  Great  Yar- 
mouth:  this  place  belongs,  according 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


to  the  official  British  "Monthly  Army 
List,"  to  the  "Defences"  of  the  coast 
fortifications,  which  are  occupied  in 
time  of  peace  as  well  as  of  war  by 
British  military  forces,  and  are  there- 
fore allowed  to  be  bombarded  by  air- 
ships. The  other  English  towns  bom- 
barded by  our  airships  on  their 
journey  there  and  back,  have  to 
ascribe  their  fate  to  their  own  ac- 
tions, as  these  towns  first  fired  upon 
our  Zeppelins,  so  that  it  must  be  left 
open,  whether  they  ought  not  also  be 
looked  upon  as  fortified  places.  Be- 
sides, English  air  forces  bombarded 
the  unfortified  town  of  Freiburg  in 
Breisgau  on  December  9,  1914  and 
on  December  25,  1914,  the  unforti- 
fied but  inhabited  Island  Langeoog, 
although  no  attack  whatever  came 
from  these  quarters.  As  to  a  previous 
intimation  of  an  intended  bombard- 
ment, as  laid  down  in  the  Hague 
martial  laws.  Article  2,  paragraph  6, 
and  in  the  Hague  naval  agreement, 
Article  6,  there  can  be  no  question  of 
this,  according  to  the  nature  of  an 
air  combat  and  the  practice  followed 
by  the  airships  of  both  parties  in  the 
present   war. 

In  the  present  case  it  must  certain- 
ly be  regretted  that  private  persons 
were  the  victims  of  this  attack.  But 
such  possibilities  cannot  hold  back 
our  German  forces  to  defend  them- 
selves with  all  reliable  means  within 
the  bounds  of  international  laws, 
against  an  enemy,  whose  warfare, 
with  all  methods  contrary  to  interna- 
tional laws,  is  ruthlessly  directed 
upon  the  destruction  of  our  whole 
nation. 


IS    liONDOX    TO    BE    CALLED 
EXEMPT? 


From  the  News  of  the  War  in  Europe. 

Vienna,  March  15. — "The  Fremden- 
blatt"  says: 

"When  the  Germans  bombarded  the 
east  coast  of  Great  Britain  they  were 
accused  of  having  violated  the  rules  of 
international  law  forbidding  the  bom- 
bardment of  undefended  places.  These 
sinister  accusations,  proceeding  from 
England  as  they  have,  are  nothing  but 
unsuccessful  attempts  at  perverting  the 
facts.  Besides,  it  seems  rather  peculiar 
that  England  should  presume  to  call  at- 
tention to  the  rules  of  international 
law,  while  she  it  is  who  pays  very  little 
attention  Indeed  to  those  rules,  no  mat- 
ter whether  at  sea  or  on  land,  if  her 
own  safety  is  at  stake. 

"No  state  has  ever  enforced  the  max- 
im that  'might  makes  right'  with 
greater  severity,  or  has  acted  so  self- 
ishly in  regard  to  the  rights  of  others, 
than  has  England.  And  now  that  the 
English  are  in  trouble  themselves,  they 
all  at  once  point  to  international  regu- 
lations on  which  at  the  same  time  they 
put   their  own  strange  interpretations. 

"It  must  be  noted  that  the  term 
'open  places'  is  not  used  in  opposition 
to  the  term  'fortresses.'  but  simply  des- 
ignates such  places  as  are  beyond  the 
theater  of  war  operations  and  which 
are  not  capable  of  furnishing  any  aid 
to  the  warfare  of  the  enemy.  As  soon 
as  a  place  is  used  by  the  enemy  for 
war  purposes  and  thus  becomes  In  a 
narrower  or  wider  sense  of  the  word  an 


aid  to  warfare,  such  place  cannot  be 
regarded  any  longer  as  an  open  one, 
and  is  therefore  liable  to  attack,  to 
bombardment  or  destruction,  just  like 
any  other  means  of  warfare. 

"It  is  not  necessary  that  the  attack 
should  be  made  from  the  land ;  it  may 
just  as  well  take  place  from  the  air. 
It  makes  no  difference  whatever,  so 
far  as  the  decision  of  the  question  Is 
concerned,  whether  the  bombardment 
is  one  by  shells  from  howitzers,  or 
takes  place  from  airships  dropping 
bombs.  A  case  which  under  the  pres- 
ent conditions  deserves  siieclal  atten- 
tion is  that  of  London. 

"London  in  itself  is  no  fortress ;  but 
for  English  warfare  at  sea  and  on  land 
it  possesses  a  military  Importance 
which  under  certain  conditions  may  be- 
come even  decisive.  To  understand  this 
one  has  only  to  think  of  the  national 
wealth  collected  here  and  of  the  vast 
economic  values  and  means  of  warfare 
brought  together  on  this  limited  area. 
Here  are  situated  the  royal  and  pri- 
vate shipyards,  the  extensive  military 
stores,  and  the  numerous  warships  and 
merchantmen  are  lying  in  the  Thames. 

"In  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
London  are  also  to  be  found  the  great 
arsenals  and  armories.  Also  military 
barracks  are  within  the  city.  Further- 
more, it  is  evident  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Thames  bridges  would  have 
an  extremely  disturbing  effect  upon 
the  entire  traffic.  The  same  is  true 
with  regard  to  railway  stations  and 
railroad  lines,  for  it  is  well  known 
that  the  reserve  troops  for  coast  de- 
fense which  are  kept  ready  at  differ- 
ent points  in  the  interior  are  to  be 
brought  by  rail  to  those  places  which 
are  threatened  by  a  hostile  invasion, 
the  destruction  of  the  railways  would 
disturb  the  movements  of  these  troops 
considerably. 

"From  the  military  point  of  view  it 
is  perfectly  proper  that  such  places 
should  be  destroyed,  as  they  are  of  de- 
cided military  value  to  the  enemy. 
This  would  be  the  case  with  London, 
where  all  of  the  aforementioned  mili- 
tary values  are  concentrated.  It  would, 
therefore,  be  expected  that  important 
results  would  be  obtained  from  such  a 
bombardment.  Besides,  the  moral  ef- 
fect must  also  be  considered. 

".\11  these  calculations  go  to  show 
that  London  may  rightly  be  regarded 
as  a  military  object  of  the  first  order, 
against  which  all  destructive  means 
may  be  u.sed.  and  to  which  belongs. 
above  all,  a  bombardment  by  aerial 
craft." 


SCARBOROUGH — WHITBY — 
H.4RTLEPOOL. 

By  the  steep  chalk  cliffs  on  Eng- 
land's east  coast,  north  of  the  num- 
ber, on  a  hammer-shaped  peninsula, 
arises  from  the  romantic,  rifted  strand, 
the  city  of  Scarborough,  lately  bom- 
barded by  the  German  fleet.  The 
older  portion  of  the  city  on  the  north 
is  separated  from  the  modern  quar- 
ters on  the  south  by  a  ravine 
spanned  by  two  bridges.  Each  of 
the  cities  boasts  its  own  harbor.  In 
the  midst  of  the  ancient  city,  on 
a  high  rock  surrounded  by  the  sea, 
is  situated  an  old  Xorman  castle  of 
the    twelfth    ceutury.      The    fame    of 


Scarborough  spread  far  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  England,  when  in  1620, 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  small  pen- 
insula, mineral  wells  containing  iron 
were  discovered,  which  today  spring 
up  in  the  middle  of  the  park,  sur- 
rounded by  promenades.  The  city  was 
soon  changed  into  a  fashionable  bath- 
ing resort,  and  although  the  springs 
are  not  valued  as  formerly,  the  fame 
of  the  resort  still  remains.  Thousands 
of  people  enjoy  its  magnificent  strand 
year  after  year,  and  the  southern  part 
of  the  city  with  its  two  theatres  and 
a  great  aquarium,  constitute  a  unique 
coast  resort,  in  which  great  rows  of 
hotels  are  to  be  seen  and  where  the 
coal  magnates  of  England  have  their 
beautiful  summer  villas.  The  south- 
ern harbor  has  in  time  become  the 
more  important  of  the  two  on  account 
of  the  two  great  break  waters  which 
protect  it  from  the  fury  of  tne  waves. 

Some  thirty  kilometers  north  of  this, 
also  in  Yorkshire  County,  on  either 
side  of  the  mouth  of  Esk  River,  lies 
^\Tiitby,  with  its  narrow  streets  and 
old-fashioned  houses.  The  coast  bears 
the  same  character  as  that  of  Scar- 
borough. The  relation  of  the  cities  is 
somewhat  the  same  as  that  of  Blanken- 
berghe  to  Ostend.  Both  are  modern 
baths,  although  Scarborough  is  the 
most  popular,  while  those  who  wish 
to  enjoy  similar  beauties  of  landscape 
without  the  turmoil  of  a  world  bath, 
take  refuge  in  Whitby. 

Hartlepool,  also  bombarded  by  the 
German  fleet,  possesses  very  different 
characteristics.  At  the  great  funnel- 
shaped  mouth  of  the  Tee  are  situated  a 
number  of  ports,  of  which  the  largest 
are  Stockton  and  Middlesbrough,  which 
has  shot  up  in  the  last  years  in  real 
American  style,  as  well  as  Hartlepool, 
already  in  the  twelfth  ceutury  a  fa- 
mous commercial  cit.v.  Their  prosper- 
ity is  due  to  the  working  of  the  coal 
lands  of  Durham.  The  coast  is  low 
and  the  open  strand  has  an  extent  of 
many  miles,  so  that  the  land  must  be 
protected  by  artificial  means  from  the 
violence  of  the  sea. 

Southwest  of  the  older  city  is  West 
Hartlepool,  separated  from  her  neigh- 
bor by  wharves  and  docks.  Behind 
its  1,200  meter  long  breakwater,  coal, 
iron  and  machines  are  loaded  on  to 
the  departing  vessels,  while  the  arriv- 
ing ships  bring  in  wool,  cotton  and 
German  sugar.  Half  finished  ships  of 
all  sorts  are  to  be  seen  on  the  docks, 
lofty  storehouses  stretch  along  the 
walls  of  the  harbor  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  fortifications,  while  smok- 
ing chimneys  speak  of  a  wealthy  in- 
dustr.v,  whose  chief  productions  are 
machines,  paper,  flour  and  soap. — 
"Hamburger  Fremdenblatt."  Hamburg. 
Germany. 


The  Hague,  Sept.  11.^ — I  have  just 
returned  from  Germany,  and  any- 
thing I  may  write  cannot  be  in  the 
least  Influenced  by  fear  of  German 
censorship.  British  censorship,  how- 
ever, is  to  be  feared.  AH  the  .4mer. 
lean  correspondents  in  Berlin  report 
that  not  only  have  vital  facts  of  their 
dispatches  been  cut  out  by  British 
censors,  but  other  wholly  untrue  dis- 
patches have  been  added. — Joseph 
Medill  Patterson,  In  "The  Chicago 
Tribune,"  September  26,  1914. 


CUSTOM  AND  MODERN  AERIAL  WARFARE 


297 


GLOOMV  OUTLOOK  FOR  LOXDOX. 


(The  Irish  World,  March  13,   1915.) 

President  of  the  Aeronautical  Society 
of  America  Outlines  the  Impending 
Doom  of  the  Jlodern  Babylon — To 
Be  Attacked  Within  a  Few  Weeks 
By  a  Fleet  of  Fifty  Zeppelins — 
Germany's  Trump  Card — Death 
and  Desti'uction  to  Kain  Down 
From  the  Sky — Official  England 
Aware  of  the  Danger — The  Man  on 
the  Street  Pooh-Poohs  It^ — The 
New  Zeppelins  Will  Not  Drop 
Bombs,  But  Will  Fight  With  Guns 
Firing  Steel  Capped  Projectiles — 
It  Will  Be  the  First  Great  Raid 
Planned  Since  the  Beginning  of  the 
War — Previous  Raids  Merely  Try. 
outs — English  High  Angle  Guns 
Will  Afford  Xo  Protection. 

How  often  has  it  been  said  "the 
Zeppelins  have  not  made  good!" 
There  is  one  man,  whose  experience 
and  studies  amply  entitle  him  to  a 
hearing,  who  declares  that  the  an- 
swer to  the  Zeppelin  question  is  still 
to  come,  and  he  believes  it  will  come 
soon.  Not  only  that,  but  he  believes 
the  Zeppelin  will  vindicate  itself  in 
a  raid  on  England.  This  is  the  open- 
ing sentence  in  an  article  in  last  Sun- 
day's New  York  Sun  which  deals 
with  a  threatened  Zeppelin  raid  on 
London. 

The  man  who  advances  these  views 
is  Thomas  R.  Macmechen,  aeronauti- 
cal engineer  and  president  of  the 
Ai'ronautical  Society  of  America.  His 
British  Company  is  now  building  for 
England  five  dirigibles  of  a  new  type 
— "Zeppelin  destroyers,"  as  it  were — 
for  defence  against  the  larger  craft. 

Briefly,  Mr.  Macmechen's  thesis  is 
this: 

1 — The  flight  and  weight  carrying 
capabilities  of  the  Zeppelins  under  all 
but  abnormal  weather  conditions  are 
proved  and  as  certain  and  dependable 
as  the  navigation  of  a  steamship.  A 
hurricane  will  wreck  the  latter  as 
quickly  as  the  former. 

2 — The  wrecks  of  Zeppelins  are 
printed  and  known.  There  are  less 
than  a  dozen  all  told.  The  actual 
flights  under  all  sorts  of  conditions 
runs  into  thousands.  These  are  not 
heard  of. 

3 — The  attacking  Zeppelins  will  do 
their  destroying  with  armor  piercing 
guns  rather  than  with  bombs. 

4 — The  raid  will  be  not  by  three 
or  four  but  by  a  great  number,  not 
less  than  fifty,  possibly  by  a  hundred 
accompanied  by  aeroplanes. 

5 — The  high  angle  gun  has  been 
proved,  even  when  used  under  day- 
light conditions,  to  be  useless  as  a 
defence.  At-roplane  defence  is  use- 
less by  night,  which  is  the  Zeppelin's 
best  time  for  operation. 

6 — Germany  thus  far  has  made 
only  reconnoitering  trips.  She  will 
make  her  real  raid  only  when  thor- 
oughly ready,  and  that  time  is  not 
far  away. 

"Cloud  of  Death"   Gathering  on   tlie 
tiennan  Coast 

Mr.  Macmechen  said  recently,  with 
eainestness  and  apparent  conviction: 
"A  great  cloud  of  death  is  gathering 
on  the  German  coast.     Week  by  week 


its  potential  power  is  increasing,  yet 
the  time  to  strike  has  not  come.  A 
white  haired,  hale  old  man — he  is  78 
— is  working  quietly  and  waiting  un- 
til the  War  Office  shall  say:  'Are  you 
ready.  Count  Zeppelin?' 

"For  answer,  that  night  the  mon- 
ster air  fleet  will  rise  high  above  the 
German  coast  and  float  out  in  the 
darkness  over  the  sea.  Germany 
will  wait  and  pray.  It  is  her  trump 
card.  If  it  fails — but  Ferdinand  von 
Zeppelin  is  not  handling  failures 
these  days.  Half  a  hundred  new  su- 
perdreadnoughts  of  the  air,  built 
since  the  war  began,  flanked  by  myri- 
ads of  buzzing,  swooping,  circling 
af'-roplanes,  would  strike  England  to 
the  very  heart. 

The  Londoner's  Incredulity. 

"And  the  Londoner,  in  smug  com- 
placency, is  still  pooh  poohing! 

"'The  Zeppelins!'  Bah!  What 
have  they  done?  Our  high  angle 
guns  and  our  aeroplanes  would  drive 
them  from  the  sky.  What  did  the 
Yarmouth  raid  amount  to?  The 
Zeppelins  will  never  attack  London; 
that  is  German  braggadocio. 

Xo  Time  to  Prepare  for  the  .\ir  War. 

"But  oflScial  England  is  not  pooh 
poohing  now.  Official  England  knows 
all  too  well;  but  she  got  over  the 
pooh  poohing  stage  too  late.  She  is 
grasping  at  every  straw  of  promise, 
yet  knowing  that  there  is  not  time 
to  prepare  for  war  in  the  air  and 
knowing,  too,  that  one  successful  raid 
will  mean  another  and  still  others 
that  bid  fair  to  leave  England  cow- 
ering and  helpless. 

"Then,  with  Germany  master  of 
the  air  and  with  Germany  master 
under  the  sea,  how  long  will  Eng- 
land maintain  her  supremacy  atop 
the  sea?  The  Admiralty  will  not  ad- 
mit that  this  means  the  passing  of 
the  dreadnought,  but  they  are  begin- 
ning to  fear  just  that." 

These  ideas  Mr.  Macmechen  gath- 
ered during  his  stay  in  England, 
where  he  came  in  almost  daily  con- 
tact with  high  government  officials 
and  experts  in  warfare  of  the  water 
and  the  air.  He  is  to  return  there 
soon.  For  ten  years  he  has  been  a 
leading  aeronautical  authority  in  this 
country  and  is  now  building,  near 
London,  five  "Zeppelin  destroyers," 
something  entirely  new  in  the  con- 
quest of  the  air.  The  first  machine, 
which  is  really  a  Zeppelin  in  minia- 
ture, is  nearly  ready  for  its  ofllcial 
tests. 

Rngland's   Ctter  Helplessness. 

Recently,  at  the  Aeronautical  Soci- 
ety's rooms,  29  West  Thirty-ninth 
street,  Mr.  Macmechen  spoke  of  the 
certainty  of  a  Zeppelin  raid  on  Lon- 
don and  of  England's  almost  utter 
helplessness.  He  spoke  with  an  earn- 
estness and  an  intimate  knowledge 
that  carried  conviction  and  he  gave 
figures  and  facts  and  reasons  for  his 
every  view.  The  Zeppelin  raid  on 
London  is  coming,  Mr.  Macmechen 
believes,  and  it  will  be  a  spectacular 
blow  that  will  paralyze  England  and 
stagger  the  world. 

"These  new  Zeppelins  will  not  drop 
bombs,  they  will  fight  with  guns  fir- 
ing steel-capped  projectiles.  They 
will  not  come  in  pairs,  but  they  will 
come  by  the  score  or  by  the  two  score. 


and  hundreds  of  aeroplanes  will  come 

with  them. 

Why  London  Was  Xot  Raided  Sooner. 

Mr.  Macmechen  classes  the  Yar- 
mouth raid  as  a  mere  reconnoitering 
party  and  he  believes  its  purpose  was 
accomplished.     He  said; 

"The  first  great  raid,  which  the 
Germans  have  been  planning  since 
the  war  began  and  for  the  success  of 
which  they  are  depending  on  the 
aged  Count  Zeppelin  will  probably 
not  come  for  some  weeks.  "The  time 
is  not  yet  right.  The  first  raid  will 
be  followed  by  blow  upon  blow  aimed 
directly    at    the    throne    of    England. 

"The  reason  there  has  been  no 
great  attack  on  London  from  the  air," 
Mr.  Macmechen  added,  "is  because 
aerial  tactics  and  strategy  make  such 
an  attack  folly  until  there  are  a  cer- 
tain number  of  these  airships,  enough 
to  leave  a  wide  trail   of  destruction. 

To  Strike  England's  Heart. 

"For  instance,  if  Germany  had 
fifty  of  these  new  Zeppelins  they 
would  strike  England  to  the  heart. 
They  could  hit  London  a  body  blow 
today  and  come  back  again  tomor- 
row. Count  Zeppelin  will  strike 
when  he  gets  ready  and  not  when 
England  wants  him  to. 

"Suppose  the  British  did  bring 
down  two  of  the  fifty  and  a  dozen  of 
the  ai'Toplanes;  the  rest  would  go 
back  to  their  base  and  be  ready  to 
come  again  in  a  few  hours.  Whether 
they  came  or  not  they  would  be  ready 
and  with  that  knowledge  there  would 
be  little  rest  in  London. 

"The  knowledge  gained  in  the  first 
attack  would  make  the  second  attack 
more  deadly.  England  has  been  pre- 
paring for  these  attacks,  but  she  be- 
gan to  prepare  too  late.  England 
spent  too  much  time  laughing  in  the 
face  of  science. 

Concealing  the  Character  of  the 
Danger. 

"The  British  Admiralty  knows  all 
this  now.  The  people  of  England 
are  not  afraid,  because  they  don't 
know  the  danger  and  the  Admiralty 
is  not  telling  them,  yet  9.000  con- 
stables have  been  mustered  in  with 
instructions  to  herd  the  people  of 
London  into  the  cellars  at  the  first 
appearance  of  a  Zeppelin. 

"The  Intelligence  Department  of 
Great  Britain  knows  the  preparatiims 
that  tJermany  is  making.  Further 
confirming  details  are  coming  in 
nearly  every  clay.  One  report  from 
Lake  Constance,  where  the  observer 
remained  nineteen  weeks,  told  of  a 
complete  Zeppelin  being  turned  out 
from  the  factory  every  two  weeks 
while  he  was  there. 

"These  are  of  the  new  superdread- 
nought  type,  a  great  improvement 
over  the  two  airships  that  took  part 
in  the  Yarmouth  raid.  Germany  has 
just  completed  two  of  these  super- 
dreadnought  Zeppelins  when  the  war 
began,  but  she  has  been  building 
them  ever  since.  I  estimate  that 
she  has  at  least  forty  of  them  now, 
each  with  six  guns,  two  on  top  and 
two  at  each  side. 
Probable  Date  of  the  Intended  Raid. 

"Perhaps  Germany  is  ready  to 
strike  now,  yet  I  should  be  surprised 


298 


EVOLUTION  BY    THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


if  she  made  the  first  raid  this  month. 
March  is  not  the  most  favorable  time 
on  account  of  the  winds.  I  do  not 
look  for  the  big  air  invasion  until 
after  the  middle  of  April,  but  I  be- 
lieve it  will  come  soon  after  that. 

"And  why  isn't  England  ready? 
How  is  it  that  she  has  no  defence 
worthy  of  the  name  against  this  at- 
tack? 

"If,  five  years  ago,  British  military 
authorities  had  studied  and  could 
have  foreseen  what  the  development 
would  be,  we  would  have  had  thou- 
sands of  aeroplanes  and  hundreds  of 
huge  dirigibles  brought  to  a  higher 
degree  of  efficiency.  Then  we  would 
have  had  H.  G.  Wells'  'War  in  the 
Air'  as  a  grim  reality. 

Air  Craft  Has  Knocked  Military 
Strategy  Into  a  Cocked  Hat. 

"The  trouble  has  been  that  mili- 
tary men  have  never  had  more  than 
an  intuitive  and  not  a  consciously 
reasoned  conception  of  the  powers 
and  limitations  of  aircraft.  This  has 
led  military  men  astray.  They  have 
said: 

"  'We  recognize  aircraft  as  a  prob- 
able auxiliary  to  the  cavalry,  but  that 
aircraft  will  knock  out  the  strategy 
we  have  known  for  years,  the  strat- 
egy we  learned  at  the  military  acad- 
emy, is  absurd.' 

"But  now  it  has  been  demonstrated 
beyond  a  doubt  that  aircraft  has 
knocked  war  strategy  into  a  cocked 
hat.  Many  of  the  old  time  war 
methods  have  gone  forever  and  others 
are  passing.  It  Is  time  to  write  a 
new  book  on  strategy. 

The  Use  of  Dirigibles  More  Common 
Than  Suspected. 

"Dirigibles  have  been  used  much 
more  in  this  war  than  we  have  been 
able  to  judge  from  what  we  have  seen 
in  print.  They  have  been  used  espe- 
cially at  night,  when  the  dirigible  has 
a  distinct  advantage.  When  the  his- 
tory of  this  war  is  written  we  will 
find  that  we  have  not  begun  to  ap- 
proximate  what    the    dirigibles   have 


been  doing.  Of  course,  the  aeroplane 
can  go  up  in  the  darkness  as  well 
as  the  dirigible,  but  it  is  a  question 
of  landing.  The  aeroplane  must  land 
on  a  level  place  at  high  speed.  It 
cannot  see  the  wire  fences,  rocks  and 
so  on.  But  the  dirigible  can  settle 
slowly  to  the  ground. 

"The  aeroplane  has  been  t"he  eyes 
of  the  battery  and  it  has  had  to  court 
considerable  risk,  flying  as  low  as 
1,600  feet  to  see  in  detail. 

"Yet,  the  high  angle  gun  has  been 
adjudged  inefficient  even  at  that 
height.  That  gives  military  science 
another  blow.  The  reasons  are  the 
difficulty  of  aim  and  the  time  it  takes 
to  lay  a  gun  that  has  the  reach. 
Aeroplanes  have  indeed  been  hit,  but 
solely  because  of  the  recklessness  of 
pilots  who  flew  as  low  as  300  or  400 
feet.  It  has  certainly  been  demon- 
strated that  aeroplanes  are  almost 
immune   from   ground  attack. 

Unreliable  Defences. 

"Now,  how  about  the  high  angle 
gun  and  the  dirigible?  'Huge  floating 
marks  so  easy  to  hit,'  we've  all  heard 
that  phrase.  And  then  what  was  the 
sole  lesson  of  the  Cuxhaven  raid?  It 
has  never  appeared  in  print. 

"I  talked  with  four  men  who  saw 
that  raid.  Two  of  them  were  naval 
aviators  and  two  were  on  the  fleet. 
When  the  Zeppelins  appeared — and 
this  was  in  broad  daylight — the  en- 
tire fleet  concentrated  its  high  angle 
guns  on  the  Zeppelins.  And  the  an- 
swer is  that  the  Zeppelins  went  home. 
These  were  the  most  efficient  high 
angle  guns  England  has,  and,  re- 
member, the  fire  was  concentrated  on 
the  two  Zeppelins  at  an  altitude  of 
only   2,5  00   feet. 

"And  what  about  the  great  British 
air  fleet  that  is  to  protect  London? 
The  two  Zeppelins  were  preceded  and 

flanked  on  each  side  by  German  aero- 
planes. When  the  British  aviators 
went    up    they   engaged    the   German 

aeroplanes    and    the    dirigibles    were 

left  to  themselves. 


Stu|>idity   of   English  Military 
Authorities. 

"Still,  for  the  defence  of  London, 
we  have  the  high  angle  gun  and  the 
aeroplane.  If  a  bright,  ten-year-old 
American  boy  did  what  the  military 
authorities  of  England  are  doing  to- 
day, you  would  take  him  out  and 
shingle  him. 

"First,  they  darkened  the  city. 
Then,  as  if  to  attract  as  much  atten- 
tion as  possible,  they  installed  pow- 
erful searchlights  at  vantage  points 
all  over  the  city.  Nothing  could  have 
better  guided  a  dirigible  navigator 
approaching  in  the  night.  London 
has  since  seen  the  fallacy  of  the 
searchlights,  and  they  are  not  used 
now. 

"Still  the  high  angle  guns  are  in 
position  all  over  London  on  the  tops 
of  buildings  and  other  carefully  se- 
lected places.  The  authorities  of  the 
air  department  have  also  relied  on 
big  squadrons  of  aeroplanes  to  resist 
a  Zeppelin  attack  on  London. 

"They  were  to  go  up  over  London 
— this  will  be  at  night — and  attack 
the  Zeppelins  directly  over  the  city. 
Couldn't  that  bright  American  boy 
see  what  would  happen? 

"London  would  bombard  itself  and 
shoot  its  own  aviators  out  of  the  air. 
Shells  from  the  high  angle  guns  are 
incendiary.  They  would  drop  back 
on  the  city,  set  fire  to  their  own 
buildings  and  kill  their  own  private 
citizens. 

"In  arranging  this  the  military  au- 
thorities showed  conclusively  that 
they  did  not  know  the  first  principles 
of  air  attack  and  defence.  The  folly 
of  this  preparation  was  pointed  out 
to  them,  and  now  they  have  worked 
out  a  more  sensible  method  of  de- 
fence, yet  they  still  have  those  high 
angle  guns  on  the  roofs  of  London. 
Now  they  propose  to  attack  the  air 
invaders  on  the  coast  before  they  get 
to  London.  That  would  be  the  logi- 
cal way,  if  England  had  anything  to 
attack  them  with  that  was  worthy  of 
the  name." 


— Navy- — 

B 

uilt 

is 

Bldg. 

4 
7 

6 

8 

8 

6 

95 

45 

NAVAL   STRENGTH  OF   WARRING 
NATIONS. 


Superdreadnoughts 
Dreadnoughts     .... 
Other    battleships    . 
Armored  cruisers  .  . 

Cruisers     

Destroyers     

Torpedo  boats    4  2 

Submarines 31 

Total 195 

France. 

Superdreadnoughts 

Dreadnoughts     2 

Other  battleships 27 

Armored  cruisers 22 

Cruisers     15 

Destroyers     84 

Torpedo   boats    324 

Submarines     73 

Total 552 


Great  liritain. 

— Navy — 

Built  Bldg. 

Superdreadnoughts    ....         13  17 

Dreadnoughts     16  ... 

Other  battleships 48  ... 

Armored  cruisers 34  20 

Cruisers    72  8 

Destroyers     215  36 

Torpedo  boats    118  ... 

Submarines     77  19 

Total 593  100 

Grand    total    1,340  220 


Austria. 

Superdreadnoughts 

Dreadnoughts     2  2 

Other  battleships 14  ... 

Armored  cruisers 3  ... 

Cruisers    5  3 

Destroyers     18  ... 

Torpedo  boats    63  2  7 

Submarines     8  3 

Total 119  35 


— Navy — 
5uilt    Bldg. 


Superdreadnoughts 

Dreadnoughts     17 

Other  battleships 3  0 

Armored  cruisers 9 

Cruisers     37 

Destroyers     141 

Torpedo  boats    4  7 

Submarines     27 

Total 308 


Italy. 

Superdreadnoughts 

Dreadnoughts     4 

Other  battleships 11 

Armored    cruisers    10 

Cruisers    13 

Destroyers     3  2 

Torpedo  boats    97 

Submarines     18 

Total 185 

Grand   total    612 


37 
123 


MODERN  CAMPAIGNING 
PRESS  ROOM  CAMPAIGNS  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD 

With  Spectacular  and  Glorious  First  Line  Forces  and  Plenty  of  Dum-Dums  ! 
The  Pen  is  Mightier  than  the  Sword — In  War  Time  ! 


Press  Room  Campaigns  in  England  and  France 
Plenty  of  Dum-Dums ! 


CAUGHT  WITH  THE  GOODS. 


Editorial,  Milwaukee  Free  Press, 
Hubert  Wild. 

THE  SECRETS  OF  THE  GERMAN  WAR 

OFFICE.  By  Dr.  Armgaard  Karl 
Graves,  Secret  Agent.  New  York :  Mc- 
Bride.  Nast  &  Co. 

Here  are  thirteen  chapters,  pur- 
porting to  be  disclosures  of  the  state 
secrets  of  the  European  chancelleries, 
by  one  who  claims  not  only  to  have 
maintained  intimate,  personal  rela- 
tions with  the  protagonists  of  the 
present  world-drama,  but  to  have 
been  even  an  active  participant  in  its 
preparatory  stages,  yet  who  is  a  most 
egregious  blunderer  if  nothing  worse. 

The  suspicion  is  not  absent  that 
this  author,  or  perhaps  his  collabo- 
rator, Edward  Lyell  Fos,  has  derived 
his  literary  inspiration  from  a  recent 
perusal  of  Conan  Doyle's  "Scandal  in 
Bohemia"  and  has  based  some  of  his 
historical  studies  on  the  novels  of 
Louise  Muehlbach. 

To  attempt  to  sift  out  the  truth 
from  these  :i5  6  pages  would  be  a  task 
not  worth  the  effort,  for  "Gratiano 
speaks  an  infinite  deal  of  nothing, 
more  than  any  man  in  all  Venice;  his 
reasons  are  as  two  grains  of  wheat 
hid  in  two  bushels  of  chaff;  you  shall 
seek  all  day  ere  you  find  them  and 
when  you  have  them  they  are  not 
worth  the  search." 

The  first  chapter  opens  with: 

"O  jerum,  jerum,  jerum,  quemo- 
tatio  rerum." 

How  one  who  had  been  "trained 
as  a  military  cadet."  who  had  been 
prepared  for  "three  years  at  a  fa- 
mous gymnasium  which  fitted  him  for 
one  of  the  old  classic  universities  of 
Europe,"  who  "after  spending  six 
semesters  there,"  took  his  "degree  in 
philosophy  and  medicine"  before 
reaching  his  22nd  birthday — how- 
such  a  scholar  could  write  "quemo- 
tatio"  in  place  of  "O  quae  mutatio," 
when  these  words  occur  in  a  well- 
known  German  student's  song,  is  past 
comprehension.  Such  ignorance  of 
Latin  is  inconceivable  in  a  graduate 
of  an  "old,  classic  university  of  Eu- 
rope," and  a  doctor  of  philosophy  at 
that.  The  only  other  alternative  ex- 
planation is  the  possibility  that  the 
publisher  was  blessed  with  a  Boeo- 
tian proofreader. 


Although  the  book  is  now  in  its 
"third  printing,"  we  are  confronted 
with  such  a  monstrosity  as:  "Wirk- 
licher  Geheimrat  and  Vortragender 
Rab  Botho  Kaiser,"  translated  as 
"Privy  Councilor  to  the  German  Em- 
peror,"— "royal  concert"  is  printed 
in  place  of  "royal  consort,". — -"coup" 
appears  instead  of  "coop"  in  the  ex- 
pression "coop  up  diplomatically," — 
and  a  dozen  times  we  are  informed 
that  the  author  had  his  headquarters 
at  "Koenigergratzer  strasse  70,"  in- 
stead of  "Koeniggraetzer  strasse." 

The  abysmal  ignorance  shown  by 
the  repeated  statements  that  Von 
Heeringen  is  the  chief  of  the  general 
staff  is  unpardonable,  when  every 
child  knows  that  Von  Moltke  holds 
that  office.  In  the  chapter  on  "The 
German  War  Machine,"*  as  printed 
in  Collier's  for  Aug.  15,  1914,  Graves 
speaks  of  the  "Chef  des  Grossen  Gen- 
eral Stabs"  as  "  at  present  Field  Mar- 
shal Von  Heeringen.  The  words  "at 
present"  are  altered  to  "in  my  time," 
when  this  chapter  appeared  with  the 
others  in  bookform.  The  change, 
prompted  I  know  not  by  what,  does 
not  help  the  author  out  of  his  ridicu- 
lous predicament,  it  only  emphasizes 
and  magnifies  a  blunder  which  ex- 
poses him  who  has  the  audacity  to 
assert  that  "I  have  enjoyed  special  fa- 
cilities, of  which  I  have  availed  my- 
self of  the  full,  to  gain  the  inside 
knowledge  which  I  here  commit  to 
paper,"  to  peals  of  inextinguishable 
laughter! 

The  description  of  Von  Heeringen'g 
"great  similarity"  to  the  older  Molt- 
ke, is  ludicrously  negatived  by  the 
illustration  from  a  photograph  insert- 
ed on  page  204,  which  shows  us  a 
sturdy,  bearded,  burly  figure,  the 
very  antithesis  of  "the  aquiline  fea- 
tures, the  tall,  thin,  dried  up  body" 
of  the  old  hero  of  1870.  The  height 
of  the  ridiculous  is  however  attained 
when  Von  Heeringen  becomes  a 
"gaunt,  limping  figure,"  who  is  made 
to  assume  the  weird  personality  of 
the  "Ghost  of  Metz,"  in  a  description 
which  would  have  delighted  Edgar 
Allen  Poe.  Nota  bene:  I  have  been 
told  that  General  von  Huelsen-Haese- 
ler  was  slightly  lame.  Graves  had 
probably  heard  something  about 
some  general  who  limped,  and  there- 
upon Imperturbably  wrote  a  narrative 

2M 


of  a  prowling,  limping  general,  "cov- 
ered by  a  gray  army  overcoat,"  start- 
ling the  sentries  on  "stormy  bitter 
cold  winter  nights,"  accompanied  by 
orderlies  carrying  night  glasses,  "hid- 
den men  taking  down  in  writing  the 
short,  croaking  sentences  escaping 
between  the  thin  compressed  lips" 
and  other  similar  rubbish,  and  then 
dubs  this  apparition  Field  Marshal 
Von  Heeringen,  chief  of  the  general 
staff!  "Si  tacuisses,  philosophus 
manisses." 

The  reference  to  "General"  Stein, 
in  whom  here  is  lost  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  the  statesman, 
whose  life  was  written  by  Prof.  See- 
ley,  is  downright  absurd.  Has  Dr. 
Graves  never  heard  of  Scharnhorst? 
And  Napoleon  permitted  himself  to 
be  tricked  by  Queen  Louise  into 
granting  Prussia  the  right  to  main- 
tain an  army  of  12,000!  Is  Dr. 
Graves  actually  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  even  in  her  darkest  days  Prus- 
sia's army  never  sank  below  4  2,000 
regulars?  By  what  authority  does 
he  change  the  queen's  meeting  with 
Napoleon,  when  in  return  for  Madge- 
burg  she  tearfully  offered  the  Corsi- 
can  a  rose,  but  was  rudely  repelled, 
into  a  silly  school-girl's  story  of  a 
bargain  for  a  kiss  on  the  queen's' 
"classic  arm?"  He  speaks  of  those 
who  have  passed  an  "Abiturienten- 
Examen,  the  equivalent  of  a  B.  A."  as 
being  enrolled  as  one-year  volunteers. 
Does  he  not  know  the  difference  be- 
tween "Maturitas"  and  Abiturium?" 
He  writes  of  a  "little  watch-tower" 
near  Spandau.  Does  he  not  know 
that  the  .Tulius  Thurm  is  a  veritable 
citadel  and  happens  to  be  in  Span- 
dau? Is  his  story  "inspired"  when 
he  tells  us  how  Germany  is  going  to 
wage  war  for  "ten  calendar  months" 
with   $120,000,000? 

And  yet  with  all  this  pitiable  mis- 
information before  them,  the  editors 
of  Collier's  Weekly  gravely  assured 
their  readers  that  they  "made  all  the 
investigations  possible  about  Dr. 
Graves'  past  and  verified  as  many  in- 
cidents as  were  humanly  verifiable," 
and  that  their  "experience  with  him 
has  tended  to  give  them  confidence  In 
his  knowledge." 

It  is  of  course  impossible  to  dis- 
prove the  so-called  "disclosures"  and 
"secrets"    which    Graves    palms    off 


300 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


upon  our  credulity,  but  he  is  vulner- 
able as  a  witness,  for  his  credibility 
is  impeached  both  by  his  blunders 
and  by  his  exhibits.  "Falsus  in  uno, 
falsus  in  omnibus?" 


As  some  people  believe  anything, 
it  may  be  worth  while  to  deny  the 
rumor  that  a  German  battleship  has 
been  captured  by  British  submarines 
in  the  mountains  ot  Switzerland. — 
From  the  "Public  Ledger,"  Phila- 
delphia, August  9,  1914. 


CALIBAN  ENTHRONED. 


Editorial  from  the  "Milwaukee  Free 
Press,"  October  10,  1914. 

Robert  Wild's  interesting  criticism 
of  "The  Secrets  of  the  German  War 
Office"  reflected  quite  as  much  upon 
the  publishers  as  upon  the  author. 
If  any  proof  were  needed  that  Amer- 
ican editors  and  publishers  in  the 
high  places  have  vastly  deteriorated 
in  the  past  thirty  years,  the  book  in 
question  would  furnish  it. 

Mr.  Wild  points  out  simple  errors 
of  fact  that  every  American  fairly 
read  in  European  affairs  ought  to 
have  recognized;  still  the  editors  of 
Collier's  Weekly,  who  should  possess 
something  more  than  a  high  school 
education,  passed  them  by,  and  edi- 
torially assured  their  readers  that 
they  had  "verified  all  the  incidents 
that  were  humanly  verifiable!" 

Superficial  as  the  knowlejge  of 
these  molders  of  public  opinion  is 
thus  shown  to  be,  what  shall  we 
think  of  the  fitness  of  the  book  pub- 
lishers, McBride,  Nast  &  Co.,  for 
their  important  business? 

The  mistakes  in  Latin  and  German, 
yes,  even  in  the  English  language, 
that  punctuate  the  work  show  that 
the  "readers"  for  this  concern  are 
either  slovenly  or  ignorant.  It 
Graves  made  the  errors  originally,  it 
was  for  his  publisters  to  correct 
them. 

As  little  as  thirty  years  ago,  a  pub- 
lishing house  of  repute  would  have 
felt  itself  disgraced  forever  by  an  ex- 
hibition like  the  present.  Men  like 
Ticknor  and  Fields  had  their  authori- 
ties on  both  the  ancient  and  the  mod- 
ern languages,  and  a  slip  was  no 
more  possible  in  Latin  than  in  Eng- 
lish. But  they  had  definite  cultural 
standards. 

Today,  the  Caliban  of  journalism 
and  commerce  sits  enthroned  in  the 
sanctums  of  most  of  our  magazines 
and  publishing  houses.  The  waste 
basket  is  becoming  the  last  retreat 
of  culture. 


WONDERPOj  HISTORIANS! 

The  Saturday  Evening  Post,  which 
claims  to  be  "fair,"  perpetrates  the 
following  atrocity  in  a  recent  issue: 

"As  a  result  of  the  Franco-Prus- 
sian war,  Germany  took  from  France 
the  provinces  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 
From  that  moment  France  has  been 
nursing  her  wrath,  and  this  war  Is 
a  direct  result  of  the  forced  ceding  of 
French  territory.  It  as  a  result  of 
this  war  Germany  takes  more  French 
territory,  of  if  France  takes  terri- 
tory that  is  really  German,  the  venge- 
ful hatred  thus  begotten  will  some 
day  find  issue  in  another  war." 


If  the  Post  were  inclined  to  be  fair, 
it  would  have  said  that  Germany  re- 
covered her  provinces  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine,  which  Louis  XIV  stole  from 
her  when  she  was  too  weak  to  defend 
herself.  Alsace  and  Lorraine  were 
not  "French  territory"  except  by 
theft;  their  population  was  German 
and  It  is  still  German. 

Yet  the  Post  tries  to  create  the  im- 
pression that  Germany's  recovery  of 
what  was  her  own  was  an  encroach- 
ment on  the  soil  of  France,  insinuat- 
ing by  the  use  of  "really  German" 
that  these  provinces  might  be  taken 
back  without  violating  the  German 
nation. 

Among  the  many  falsehoods  that 
have  been  systematically  circulated 
in  America  is  that  of  the  Gallic  trans- 
formation of  Alsace  and  the  love  in 
which  the  French  have  held  it.  Let 
us  quote  from  a  forthcoming  book* 
of  Prof.  Hugo  Muensterberg,  whose 
wife  hails  from  this  beautiful  prov- 
ince: 

"Alsace  is  a  German  province  with 
German  traditions  and  German  life- 
blood.  For  a  while  French  rule  was 
forced  on  it,  but  it  never  became 
French.  In  the  beautiful  little  old 
garden  of  my  wife's  parents.  Monk 
Otfried  lived,  who  wrote  one  thou- 
sand years  ago  the  first  German  epic 
poem  in  rhyme.  This  German  tradi- 
tion remained  unbroken  until  Louis 
XIV,  after  he  had  laid  in  ruins  the 
castle  of  Heidelberg,  snatched  Alsace 
from  the  German  people.  Then  a 
long  period  of  oppression  began. 
This  French  rule  was  much  more 
rigorous  and  intolerant  than  any  Ger- 
man rule  after  1870. 

"Moreover,  the  Alsatians  were 
never  really  accepted  as  Frenchmen. 
In  the  eyes  of  Paris  they  always  re- 
mained only  half  French;  their 
French  dialect  appeared  ridiculous. 
They  disliked  France  and  were  dis- 
liked in  France.  It  was  no  wonder 
that  the  resources  remained  unde- 
veloped. Even  the  proudest  city  ot 
Alsace,  Strassburg,  when  it  came  into 
German  possession  in  1870,  was  after 
all  only  an  overgrown  village.  To 
day  it  is  a  wonderful,  proud  city  with 
beautiful  palaces,  with  one  of  the 
best  equipped  universities  of  the 
world,  with  noble  avenues  and  parks, 
enriched  by  German's  good  will  as 
much  as  it  was  held  down  by  France's 
indifference  in  the  past. 

"Alsace  would  be  today  perfectly 
happy  in  its  natural  German  frame, 
if  France  longing  for  political  re- 
venge had  not  artificially  kept  alive 
agitation   for  jointure  with  France." 

But  if  the  Post's  misrepresenta- 
tion ot  the  status  of  these  provinces 
is  deceptive,  its  statement  that  their 
"forced  ceding"  to  Germany  is  the 
direct  cause  of  this  war  is  the  veriest 
joke,  albeit  a  sorry  one  for  a  pre- 
sumably responsible  journal  to  per- 
petrate. Evidently  it  has  no  high 
opinion  of  the  intelligence  ot  Its 
readers. 


•"The  War  and  America,"  by 
Hugo  Muensterberg,  210  pages,  pub- 
lished by  D.  Appleton  Co.,  New  York. 
— Editor. 


We'd  better  begin  praying  for  the 
Austrians  now.  There  may  not  be  any 
of    them    left    by    October    4.      » 


THE  CA.MPAIGN  OP  THE  PRESS 
ROOM. 

The  "Inexhaustible  resources  of  the 
British  Empire"  is,  in  one  way  at 
least,  apparently  no  idle  boast.  The 
ranks  of  the  British  Army  may  be 
thinned;  it  is  conceivable  that  they 
might  be  annihilated;  but  by  what 
stretch  of  the  imagination  can  we 
conceive  of  England  ever  running  dry 
of  those  valiant  defenders  who  stay 
at  home  and  write,  while  the  "colo- 
nials" and  Allies  go  forward  to  do 
battle   in   the   trenches? 

It  is  peculiarity  of  this  war  ot  the 
world  that,  so  far  as  America  is  con- 
cerned, the  British  pen  proved  it- 
self mightier  than  the  sword.  It  is 
not  peculiarly  English  to  readily 
adapt  instrument  to  opportunity — or 
to  necessity;  but  at  last  England 
seems  to  have  learned  the  trick  and 
thoroughly.  While  Germany  has 
been  fighting,  for  hearth  and  home, 
England  has  been  writing.  She  was 
compelled  to  write  so  much  for  the 
enlightenment  of  the  recalcitrant  "re- 
cruits" that  one  might  have  imagined 
her  supply  of  ink  and  paper  threat- 
ened with  exhaustion.  But  England 
is  no  common  country.  She  has  had 
enough  to  spare  us  a  share — and  a 
very  large  one. 

There  have  been  casualties  among 
her  pen-men,  but  the  reserves  appear 
truly  inexhaustible.  Some  of  them 
have  fallen  from  mental  exhaustion, 
others  have  been  stilled  by  the 
enemy,  still  others  have  run  away. 
Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle  opened  the 
battle.  His  ammunition  was  Bern- 
hardi,  and  he  soon  ran  out  of  it.  H. 
G.  Wells  disappeared  at  about  the 
same  time.  He  was  armed  with  a 
novel  weapon  designed  to  reduce 
"the  moral  support  of  the  American 
people" — the  "sleeping-partnership" 
of  Great  Britain  in  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine. It  was  an  invention  of  his 
own  which  did  not  work  well  in 
action.  Israel  Zangwill  cracked  his 
knout  once  or  twice  and  ran  away. 
Viscount  Bryce  was  hurried  forward 
with  his  42  cm.  "Small  Nations." 
which  exploded  at  the  first  discharge. 

The  battle  was  not  going  well  for 
England.  The  glittering  steel  of 
British  bayonets  must  find  its  coun- 
terpart in  the  battle  of  pens.  Cor- 
poral Bennett  was  called  upon.  He 
advanced  with  a  rush,  into  "The  Sat- 
urday Evening  Post."  The  brilliancy 
ot  his  illogic  and  the  tremendous 
power  of  the  venom  which  he  spurted 
about  dazzled  and  asphyxiated  the 
enemy  as  some  deadly  gas — but  only 
for  a  moment.  The  strength  of  the 
dose  had  been  regulated  for  chil- 
dren, and  he  had  adults  to  deal  with. 
Sir  Gilbert  Parker  was  called  into 
consultation,  and  prescribed  a  larger 
dose.  It  was  overlarge,  and  as  in  the 
case  of  most  poisons,  too  much  was 
as  bad  as  none  at  all.  Sir  Gilbert 
served  only  to  nauseate  us. 

There  was  a  lull  in  the  conflict. 
England  buried  her  dead :  and  then 
in  a  last  effort  to  carry  the  day  sent 
for  Mr.  Gilbert  Chesterton  to  lead 
the  "forlorn  hope."  With  character- 
istic recklessness  he  answered  the 
call  of  England  and  is  hammering  us 
with  his  paper  pellets  through  the 
smooth-bore  columns  of  "The  New 
York  Times." 


PRESS  ROOM  CAMPAIGNS— BRITISH-FRENCH 


301 


The  most  violent  assaults  have 
been  made  upon  Fort  Militarism  and 
Fort  Culture.  The  attempts  against 
the  former  were  led  by  Surgeon 
Doyle,  wearing  the  ribbon  which  he 
won  at  the  wiping  out  of  the  Boers; 
but,  as  previously  reported,  he  soon 
found  himself  without  ammunition. 
He  failed  to  establish  General  Bern- 
hardt in  a  position  from  which  to 
command  the  batteries  of  the  enemy. 
The  approaches  were  mined  by  Ger- 
man art  and  science  and  philosophy, 
German  industry,  and  German  love  of 
peace.  These  mines  had  been  laid, 
year  after  year,  for  centuries,  and  to 
have  overlooked  their  existence  was, 
to  say  the  least,  culpable  in  a  com- 
mander or  Sir  Arthur's  past  achieve- 
ments. When  they  were  exploded 
retreat  with  the  remnants  of  his 
annihilated  argument  was  all  that 
was   left  to  him. 

The  investment  of  Fort  Culture  is 
still  under  way,  but  is  being  prose- 
cuted with  waning  force.  The  world 
has  long  recognized  the  impregnable 
nature  of  this  stronghold.  It  is  a 
Gibraltar  of  the  mind  and  soul;  for 
it  is  the  soul  and  mind  of  a  nation. 
And  England  pelts  it  with  pellets 
and  expects  to  reduce  it!  Large  cali- 
bre minds  were  discarded  from  Eng- 
land two  generations  ago.  Her  fac- 
tories have  turned  out  more  since. 
She  took  Gibraltar  with  heavy  guns, 
and  she  will  not  take  German  Cul- 
ture with  "stink-pots."  The  charges 
led  by  Major  Chesterton  have  not 
come  near  it.  It  stands  today  as 
strong  and  intact,  as  beautifully  mag- 
nificent as  it  has  through  all  the 
years  when  England  sought  her  own 
iight  from  its  lamps  and  was  willing 
to  pay  for  it  by  a  chant  of  praise. 

The  dogs  of  war  should  be  called 
oft.  They  are  wasting  their  strength 
in  the  vain  effort  to  reduce  the  ir- 
reducible. The  defenders  are  too 
many  for  them,  and  shorn  of  defend- 
ers, German  Culture  would  still 
stand  impressively  unassailable  on 
the  rock  of  its  own  inherent  glory 
and  greatness.  The  1-pounder  intel- 
lects of  the  England  of  today  can 
make  no  more  impression  on  its  walls 
than  can  her  l-pounders  on  the  for- 
tress of  Helgoland. 

And  so  the  battle  goes.  The  inno- 
cent bystander  is  made  to  suffer  the 
brunt  of  it.  It  is  being  fought  on 
our  own  soil,  and  against  the  wisheg 
of  the  American  people.  Our  neu- 
trality has  been  violated  as  actually 
and  more  menacingly  than  that  of 
Belgium  and  China.  Because  we 
would  not  surrender  our  "moral  sup- 
port" upon  the  enemy's  first  call  for 
it,  we  have  had  to  defend  it.  Our 
right  to  think  for  ourselves  and  to 
continue  to  cherish  what  generations 
have  taught  us  to  admire  and  respect, 
has  been  denied,  and  we  are  overrun 
by  every  penny-a-liner  England  can 
call  to  her  colors.  Our  fondest  recol- 
lections and  our  deepest  and  sanest 
feelings  are  outraged  and  trampled 
upon  as  if  they  wore  no  more  than 
the  Kaffir  fields  of  South  Africa.  We 
cannot  go  abroad  without  breathing 
their  poisonous  fumes.  They  enter 
into  our  homes,  glare  at  us  from  the 
columns  of  our  papers,  and  follow  ub 
to  church  on  Sunday.  We  are  never 
free  from  them,  sleeping  or  waking. 


They  are  dragooning  the  American 
people  into  mental  and  moral  submis- 
sion, but  they  will  not  succeed.  We 
are  willing  to  counsel  the  surrender 
of  Fort  Militarism  when  England 
razes  Fort  Navalism,  but  German 
Culture  will  never  be  surrendered 
from  the  American  heart. 

No  American  newspaper,  as  far  as  we 
know,  has  protested  against  the  amaz- 
ing indictment  of  German  character  by 
G.  K.  Chesterton,  the  English  essayist, 
which  appears  in  a  current  magazine. 
Let  us  quote: 

But  though  the  word  "barbarian"  Is  the 
key  of  the  situation,  it  is  very  liable  to  be 
misunderstood.  The  Prussians  themselves 
cannot  form  a  notion  of  what  we  mean 
when  we  call  them  barbarians ;  and  that, 
as  I  shall  show  in  a  moment,  is  precisely 
because  they  are  barbarians.  They  are 
perfectly  and  even  pathetically  sincere 
when  they  say  they  are  the  people  of 
culture :  and  even  when  they  practically 
deny  that  there  is  any  culture  at  all  In 
the  land  of  Turgenev  and  the  land  of 
Chopin.  And  the  Prussians  really  are 
cultured  In  the  sense  that  they  read  a 
great  many  books.  But  the  spirit  of  civ- 
ilization  is  not  to  be  found  in  books. 

The  psychology  of  the  barbarian  Is 
this:  that,  like  the  lower  animals,  he 
does  not  understand  reciprocity.  He  has 
not  that  little  mirror  In  the  mind  In 
which  we  see  the  mind  of  the  other  man. 
If  I  scatter  crumbs  for  the  birds  in  win- 
ter, that  will  not  prevent  the  birds  from 
eatinpr  my  fruit  in  summer;  because  birds, 
like  Prussians,  are  barbarians.  If  I  leave 
the  bee  his  honey,  he  may  still  leave  me 
his  sting.  And  he  has  not  broken  any 
contract,  because  bees,  like  Prussians,  are 
barbarians. 

Now  this  fundamental  unreason  and 
Inequality,  as  of  men  ruled  by  beasts,  can 
be  tested  by  taking  any  civilized  Institu- 
tion   in    Prussia.     .     .     . 

The  New  York  newspapers — most  of 
them — are  deriving  considerable  amuse- 
ment from  the  efforts  of  German  uni- 
versity professors  to  explain  their  coun- 
try's cause  to  the  American  people.  The 
articles  prepared  by  scholars  like  Ilar- 
nack,  Haeckel,  Eueken,  Ropiitfien. 
Wundt  and  many  others  of  like  caliber 
strike  these  journalistic  critics  as  un- 
dignified and  even  ridiculous.  "So  far 
as  lias  been  observed,"  says  the  Globe, 
"the  oracular  declarations  of  the  emin- 
ent professors  have  singularly  failed  to 
affect   .\nierican   luiblic   opinion." 

We  have  long  since  given  up  hope 
that  fact  and  argument  could  reach  the 
Teutophobe  press.  Having  no  desire  to 
be  fair,  its  representatives  are  not 
open  to  conviction.  And  this  confirmed 
unfairness  is  eloquently  demonstrated 
In  the  cheap  and  provincial  liailing  of 
the  German  scholars,  while  the  outpour- 
ings of  English  professors  and  men  of 
letters  are  welcomed  with  open  minds 
no   less  than   with   open   cnhimns. 

We  were  patient  too  long.  In  Eu- 
rope and  in  our  colonies.  Every  lub- 
ber thought  he  was  justified  in  imi- 
tating England's  impertinence.  We 
shall  exterminate  this  impression 
with  a  rake  of  steel.  Our  body  is 
as  clean  as  that  of  any  Anglo-Saxon. 
We  have  worked  harder  than  he,  but 
we  bathe  as  often.  He  owns  his 
Island,  also  perhaps  a  couple  of  col- 
onies, and  insists  on  everybody 
speaking  his  language  and  giving  up 
his  place  to  him.  Not  we.  We  know 
and  accomplish  more  with  less  brag, 
and  won't  be  forced  to  bend  our 
backs.  To  recall  a  sentence  of 
Blucher:  "The  whole  world  knows 
that  Prussia  and  Germany  are  al- 
ways cheated  of  their  rights  in  spite 
of   every    effort."      That    was   in    the 


past.  It  won't  happen  again.  Mod- 
ern Germany  knows  that  it  is  strong 
and  does  not  have  to  beg  for  rights 
to  which  it  is  justly  entitled.  Eng- 
land is  allied  with  yellow  stink-apes, 
and  glories  in  the  assassination  ot 
German  men,  and  the  rape  ot  Ger- 
man women  by  drunken  Cossacks, 
Englishmen,  Belgians,  Frenchmen, 
North  and  South  Slavs,  and  Japanese 
glorify  each  other  as  the  bearers  and 
protectors  of  the  highest  mission  of 
civilization,  and  call  us  barbarians. 
We  should  be  dolts  to  make  denials. 
The  intelligent  German,  who  has  long 
taken  Chesterton's  measure  as  a  labored 
and  uninspired  competitor  of  the  bril- 
liant Shaw,  will  laugh  at  this  naively 
vicious  psychology;  at  this  vicious 
Brobdingnagian  psychology.  Accus- 
tom yourself  rapidly  to  the  idea  that 
German  soil  is  the  home  of  bar- 
barians and  fighters.  They  have  no 
time  now  tor  slander  and  small  talk. 
Their  task  is  to  whip  your  armies,  to 
capture  the  members  of  your  general 
staff,  to  scatter  your  swimming 
hordes  beyond  Antwerp  and  Calais, 
until  they  are  prostrate  under  the 
heel  of  the  barbarian. 


DECEIVING  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


.American    Newspa|)er   Men    An-ested 

in  London  for  Telling  the  Truth 

About  Germany — A   Personal 

Letter. 


By  James  O'Donnell  Bennett. 

From  the  "Cliiciigo  Tribune",  Octo- 
ber (1,  1!)14:— The  following  personal 
letter  from  Mr.  Bennett  to  the  editor  of 
"The  Tribune"  is  so  remarkable  that 
it  is  jiresented  in  full. 

Before  there  was  mention  of  our  war 
Mr.  Bennett  was  sent  to  London  to 
be  "The  Tribune's"  correspondent  In 
England.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
he,  the  only  "Tribune"  man  near  the 
seat  of  action,  was  cabled  to  jiroceed 
to  the  firing  line.  Since  the  German 
occupation  of  Brussels  he  has  been  en- 
tirely in  German  surroundings. 

"I'he  Tribune"  does  not  support  or 
decry  his  views.  They  are  startling 
and  "the  American  people  are  entitled 
to  read  them. 

Aix-ln-Chapelle,  Germany.  September 
12.— Tmuorrow  .John  McCuteheon  and 
I  shall  have  been  in  Aix  just  two  weeks. 
In  that  time  we  have  sent  off  many 
thousands  of  words  to  "The  Tribune" — 
John  about  20,000;  I  about  14.000.  My 
first  letter  was  ti.OOO  on  our  inability 
to  verify  stories  of  German  atrocities; 
mv  second  over  tJ.OOO  on  the  state  of 
feeling.  Illustrated  by  numerous  Inci- 
dents, in  North  Germany.  John  said 
my  letter  on  non-atrocities  probably 
would  create  a  sensation  in  America. 

I  have  a  big  l>atch  of  descriptive  mat- 
ter under  way  for  next  Saturday's  boat 
from  Itottordani  to  America. 

In  addition  to  the  two  long  articles 
which  1  mailed  I  have  also  sent  a  1.000 
word  cable  by  post  to  the  Commercial 
Cable  office  In  London  to  be  put  on  the 
wire  there  to  you. 

Whether  the  English  censor  will  let 
It  pass  I  much  doubt,  because,  judging 
by  I  be  Loiulon  papers  we  have  seen 
a'iKl  liv  the  extracts  which  I  Inclose 
from  M   letter  from  Mrs.  Bennett.  Eng- 


EVOLUTIOX|BV  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


land    is    wild    with    apprehension    and 
stuffed  with  lies. 

Germans  Feel  Confident, 

The  best  of  writers  conid  hardly  con- 
vey to  yon  the  sense  of  order,  confi- 
dence and  satisfaction  existing  in  Ger- 
many. And.  in  view  of  what  we  have 
seen  and  heard  in  Germany,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  exasgerate  the  madness 
of  English  newspapers  in  their  policy 
of  trying  to  Jolly  the  English  public 
into  a  belief  that  the  Germans  are  be- 
ing thrown  back. 

In  the  face  of  these  "German  re- 
verses" Germany  is  constantly  sending 
more  men  (thousands  upon  thousands 
of  them)  by  train  through  Aix  to  the 
front 

Aix  is  absolutely  serene.  Manufac- 
nrers  are  even  about  to  launch  uew 
building  operations  in  this  vieinity  the 
day  after  tomorrow. 

Meanwhile  we  are  not  allowed  to  go 
into  France  in  the  wake  of  German 
columns,  because,  say  the  military  au- 
thorities, vast  plans  are  making  which 
must  in  no  way  he  imi)eriled  by  the 
presence  of  outsiders. 

Those  plans  may  culminate  at  the 
end  of  next  week,  and  then,  accord- 
ing to  assurances  we  have  received,  we 
may  be  allowed  to  go  forward. 

This  chance  seems  to  us  worth  wait- 
ing for.  If  it  does  not  materialize  at 
the  end  of  the  week  there  is  nothing 
for  us  to  do  but  return  to  England. 

As  to  the  kind  of  reception  that 
may  await  me  in  England,  you  may 
judge  from  these  extracts  from  Mrs. 
Bennetts  letter  received  by  me  today 
from  London.  It  is  dated  Monday.  Sep- 
tember T.  and  has  been  a  week,  lack- 
ing two  days,  in  reaching  me : 

"My  greatest  anxiety  lately  has  been 
that  you  would  write  something  pro- 
German.  That,  as  I  understand  the 
situation  here,  would  get  you  into  trou- 
ble with  the  English  authorities  upon 
your  return.  They  simply  will  not  have 
it,  no  matter  how  true  it  ma.v  be. 

"I  wrote  you  a  long  letter  last  week 
telling  yon  of  Mr.  Heitkamp's  arrest. 
Mr.  Heitkamp  is  manager  of  the  Curtis 
Brown  bureau,  wliieh  serves  "The  Trib- 
une" from  London  at  the  instigation  of 
the  war  office.  He  was  arrested  on 
Thursday  night  and  not  released  until 
.Saturday  afternoon. 

"He  was  handled  very  roughly  and 
allowed  to  communicate  with  no  one — 
not  even  his  wife.  He  just  escaped 
penal  servitude  for  life,  and  he  still 
does  not  know  what  they  so  much  ob- 
jected to  in  what  he  had  written. 

English  Detectives  Search  )IaU. 

"When  I  went  dovm  for  your  mail 
at  the  Curtis  Brown  offices  I  found  the 
room  which  you  and  Mr.  Heitcamp 
occupy  full  of  Scotland  Yard  men. 

"They  were  going  through  Mr.  Heit- 
kamp's  papers  and  they  went  through 
all  his  papers  and  letters  at  his  home. 
Aud  this  happened  to  an  American 
whose  people  have  lived  in  America 
since  the  seventeenth  century  and 
whose  daily  work  connects  hiiii  with 
the  American  press. 

"So  you  see.  my  dear,  how  useless 
it  is  to  try  to  say  anything  for  the 
Germans.  The  English  simpVv  won't 
allow  it  to  be  used,  and  one  takes  the 
risk  of  penal  servitude. 


"All  this  has  terrified  me  for  you. 
You  have  absolutely  no  chance.  I  felt 
so  sorry  for  Mrs.  Heitkamp.  She  was 
not  allowed  to  see  her  husband. 

"As  I  said.  I  wrote  you  all  about 
this,  but  c-ould  not  get  the  letter 
through,  and  have  been  nearly  frantic 
over  the  possibility  of  their  arresting 
you  when  you  return  to  an  English 
port  if  you  have  sent  pro-German  copy 
to  "The  Tribune'  while  you  were  in 
Germany. 

"My  never  knowing  for  so  many  days 
where  you  were  and  what  had  hap- 
I)ened  to  .vou  made  it  worse. 

"Please  realize  how  serious  this  is 
and  be  very  careful  as  to  what  you 
write.  It  would  gain  you  nothing  if 
you  tried  to  be  fair,  and  the  penalty  is 
too  great.     Tou  will  be  careful? 

"This  fear  has  been  with  me  con- 
stantly since  Mr.  Heitkamp's  arrest. 
Of  course.  I  think  his  foreign  name 
and  his  Italian  wife  may  have  made 
a  difference. 

"The  Scotland  Yard  men  asked  me 
all  about  you  and  put  it  all  down ;  so 
you  are  on  the  records.  It  was  unfor- 
tunate I  went  for  the  mail  that  morn- 
ing. I  can't  tell  you  how  this  terri- 
fies me.     .     .     . 

"Mr.  Brown,  by  the  way.  was  so 
frightened  over  Mr.  Heitkamp's  arrest 
and  the  possibility  of  his  being  in- 
volved himself  that  he  stayed  away 
from  the  office  (he  was  down  in  Corn- 
wall) and  quite  repudiated  Mr.  H. 
It  was  really  very  serious,  evidently, 
and.  as  I  say.  Mr.  H.  caimot  see  what 
he  said  to  bring  it  on  himself 

"Do  listen  to  what  I  say  about  writ- 
ing anything  pro-German.  It  will  only 
react  on  you  and  do  no  good." 

Ix)ndon  Bnoyed  TTp  by  Lies. 

Mrs.  Bennett's  little  sidelight  on  the 
state  of  feeUng  in  London  wiU  interest 
.vou.    It  follows : 

"I  don't  read  the  papers  much,  for 
I  find  them  too  disturbing,  hut  I  hear 
a  good  deal.  The  people  believe  what 
they  want  to  believe,  though  I  think 
that  down  in  their  hearts  they  know 
they  are  not  getting  the  real  state  of 
affairs. 

"Just  the  same,  the  other  kind  of 
thing  buoys  them  up,  and  that  is  why 
it  is  done. 

"You.  I  suppose,  are  seeing  only  the 
other  side,  aren't  yon?  So  be  careful 
and  unbiassed.  Loving  England  and 
the  English  as  you  do.  it  must  be  pain- 
ful for  you  to  have  to  think  of  its 
future  as  you  do  think.  I  hope  you 
are  wrong,  and  I  know  yon  must  hope 
so.  too.'' 

Thus  I  have  given  you  the  essen- 
tials of  the  young  lad.v's  letter.  Of 
course  she  may  have  gained  an  over- 
wrought impression  of  the  state  of 
affairs,  but  she  is  not  an  ill-poised  or 
excitable  woman — quite  the  contrary. 

In  any  c-ase.  even  if  I  were  so  dis- 
loyal to  the  truth  as  to  wish  to  act  on 
her  warning,  that  warning  comes  too 
late.  By  this  time,  in  a  6,000-word 
article  headed  "The  Solemn  T^th," 
which  should  reach  you  in  Chicago  to- 
morrow (Sunday)  night  and  in  a  7,000- 
word  article  headed  "The  System  at 
Work,"  which  went  by  the  boat  from 
Rotterdam  this  morning — in  both  those 
articles  I  have  committed  myself  up 
to  the  neck. 


May  Be  Deported, 

If  reports  on  those  articles  are  sent 
back  to  the  English  authorities  after 
the  articles  appear  in  "The  Tribune" 
I  may  be  ditched  in  England.  They 
may  deport  me  if  I  try  to  laud  there. 

But  a  man  who  failed  to  write  what 
I  have  seen  and  heard  in  Germany 
would  be  a  dog. 

I  came  to  Germany  anti-German,  So 
did  John,  But  London  lies  and  German 
dignity  and  solidity  have  about  brought 
me  over  to  the  German  side. 

If  Americ-a  thinks  Germany  is  in 
the  least  frightened,  or  if  America 
thinks  Germany  has  gone  mad  with 
blood  lust,  then  America  has  only  sur- 
rendered to  the  most  stupendous  cam- 
paign of  lies  that  has  been  launched 
from  Europe  since  Napoleon  made 
"false  as  a  bulletin"  a  proverb. 

If  what  we  have  seen  means  any- 
thing, the  world  is  going  to  wake  up 
soon  to  find  a  gigantic  new  world 
power  in  the  saddle. 

Last  Sunday  night  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  Joseph  Medill  Patterson  in 
Aix,  He  came  up  from  Berlin  under 
military  escort  with  five  other  Ameri- 
can correspondents  and  was  permitted 
to  view  the  forts  at  Li&ge, 

He  was  much  discouraged  alwut  the 
war  correspondents  game,  and  says  the 
jig  is  up  and  that  no  armies  will  longer 
tolerate  them. 

He  was  so  kind  as  to  say,  however, 
that  if  my  anti-atrocities  story,  which 
should,  as  I  said,  reach  you  tomorrow 
evening,  did  get  through  to  Chicago  it 
would  be  worth  the  trip  I  made  from 
London, 

The  government  did  not  ask  us  to 
make  this  statement.  We  made  it 
partly  for  its  news  value  and  partly 
from  a  sense  of  outraged  decency. 

Certainly  the  Germans  are  getting  a 
rotten  deal  from  the  rest  of  the  world 
in  the  press  reports  of  this  war,  I  hope 
America  will  not  be  inflamed  by  those 
reports  with  the  idea  that  it  ought 
"in  the  name  of  humanity''  to  mix  up 
in  the  trouble. 

Reshaping   of  Europe. 

All  the  men  in  the  group  of  Ameri- 
cans here  have  been  convinced  by  a 
fortnight's  observations  with  the  troops 
on  the  countryside  and  with  the  citi- 
zens in  this  town  that  the  situation  in- 
volves nothing  less  than  the  reshaping 
of  Europe  by  Teutonic  hands.  It  is 
a  new  European  empire  swinging  into 
being,  and  if  Europe  doesn't  like  it 
Europe  will  have  to  fight  over  the 
matter  for  the  next  five  and  twenty 
years. 

To  us  the  German  ascendancy  seems 
as  inevitable  as  sunrise  tomorrow. 
God  save  us.  hut  the  system  and  the 
power  behind  the  system  are  just  in- 
credible, and  the  spirit  of  the  people 
is  overpowering. 

What  ,Joe  Patterson  had  seen  had 
him  talking  last  Sunday  night  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  strain  I  am  writing  to- 
night— a  strain  that  may  seem  to  you 
hysterical,  but  that  is  in  truth  very, 
very  grave. 

We  are  not  sending  any  of  our  ar- 
ticles on  the  state  of  affairs  in  Ger- 
many by  mail  to  the  Commercial  Cable 
in  London,  to  be  relayed  to  you  by 
cable  in  London,  because  we  think  that, 
even  if  we  stuck  to  the  bare  facts,  the 


PRESS  ROOM  CAMPAIGNS— BRITISH-FRENCH 


303 


EDglish  censor  would  not  let  them 
through. 

We  can  keep  busy,  and  are  keeping 
busy  writing  our  observations  and 
sending  them  off  by  the  weekly  Eot- 
terdam  mail. 

Does  this  seem  to  you  advisable? 
This  letter  will  reach  you  in  two 
weeks.  .Sui>pose  I  stay  here  until  it 
does  reach  you.  and  that  upon  arrival 
of  the  letter  in  Chicago  you  cable  me 
(care  of  the  consul)  what  you  think 
as  to  my  returning  to  I.ondon  and  fac- 
ing a  row  with  the  Knglish  authorities? 

As  to  that  prospect  I  am  not  fright- 
ened, but  if  I  were  jugged  it  might  take 
a  lot  of  fussing  and  cabling  to  get  me 
out.  That  would  waste  both  time  and 
money. 


AX  OPEX  LETTER  TO  H.  G. 
WELLS. 


In    Appreciation    of    His    Kind    >Ies- 
sage  to  the  United  States. 

iXy  Dear  Sir ; 

You  are  considered  one  of  the  fore- 
most English  novelists,  but  you  have 
never  before  proved  your  talent  for 
fiction  as  you  have  done  in  your  recent 
work.  "The  Last  War."  published  in 
the  October  number  of  the  "Metropoli- 
tan Magiizine."  We  are  awestruck 
with  the  "multum  in  parvo"  of  it.  and 
with  its  unrivalled  quality.  Thank 
Ood  for  our  American  sense  of  humor 
which  enables  us  to  see  through  the 
mock  seriousness  with  which  you  write 
and  to  appreciate  the  sardonic  humor 
which  fills  nearly  every  paragraph,  cer- 
tainly the  messiige  as  a  whole. 

For  instance,  when  you  contend  that 
the  violation  of  Belgium's  neutrality 
was  the  reason  for  England's  going  to 
war,  you  know,  and  we  know,  and 
everybody  knows  that  you  don't  mean 
it.  that  England  would  liave  broken 
Belgium's  neutrality  as  quick  as  that 
if  it  had  suited  her.  and  I  am  sure  you 
chuckled  to  yourself  when  you  wrote 
it  and  wondered  if  those  "blawsted" 
Americans  would  understand  it.  As  one 
of  the  reasons  of  my  writing  this  re- 
ply is.  to  show  you  that  we  do  imder- 
stand  the  British  humor  on  this  side 
of  the  ocean.  I  wish  to  state  siiecifically. 
that  we  fully  understand  that  the  Eng- 
land who  violated  the  neutrality  of 
Denmark  in  ISO",  and  that  of  Chile 
at  Valpariso  in  1S14  (the  spirit  of  our 
Captain  Porter,  of  the  brave  P'ssex. 
must  have  enjoyetl  your  caustic  joke) 
could  not  seriously  assert  that  she 
went  to  war  becjinse  Germany  violated 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium.  And  I  want 
you  to  know,  that  we  see  the  deeper 
joke  in  this,  that  England,  if  that  had 
been  really  her  reason,  should  have 
lifted  her  mailed  fist  (or  boot)  against 
France,  as  the  Sansculottes  were  the 
first  to  violate  Belgium's  neutrality. 
Yes.  yes.  my  dear  Sir,  we  know,  that 
Belgium  did  not  object  to  being  rav- 
ished by  fair  France,  but  that  had 
better  rt>main  uninentioned. 

"We  have  done  our  utmost  to  avoid 
this  war."  .vou  siiy.  Of  course,  we 
know  that,  far  from  trying  to  avoid 
this  war.  England  has  l)een  waiting 
and  working  for  it  for  years,  and  if 
she  quickly  found  out  that  the  job  of 
crushing  Germany  was  not  as  easy  as 
it  looke<l.  and  in  her  unpleasant  sur- 
prise  calle<l   on    her    Eastern    ally   for 


heli< — help,  well  she  got  it — didn't  she? 
And  how  could  she  know  that  France 
was  so  weakened  by  absinthe  and 
women  that,  by  herself,  she  would  not 
be  able,  to  stand  up  to  Germany  for 
one  month?  How  could  she  know  that, 
I  ask?  Of  the  English  diplomatic  serv- 
ice every  man,  as  is  expected,  did  his 
duty,  and  months  before  the  war  be- 
gan, England.  France.  Russia  and  Bel- 
gium had  arrived  at  imderstandings  as 
to  the  part  each  was  to  play  in  case 
an  opportunity  should  ofCer  or  be  pro- 
liilcd.  liussia  in  Asia  was  to  mobilize 
without  calling  undue  attention  to  the 
fact  and  to  egg  on  Servia  in  her  cam- 
paign of  seduction  and  murder  against 
.\ustria-Hungary ;  France  was  to  mako 
a  loan  to  Russia  for  the  purchase  of 
cannon,  strengthen  her  army  and  pre- 
pare for  instant  mobilization.  Belgium 
was  to  have  her  army  trained  by 
French  officers,  her  fortresses  strength- 
ened by  French  engineers,  and  was  to 
let  the  French  army  pass  unhindered 
through  her  territory,  of  course,  after 
a  gentle  protest,  and  England  was  to 
continue  her  campaign  of  vilificsition 
against  Germany. 

You  see.  my  dear  Sir,  we  are  pretty 
well  informed,  and  therefore  in  a  posi- 
tion to  laugh  with  you  up  your  sleeve, 
if  you'll  let  us. 

When  all  the  world  comes  to  recog- 
nize the  amount  of  work  ("dirty  work" 
envious  Germany  would  call  it.  but 
never  mind  her)  England  has  done  in 
her  wonderful  campaign  to  isolate  Ger- 
many, they  will  be  forced  to  acknowl- 
edge that  England  is  the  only  nation 
fit  to  rule  the  waves  and  the  colonies, 
and  that  she  must — simply  muM  have 
a  navy  strong  enough  to  whip  any  other 
two  nations.  No  use  talking  about  that, 
for  this  is  the  right  and  might  of  Brit- 
annia, guaranteed  in  her  Constitution 
and  acknowledged  b.v  every  weaker  na- 
tion on  earth. 

Did  your  utmost  to  avoid  the  war; 
did  you.  really?  My.  but  it's  rich! 
Well  we  know  that  one  word  from  you 
into  the  Czar's  ear  would  hare  caused 
instant  demobiliztition.  one  telegram  to 
Poincar6  have  turned  France's  defianc^e 
of  Germany  into  cx)urteous  protestations 
of  pea<?e  in  France  and  good  will  to- 
wards Germany :  but.  of  course,  that 
could  not  be,  for  then  Belgium's  neu- 
trality would  not  have  been  violated 
and  England  wotild  not  have  had  to 
draw  her  unsullied  sword  to  uphold 
her  honor.  By  the  way.  old  man.  a 
sword  that  c^ame  unsullied  out  of  the 
Chinese  Opium  War  must  be  a  good 
one. 

The  best  joke  of  all  is  your  disarma- 
ment proposition — it  took  me  an  hour 
to  recover  from  my  laughing  fit !  It  is 
»o  nice  and  vague.  It  seems  to  say  so 
much,  and  says  so  absolutely  nothing. 
My  wife  asked  me.  who  was  to  be  dis- 
armed, but  I  laughed,  so  she  never 
asked  me  again.  And  I  couldn't  have 
answered  her  to  save  my  life.  If  she 
had  asked  me  now.  who  was  not  to  be 
disarmed,  the  answer  would  have  been 
easy,  for  whoever  was  expecttxi  to  dis- 
arm. England  iroiild  nwiit  ccrtainJy  not! 
What?  Dismantle  her  fleet,  that  made 
her  the  ruler  of  the  waves?  Only  a 
lunatic  c-ould  pro]H>se  such  a  thing! 
England's  navy  is  her  bulwark  against 
her  enemies  and  she  would  l>e  in  a  nice 
fix  without  an  army  and  without  a 
navy  if  ever  she  should  be  attacked. 
What.  England  disjirm — proud  England. 


peaceful  England,  the  England  of  a 
thousand  battles  on  land  and  on  the 
sea?  The  idea  is  too  absurd  to  be  dis- 
cussed. 

Germany  on  the  other  hand — yes.  sir, 
she  ought  to  t>e  disarmed.  Quite  right, 
my  dear  Sir,  what  does  she  want  with 
an  army,  anyhow?  In  the  East  the 
Russians  c-an  protect  her  against  an 
invasion  from  Japan,  and  in  the  West. 
France  will  see  that  no  harm  come  to 
her  from  Cuba  or  Iceland.  So  I  can't 
see  any  reason  for  her  not  disarming, 
and  then  she  could  send  .SOO.OOO  men 
into  her  factories  instead  of  into  war. 
By  the  way.  hadn't  yon  better  repeal 
the  law  recpiiring  that  all  manufactured 
goods  entering  England  or  her  cxjlonies 
must  show  plainly  the  land  of  origin? 
Why  should  you  want  your  customers 
to  know  that  most  of  your  fine  British 
goods  were  made  in  Germany? 

Yes.  I  see.  the  German  army  had 
better  go.  and  the  German  navy,  too; 
if  you  left  Germany  her  navy  and  she 
could  save  the  cost  of  her  army,  she 
would  build  dreadnoughts  by  the  hun- 
dred and  might  try  to  wrest  the  sceptre 
of  the  waves  from  your  hands.  Yes, 
sir,  the  German  navy  will  have  to  go. 
also.  That's  two  armaments  gone  and 
that's  enough  to  begin  with.  I  reckon. 
Disarm  the  British  navy — no,  a  thou- 
siind  times :  no !  We  are  willing  to 
s;icrific-e  the  German  navy,  if  you  make 
a  point  of  it.  but  the  British  navy — the 
greatest  civilizing  influence  in  the  world 
— never,  as  long  as  the  British  o<;ean 
prefers  to  bear  an  English  name. 

But  look  here,  my  dear  Sir.  are  yon 
not  going  to  step  too  far  when  yon  call 
the  Krupp  concern  an  organized  scound- 
relixm  and  say  that  the  German  guns 
and  shells  are  notoriouxly  poorf  I 
viewed  the  statement  with  a  gc>od  deal 
of  concern  because  it  differs  too  widely 
from  the  facts  and  those  facts  are  too 
universally  known.  The  unsurjiassable 
quality  and  modernity  of  the  Krupp 
field  guns  and  especially  the  new  Krupp 
siege  mortars,  which  pulverize  a  mod- 
ern fort  in  one  or  two  hits  (and  they 
are  all  hits)  have  been  too  widely  ad- 
vertised to  be  successfully  contradicted 
at  this  late  day.  and  I  fear  very  much 
that  this  mistaken  ( '. )  statement  will 
make  a  gixid  many  readers  shake  their 
heads  and  doubt  if  you  know  what  you 
are  talking  about.  Mr.  Knipp.  with 
an  armful  of  rejected  siege  guns  sit- 
ting on  the  steps  of  the  throne,  would 
surely  make  a  fine  cartoon,  but  as  a 
statement  of  facts  it's  a  fizzle  and  I 
do  wish  yon  had  not  written  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  here  is  a  para- 
graph that  is  great.  l>ec^iuse  it  seems 
to  be  written  in  such  highly  moral  in- 
dignation and  therefore  has  such  tre- 
mendous force  for  persuasion  behind 
it.  I  mean  this  one :  "We  are  fighting 
Germany.  But  we  are  fighting  with- 
out any  hatred  of  the  German  people. 
We  do  not  intend  to  destroy  either  their 
freedom  or  their  unity.  But  we  have 
to  destroy  an  evil  system  of  govern- 
ment and  mental  and  material  corrup- 
tion that  has  got  hold  of  the  German 
imagination  and  taken  possessic>n  of 
German  life."  There,  doesn't  that  sound 
fine — fine?  If  that  does  not  excite  the 
Americans  to  indignation  and  wrath, 
nothing  will,  and  you  might  just  as 
well  give  it  up. 

And  the  sardonic  humor  of  it '.  On 
the  face  of  it — virtuous  indignation  and 
a    statement    of    incontniveriible    fact. 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


while  iu  reality  there  is  not  a  word  of 
truth  in  it,  not  one  I  Mr.  Wells,  you 
are  great,  I  salute  you.  and  I  seem  to 
hear  the  echo  of  the  homeric  laughter 
that  went  up  from  the  hearts  of  oak 
when  they  read  your  now  famous  mes- 
sage to  the  United  States.  I  seem  to 
see  Asquith  and  Grey  wipe  the  tears  of 
mirth  out  of  their  eyes  on  reading  that 
neither  the  freedom  nor  the  unity  of 
Germany  is  to  be  destroyed  (Germany 
is  only  to  be  dismembered,  crushed  and 
wiped  off  the  face  of  the  map),  but 
that  only  an  evil  system  of  Govertv- 
ment  is  to  he  done  auay  icith,  for  none 
know  better  than  Asquith  and  Grey 
that  under  the  circumstances  no  other 
Government  is  at  all  possible  for  Ger- 
many, and  that  it  would  be  just  as 
absurd  to  asli  England  to  get  rid  of 
her  navy  as  to  aslv  Germany  to  disband 
her  army.  They  linow  with  absolute 
certainty  that  England,  if  placed  like 
Germany  tietween  two  implacable  foes, 
would  most  undoubtedly  have  a  strong 
standing  army  to  protect  her  frontiers, 
even  as  she  has  now  a  standing  navy 
to  protect  her  sea  coast.  And  the  joke 
of  it  is,  that  England's  navy  is  as  large 
as  any  other  tico,  while  Germany's 
army  is  not  even  as  large  as  one  other 
— the  Russian.  Germany  relies  on 
quality,  while  England,  relying  on 
quantity,  would  have  under  like  cir- 
cumstances an  army  as  large  as  Rus- 
sia's and  France's  together,  and  I  guess 
both  put  their  reliance  correctly. 

"We  have  to  smash  the  Prussian  im- 
perialism." To  speak  of  Prussian  im- 
perialism when  England's  imperialism 
is  the  most  notorious  and  most  strongly 
resented  fact  in  history,  takes  an 
amount  of  courage  not  everyliody  pos- 
sesses, and  to  make  it  palatable  re- 
quires the  supreme  effort  of  even  a 
great  writer  of  fiction.  But  I  think  you 
have  succeeded,  my  dear  Sir,  for  you 
have  bellowed  your  assertion  with  the 
strength  of  ten  bulls  and  the  quiet 
voice  of  reason  has  no  chance  to  be 
heard  as  long  as  you  keep  it  up.  But 
you  have  to  keep  it  up,  for  in  the  quiet 
after  the  storm  the  low  voice  of  rea- 
son and  truth  would  be  heard  and 
might  do  untold  harm  to  peaceful,  in- 
nocent England. 

But,  of  course,  we  know  what  you 
mean  by  German  imperialism  and  what 
you  really  want  to  smash.  In  Eng- 
land's place  we.  too,  would  view  with 
the  utmost  disfavor  the  steady  growth 
of  Germany's  oversea  commerce  and 
fleet,  a  growth  which  shows  no  sign 
of  stopping  and  is  developing  into  a 
very  serious  menace  to  your  own  for- 
eign trade  and  carrier  business ;  we, 
too,  would  stand  aghast  at  the  incred- 
ible cheek  of  Hamburg  of  wresting  the 
laurel  from  London  and  becoming — in 
tonnage — the  largest  seaport  on  earth ; 
and  we,  too,  would  try  to  smash  such 
"imperialism,"  such  an  "evil  system," 
such  "mental  and  material  corruption" 
by  any  means  that  came  to  hand,  good 
or  bad,  or  even  worse.  The  end  justi- 
fies the  means,  they  say,  and  what 
more  moral,  more  unselfish,  more  glor- 
ious end  could  there  be  than  England's 
trade,  say  e.  y..  with  the  West  Coast 
of  Africa,  where  she  ships  Bibles,  rum 
and  guns  to  lighten  the  black  man's 
burden.  My  dear  Sir,  I  am  becoming 
quite  enthusiastic,  and  first  thing  you 
know,  I'll  write  some  fiction  myself. 


I  just  noticed  another  little  slip  you 
made,  Mr.  Wells.  Really,  you  ought 
to  have  been  more  careful ! 

"Physical  and  moral  brutality  has 
indeed  become  a  cant  in  the  German 
mind  and  spread  from  Germany 
throughout  the  world."  Thus  you 
wrote  and  thus  it  is  priuted !  I  am 
sorry  I  did  not  see  this  in  manuscript, 
for  as  a  friend  I  would  have  advised 
you  to  cut  it  out.  That  kind  of  thing 
may  go  in  England,  but  here  in  the 
good,  old  U.  S,  A.  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
such  piffle  must  fall  flat.  You  for- 
got, that  Germans  are  everywhere  in 
the  States,  and  by  underhanded  and 
most  contemptible  means,  by  intention- 
ally good  citizenship,  truthfulness  and 
pure  lives  they  have  sneaked  into  the 
good  graces  of  their  American  born  fel- 
low citizens.  It's  pitiful,  but  true  that 
you  can't  convince  the  average  Ameri- 
can of  the  well  established  fact  that 
Germans,  without  exception,  are  phys- 
ically and  morally  brutal,  and  that  their 
bestiality  is  brutalizing  the  world — ^ay, 
has  even  affected  gentle  England. 

And  it  would  have  been  such  a 
joke  if  it  could  have  been  worked. 
With  England's  past  history  in  mind, 
it  would  simply  have  been  a  scream  ! 
We  know  something  of  England's  his- 
tory, and  we  remember  how  she  in- 
cited, with  the  kindliest  motives,  of 
course,  during  the  Revolutionary  War, 
the  Indians  against  the  American  set- 
tlers, spreading  rape,  arson  and  red 
murder  among  white  people  of  her  own 
race ;  we  have  read  of  the  Chinese  war, 
when  England  for  moral  reasons  of 
pecuniary  profit  forced  opium  on  an  un- 
enlightened government ;  we  still  re- 
member with  a  shudder  that  England's 
gentle  civilization  bound  Hindoos  be- 
fore the  mouths  of  cannon  to  send  them 
to  heaven  on  the  double  quick ;  we  find 
that  cock-fighting,  bear-baiting,  boxing 
matches  and  football  (in  its  brutal 
form)  originated  in  moral  England, 
and  we  appreciate  to  the  full  that  you, 
my  dear  Sir,  expected  to  score  enor- 
mously with  the  paragraph  last  quoted. 
The  pity  of  it  is,  that  It  won't  work 
here,  but  I  am  sure  in  England  it 
will  add  further  laurels  to  your  crown 
of  shame — I  mean — fame. 

Here  is  still  another  little  slip  you 
made,  Mr,  Wells,  "Monopoly,"  you  say, 
"means  rascality."  Had  you  forgotten 
that  France  has  a  tobacco  monopoly 
and  that  you  thus  accuse  France  of 
rascality?  Or  is  this  intentional  and 
did  you  mean  to  tell  France  not  to 
imagine  that  she  was  as  good  as  Eng- 
land, although  she  is  her  ally?  Of 
course,  we  know  you  think  so,  but  I 
did  not  imagine  that  you  wanted  the 
world  to  know  about  it. 

But  worse  than  that,  you  say,  that 
imperialism  means  rascality,  too.  For 
the  love  of  us  all,  Mr.  Wells,  that  cer- 
tainly must  be  a  slip  of  the  pen,  for 
if  England  does  not  stand  for  imperial- 
ism, what  does?  Has  not  little  2.x4 
England  swallowed  India,  .\ustralia. 
most  of  Africa,  Canada,  British  Colum- 
bia, the  Pacific,  the  .\tlantic.  both  Arctic 
oceans,  Scotland.  Ireland,  West  Indian 
Isles,  etc.?  If  that  is  not  imperialism. 
W'hat  more  does  she  want?  But,  what 
is  rascally  about  that,  my  dear  Sir? 
Yon  know,  her  methods  have  been  al- 
ways those  of  gentle  persuasion,  and 
with  a  sigh,  but  also  with  a  willing 
heart,   because  it  paid,   she  has   taken 


upon  her  shoulders  one  brown  man's 
burden  after  another,  until  she  now 
nearly  sinks  under  the  weight,  but  also 
has  become  the  richest  couutrv  on 
earth. 

One  of  the  cleverest  things  I  find  in 
your  second  last  paragraph.  "England. 
France,  Italy,  Belgium,  Spain,  and  all 
the  little  countries  of  Europe  are 
heartily  sick  of  war,"  you  say,  and 
then  continue:  "The  Czar  has  ex- 
pressed a  passionate  hatred  of  war!" 
There  it  is:  The  Czar— not  Russia, 
for  everybody  knows  that  the  Czar  is 
afraid  of  his  own  shadow  and  that 
Russia  with  its  ten  million  soldiers  is 
passionately  devoted  to  war.  So  you 
leave  Russia  alone  and  only  mention 
the  poor  Czar's  passion  for  peace,  as 
it  gently  suggests  Russia's  dislike  for 
war  instead  of  crudely  asserting  it. 

My  dear  Sir,  you  are  a  genius  of 
the  highest  rank,  and  I'd  give  two  bits, 
if  I  could  turn  like  you  the  facts  in- 
side out.  and  were  able  to  paint  the 
lily  black  with  the  same  brush  you 
use  to  cover  dark  treason  with  a  coat 
of  dazzling  white. 

Mr.  Wells,  I  salute  you! 
Very  respectfully, 

A  TORY  ADMIRER. 
—The  Crucible. 


THE  FRENCH  "DIME  NOVEL" 
LITERATURE. 

The  detailed  report  of  the  Com- 
mission of  Inquiry  as  to  the  supposed 
German  atrocities,  several  hundred 
thousand  copies  of  which  were 
printed  and  are  soon  to  be  sent  all 
over  the  world  in  various  transla- 
tions, at  the  expense  of  France,  is 
now  before  us.  We  have  gone  to 
the  trouble  of  giving  it  a  careful 
perusal,  just  as  we  did  with  the 
seven  Belgian  reports  which  were 
drawn  up  in  the  same  miserable 
fashion. 

The  four  men  who  have  done  this 
work  are  only  to, be  pitied;  they  are: 
Georges  Payelle,  First  President  of 
the  Court  of  Accounts,  Armand  Mol- 
lard,  late  Master  of  Ceremonies  at 
the  Elysee  and  Charge  d'Affaires  in 
Luxembourg,  Georges  Maringer, 
Privy  Councillor,  and  Edmond  Pail- 
lot,  Legal  Adviser  at  the  Court  of 
Cassation.  Such  names  are  to  stand 
as  a  guarantee  to  the  French  and  to 
the  neutral  countries,  that  the  in- 
vestigation has  been  carried  out  con- 
scientiously, and  that  the  German 
soldiers  really  are  the  barbarians, 
murderers,  thieves  and  rapists,  such 
as  they  have  been  depicted  ever 
since  the  beginning  of  the  campaign. 

Most  of  the  American  papers  have 
stopped  printing  the  latest  Belgian 
reports,  because  the  crazy  excess  of 
these  accusations  showed,  even  to  the 
most  patient  and  credible  readers, 
that  they  were  but  fiction  defama- 
tion. The  opinion  of  the  future  will 
not  loathe  the  German  soldier.  Nay, 
it  will  simply  turn  its  back  on  those 
Don  Basilios  who  wished  to  stamp 
each  and  every  one  of  them  as  crim- 
inals. The  Triple  Entente  may  no 
longer  hope  for  the  victory  of  lies, 
any  more  than  tor  that  of  weapons. 
No  matter  how  difficult  or  how  loath- 
some the  work  may  be,  Germany  will 
continue    to    fight    down    this   whole- 


PRESS  ROOM  CAMPAIGNS— BRITISH-FRENCH 


305 


sale  libel.  In  the  end  we  shall  see 
which  was  able  to  fight  its  way 
through  the  horrors  o£  this  terrible 
war  better  and  more  nobly,  the  de- 
rided German  culture  or  that  "civili- 
zation" which  allows  France  to 
march  proudly  at  the  head  of  Sen- 
egalese, Kirghiz  and  Britons. 

"The  collection  of  proofs  is  al- 
ready in  print  and  will  fill  a  volume 
of  about  a  hundred  pages."  This  is 
what  we  read  in  the  "Matin"  of  Jan- 
uary 15,  as  "reply"  to  the  note  of  the 
German  government,  who,  in  an  an- 
gry protest,  declared  it  beneath  their 
dignity  to  have  anything  to  do  with 
this  ignominious  report  which  lacked 
all  foundation.  So  much  the  better, 
then,  when  these  gentlemen  now 
come  forward  with  their  "proofs." 
According  to  previous  experience  it 
will  be  an  easy  matter  to  fix  their 
value.  Even  the  report  itself,  which 
rattles  off  the  several  hundred 
"atrocities"  as  fluently  as  if  it  in- 
volved indisputable,  carefully  proved 
and  pronounced  facts,  abounds  in  un- 
truths which  are  obvious  even  to 
tho^e  who  know  least  about  German 
military  conditions,  not  to  mention 
the  innumerable  absurd  exactions 
laid  on  the  logical  reader.  This 
Babylonian  tower  of  lies  will  soon 
crumble  with  a  crash  over  the  heads 
of  Messrs.  Payelle,  Mollard,  Paillot 
and  Maringer,  and  bury  them  for- 
ever under  its  ruins.  It  is  true  that 
they  only  deal  with  the  Departments 
which  were  occupied  in  September, 
viz.:  Seine-et-Marne,  Marne,  Meuse, 
Meurthe-et-Moselle,  Oise  and  Aisne, 
in  so  far  as  they  are  now  free  from 
German  troops.  It  will  therefore  be 
possible  to  judge  from  the  endless 
mistakes,  as  regards  names,  dates 
and  regiments,  as  to  the  "exactitude" 
and  "thoroughness"  of  the  examina- 
tion of  "each  individual  case."  The 
German  military  authorities  will 
know  how  to  put  even  this  chaos  in 
order. 

In  order  to  understand  how  it  is 
possible  for  anyone  to  dare  to  put 
such  mad  and  atrocious  reports  be- 
fore the  French,  we  must  remember 
their  favorite  reading  matter  which 
recurred  to  our  mind  involuntarily 
whilst  reading  this  clumsy  report;  to 
the  "dime  novel"  in  serial  form,  with 
murder  and  manslaughter,  incendi- 
arism and  rape  in  every  column, 
whicii  all  those  widely  circulated  pa- 
pers, "Matin,"  "Journal,"  "Petit  Pa- 
risien,"   "Petit   Journal,"   etc.,    favor 


without  exception  and  which  has  by 
no  means  tended  to  raise  the  general 
standard  of  intelligence  during  the 
past  decade.  The  newspapers  vie 
with  each  other  in  the  production  of 
bloody  placards  announcing  their 
new  novels  with  the  most  thrilling 
titles.  In  these  miserable  stories  vir- 
tue does  not  need  to  win  the  day  as 
in  other  cheap  novels;  the  more  op- 
pression there  is  and  the  more  de- 
tailed its  description  the  better. 
Thus  were  those  hysterical  women 
brought  up  who  figure  in  each  crim- 
inal case  and  give  the  French  judges 
so  much  trouble.  It  is  for  the  tastes 
of  such  people  that  the  "report"  has 
been  written.  Mollard,  the  Master 
of  Ceremonies,  found  a  dozen  nine- 
ty-two-year-old  witches  on  whom  the 
"Huns"  are  said  to  have  laid  violent 
hands,  who  were  not  sparing  in  their 
detailed,  naturalistic  descriptions. 
Every  bullet  that  happened  to  hit  a 
may-be  harmless  peasant  in  a  village 
street  or  behind  his  window,  gives 
rise  to  an  assassination  for  which 
an  endless  variety  of  witnesses  are 
to  be  found,  giving  an  equally  end- 
less variety  of  evidence.  Each 
farmstead  that  took  fire  because  it 
was  hit  by  a  bombshell,  or  because 
it  had  to  be  removed  out  of  the  fire 
line,  is  a  proof  of  wilful  arson.  The 
investigation  will  not  admit  in  one 
single  instance  that  a  tribunal  was 
warranted,  because  German  troops 
had  been  fired  upon.  No  German 
officer,  they  say,  ever  punished  sol- 
diers for  robbery  or  even  for  com- 
mitting worse  crimes.  "C'est  la 
guerre"  (It  is  war-time)  is  the  an- 
swer they  gave  to  such  as  com- 
plained. 

Anyone  who  knows  how  severely 
the  German  officers  punish  each 
breach  of  discipline  that  comes  to 
their  knowledge  cannot  but  laugh 
pitifully  at  this  misrepresentation. 
In  1870  only  timepieces  were  stolen; 
for  1915  that  is  not  ridiculous 
enough;  whole  wagon-loads  and 
even  special  trains  full  of  sewing- 
machines  and  toys  are  carried  oft 
(Suippes-Marne).  Baccarat  was  rav- 
aged wholesale.  The  inhabitants 
were  shut  up  in  the  station  and  then 
tHe  furniture,  including  timepieces, 
was  carried  off  under  the  supervision 
of  the  officers  and  the  town  set  on 
fire  with  dynamite  "pastilles"  and 
torches;  in  the  famous  "cristallerie" 
however,  "our  enemy  showed  a  rel- 
ative   degree    of    honesty,    for    they 


purchased  the  goods,  forcing  a  re- 
duction of  50%  to  707r,  playing 
with  their  revolvers  the  while."  But 
why  should  we  go  on  bothering  about 
this  miserable  and  disgusting  rub- 
bish here?  It  will  shortly  be  taken 
up  again,  case  for  case,  officially 
with  the  proper  rectification  for  the 
benefit  of   the   neutral   countries. 

Last  year  a  murder  occupied  all 
the  French  papers  for  months.  In 
Brittany  the  director  of  a  powder- 
works  disappeared.  An  engineer 
named  Piferre  was  suspected  of  the 
murder  and  taken  in  charge.  A 
thousand  miles  away  a  clairvoyant 
of  Nancy  described  the  place  where 
the. corpse  of  the  director  was  actu- 
ally found.  During  the  post-mortem 
examination,  a  bullet  was  found 
which  exactly  fitted  Pierre's  revolver. 
A  hundred  witnesses  appeared  who 
all  declared  they  had  last  seen  Pi- 
erre with  his  victim;  anonymous  let- 
ters simply  poured  in.  Then  it 
suddenly  turned  out  that  the  bullet 
did  not  fit  the  revolver  after  all,  that 
the  witnesses  had  all  allowed  them- 
selves to  be  influenced  by  the  famous 
self-suggestion  and  that  Pi&rre  was 
innocent.  The  newspapers  unani- 
mously accused  the  public  prosecutor, 
who  had  conducted  the  case,  of  hav- 
ing had  a  party  feeling  against  Pi- 
erre and  of  having  committed  a  crime 
himself,  by  letting  the  engineer 
languish  so  long  in  a  prison  cell.  The 
whole  of  the  tremendous  judicial  ap- 
paratus had  broken  down,  except  the 
fortune-teller  of  Nancy  .  .  .  There 
were  volumes  of  evidence,  experts' 
opinions  and  documents  all  for  this 
one  case.  And  the  murderer  is  at 
liberty  to  this  very   day! 

The  above  incident,  which  is  typi- 
cal French  justice,  occurred  in  times 
of  peace.  How  can  we,  then,  in 
times  of  war,  in  the  heat  of  battles 
and  amid  the  maddest  anxiety,  place 
the  slightest  confidence  in  the  recol- 
lections and  statements  of  these 
peasants  and   villagers? 

For  the  only  person  who  could 
have  flabbergasted  us  in  this  report 
of  the  examining  magistrates  Pay- 
elle, Mollard,  Maringer  and  Paillot 
on  the  "German  atrocities,"  the  for- 
tune-teller of  Nancy  is  missing.  Un- 
til she  has  found  the  proofs  of  all 
the  German  atrocities  in  the  dregs 
of  her  coffee-cup  the  "terrible  and 
painful  accusation"  would  bo  incom- 
plete, even  if  another  "hundred 
pages"  were  to  be  added! 


The  Press  Room  Campaign  in  the  United  States 
With  Now  and  Then  a  Dum-Dum  ! 


DRRNBURG   CUTS   WEB  OF   LIKS. 


I'rom  "The  Fatherland,"  Xew  York, 
S<'pteniher   :{(»,    11)14: 

The  article  by  Dr.  Hernhard  Dern- 
burg,  formerly  Germany's  Colonial 
Secretary,  in  which  he  explains  to 
American  readers  in  the  "Sun"  the 
constitutional  limitations  of  the  Kai- 
ser,  cuts   clean   through    the   web   of 


lies  spun  by  the  New  York  "Times" 
and  "Herald's"  henchmen  around  the 
person  of  the  German  Emperor. 
Vainly  the  "Times"  with  waning 
logic,  attempts  to  confuse  the  issue 
by  declaring  that  the  German  Reich- 
stag is  not  truly  representative  of 
the  people  because  the  apportion- 
ment of  votes  is  not  entirely  just. 
"The  Fatherland"  believes  that,  after 
the  war,  radical  reforms  In  the  elec- 


tive machinery  of  the  German  Em- 
pire will  be  made.  Meanwhile  we 
prefer  the  German  system,  even  with 
its  limitations,  to  an  apportionment 
of  districts,  by  American  politicians, 
gerrymandering  the  country  over  the 
poker  table  of  a  political  club,  or 
to  the  Russian  system,  where  the 
knout  of  the  Cossack  or  the  bomb 
of  the  Nihilist  decides  all  political 
Issues. 


306 


EVOLUTION   BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


HOW  THE  BOSTON   TRAXSCRIPT 
DOES  IT. 


The  Fatherland,  New  York. 

Hugo  Muensterberg. 

Since  the  beginning  of  tlie  war  the 
American  newspapers  have  divided 
into  rather  distinct  classes.  A  very 
small  group  favors  Germany,  a  con- 
siderable group  stands  squarely  on 
the  neutrality  proclamation  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  giving  really  equal 
chance  to  both  sides  of  the  war. 
Then  there  is  a  much  larger  group 
which  professes  fairness  but  from  in- 
born or  nurtured  prejudice  leans 
strongly  toward  the  allies  and  is  un- 
fair to  Germany.  Then  follows  a 
group  which  is  not  only  unfair,  but 
malicious,  and  finally  a  group  by 
itself,  the  Boston  "Transcript."  On 
the  whole  the  Boston  newspapers  try 
to  be  fair.  The  Boston  "Traveller," 
the  Boston  "Journal,"  the  Boston 
"Post,"  the  Boston  "American,"  and 
the  most  influential  paper  of  the  city, 
the  Boston  "Herald,"  have  shown  an 
earnest  desire  to  understand  both 
sides  in  the  war.  The  "Transcript" 
has  not  been  concerned  with  such 
minor  considerations  as  justice  and 
fairness,  but  has  from  the  start  piled 
up  in  its  columns  heaps  of  distorted 
news  and  venomous  vituperations. 
Those  who  tried  to  plead  for  fair  play 
and  thus  to  protect  Germany  against 
these  hateful  attacks  have  been  sys- 
tematically treated  like  the  German 
nation  itself;  and  as  I  was  nearest,  I 
was  the  most  convenient  target  for 
ruthless  denunciations.  Needless  to 
say  that  the  "Transcript"  opened  Its 
columns  to  the  kind  request  that  Pro- 
fessor Francke  and  I  be  dismissed 
from  Harvard  University  because  we 
dared  to  defend  the  German  cause. 
This  campaign  against  me  does  not 
disturb  me.  It  is  not  the  first  time  In 
my  life  that  in  the  service  of  truth 
I  have  stood  for  an  unpopular  cause, 
and  I  am  accustomed  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  the  battle.  But  I  do  be- 
come disturbed  when  the  malicious 
fight  against  my  person  is  used  as  a 
means  to  harm  the  German  cause 
itself.  In  such  a  case  it  is  my  duty 
to  call  public  attention  to  the 
schemes  applied.  I  use  as  an  illustra- 
tion the  Boston  "Transcript's"  bril- 
liant action  against  my  recent  book. 

Last  winter,  when  nobody  thought 
of  war,  the  editor  of  the  Boston 
"Transcript"  begged  me  to  allow  him 
to  see  my  new  books  a  few  days  be- 
fore their  appearance.  He  had  heard 
that  a  New  York  paper  had  asked  for 
the  same  right,  and  as  he  appreciated 
the  news  value  of  printing  short  ab- 
stracts from  a  book  before  its  pub- 
lication, he  asked  this  favor  for  the 
Boston  "Transcript."  I  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  fulfil  this  request  in  the  case 
of  my  war  book,  as  I  know  such 
quotations  would  at  last  bring  the 
voice  of  fairness  into  the  wilderness 
of  the  "Transcript"  pages.  The 
sheets  of  the  book  were  accordingly 
sent  to  the  "Transcript"  four  days 
before  publication  with  a  letter  say- 
ing that  the  editor  might  publish  any 
six  to  seven  pages  from  the  book  be- 
forehand. The  publisher  saw  in  this 
a  fair  bargain;  it  would  give  to  the 
newspaper    the    requested    and    much 


sought  advantage  of  publishing  a 
fragment  of  a  new  book  before  its  ap- 
pearance, and  it  would  give  to  the 
book  the  advantage  of  being  brought 
in  a  friendly  way  to  the  notice  of  the 
public,  which  would  feel  inclined  to 
seek  the  book  and  to  read  it  as  soon 
as  it  came  out.  Exactly  the  same 
thing  was  done  with  three  other 
papers,  the  Brooklyn  "Eagle,"  the 
New  York  "Sun"  and  the  Boston 
"Herald";  and  all  of  these  did,  of 
course,  the  decent  thing;  they  pub- 
lished some  pages,  thus  gladly  ac- 
knowledging the  publisher's  courtesy. 
What  did  the  "Transcript"  do?  It 
was  quickly  recognized  in  the  edi- 
torial rooms  that  this  book  with  its 
insistent  claim  for  fair  play  might 
make  dangerous  breaches  in  the  wall 
of  anti-Germanism  behind  which  the 
"Transcript"  is  sheltered.  The  safest 
scheme  was  therefore  to  use  the  few 
days  before  the  appearance  of  the 
book  to  discredit  the  author  and  to 
create  indignation  which  could  pre- 
vent the  public  from  reading  it.  Only 
one  way  was  open.  The  public  must 
be  made  to  believe  that  I  had  insulted 
tlie  Americans,  and  tlierefore  deserve 
to  be  punished  by  their  ignoring  my 
book.  The  pages  of  the  book  itself 
did  not  contain  such  insults.  Hence 
they  had  to  be  invented.  Two  days 
before  the  book  came  out  the  "Tran- 
script" published  in  a  most  conspicu- 
ous place  an  article  the  heading  of 
which  says  that  my  new  book  is  "sin- 
gularly unfair  to  Americans."  It  be- 
gins with  the  absurd  statement  that 
I  have  expanded  into  a  book  my 
earlier  papers  in  support  of  the  Ger- 
man cause.  This  neat  introductory 
effort  is  to  give  the  impression  that 
those  who  read  my  articles  in  the 
newspapers  have  no  reason  to  look 
into  my  book.  After  this  clever  trick 
the  book  itself  is  characterized  by 
quotations  like  "American  penchant 
for  lynching,"  "popular  ignorance," 
"prone  to  act  like  sheep,"  and  so  on. 
Now  there  is  not  a  single  word  about 
the  penchant  for  lynching  or  of  the 
thinking  like  sheep  or  any  other  in- 
sulting phrase  in  my  whole  book.  I 
make  this  affirmation  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  "Transcript"  sometimes 
even  adds  the  words  "he  says"  after 
phrases  which  I  have  never  said  in 
my  life.  For  instance,  when  the 
sheep  come  for  the  second  time: 
"Our  opinions  have  all  been  formed 
with  the  unanimity  of  sheep,  he 
says."  Everyone  who  knows  me 
knows  that  such  a  zoological  com- 
parison would  be  entirely  impossible 
in  any  writing  of  mine.  Yet  such 
inventions  are  very  well  chosen  to 
awaken  disgust  with  the  forthcoming 
book  and  to  kill  its  effects  on  public 
opinion  beforehand. 

This  seems  exaggerated,  as  every- 
one knows  that  the  "Transcript"  has 
an  extremely  small  circulation  and 
has  very  small  political  influence,  as 
its  editorial  page  stands  so  far  below 
that  of  the  Boston  "Herald."  Yet  it 
is  read  in  the  residential  districts  of 
Boston  and  suburbs  on  account  of  its 
good  literary  essays,  and  thus  even 
its  political  articles  do  indeed  have  a 
chance  to  poison  the  atmosphere. 
But  the  far  more  important  factor  is 
that  just  on  account  of  its  being  un- 
known in  the  outer  world,  corre- 
spondents   of   other    and    more    read 


papers  can  comfortably  draw  from  its 
columns  for  their  dispatches.  Here 
was  a  flne  opportunity  for  it.  The 
correspondents,  no  one  of  whom  had 
seen  the  book,  wired  to  their  papers 
that  a  book  by  me  on  the  war  was  to 
appear,  which  was  extremely  unfair 
to  the  Americans  and  which  insulted 
them  by  comparing  them  with  sheep 
and  by  speaking  of  their  ignorance 
and   of   their  penchant  for   lynching. 

"Indeed,  Professor  MUnsterberg  is 
not  careful  of  his  facts  and  frequently 
exposes  himself  to  the  charge  of  mis- 
representation, and  either  disregard 
for  truth  or  ignorance  of  it.  His  un- 
fair treatment  of  ex-President  Eliot  is 
a  case  in  point.  "With  easy  dexterity 
he  turns  Dr.  Eliot's  felicitous  phrase 
of  advice,  'to  seize  every  opportunity 
that  may  present  itself  to  further  the 
cause  of  human  freedom  and  of  peace 
at  last.'  into  the  astonishing  phrase, 
'to  seize  every  opportunity  for  attack- 
ing GeiTuany.'  (The  bold  face  is 
ours.) " 

Now,  as  I  read  this  article  without 
having  read  the  book,  my  impression 
was  what  I  believe  most  readers  will 
get,  namely,  that  Professor  Miinster- 
berg  had  misquoted  Dr.  Eliot  either 
accidentally  as  a  mere  lapsus  calumi, 
or  purposely.  The  purpose  of  the 
reviewer,  in  my  opinion,  was  un- 
doubtedly to  inculcate  the  latter  be- 
lief into  the  minds  of  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  its  limited  circle  of  readers, 
who  will  undoubtedly  not  take  the 
trouble  to  really  inform  themselves 
on  the  matter.  When,  however,  one 
reads  the  passage  in  the  "War  and 
America"  and  discovers  that  Profes- 
sor MUnsterberg,  while  treating  the 
shallow,  ignorant  and  prejudiced  ut- 
terances of  ex-President  Eliot  much 
more  considerately  than  they  can  pos- 
sibly deserve,  quotes  him  exactly; 
when  one  realizes  that  the  second 
passage  quoted  in  the  "Independent" 
is  not  a  quotation  from  ex-President 
Eliot  at  all,  but  a  quotation  from  the 
book,  in  which  Professor  Miinster- 
berg  merely  draws  the  inevitable  con- 
clusion contained  in  ex-President 
Eliot's  declaration ;  then  one  gets  a 
quite  different  impression  of  the 
meaning  of  the  charge  in  the  "Inde- 
pendent." Underhanded  attempts 
such  as  this,  and  many  others  that 
might  be  chronicled,  serve  to  show 
the  desperate  situation  in  which  the 
Allies  find  themselves  in  any  attempt 
to  justify  their  course  before  the 
thinking  public. 

It  is  to  this  portion  of  the  Ameri- 
can public,  not  to  the  rabble,  that 
"The  War  and  America"  is  addressed, 
to  those  not  yet  certain  that  "the 
Kaiser  did  it,"  "the  Crown  Prince 
did  it,"  "militarism  did  it,"  in  short, 
to  the  most  of  the  American  people 
who  do  not  read  Elbert  Hubbard's 
drivel  and  live  upon  his  plane  of 
life.  Most  other  people  will  find  this 
book  impartial  almost  to  a  fault,  par- 
ticularly in  its  treatment  of  the  Brit- 
ish point  of  view.  Many  a  time,  as  I 
have  read  certain  passages,  I  have 
had  the  conviction  that  the  English 
point  of  view  on  certain  questions 
was  deserving  really  of  much  less 
consideration  than  was  given  it,  that 
an  evaluation  of  conflicting  aims 
might  well  have  been  made,  instead 
of   merely    presenting   statements    of 


PRESS  ROOM  CAMPAIGN— UNITED  STATES 


307 


facts.  The  reason  is  to  be  sought, 
in  my  opinion,  in  the  fact  that  a  na- 
tive German,  in  attempting  to  pre- 
sent a  strictly  neutral  statement  of 
the  situation,  has  undoubtedly  sup- 
pressed a  great  deal  that  he  would 
be  thoroughly  Justified  in  saying  "in 
words  hard  as  cannon  balls."  To  ac- 
cuse such  a  book  of  impartiality  is 
merely  to  descend  to  the  plane  of 
mean  insinuation. 

"The  War  and  America"  discusses 
the  essential  factors  and  issues  in  the 
war  and  their  meaning  for  America 
under  the  chapter  heads;  "The  Ag- 
gressors," "The  Anti-German  Senti- 
ment," "The  German-Americans," 
"The  Threatened  Provinces,"  "The 
English  Philosophers,"  "The  Rus- 
sians," "The  German  Policy,"  "The 
Kaiser,"  "The  Silent  Voices,"  "The 
Americans,"  and  "The  Morals  of  the 
War."  Its  main  purpose  is  to  make 
clear  the  facts  on  both  sides,  from 
which  alone  a  just  decision  can  be 
reaciied;  and  that  such  statements  as 
have  appeared  in  the  press  contin- 
ually are  based,  not  upon  facts,  but 
upon  guesses  and  purely  a  prior 
theorizing,  will  become  only  too  clear 
to  anybody  reading  this  book  in  an 
unprejudiced  frame  of  mind. 

Many  of  the  absurd  statements 
about  the  power  of  the  German  Em- 
peror, German  militarism  and  the 
domination  of  a  military  clique,  au- 
tocracy versus  democracy,  immediate 
responsibility  for  the  war,  and  the 
like  would  have  been  spared  us,  if  the 
host  of  closet-historians  produced  by 
the  present  crisis  had  only  been  in 
possession  of  a  small  part  of  the  facts 
of  this  book  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war. 

Those  like  ex-President  Eliot,  for 
whom  republicanism  is  the  alpha  and 
omega  of  government  for  all  nations, 
irrespective  of  their  historical  tra- 
ditions and  stage  of  development, 
will  find  in  the  chapter  on  the 
"Kaiser"  the  German  point  of  view 
explained  in  a  matter  of  fact  way, 
with  which  the  most  enthusiastic  re- 
publican can  find  no  fault,  even 
though  he  may  prefer  his  own  point 
of  view  for  his  own  country.  The 
price  of  the  book  should  place  it  in 
the  reach  of  every  one;  and  the  in- 
formation is  first  hand  and  so  valu- 
able that  nobody  desiring  to  be  com- 
pletely in  touch  with  the  present  sit- 
iiation  can  afford  to  do  without  it. — 
Herbert  Sanborn  (Vanderbilt  Univer- 
sity). 

Refore  receiving  my  copy  of  Pro- 
Professor  Miinsterberg's  book  on  the 
present  war  I  had  read  a  review  of 
it  in  the  "Independent,"  which  had 
astonished  me.  Under  the  date  of 
October  5,  a  writer  in  that  maga- 
zine criticizes  this  book  as  being  un- 
fair, and  charges  Professor  Miinster- 
berg  flatly  with  either  ignorance  or 
knavery.  When  one  sees,  however, 
the  way  in  which  the  "Independent" 
attempts  to  establish  this  allegation 
one  gains  a  bit  more  insight  into  the 
method  which  Germany's  adversaries 
find  themselves  forced  to  adopt.  The 
author  of  that  review  shows  not 
merely  that  he  has  not  understood 
the  book,  but  that  he  has  tried  ener- 
getically to  misinterpret  it,  and  the 
following  is  a  case  in  point: 


These  good  men  had  no  idea  that  the 
"Transcript"  had  led  them  into  a  trap 
and  that  not  one  word  of  it  was 
really  in  my  book.  But  their  dis- 
patches worked  havoc.  To  give  an 
illustration,  such  a  dispatch  was  sent 
to  the  Washington  "Star."  From 
there  it  spread  all  over  Washington. 
The  next  day  the  Washington  "Post" 
brought  out  its  first  editorial,  a  wild 
attack  on  me,  under  the  title  "The 
Public  an  Ass."  The  editorial  says 
that  the  German  Emperor  himself 
has  appealed  to  the  intelligence  and 
fairmindedness  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, but  "Professor  Miinsterberg 
rushes  in  with  the  suggestion  that 
the  judges  are  a  lot  of  sheep  and 
asses."  Xo  one  who  knows  the  Bos- 
ton "Transcript"  can  have  been  sur- 
prised that  even  this  editorial  of  the 
Washington  "Post,"  based  on  the 
falsehood  spread  by  the  Boston 
"Transcript"  itself,  was  then  re- 
printed by  the  "Transcript"  like  an 
independent  confirmation.  I  tried  to 
set  myself  right  before  the  readers  of 
the  "Transcript"  and  asked  the  editor 
to  print  a  letter  in  which  I  insisted 
that  none  of  those  insulting  phrases 
appeared  in  my  book.  It  was  only 
consistent  that  while  the  "Tran- 
script" has  ample  room  tor  the  most 
trivial  letters  from  any  crank,  the 
editors  refused  to  print  my  letter. 
Their  readers  must  be  hermetically 
protected  against  the  truth.  I  must 
remain  to  them  the  man  who  is  un- 
fair to  the  American  people.  And 
this  is  the  same  "Transcript"  which 
some  years  ago  when  my  book  on 
"The  Americans"  appeared  wrote 
that  it  was  by  far  the  best  and  the 
fairest  book  on  the  Americans  ever 
written,  claimed  even  its  superiority 
to  Bryce  and  insisted  that  I  had  done 
a  lasting  service  to  the  American  na- 
tion by  writing  that  book  for  the 
European  public.  For  twenty  years 
I  was  in  the  eyes  of  the  "Transcript" 
the  fair  and  faithful  interpreter  of 
the  American  mind.  All  is  suddenly 
forgotten,  because  my  book  which 
stands  for  fairness  must  be  crushed 
by  any  possible  means. 

(Reprinted      from      "The     Father- 
land," New  York,  November  4,  1914.) 


AX   AMAZING   CONFESSION. 


(Editorial  from  the  "Milwaukee 
Free  Press,"   September  3,    1914.) 

The  letter  of  J.  Rankin  Towse, 
London  correspondent  of  The  Na- 
tion, in  the  current  issue  of  that 
weekly,  throws  a  sinister  light  upon 
England's  part  in  the  precipitation 
of  the  European  war.  Bearing  in 
mind  that  this  letter  was  dated  Au- 
gtist  11,  and  that  war  between  Great 
Britain  and  Germany  was  declared 
August  4,  we  invite  the  careful  peru- 
sal of  this  paragraph  from  Mr. 
Towse's  letter: 

"The  promptitude,  the  secrecy,  and 
the  order  with  which  the  (British) 
government  acted  were  extraordinary. 
It  is  only  now  leaking  out  that  pre- 
parations for  war  began  three  months 
ago.  I  know  that  some  naval  reserve 
officers  were  then  assigned  to  their 
respective  ships,  and  I  am  assured, 
on  what  I  believe  to  be  responsible 


authority,  that  Lord  Kitchener  went 
secretly  to  Belgium  a  few  weeks  ago 
to  arrange  with  the  Belgian  head- 
quarters staff  about  the  disposition 
of  our  expeditionary  force.  A  large 
part  of  that  force  was  in  Dover  a 
week  or  so  ago.  The  old  place  was 
thick  with  soldiers  one  night;  the 
next  morning  they  had  vanished. 
During  the  night  they  were  all  en- 
trained for  Folkstone,  where  they 
were  put  on  transports  and  dis- 
patched. At  the  same  time  a  fleet  of 
great  steamers,  loaded  to  bulwarks 
with  khaki  clad  soldiers,  sailed  out 
of  Southampton.  I  heard  yesterday, 
from  a  good  source,  that  100,000 
British  soldiers  were  in  Belgium  last 
Tuesday   (August  4)." 

Since  Mr.  Towse,  like  The  Nation, 
is  strongly  Anglophile,  this  state- 
ment comes  from  a  friendly  observer 
on  the  ground. 

If  true,  what  does  it  reveal  with 
regard  to  England's  claims  of  pacific 
and  neutral  purpose  toward  this  war? 
It  reveals  that  they  are  hypocriticaJ 
humbug. 

Sir  Edward  Grey  has  tried  to  con- 
vince the  world  through  the  British 
White  Book  that  he  sought  peace  up 
to  the  last  moment;  yet  here  is  the 
statement  of  a  pro-Britain  that  the 
government  began  to  prepare  for  this 
war  months  ago;  that  "the  mobiliza- 
tion of  the  British  fleet  was  accom- 
plished then,  secretly,  under  the  pre- 
tense of  a  review  before  the  king, 
that  many  days  prior  to  Germany  s 
declaration  of  war  upon  Russia  "Lord 
Kitchener  went  secretly  to  Belgium" 
to  arrange  for  the  disposition  of  the 
British. 

No  wonder,  in  that  event,  that 
Great  Britain  refused  to  meet  Ger- 
many's proposal  that  she  guarantee 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium! 

More  than  that.  Mr.  Towse  deposes 
that  while  John  Bull  was  protesting 
his  desire  to  remain  neutral  and  dis- 
cussing the  conditions  with  Germany, 
he  was  quietly  engaged  in  landing 
soldiers  in  Belgium  and  already  had 
100,000  on  Belgian  soil  prior  to 
August  4  when  war  was  declared. 

We  will  not  ask  our  readers  to  be- 
lieve all  this,  although  Mr.  Towse 
is  said  to  be  exceptionally  careful  in 
the  report  of  alleged  facts.  What 
we  wish  to  emphasize  is  that  thlB 
Anglophile  correspondent,  like  the 
British  public,  admires  this  British 
forchandedness— the  very  thing  con- 
demned in  the  Germans— and  finds 
no  inconsistency  between  it  and  Eng- 
land's professions. 


No  matter  what  additional  evi- 
dence continually  comes  to  light,  dis- 
proving all  that  has  been  said  against 
the  Kaiser  and  Germany,  "The  Out- 
look" continues  to  believe  all  ab- 
surdities emanating  from  the  Lon- 
don-Paris Co.,  Unlimited,  as  long  as 
they  sav  something  despicable  about 
Germany  and  her  "barbarian'  inhab- 
itants, it  is  accepted  as  gospel  truth. 

For  the  Rev.  Dr.  Abbott  to  listen 
to  and  weigh  reasonable  argument  of 
the  other  side,  which  possibly  might 
change  his  mind  and  make  him  ac- 
knowledge his  mistake,  would  be  too 
much  to  expect. 


308 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


POWER   OF   THE   PRESS. 


Associated     Press     Unchecked,      Not 

Verified — Newspapers   Are  Only 

Mental    Pood    for   Many — 

Doctored,   Distorted, 

Colored. 


Enormous  Influence  of  British  Press 
on  Every  Pree-Born  American. 


Accept   News   and  Opinions  of   Daily 
Papers   with  Reserve. 


The  Origin  of  News. 

There  has  been  an  immense 
amount  of  discussion  and  a  great 
deal  of  writing  on  the  subject  of 
the  responsibility  for  the  Great  Eu- 
ropean War.  It  is  only  natural  that 
this  important  matter  should  be  dis- 
cussed, but  it  is  most  remarkable 
that  newspaper  editorials  have  been 
distinctly  one-sided.  That  there 
should  be  some  bias  in  the  case  of 
American  newspapers  is  easily  ex- 
plained, if  we  investigate  the  proc- 
ess by  which  news  is  gathered,  if  we 
investigate  its  origin.  Sometimes  it 
may  happen  that  this  is  gathered  by 
someone  who  unconsciously  distorts 
It  with  this  point  of  view.  Sometimes 
it  is  unconsciously  manufactured.  In 
this  case — quick  as  a  flash,  many  of 
our  prominent  English  newspapers 
have  put  the  whole  blame  of  this 
Great  European  War  on  Germany. 
They  have  made  no  examination  of 
the  situation,  have  made  no  search 
for  deeper  causes.  American  papers 
blamed  Germany  and  the  German 
Kaiser,  just  because  some  British 
newspapers  blamed  the  Germans  and 
the  German  Kaiser.  Now  is  this 
fair?     Let  us  see. 

So  that  this  subject  might  be  fully 
understood  let  us  investigate  how 
the  "news"  is  gathered.  Newspapers 
have  to  buy  "news,"  just  as  a  gro- 
cer will  have  to  buy  his  flour  and 
his  supplies,  in  order  to  sell  them 
to  you.  The  grocer  is  naturally  in- 
terested in  buying  his  product  at  the 
lowest  price  possible,  and  in  selling 
to  you  at  the  highest  price  possible. 
The  difference  between  the  two  is 
his  profit.  The  same  thing  applies 
to  "news."  There  are  four  large 
sources  of  expense  connected  with 
the  production  of  a  newspaper: 

1st — "News;"  its  gathering,  writ- 
ing, and  producing. 

2nd — Paper;  cost  of  material,  etc. 

3rd — Machinery;  presses,  mainte- 
nance, interest,  etc. 

4th — Delivery;  of  the  finished 
newspaper. 

A  very  large  percentage  of  total 
expenses  is  eaten  up  by  the  "news" 
in  its  gathering,  and  its  reproduction. 
When  compared  with  a  grocer  the 
newspaper  is  even  worse  off,  because 
the  grocer  can  advance  his  price, 
whereas  a  newspaper  Is  sold  at  a 
fixed  price. 

Consequently,  newspapers  are  con- 
stantly looking  for  the  cheapest  way 
of  getting  "news."  A  distinct  proof 
of  this  cheapening  process  is  the 
"Associated  Press." 


The   Associated    Press — Its   Purpose. 

The  "Associated  Press"  is  an  or- 
ganization which  gathers  news  for  all 
the  newspapers.  It  is  a  mutual  or- 
ganization to  save  money  and  avoid 
extra  work.  This  idea  is  good,  but 
it  has  great  dangers.  Formerly  every 
newspaper  gathered  its  own  news. 
The  proprietors  of  papers  knew  that 
they  were  spending  a  great  amount 
of  extra  money  in  buying  their  "ma- 
terial." Therefore,  they  organized 
the  Associated  Press,  which  is  now 
almost  alone  prevalent  at  least  in 
gathering  the  "news"  for  most  of 
the  large  city  papers.  As  a  result, 
the  newspaper  owners  save  untold 
thousands  of  dollars  every  year.  All 
of  the  papers  belonging  to  this  as- 
sociation get  the  same  material,  and 
you  may  have  noticed  by  comparing 
various  papers  that  every  one  of  them 
has  the  same  article,  word  for  word, 
and  letter  for  letter.  Some  of  our 
papers  have  a  small  independent 
news-service  of  their  own,  but,  gen- 
erally speaking,  the  above  statement 
is  correct. 

The  .Associated  Press  a  Monopoly. 

The  Associated  Press  has  some- 
times been  called  one  of  the  strong- 
est "trusts"  of  monopolies  in  the 
United  States.  Various  newspapers 
(such  as  the  N.  Y.  "Sun")  have  been 
trying  to  break  this  monopoly,  but 
so  far  have  not  been  successful. 
Only  a  technicality  has  until  now 
saved  the  Associated  Press  from  be- 
ing declared  an  unlawful  monopoly. 
This  technicality  is  that  the  Asso- 
ciated Press  is  a  mutual  association 
without  the  purpose  of  profit.  They 
have  contended  that  a  monopoly  can 
only  be  unlawful  if  it  makes  exces- 
sive profits.  In  other  words,  they 
have  called  the  attention  of  the 
courts  to  the  so-called  "good  trusts," 
and  the  so-called  "bad  trusts,"  about 
which  you  have  heard  so  much  dur- 
ing the  last  few  years;  and  I  sup- 
pose that  they  style  themselves  a 
very  good  trust,  because  they  do  not 
make  any  profit  at  all!  Is  this  really 
so?  From  more  than  one  point  of 
view,  it  is  merely  a  subterfuge,  be- 
cause it  is  a  fact  that  each  of  the 
newspapers  belonging  to  the  Associa- 
tion have  two  great  advantages:  1st, 
They  are  receiving  their  news  quick- 
ly. 2nd,  They  are  receiving  it  cheap- 
ly. Now,  you  know  Time  is  money, 
and  money  saved  is  money  earned. 
In  other  words,  while  the  Association 
itself  does  not  make  any  profit,  the 
proprietors  do  make  a  great  amount 
of  profit. 

Power  of  the  Press. 

Now,  it  the  Associated  Press  or 
the  Press  should  desire  to  influence 
its  news  in  one  direction  or  another. 
It  could  easily  do  it,  and  it  will  be 
read  by  millions  of  people  each  da^f. 
Many  people  believe  more  or  less  of 
what  they  read.  It  may  issue  wrong 
news,  because  of  lack  of  investiga- 
tion at  the  main  office.  It  may  issue 
erroneous  news,  because  of  lack  of 
full  knowledge  on  a  particular  sub- 
ject. News  is  often  printed  which 
any  man,  well  versed  in  the  subject 
will  at  once  discover  to  be  wrong. 

When  I  make  these  remarks,  I 
do  not  mean  to  imply  that  the  Press 


issues  knowingly  or  maliciously  any 

wrong  statement;  I  merely  wish  to 
call  your  attention  to  their  careless- 
ness and  to  certain  worse  possibili- 
ties. For  instance,  can  it  not  be 
propable  that  there  is  a  slight  color- 
ing, a  slight  partiality,  a  slight  lean- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  makers  of 
THIS  news;  a  subtle  influence 
stamped  upon  it  because  of  its  pe- 
culiar origin? 

Briefiy,  then,  the  Associated  Press 
is  a  money-maker  for  the  newspapers. 
It  is  a  great  central  monopoly  or 
"trust"  for  news.  And  the  Press  Is 
an  institution  where  a  few  men  have 
the  power  to  influence  you  in  the 
right  or  in  the  wrong  direction,  by 
possibly  giving  you  slightly  "colored" 
news,  or  information.      *      »      » 


WILL  THE  NEW  YORK  WORLD 
EXPLAIN? 


The  Vital  Issue,  New  York. 

Numerous  complaints  have  been 
received  from  correspondents  that 
letters  addressed  to  newspapers  were 
either  not  printed  or  mutilated.  It 
is  pretty  hard  to  give  actual  and  posi- 
tive proof  of  this,  because  usually 
the  newspapers  cover  up  their  tracks. 
But  we  have  at  least  one  case  which 
we  will  prove,  and  in  the  following 
we  are  going  to  entertain  our  read- 
ers with  a  remarkable  instance. 

A  certain  gentleman  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  "New  York  World,"  as  per 
Exhibit  "A,"  and  the  "New  York 
World"  printed  the  letter  as  per  Ex- 
hibit "B."  The  writer  of  the  letter 
was  highly  indignant  that  his  corre- 
spondence should  be  mutilated,  and 
below  we  publish  his  statement  un- 
der oath: 

The  undersigned  hereby  deposes 
and  says: 

First.  On  September  5th,  1914,  I 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Editor  of  the 
New  York  "World,"  New  York  City, 
as  per  Exhibit  "A." 

Second.  On  September  7th  I 
bought  a  copy  of  the  "World"  from 
a  news  stand,  in  which  only  part  ot 
my  letter  appeared,  as  sent  to  the 
"World"  as  per  Exhibit  "B." 

Third.  I  noticed  immediately  that 
the  Editor  ot  the  New  York  "World" 
omitted  the  most  essential  part  of  my 
letter,  thereby  giving  my  letter  a 
color  entirely  different  from  my  orig- 
inal statements  and  intentions. 
(Signed)  MAX    VIEWEGER. 

(Witness)         MARY   W.   WALLACE. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me 
this   1.5th  day  of  September,   1914. 

(Seal)         MARY  W.  WALLACE, 
Notary  Public,  New  York  County,  No. 

4211;   Register  No.  5250. 

E.xhibit  "A." 

September  5th,  1914. 
The    Editor,    The   World,    New    York 

City. 

Dear  Sir: — Your  paper  is  to  be  con- 
gratulated on  the  lucky  coincidence 
ot  its  president,  Mr.  Ralph  Pulitzer, 
being  in  Germany  at  the  present 
time.  The  accounts  written  by  him 
of  conditions  in  that  country  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  bear  the  ear- 
marks   of    intelligent    understanding 


PRESS  ROOM  CAMPAIGN'— UNITED  STATES 


309 


or  at  least  an  earnest  effort  to  get  at 
the  truth.  It  must  be  hoped  that  this 
will  have  the  proper  effect  on  the  edi- 
torial attitude  of  your  paper,  which 
up  till  now  has  been  hopelessly  un- 
fair, not  to  say  hostile  to  the  Ger- 
man side.  Today's  contribution  of 
Mr.  Ralph  Pulitzer,  for  instance, 
seems  to  me  to  knock  out  completely 
your  editorial,  "Autocracy  or  Democ- 
racy," and  similar  efforts  of  the  same 
tenor. 

I,  for  one,  hope  that  "The  World" 
will  take  editorial  cognizance  of  its 
egregious  misconception  of  the  war 
and  make  amends  for  it  as  far  as  pos- 
sible.    Sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)  MAX  VIEWEGER. 

Exhibit  "B." 
Mr.  Pulitzer's  Letter  From  Germany. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  World: 

Your  paper  is  to  be  congratulated 
on  the  lucky  coincidence  of  its  pres- 
ident, Mr.  Ralph  Pulitzer,  being  in 
Germany  at  the  present  time.  The 
accounts  written  by  him  of  condi- 
tions in  that  country  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  bear  the  earmarks  of  in- 
telligent understanding  and  earnest 
effort  to  get  at  the  truth. 

MAX  VIEWEGER. 
New  York,  Sept.  a. 


THE  POLICY  OF  A  DOMIXEERIXG 
PRESS. 


SEKVIXG  THE  NEWS. 


(From  "The  Fatherland,"  New  York, 
October  7,   1914.) 

Mr.  Joseph  Medill  Patterson,  the 
correspondent  of  "The  Chicago  Trib- 
une," writing  to  that  paper  from 
The  Hague  under  date  of  Septem- 
ber 11,  defends  the  Germans  from 
charges  of  wanton  cruelty  in  Bel- 
gium and  France,  and  incidentally 
casts  an  illuminating  side-light  on 
the  manner  in  which  the  war  news  is 
served  to  American  readers.  He  says: 

"I  have  just  returned  from  Ger- 
many, and  anything  I  may  write  can- 
not be  in  the  least  influenced  by  the 
fear  of  German  censorship. 

"British  censorship,  however,  is  to 
be  feared.  .\H  the  American  corre- 
s[>on(lents  in  Kerlin  repoi-t  that  not 
onl.v  have  vital  facts  of  their  dis- 
palche.s  l)een  cut  out  liy  Briti.sh  cen- 
sorss,  but  otlier  wholly  uutrue  dis- 
patche.s  have  been  added." 

Does  any  intelligent,  thinking 
American  believe  one-half  of  the  col- 
ored news  dispatches  which  are 
cabled  over  about  German  cruelty 
and   English   heroism? 

An  illustration:  On  September  23 
news  came  that  the  Germans  had  de- 
stroyed three  British  cruisers  in  the 
North  Sea  with  a  loss  of  1,200  men. 
The  next  morning  there  appeared  In 
the  New  York  papers  a  column  cable 
dispatch  of  an  interview  with  the 
chief  gunner  of  the  ill-fated  "Cressy." 
He  related  circumstantially  an  amaz- 
ing achievement  of  his  gunners  in 
sinking  two  out  of  five  German  sub- 
marines. Yet  only  one  German  sub- 
marine wa.s  engaged,  the  U-». 

The  American  public  is  allowed  to 
hear  but  one  side  of  the  war,  the  side 
England  desires  it  to  hear.  No  faith 
can  be  attached  to  any  dispatches 
save  only  those  which  come  by  the 
Sayvllle  wireless  station. 


The  Xew  Y'orker  Staatz-Zeitung, 
Chicago. 

Herman  Kidder. 

In  considering  the  beginning  of 
the  present  war  it  is  well  to  have  in 
mind  that  there  is  a  sharp  difference 
between  causes  and  pretexts,  be- 
tween origins  and  occasions.  The 
aggression  of  Russia  was  the  chief 
cause  of  the  war;  her  defense  of 
Slavic  freedom  but  a  pretext.  The 
desire  of  Russia  for  a  greater  Slavic 
empire  was  the  origin,  the  Austrian 
ultimatum  to  Servia  but  the  occa- 
sion. 

I  have  read  nearly  everything  on 
the  war  that  has  appeared  in  our 
daily  press  during  the  last  month 
and  over,  and  I  have  yet  to  see  any 
mention  of  the  fact  that  Russia  en- 
tered upon  the  mobilization  of  her 
forces  a  year  before  the  assassin's 
shot  was  fired  at  Serajevo.  How, 
by  the  way,  do  those  who  charge 
the  German  Emperor  with  having 
brought  on  the  war,  explain  away 
this  fact?  How,  too,  do  they  ac- 
count for  the  joint  activities  and 
preparations  of  France  and  Russia 
during  1912  and  1913?  What  in- 
terpretation do  they  place  upon  the 
visits  of  General  Joffre  and  the  ar- 
rangements of  M.  Delcasse? 

I  know  how  public  opinion  is  cre- 
ated. I  have  too  often  seen  it  dom- 
inated by  the  press.  I  know,  too, 
that  for  many  years  a  section  of 
our  daily  press  was  subsidized  by 
the  Trusts  and  its  "news"  made  to 
order.  I  can  discern  the  work  still 
going  on,  but  under  a  new  paymas- 
ter. Inflammatory  headlines,  a  care- 
ful selection  of  reports  from  Paris 
and  London,  and,  finally,  bitter  edi- 
torial denunciation  of  the  German 
Emperor. 

The  daily  papers  forget  that  the 
origin  of  the  war  dates  further  back 
than  the  so-called  British  "White 
Paper,"  and  ask  us  to  close  our  eyes 
to  the  years  of  Russian  preparation 
which  preceded  the  appearance  of 
that  very  much  overestimated  docu- 
ment. In  its  leading  editorial  of  the 
7th  instant,  entitled,  "The  Truth 
About  Germany,"  the  "Times"  care- 
fully avoids  all  reference  to  Russia. 
Why  does  it  not  give  its  American 
readers  "The  Truth  About  Russia" 
as  well?  Can  the  "truth"  about  any 
one  of  the  powers  involved  in  the 
present  struggle  be  told  without  at 
the  same  time  telling  the  truth 
about  all? 

The  fact  is  that  neither  editori- 
ally nor  in  their  columns  are  the 
great  majority  of  the  American  news- 
papers giving  their  readers  at  the 
present  time  material  upon  which  to 
construct  an  unbiased  opinion  either 
of  the  causes  which  led  up  to  the 
war  or  of  the  progress  of  the  war  it- 
self. It  is  utterly  impossible  from  a 
reading  of  the  New  York  English 
newspapers  to  arrive  at  any  just  con- 
ception of  the  German  point  of  view. 
That  side  of  the  shield  is  not  pre- 
sented to  the  reading  public.  The 
"New  York  Herald"  has  frankly 
stated  that  It  will  not  print  reports 
received   from   Germany  by  wireless. 


Why  does  such  a  situation  exist? 
Is  it  because  Germany  has  not  one 
ounce  of  right  on  her  side?  Is  It 
because  the  German  Emperor  Is  held 
to  be  entirely  responsible  for  the 
war?  I  know,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
that  Germany  was  forced  into  hos- 
tilities by  Russia.  I  know,  too,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  that  the  German  Em- 
peror tried  by  every  honorable  means 
within  his  power  to  avoid  them.  And 
I  am  confident  that  the  judgment  of 
history  will  be  quite  clear  on  both  of 
these  points. 

Every  trick  of  journalism,  and  I 
know  the  game  from  the  pistol  to 
the  tape,  has  been  tried  to  win  the 
American  public  to  the  side  of  the 
Allies.  England,  especially,  has  gone 
to  the  limit  in  courting  the  "moral 
support"  of  the  American  people. 
Her  best  writers  and  not  a  few  of 
our  own  have  been  commissioned  to 
fill  the  American  newspapers  with 
the  English  side  of  the  controversy. 
The  pen  of  Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle, 
which  loaned  itself  for  the  same  pur- 
pose against  the  cause  of  Boer  lib- 
erty in  South  Africa,  and  the  sensa- 
tional quill  of  the  Novelist  Wells, 
are  busy  picturing  for  American  eyes 
the  horrors  of  a  German  triumph. 
Others  have  other  fields  to  cover.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  conceive  of 
one  way  in  which  during  these  first 
six  weeks  of  the  war  the  story  of 
England's  friendship  for  the  United 
States  and  of  her  righteous  entrance 
into  the  European  struggle  could 
have  been  presented  in  a  more  fa- 
vorable light  to  the  American  reader 
or  the  truth  about  Germany  and 
Austria  more  grotesquely,  and,  con- 
sequently, more  criminally  distorted. 

In  the  face  of  these  facts  the  New 
York  "Times"  seizes  upon  the  pub- 
lication of  a  book  by  some  of  the 
leading  minds  of  Germany,  de- 
signed to-set  forth  the  German  point 
of  view,  as  an  opportunity  to  re- 
mark: "A  case  that  enlists  pleaders 
of  this  high  distinction  must  in  truth 
need  buttressing."  It  is  needless 
to  point  out  the  way  in  which  the 
"Times"  would  like  its  remark  to 
he  taken.  The  unbiased  American 
is  very  likely,  however,  to  take  it 
in  an  opposite  sense.  The  case  of 
Germany  does  need  "buttressing" — 
buttressing  against  the  avalanche  of 
English,  French,  Russian  and  Ser- 
vian misstatements,  distortions  and 
subtle  prevarications  which  have  been 
sent  down  upon  it.  Left  to  itself, 
the  case  of  Germany  would  have 
required  no  support,  no  defense. 
Threatened  with  submergence  by  the 
mere  weight  of  the  numbers,  bribed 
or  bullied  against  it,  the  best  pens  of 
Germany  must  not  raise  a  voice  in 
the  defense  of  all  they  respect  and 
hold  dear  in  their  national  life!  A 
million  reams  for  the  allies  of  Eng- 
land, but  not  a  stick  for  Germany 
or  Austria  I  Is  that.  I  ask.  the  Amer- 
ican people's  earnest  desire?  Or  Is 
it  the  policy  of  a  domineering  press? 

"We  prize  above  the  approval  of 
all  other  mutual  nations  that  of  our 
kinsmen  (sic!)  who  share  our  Ideals 
(sic!)  and  speak  our  tongue,"  says 
the  "Times  of  London."  Undoubt- 
edly. Outside  of  Germany,  there  is 
no  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
whom  the  British  hate  more  or  feax 


EVOLUTION  BY  THE  LAW  OF  WAR 


more  than  they  do  these  same  "kins- 
men," and  it  was  only  to  be  expected 
that  in  a  contingency  in  which  the 
disapproval  o£  the  American  people 
might  have  seriously  inconvenienced 
British  policy,  every  nerve  and  every 
pen  should  have  been  strained  to 
secure  their  approval. 

"We  always  counted  on  the  sup- 
port of  American  opinion  in  the  war 
that  has  been  forced  on  us.  We 
counted  upon  it  so  securely  that  we 
at  first  neglected  means  which,  per- 
haps in  prudence,  we  should  have 
taken  to  secure  it." 

This  also  from  the  "Times"  of 
London. 

All  embracing  as  is  the  British 
press  agency,  it  still  needs  a  bit  of 
polishing  up,  co-ordinating,  and  the 
like.  Otherwise  small  kittens  like 
this  are  liable  to  slip  out  of  the  bag. 

The  first  shot  in  the  British  cam- 
paign to  subjugate  American  opin- 
ion and  capture  its  approval  was  not 
fired  after  the  inception  of  "the  war 
that  has  been  forced  upon  us,"  but 
as  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  1913. 
Writing  in  "The  Philadelphia  Press" 
of  August  2  6th,  Sir  Arthur  Conan 
Doyle  says:  "But  early  last  year 
my  views  underwent  a  complete 
change,"  and  therein  alludes  to  the 
articles  which  we  all  recall  having 
read  in  a  string  of  American  news- 
papers in  the  spring  of  last  year. 
That  article,  which  dealt  with  the 
same  work  of  Bernhardi  and  sup- 
plies the  text  for  the  more  recent 
writings  of  the  historian  alike  of  the 
Boer  War  and  of  Sherlock  Holmes, 
was  the  first  move  to  mould  Ameri- 
can opinion  in  connection  with  the 
present  war.  In  was  coincident  with 
the  increased  military  preparations 
of  France  and  Russia  and  may  be 
served  now  as  part  and  parcel  of 
those  general  activities  of  the  Alliee 
for  the  destruction  of  Germany, 
which  the  pro-English  press  find  it 
so  convenient  to  overlook  in  discuss- 
ing   "The    Truth    About    Germany." 

Just  at  present  the  pen  is  fooling 
most  of  the  people  all  the  time,  but 
this  cannot  continue  very  long.  The 
American  people  want  to  know  the 
facts,  and  in  the  end  they  are  going 
to  get  them.  When  the  truth  is  pub- 
lished, they  will  judge  the  matter  for 
themselves. 

I  am  quite  confident  of  the  out- 
come of  this  war.  Germany  has  a 
tremendous  task  before  her,  but  the 
German  people  are  not  unequal  to  it. 
It  takes  a  strong  heart  and  desper- 
ate courage  to  win  against  such 
odds,  but  I  know  the  temper  of  the 
Germans.  They  are  as  great  in  ad- 
versity as  in  triumph.  German  his- 
tory is  full  of  disappointments  and 
reverses,  but  it  is  also  full  of  heroic 
successes.  No  matter  how  one  feels 
today,  tomorrow  he  will  feel  a  thrill 
of  admiration  for  the  two  nations 
who  are  standing  alone  and  against 
whom   the   world   is   battling. 

I  have  met  many  Germans  during 
the  past  month  and  I  cannot  but  ad- 
mire the  note  of  hope  and  confidence 
in  their  voices  and  bearing.  As 
Germany  is  surrounded  by  her  en- 
emies, so  are  her  sympathizers  sur- 
rounded by  an  adverse  public  opin- 
ion. But  such  a  condition  can  be 
only  temporary.  In  defeat  or  in  vic- 
tory,  Germany  will  win   the  admira- 


tion of  the  world  by  her  courage  and 
forbearance. 

It  is  not  an  unmixed  evil  to  be 
in  the  ministry.  To  preach  the  gos- 
pel of  Germany  today  requires  a  cer- 
tain order  of  courage.  Let  no  well- 
wisher  of  Germany  fail  in  his  duty 
to  his  sympathies.  Russia  cannot 
avoid  the  responsibility.  I  have 
talked  to  many  men  and  I  have  in- 
variably received  the  answer,  "You 
are  right  in  what  you  say,  but  I  have 
never  heard  it  put  that  way  before." 
Unfortunately,  my  pen  is  weak.  I 
cannot  write  as  I  feel.  Expression 
escapes  me.  I  feel  the  truth  and 
yet  cannot  proclaim  It,  as  I  would 
wish.  My  mind  has  a  thousand  alms, 
yet  my  heart  but  one.  If  I  could 
but  speak  individually  to  each  and 
every  American,  I  know  that  I  should 
leave  with  him  a  seed  of  kindness 
toward  Germany,  a  little  understand- 
ing of  her  perils  and  a  little  sym- 
pathy for  her  position. 


A  DITERENCE  OF  POSITIONS. 

Xew  Y'orker  Staatz-Zeitung,  New 
York. 

Herman  Ridder. 

Throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  this  great  land  the  name  of  "Marse 
Henry"  is  a  familiar  one  to  newspa- 
per readers.  Dean  of  American  edi- 
torial writers,  and  among  the  most 
brilliant  as  well  as  picturesque  char- 
acters which  our  journalism  has  to 
offer,  Colonel  Watterson's  place  in 
our  national  life  is  unique.  So  it  is, 
that  when  I  regard  the  "Courier- 
Journal"  in  its  connection  with  Henry 
Watterson,  I  always  think  of  the 
lesser  as  geared  to  the  greater.  Per- 
sonality will  rise  above  enterprise  no 
less  in  journalism  than  in  other 
fields. 

I  know  the  Colonel  well.  I  have 
the  most  distinct  recollections  of  that 
charming  Southern  personality  of 
his.  As  a  prince  of  entertainers  he 
is  without  an  equal.  As  a  conversa- 
tionalist he  is  without  a  peer  among 
present-day  Americans.  The  charm 
of  his  liquid  Southern  accent  is  still 
in  my  ears.  His  voice  is  like  the 
music  of  yesterday.  Even  his  spaces 
of  silence  are  swept  with  song.  It 
is  not,  however,  that  we  admire 
"Marse  Henry,"  or  that  we  consider 
him  a  great  editor.  The  fact  that 
counts  and  will  count  is  that  we  love 
him. 

I  cannot,  however,  always  agree 
with  the  torrents  that  flow  from  his 
circumambient  pen.  Indirect  as  is 
the  challenge  offered  by  the  "Cou- 
rier-Journal," I  must  accept  it.  I 
cannot  pass  over  without  remark  a 
great  many  of  the  assertions  which 
its  talented  editor  has  permitted  him- 
self to  make. 

The  great  misconception  under 
which  so  many  of  my  well-meaning 
friends  are  apparently  laboring  is 
that  we,  German  sympathizers,  love 
our  own  United  States  the  less  be- 
cause in  this  cataclysmal  hour  we 
long  for  a  German  victory.  By  not 
one  single  emotion  of  patriotism,  by 
not  one  sacrifice  of  loyalty,  do  we 
waver  in  our  attachment  to  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.     This  is  not  a  contest  be- 


tween the  United  States  and  Ger- 
many. There  is  no  conflict  of  inter- 
ests by  which  we  can  suffer  or  lose 
because   of   a   German   triumph. 

I  do  not  wish  to  appear  as  a  de- 
fender of  monarchy  against  democ- 
racy, or  as  pleading  the  cause  of 
Kaiser  versus  President.  I  do  not 
hold  up  the  German  government  as 
a  pattern  for  us  to  follow.  By  no 
measure  of  interpretation  can  my 
meaning  be  so  construed.  I  have 
taken  up  the  cudgels  which  my  pro- 
fession has  placed  in  my  hands  solely 
in  a  discussion  of  the  quarrel  which 
is  going  on  between  Germany  and  her 
enemies,  of  which  latter  the  United 
States  emphatically  is  not  one. 

The  difference  between  the  posi- 
tions of  Henry  Watterson  and  my- 
self is  that  Colonel  Watterson  con- 
siders it  best  for  the  interests  of  the 
United  States  that  the  Allies  should 
win — I,  that  American  interests  will 
suffer  less  from  a  German  triumph. 

If  I  were  to  plunge  into  an  editor- 
ial analysis  of  what,  for  example,  the 
Russian  Government  stands  for,  I 
could  not  do  better  than  choose  my 
words  from  the  opening  sentences  of 
his  arraignment  of  the  German  gov- 
ernment. The  only  changes  that 
would  be  necessary  would  be  the 
substitution  of  "Russia"  for  "Ger- 
many," and  "Czar"  for  "Kaiser."  The 
Colonel  would  then  say: 

"It  may  be  harder  for  a  Russian 
than  an  American  to  differentiate  the 
Russian  Czar  and  the  Russian  people. 
To  the  Slavic  mind  the  Czar  stands 
as  the  symbol  of  all  that  is  loyal  in 
the  Russian  heart. 

"To  the  average  American  who 
considers  the  institutions  of  his  own 
country  as  distinguished  from  the  in- 
stitutions of  Russia,  the  Czar  appears 
as,  though  a  brilliant  personality,  an 
odious  despot.  His  government  is  to 
our  seeing  the  sum  of  all  iniquity. 
Who  believes  in  it  cannot  believe  in 
the  government  of  the  United  States. 

"That  a  wise  and  good  despot  may 
for  the  time  being  insure  wise  and 
good  government  may  be  true 
enough.  That  the  government  of  the 
mob  may  be  supremely  bad — even 
tyrannous — is  likewise  true.  But,  as 
between  the  one-man  power  and  the 
many-men  power,  the  mass  and  body 
of  human-kind  will  in  the  long  run 
fare  best  with  the  many-men  power. 
Hence,  we  Americans  are  republi- 
cans." 

How  much  truer  would  have  rung 
the  words  of  Watterson  had  they 
been  applied,  in  the  first  instance,  to 
Russia,  where  they  belong? 

"Why,  indeed,  should  Herman 
Ridder  himself,  whoop  things  up  by 
quoting  the  war  songs  of  Germany 
and  talking  of  the  'Vaterland'  as  if 
he  were  writing  in  Berlin  instead  of 
New  York?" 

Why,  may  I  be  permitted  to  ask, 
does  Colonel  Watterson  "whoop 
things  up"  tor  the  savagery  that  Is 
being  hurled  against  German  civiliza- 
tion, as  if  he  were  writing  in  St. 
Petersburg  or  Tokyo  or  Simla  in- 
stead of  Louisville,  Ky?  Is  one  Amer- 
ican to  be  muzzled  when  he  seeks 
conscientiously  to  give  the  American 
people  the  truth  that  the  goose-quill 
of  another  may  have  the  field  undis- 
puted? I  leave  it  not  to  my  good 
friend    "Massah    Henry,"   but   to   the 


PRESS  ROOM  CAMPAIGN— UNITED  STATES 


great  body  of  my  countrymen: — Do 
they  wish  both  sides  of  the  shield, 
or  iDut  one? 

And  therein  lies  the  angle  of  dis- 
tortion that  we,  German  sympathi- 
zers, object  to.  Why  should  upon  us 
be  placed  the  defense  of  that  element 
in  the  German  government  that  all 
upbuilders  of  democracy  object  to? 
If  it  comes  to  a  question  of  German 
rule  or  Russian  misrule  can  there  be 
the  slightest  choice?  If  you  maintain 
that  it  is  a  choice  of  evils  then  I  an- 
swer, for  God's  sake  choose  the 
lesser.  Let  me  quote,  in  this  con- 
nection, from  Professor  John  W.  Bur- 
gess, of  Columbia  University: 

"The  'rattle  of  the  sabre"  would 
then  be  music  to  our  ears  in  compari- 
son with  the  crack  of  the  Cossack's 
knout  and  the  clanking  of  Siberian 
chains,  while  the  burden  of  taxation 
which  we  would  be  obliged  to  suffer 
to  create  and  maintain  the  vast  navy 
and  army  necessary  for  the  defense 
of  our  territory  and  commerce 
throughout  the  world  against  these 
giant  powers  with  their  Oriental  ally, 
Japan,  would  sap  our  wealth,  en- 
danger our  prosperity  and  threaten 
the  very  existence  of  Republican  in- 
stitutions."' 

If  you  must  differ  in  opinion  from 
us,  if  you  cannot  see  the  questions  in- 
volved as  we  see  them,  do  not  beg 
the  question  by  attacking  our  Amer- 
icanism, our  loyalty  to  democratic 
ideals,  or  our  love  for  the  American 
flag.  I  venture  to  state  that  there 
is  not  an  American  of  German  paren- 
tage In  all  this  land  that  does  not 
agree  with  me  when  I  say,  "  My  coun- 
try, right  or  wrong,  first,  last  and  al- 
ways!" But,  to  this,  we  prefer  to 
add  with  Karl  Schuerz:  "... 
right,  to  keep  her  right;  wrong,  to 
get  her  right." 


PLAXXED  WAR  MONTHS  AHEAD.      FRO.M  A  GER.MAX  SYMP.ATHIZER. 


»The  complete  article,  "Why  I 
Champion  Germany,"  by  Professor 
John  W.  Burgess,  from  which  the 
above  is  quoted,  is  reprinted  on  an- 
other page. — Editor. 


THE  XEWSPAPERS  AND  THE 
ErHOPEAX  WAR. 


Origin  of  News — How  it   is  <iatlierec). 

.\  Teihiiical  Article  Well  Worth 

Your  .Attention  and  .Serious 

Consideration. 

The  Vital  Issue. 

Editor's  Note:  This  article  was 
written  by  Mr.  F.  C.  Gramercy,  who 
is  well  known  as  a  student  and  keen 
observer  on  the  trend  of  literature 
In  this  country.  His  papers  are  even 
more  appreciated  in  Europe  than  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  He  is  well 
versed  in  all  international  affairs. 
His  residence  and  study  in  various 
parts  of  the  world  have  given  him  an 
Intimate  acquaintance  with  the  lan- 
guages and  customs  and  with  the 
trend  of  thought  of  several  countries. 
His  criticism  does  not  merely  scratch 
the  surface,  but  goes  to  the  bottom 
of  things.  His  remarks  are  to  tlie 
point,  but  always  thoughtful  and 
fair. 


From  "The  Fatherland,"   New  York, 
October  7,  1914. 

The  Paris  "Gil  Bias"  of  February 
25,  1913,  printed  the  following: 

"A  paper  in  the  East  of  France 
publishes  an  interesting  news  item. 
It  is  common  talk  in  military  circles 
that  for  weeks  past  large  supplies  of 
British  munitions  of  war  have  been 
shipped  to  Maubeuge,  on  the  north- 
eastern French  frontier,  via  the 
Paris-Cologne  Railway.  The  city  of 
Maubeuge  is  of  great  military  impor- 
tance. In  the  French  plan  of  cam- 
paign it  is  designated  as  the  point  of 
concentration  of  the  allied  troops, 
who  are  to  be  commanded  in  case  of 
war  by  the  English  Field  Marshal, 
Sir  John  French,  as  commander-in- 
chief  under  General  Joffre.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  projectiles  for  the 
British  guns  are  different  from  those 
of  the  French.  However,  the  two 
governments  have  formed  an  ar- 
rangement by  which  the  necessary 
supplies  for  the  English  artillery  may 
be  landed  in  France  in  time  of 
peace." 


.\  I'SAI.-M  OP  PE.\CE. 

Let  us  not  be  up  and  doing, 
With   a   heart   for  any  fate. 

But,  the  path  of  peace  pursuing, 
Learn  to  watch  and  learn  to  wait. 

While  the  bonehead  Democratic 
Party  gums  affairs  of  state. 

Let   us,   with   a  mien  ecstatic. 

Contemplate  our  shins — and  wait. 

Minor  thief  and  major  grafter 
Pilfer,    plunder,    peculate. 

While  they  grab  what  they  are  after 
We     will     hold    our     breath — and 
wait. 

Let  us  sit  around  lamenting 

That  the  world  is  hot  with  hate; 

We  will  pray  for  its  repenting — 
Meantime,  brothers,  let  us  wait. 

We   will   issue   proclamations. 
Warring  powers  to  placate. 

It  may  interest  the  nations; 
If  it  doesn't,  we  can  wait. 

"Safety  first,"  our  motto;    let  us 
Mind  our  step  and  watch  the  gate, 

For  the  Bogey  Man  will  get  us 

If   we   don't  watch   out,   and   wait. 

Friends,     sit     tight     and     take     no 
chances; 

We  might  rue  It  when  too  late. 
Whatso'er   the   circumstances, 

Venture  nothing.     Watch  and  wait. 

Lives  of  great  men  may  remind  us 
'Twas  their  deeds  that  made  them 
great. 

These  examples  need  not  bind  us — 
Safer  far  it  is  to  wait. 

So    we'll   glorify    inaction. 

Leave  to  Providence  our  fate, 

And,  in  smug  self-satisfaction, 

Wait — and    wait — and    wait — and 
wait. 

— From    "The    Chicago    Tribune," 
September  12.   1914. 


(From   "The   Ttnies-Picayune,"    Xew 
Orleans,  August  16,   1914.) 

To    the    Editor    of    The    Times-Pic- 
ayune: 

It  is  supposed  that  Germany  will 
soon  be  on  her  knees  begging  for 
peace.  Wonder  it  is  that  the  Kaiser 
has  not  "fallen  all  over  uimself"  to 
accept  President  Wilson's  mediation 
proposal. 

While  Germany's  full  strength  Is 
5,000,000  men,  from  the  battles  (?) 
fought  during  the  past  week,  accord- 
ing to  newspaper  account,  anywhere 
from  1  to  25,000  Germans  have  been 
killed,  etc.,  in  each  battle,  so  that, 
by  now,  10,000,000  must  be  out  of 
the  fight  already. 

Not  only  that,  they  must  fight  like 
amateurs  or  else  they  have  awful 
bad  luck.  For  to  date,  they  seem  to 
be  beat  every  time,  no  matter  what 
odds  are  in  their  favor.  If  two 
German  ships  meet  one  English  or 
French  ship,  the  German  ships  are 
sunk.  If  100,000  Germans  meet 
25,000  Belgians  or  French,  the  Ger- 
mans are  losers  by  25,000  or  more. 
In  fighting  the  French,  the  Germans 
lose  30,000,  the  French  15,000.  All 
this  is  certainly  not  according  to  the 
proverbial  "Dutch  luck!" 

The  only  trouble  with  all  these 
victories  (?)  over  the  Germans  is 
that  the  news  all  comes  from  hostile 
countries,  for  what  matters  it  to 
them  if  they  throw  a  few  thousand 
extra  dead  or  captured  Germans  into 
every  battle? 

The  news  also  comes  that  Italy's 
King  refuses  to  sell  his  country's 
honor.  How  Italy  detests  the  Ger- 
mans and  Austrians  now  there  is  a 
fight  on  hand!  During  peace,  it  is 
presumed,  Italy  made  good  use  of 
the  Triple  Alliance.  Truly,  a  friend 
in  need  is  a  friend  indeed. 

PRO-GERMAN. 


When  the  German-American  lays 
down  a  penny  for  one  of  these  papers 
at  a  news  stand — and  this  happens 
above  five  hundred  thousand  times 
here  in  Chicago — he  is  really  being 
the  rod  that  is  continually  applied 
to  his  nationality.  He  keeps  open 
the  turbid  source  from  which  slander 
and  hatred  of  the  German  flows.  The 
"impartial"  American  papers  have 
united  with  the  biased  English  publi- 
cations to  deceive  this  country  by 
presenting  a  highly  colored  picture 
of  war  events  favoring  England. 
They  fill  their  columns  with  the 
original  text  contained  in  London 
and  invent  the  exasperating  head- 
lines by  which  they  endeavor  to 
humiliate  the  Germans.  Self-respect 
should  prevent  every  German  from 
further  supporting  such  doings  and 
keep  him  from  spending  his  good 
money  for  reports  misrepresented  to 
favor  the  British.  If  American 
papers  show  their  hatred  for  Ger- 
many to  such  an  extent  that  they 
print  all  reports  from  St.  Petersburg. 
London,  Paris  and  Nisch  on  the  first 
page  of  the  paper  under  broad  head- 
lines, while  the  trustworthy  Berlin 
and  Vienna  reports  are  given  some 
small  space  on  the  third  or  fourth 
page  it  is  time  the  German  would 
refuse  to  ever  again  take  hold  of 
these  formidable  weapons. 


FIFTH  CHAPTER 

ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 

HOW  MUCH  CAN  WE  HELP  BY  DISCUSSING  THE  USE  OF  FORCE? 


PEACE  AND  WAR 

Interesting  and  Helpful  Thoughts  and  Suggestions  on  the  Philosophy  of  War 

Moral  or  Immoral 
Depends  on  the  Righteousness  of  the  Cause 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 

Howj^we  can  Prevent  some  Wars — On  bringing  Philosophy  to  the  People 
Ethics  and  Humanity  and  War 


THE  DUTY  OF  PREPAREDNESS  FOR  WAR 
THE  SIN  OF  UNPREPAREDNESS 

But  like  Religion  without  the  State,  Love  without  the  Home,  and  Patriotism  without  the  Army 

Undisturbed,  Perpetual  Peace  is  an  Ideal  for  Heaven  and  not  this  Earth 

But,  Peace  or  War,  always  on  Condition  of  Righteousness 


PHILOSOPHIZING  ON  THE  WAR 
SOME  INTERESTING  REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  WAR 

A  Variation  of  Scripture: 
It  may  be  necessary  that  wars  come— but  woe  to  those  through  whom  they  come 


LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR 

W'c  m;u-  he  obliged  to  employ  Force  to  Protect  Virtue  and  Progress  of  the  Human  Family 
But  Woe  to  the  Nation  that  would  stay  these  Virtues  by  Force! 

INTRODUCTION 


LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR. 


By  the  Editor  "Open  Court." 
Dr.  Paul  Carus. 

So  suddenly  has  war  fallen  upon  Eu- 
rope that  we  can  scarcely  realize  it  as 
yet,  and  are  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to 
think  of  it.  Many  among  us  believe  in 
the  establishment  of  universal  peace 
on  earth,  and  are  inclined  to  condemn 
armaments  and  readiness  for  war, 
which  they  call  "militarism,"  and  these 
peojile  are  least  prepared  to  form  a  cor- 
rect and  sound  judgment  of  the  situa- 
tion. Considering  the  difficulty  of 
understanding  the  nature  of  war  and 
the  part  it  plays  in  the  history  of  man- 
kind we  will  here  briefly  outline  the 
lessons  which  the  war  teaches  us. 

According  to  the  theory  of  evolution 
the  one  main  factor  that  determines 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  is  the  struggle 
for  life;  and  in  connnerce  this  siruggle 
for  life  shows  itself  as  conii)etition.  and 
in  the  rivalry  of  the  nations,  as  war. 
r..ife  is  not  a  mere  frolic;  it  is  a  com- 
liat.  and  our  first  duty  is  to  maintain 
ourselves.  The  fit  survive,  the  unfit  go 
to  the  wall.  War  is  the  natural  state 
of  things ;  peace  is  introduced  by  civil- 
ization as  an  artificial  moans  to  allevi- 
ate the  sufferings  of  war  and  to  elimi- 
nate them  more  and  more. 

Civilization  should  not  be  regarded 
as  unnatural  because  it  is  higher  than 
the  more  prinntive  condition  of  a  war 
of  all  against  all.  Civilization  is  higher 
nature;  it  is,  and  should  be,  nature  re- 
fined and  ennobled.  So  we  will  under- 
stand that  peace  is  not  the  abolition  of 
struggle,  but  simply  a  higher  kind. 
Peace  abolishes  slaughter  but  leaves 
competition,  and  competition  often 
proves  to  be  more  severe  than  war.  The 
struggle  for  life  in  the  lime  of  peace 
in  mereantilo  and  industrial  competi- 
tion is  frefpieiitly  as  keen  as  a  battle, 
sometinies  it  is  worse;  it  demands  cour- 
age, fpiickness  of  decision,  keen  fore- 
sight and  strong  endurance  as  much  as 
the  conflict  of  war. 


DOCTOR  P.\CL  C.^RUS 

The  first  lesson  then  is  this ;  We 
shall  never  be  able  to  do  away  with 
struggle  altogether,  for  struggle  is  the 
nature  of  life.  But  we  shall  be  able  to 
avoid  unnecessary  sufferings,  and  this 
is  slowly  being  accomplished  by  means 
of  civilization. 

A  universal  and  lasting  peace  is  an 
ideal  which  is  not  impossible,  but  we 
are  sure  that  it  can  be  realized  only 
upon  the  basis  of  force.  Peace  on  earth 
will  come  about  as  a  matter  of  course 
only  when  the  men  of  goodwill  hold 
the  balance  of  ixjwer.  So  long  as  the 
unjust,  the  brutishly  greedy,  the  nar- 
row-minded and  stupid  have  anything 
to  say  in  international  affairs  peace 
will  remain  ini|)0ssibk'.  and  therefore  it 
will  be  tlie  duty  of  every  civilized  na- 
tion to  bo  jirepared  for  self-defense. 
This  is  the  second  lesson  we  have  to 
1  ea  rn. 

(jermany  was  pretty  well  prepared 
for  war.  She  suffered  so  much  in  for- 
mer centuries  from  being  unprepared 
that  at  last  she  has  learned  the  lesson. 
If  other  nations  should  fall  upon  the 
Inited  Stales  as  the  allies  fell  upon 
(iermany,  we  should  lie  unable  to  resist 
and  would  have  either  to  make  an  ig- 
noble peace  or  suffer  great  reverses  be- 
fore we  could  assert  ourselves.  -\nd 
how  few  of  us  know  that  it  is  our  duty 
to  be  prei)ared  for  war!  In  this  rough 
world  of  ours  we  must  unlearn  that 
goody-goody  morality  which  praises  the 
ideal  of  peace  at  any  price  and  de- 
nounces the  lion  as  an  evil  doer  be- 
cause he  lives  on  a  flesh  diet.  Its  em- 
blem of  goodness  is  the  sheep,  or  the 
Iamb  innocently  butchered.  We  do  not 
glorify  the  wolf,  tlio  representative  of 
lower  nature,  but  we  do  not  mean  to 
worship  the  lamb  with  its  passive  vir- 
tue, so  the  third  lesson  of  the  war  nuiy 
bo  formulated  thus :  "Ovine  morality 
is  wrong."  We  must  cease  to  admire 
and  imitate  the  sheep  because  it  is  so 
good,  so  very  good  that  it  would  rather 
be  devoure<l  than  fight. 

The  ovine  ideal  was  greatly  admired 
In  Germany  till  it  brought  on  a  dissolu- 

SI5 


tion  of  the  empire  and  allowed  the  na- 
tion to  go  to  wrack  and  ruin  and  be 
wiped  off  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 
The  Hohenzollerns  with  their  people, 
the  little  state  of  Brandenburg-Prussia, 
learned  the  lesson  of  war  and  the 
duties  of  self-assertion :  and  from  them 
came  the  salvation  of  Germany. 

We  do  not  meau  to  say  that  either 
the  Hohenzollerns  or  the  Prussians 
were  faultless,  or  that  Prussianism  did 
not  exhibit  much  onesidedness.  The 
Prussians  went  too  far  in  emphasizing 
militarism ;  they  have  often  enough 
neglected  the  culture  of  art  and  science 
and  have  been  eclipsed  by  smaller 
states  in  literature,  in  art,  and  other 
branches  of  intellectual  progress.  Cer- 
tainly they  can  be  criticized  and  have 
beenheld  up  to  ridicule  fre<iuently  and 
not  without  justice.  But  when  the 
time  of  danger  came  and  the  very  ex- 
istence of  Germany  was  threatened, 
Prussia  came  to  the  rescue  and  saved 
Germany  from  extinction;  and  the  les- 
son which  the  recent  events  teaches  us 
is  this;  "Go  ye.  United  States  and  do 
likewise,"  which  means,  "Be  prepared 
for  self-defense." 

Let  us  not  only  educate  our  boys  in 
Sunday  schools,  but  let  us  make  men 
of  them.  The  desire  for  self-defense  is 
natural.  If  we  were  to  become  impli- 
cated in  a  war  on  a  large  scale  and  If 
hostile  armies  were  to  invade  our 
country,  there  is  danger  that  our  citi- 
zens might  turn  into  snipers  instead  of 
warriors.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  this 
will  be  the  case  with  England  if  the 
country  is  invaded,  and  the  result 
would  be  terrible. 

In  former  articles'  I  have  advocated 
the  principle  that  our  young  men 
should  be  drilled  in  military  service, 
and  it  seems  lo  me  that  it  ought  to 
be  done  somewhat  in  the  style  of  the 
Swiss  army.  I  am  firmly  convinced 
that  it  would  be  beneficial  to  our 
vouth.     The  boys  need  It.  and  a  critl- 


'  See.  for  instance.  "Duplicate  the  Naval 
Academy."   "Open  Court,"   XV,  495, 


316 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


cal  moment  might  come  when  such  an 
institution  would  preserve  peace,  or,  if 
that  should  prove  impossible,  would 
serve  to  protect  our  country  efficiently. 

The  fifth  lesson  therefore  is  this :  A 
military  training  will  do  good  to  every 
one  of  our  boys,  and  militarism,  the 
right  kind  of  militarism,  is  a  necessity 
which  ought  to  be  introduced  in  our 
own  country.  Its  introduction  into 
England  in  a  system  of  compulsory 
military  training  has  already  been  an- 
nounced. The  English  propose  to  crush 
militarism  in  Germany  where  it  has 
reached  a  certain  perfection,  but  they 
do  not  and  never  did  object  to  the  bar- 
barous militarism  of  Russia  nor  to 
their  own  navalism.  and  now  are 
going  to  establish  an  English  mili- 
tarism. 

My  Critics. 

I  may  be  excused  for  taking  space 
to  characterize  my  critics  by  citing 
quotations,  but  these  specimens  exhibit 
the  violent  nature  of  the  great  masses 
of  the  supporters  of  the  English  cause. 
They  scold,  they  calumniate,  they  jump 
at  unjustifiable  conclusions ;  mere  sus- 
picions, absolutely  wrong,  are  uttered 
as  undeniable  facts,  and  even  if  their 
errors  are  refuted  they  cling  to  their 
beliefs. 

The  letters  of  protest  which  have 
come  to  me  in  response  to  the  October 
number  of  "The  Open  Court"  are  rare. 
only  ten  so  far.  while  whole-hearted 
endorsements  are  numerous,  among 
them  a  telegraphic  greeting  from  the 
New  York  society  of  former  German 
university  students  in  appreciation  of 
the  view  I  have  taken. ^  The  language 
of  my  critics  is  bitter,  and  three  of 
the  ten  come  from  Canada.  A 
Canadian  friend  of  mine  assures  me 
that  Canadians,  including  German 
Canadians,  have  no  opportunity  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  German  side 
of  the  question. 

One  letter  from  Toronto,  signed 
"Jones,"  without  street  address,  con- 
tains a  long  newspaper  clipping  relat- 
ing to  the  establishment  of  a  German 
secret  service  to  influence  public  opin- 
ion abroad,  but  it  is  peculiar  that 
this  secret  service  is  reported  to  have 
been  founded  in  a  public  meeting.  The 
letter  reads:  "Are  you  one  of  the 
Secret  Service  agents  of  Germany  in 
America?  From  October  issue  would 
think  so.  The  paper  that  sells  its  con- 
science, if  its  Editor  has  any,  is  con- 
temptible." 

Another  letter  of  the  same  character 

reads :  " From  the  beginning  to  the 

end  of  the  magazine  you  have  shown 
that  you  are  clearly  a  subsidized  agent 
of  the  German  government.  For  gold 
you  have  got  together  a  lot  of  quota- 
tions and  other  material  to  belittle 
the  British  empire  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  at  the  present  time. .  .".Tou  were 
not  thinking  of  the  cruelties  that  were 


'  Men  who  have  attended  German  uni- 
versities are  very  numerous  all  over  the 
United  States  and  all  belong  to  the  most 
intellectual  class  of  our  citizens.  Some 
of  them  have  founded  a  societ.v  under  the 
name  ■■Terein  alter  deutschen  Studenten," 
which  is  flourishing  in  many  of  our  larger 
cities,  especially  New  Tork  and  Chicago. 
but  also  in  many  smaller  towns.  Most  of 
the  members  are  Americans  or  German- 
Americans,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe 
that  the  sympathies  of  most  of  them  are 
pro-German  in  this  crisis. 


being  practised  by  the  soldiers  of  'Cul- 
tured Germany'   in   Belgium...." 

The  same  Toronto  critic  writes  in  a 
second  letter : 

"You  are  to  me  a  'snake  in  the 
grass,'  and  you  are  playing  a  double 
game  which  will  finally  reflect  itself 
against  you.  The  twaddle  you  have 
been  publishing  for  the  edification  of 
your  readers,  could  be,  however,  easily 
scattered  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven 
so  far  as  its  correctness  is  concerned. 
However,  a  man  who  apparently  has 
been  bribed  with  German  gold  or  else 
become  imbued  or  obsessed  with  the 
mental  capacity  of  the  mad  professors 
of  Germany,  would  not  listen  to  any 
wisdom  coming  from  a  person  who 
has  traveled  extensively  throughout 
the  world,  and  knows  the  feeling  that 
is  predominant  among  the  intelligent 
portion  of  the  world.  Germany  will  be 
'smashed'  with  all  its  mad  professors." 

A  third  letter,  coming  from  the 
I'nited  States  and  anonymous,  is  on 
the  same  level.  Its  arguments  are  not 
rational  nor  logical,  but  delightfully 
vigorous  in  invectives :  "Never  again 
shall  any  publication  tiearing  your 
name  enter  my  house,  nor  any  decent 
American  household  that  I  can  keep 
it  out  of.  Never  again  will  I  vote  for 
any  man  who  calls  himself  'a  German- 
American.'  He  lies.  Moreover,  he  is 
a  fool.  I  know  that  I  cannot  insult 
you  by  calling  you  a  liar.  You  are  a 
German.  I  call  you  a  fool.  You  can 
feel  that.  To  you  and  all  other  ex- 
ponents of  rUc  KiiJtur.  as  illustrated  at 
Louvain,  my  undying  contempt.  You 
remind  me  of  the  gorilla  whose  ego 
was  too  large  for  his  cosmos." 

.\  fourth  letter  from  a  Canadian 
resident  in  the  I'nited  States,  "saying 
a  definite  farewell"  to  "The  Open 
Court,"  because  "in  ethical  sense  it 
has  fallen  upon  evil  days."  encloses 
an  argument  against  the  German  side 
and  claims  that  it  "mirrors  the  senti- 
ment of  nine-tenths  of  my  native-born 
American  friends."  He  mentions 
"General  von  Edelsheim's  plan  to  in- 
vade our  shores."  publishe<l  in  "that 
now  classic  monograph  entitled  Op- 
erations upon  the  Sea."  and  also  the 
violation  of  Belgium's  neutrality  as 
well  as  "the  deliberate  destruction  of 
the  Louvain  library  and  the  Rheims 
cathedral." 

It  ought  to  be  generally  known  by 
this  time  that  the  Belgian  neutrality 
treaty  was  indeed  a  mere  scrap  of 
paper.  Even  Gladstone  In  his  time 
considered  it  as  such  and  made  a  new 
treaty  for  the  time  of  the  war  1870-71 
to  last  one  year  after  the  war — a  fact 
pointed  out  by  Professor  Burgess — and 
it  is  acknowledged  that  in  cases  of 
necessity  such  obligations  are  broken, 
and  statesmen  admit  that  it  is  per- 
fectly justifiable  to  break  them.  I  will 
quote  Sir  Edward  Grey  in  his  speech 
in  the  House  of  Commons  on  August 
.S  where  he  cites  English  authorities. 
Gladstone  and  others,  for  the  view 
that  such  guarantees  are  not  always 
binding.  Sir  Edward  Grey  cannot  very 
well  uphold  the  absolute  sanctity  of 
Belgian  neutrality,  for  the  documents 
discovered  in  Brussels  and  .\ntwerp 
prove  that  Belgium.  England  and 
France  had  broken  Belgian  neutrality 
treaties  long  before  a   German  soldier 


set  foot  on  Belgian  ground.s  .sir  Ed- 
ward  Grey   said:    "There  is,    I   admit 

the   obligation   of   the  treatv but   I 

am  not  able  to  subscribe  to  the  doc- 
trine  that    the    simple    fact    of    the 

existence  of  a  guarantee  is  binding  on 
every  party  to  it  irrespective  alto- 
gether of  the  particular  position  in 
which  it  may  find  itself  at  the  time 
when  the  occasion  for  acting  on  the 
guarantee  arises.  The  great  author- 
ities   upon    foreign    policy as    Lord 

Aberdeen  and  Lord  Palmerston.  never 
to  my  knowledge  took  that  rigid,  and 
if  I  may  venture  to  say  so.  that  im- 
practicable view  of  the  guarantee.  The 
circumstance  that  there  is  already  an 
existing  guarantee  in  force  is,  of  neces- 
sity, an  important  fact,  and  a  weightv 
element   in   the  case." 

So  the  breach  of  neutralitv  is  un- 
essential, the  reason  for  war  lies  deep- 
f^u  ■^''"  Edward  Grey  continues: 
Ihere  is  also  this  further  considera- 
tion, the  force  of  which  we  must  all 
feel  most  deeply,  and  that  is.  the  com- 
mon interest  against  the  unmeasured 
aggrandizement  of  any  power  what- 
ever." 

The  true  reason  for  the  war.  accord- 
ing to  Sir  Edward  Grey  and  others, 
was  the  maintenance  of  the  balance  of 
power,  and  thus  there  is  no  use  for 
arguments,  no  use  for  logic,  no  question 
of  right  or  wrong.  Since  Germany 
has  become  united  she  has  distributed 
the  balance  of  power  and  must  be 
crushed  before  she  grows  too  power- 
ful for  England.  Her  "unmeasured  ag- 
grandizement" is  the  reason  whv  the 
British  entered  into  the  war.  "it  is 
this  they  call  German  aggressiveness 
and  never  tire  of  denouncing  German 
imperialism.  Prussianism  and  mili- 
tarism. These  words  mean  that  Ger- 
many should  no  longer  be  a  union, 
should  no  longer  be  strong  and  war- 
like, should  not  be  able  to  defend  her- 
self. Rational  arguments  are  not  needed ; 
defenders  of  the  British  cause  simply 
scold  and  show  contempt  for  imperiai- 
ism  and  militarism:  at  the  same  time 
they  propose  to  introduce  these  hein- 
ous institutions  in  Great  Britian.  The 
colonies  must  be  federated  and  the 
government  must  be  allowed  to  raise 
big  armies   by   drafting. 

There  is  one  more  pro-British  letter 
which  I  regret  has  been  misplaced.  It 
is  quite  similar  to  the  others,  only  it 
adds.  "You  are  a  cur."  These  vigor- 
ous expressions  of  a  difference  of 
opinion  are  interesting,  for  invectives 
prove  that  people  who  use  them  are 
without  a  convincing  argument.  Other- 
wise they  would  produce  the  argument 
instead  of  scolding.  It  is  the  man 
without  reason  that  turns  rude.  And 
the  easiest  way  to  dispose  of  an  op- 
ponent is  to  denounce  him  as  immoral, 
as  a  liar,  a  man  without  conscience, 
low  in  an  ethical  sense. 

The  sixth  of  my  critics  has  an  argu- 
ment. He  is  a  scholar  of  keen  discri- 
mination in  his  own  field,  but  some- 
times a  stickler  for  points  which  others 
consider  as  unmeaning.  He  is  a  native 
Britisher  but  pretty  bold  and  impar- 
tial.    He  writes: 


^  See  the  report  from  the  German  gen- 
eral headquarters  as  quoted  on  pages  663 
and  664  in  the  editorial  article,  "Poor  Bel- 
gium,"  in  the  November  "Open  Court." 


SOME  VALUABLE  LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR 


317 


•'In  your  reiiriiit  of  the  "Saturday 
Iteview"*  article  of  1897  you  omit  the 
most  damning  words  of  all :  viz..  the 
last  sentence:  'Germaniam  esse  delen- 
ilam.'  On  February  1.  1S!X!,  the  same 
review,  in  an  article  'liy  a  biologist,' 
says:  'The  biological  view  of  foreign 
I)olicy  is  plain.  First,  federate  our 
colonies  and  prevent  geographieal  iso- 
lation turning  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
against  itself.  Second,  be  ready  to 
fight  Germany,  ns  Ocniiatiia  est  de- 
li nda ;  third,  be  ready  to  fight  America 
when  the  time  comes.  Lastly,  engage 
in  no  wasting  wars  against  jieoples 
from  whom  we  have  nothing  to  fear.' 
These  are  the  last  words. 

"Herman  Itidder  quotes  the  Catonie 
speech  as  of  1N7!)  instead  of  1S!I7.  and 
I  controverted  him  in  the  I'hiladelphia 
•lOvening  Bulletin.'  By  this  misprint  it 
is  made  to  apiiear  that  English  jingoism 
was  five  years  earlier  than  Prussian, 
for  it  was  on  November  1.SS4,  that 
Treitschke  said  this :  'Mit  Oesterreich, 
mit  Frankreich.  mit  Russland  haben 
wir  bereils  abgerechnet :  die  letzte 
Abrechnung  mit  England  wird  vor- 
anssichtlich  die  langwierigste  nnd  die 
schwierigste  sein."t 

This  projKJsition  to  place  the  guilt 
where  we  find  jiriority  in  an  authori- 
tative statement  of  jingoism,  does  not 
seem  to  me  applicuble.  The  question 
is  not  wlio  threatened  first,  but  who 
has  done  right  and  who  has  done 
wrong.  The  breach  of  neutrality  in 
Germany  would  have  been  wrong  if  it 
had  not  been  contemplated  first  by  the 
French,  and  it  is  justifie<l  by  the  Eng- 
lish plans  to  talie  it  in  their  schemes 
of  1900. 

I  will  quote  one  more  critic  wlio  is 
a  Britisher  living  in  the  Fnited  States, 
a  man  distinguished  li.v  scientific  erudi- 
tion. He  writes:  "Your  article  in  the 
October  "Open  Court'  was  extremely 
interesting  to  me.  rabid  Britisher  I  am. 
in  that  it  was  the  only  exposition  of 
the  German  side  of  tlie  question  which 
I  have  seen  that  was  not  made  in  the 
heat  of  anger.  I  do  not  agree  with 
you,   liowever." 

A  very  unexpected  letter  reached  me 
from  ]<;ngland  from  quarters  which  do 
not  liave  any  influence  on  the  govern- 
ment t)Ut  rei)resent  die  f^tillen  ini  Lande 
who  may  form  a  nucleus  for  a  future 
reform.  Our  correspondent  states  that 
one  of  his  nearest  friends,  a  profes- 
sional thinker  with  a  strong  leaning 
towards  politics,  is  "of  opinion  that 
(Jrey  is  a  ver.v  unscrupulous  person; 
In  fact  he  describes  him  as  a  'devil.' 
IiKleed.  Grey's  whole  policy,  especially 
about  the  Morocco  crisis,  is  very  bad. 
With  regard  to  the  violation  of  Bel- 
gium's neutrality,  my  friend  is  sure 
that  Germany  violated  it  first  and  with 
no  provocation  on  the  part  of  France, 
but  that  if  France  had  violated  it 
Kiiglanil  would  not  have  interfered.  It 
is  interesting  that  .\squith  made  a 
great  i)olnt  of  Belgium  to  ajipeal  to 
the  British  pulilic.  while  Grey,  to  do 
liim  justice,  did  not  pretend  that  Bel- 
gium  was  the  cause  of  the  war.     The 


•  The  first  article  of  the  October  "Open 
Court."  The  copy  of  the  "Saturday  Re- 
view '  from  which  our  article  was  taken 
(11(1  not  conohido  with  the  words:  ■Ger- 
manunn    rsse   drlcnrlam." 

'<  I-'rom  "Die  ersten  Ver.«uohe  dentscher 
Kolonialpolitll<"  ;  November  2.5.  1884.  in 
Trclt.schke  s  "Deut.sche  Kiimpfe,"  "Neue 
Folpe."  "Schriften  zur  Tagespolltlk."  Lelp- 
sio,    1S9«.  p.    349. 


fault  of  British  diplomacy  is  that  at 
the  beginning  England  did  not  say  def- 
initely what  she  would  do  or  would 
not  do.  The  English  pwijile  are  often 
unconscious  hypocrites  because,  though 
the  ideals  they  think  they  pursue  are 
noble  ones,  they  will  not  acknowledge 
tliat  their  policy  is,  like  the  policy  of 
other  nations,  governed  entirely  by  self- 
interest.  The  German  ix)licy  is  almost 
brutally  frank,  but  the  English  policy 
has  never  been  frank.  What  the  Eng- 
lish were  afraid  of  about  Belgium  was 
that  Germany  should  annex  Belgium 
and  establish  seaports  which  would 
threaten  England.  When  Germany  had 
no  navy  to  speak  of.  in  1S87  I  think, 
England  did  not  propose  to  interfere 
on  behalf  of  Belgium  when  Germany 
I)roi)osed  to  advance  against  France 
through  Belgium.  Also  there  was  at 
one  time  a  precisely  analogous  case  in 
the  Russian  Invasion  of  Persia ;  Per- 
sia's neutrality  had  been  guaranteed 
by  England,  and  England  did  not  in- 
terfere, but  salved  her  conscience  by 
the  reflection  that  the  Persians  were 
a  bad  lot.  England's  behavior  to  other 
nations  is  simply  guided  by  the  fact  as 
to  whether  they  have  a  navy  or  not; 
if  they  have  a  navy  England's  con- 
science awakes." 

A  man  who  approves  the  defense  of 
Germany  in  "The  Open  Court,"  says: 

".Vt  the  beginning  of  the  war.  .  .  . 
I  received  the  impression  that  the 
Kaiser  was  to  blame  for  his  rapid  and 
quick  action  and  that  he  could  have 
prevented  war.  But  it  is  evident  that 
it  would  have  been  folly  for  Germany 
to  wait  longer  after  war  was  unavoid- 
able. By  her  rapid  mobilization  and 
quick  action  Germany  secured  great  ad- 
vantage and  located  the  destruction  of 
property  which  accompanies  warfare, 
outside  of  German  territory. 

"Our  conscience  and  our  moral  sup- 
port should  not  l)e  neutral.  To  be  neu- 
tral in  this  would  be  morally  wrong. 
President  Wilson's  appeal  for  impartial- 
ity and  neutrality  has  served  its  good 
cause  by  restraining  people  from  tak- 
ing sides  on  sentimental  grounds.  It 
is  well  if  the  American  people  remain 
neutral  in  action  to  guard  against  be- 
ing drawn  into  the  conflict,  as.  prob- 
ablv.  more  harm  than  good  wotild  be 
doiie  if  the  T'nited  States  would  enter 
the  war.  It  is  commendable  to  remain 
neutral  in  arguments  based  on  senti- 
ments. But  in  arguments  based  on  rea- 
son and  moral  jirinciples  it  is  a  sacred 
duty  not  to  remain  neutral.  This  is  the 
duty  in  iiarlicular  of  moral  teachers. 
The  evils  in  this  world  must  be  fought 
nnd  great  effort  made  to  overcome 
them,  otherwise  the  evils  will  overcome 
the  good. 

"After  considering  calmly  with  rea- 
son both  sides  of  the  question,  we  ought 
to  give  our  moral  support  to  whichever 
nations  deserve  it.  ns  determined  by 
our  sense  of  justice,  leaving  out  our 
conmierclal  and  possible  pecuniarj*  in- 
terests. .  .  .  The  pocket-book  is 
most  people's  guide  in  an  argument.  To 
make  this  clear  It  Is  necessary  to  state 
that  there  Is  only  one  other  guide  and 
that  is  the  general  welfare  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

"ParticulMrly  •The  Open  Court,'— as 
seeking  for  truth  and  ethical  Ideals- 
should  give  moral  support  to  whichever 
nations    deserve    it.      We    can    hardly 


arouse  the  enmity  of  a  nation  to  a 
snlticient  extent  to  lie  drawn  into  the 
conflict,  by  condemning  it  on  sound 
moral  principles ;  but  this  should  cause 
its  humiliation  and  shame. 

"American  neutrality  has  actually 
gone  so  far  as  to  give  active  assistance 
to  the  Allies  by  selling  war  material  to 
them.  It  is  necessary  to  counteract 
this,  as  Germany  appears  to  be  the 
most  innocent  of  the  nations  engaged  in 
the  war." 

In  reply  to  my  critics  I  wish  to  state 
that  I  am  not  anti-British,  but  I  blame 
the  British  government  for  making  the 
war  and  deceiving  the  British  citizens 
so  as  to  make  them  hate  Germany  and 
fear  its  prosperity  and  increase  of 
power.  I  protest  against  the  war  as 
much  in  the  interest  of  Great  Britain 
as  of  France,  Germany  and  the  Belgians 
who  are  victims  of  the  bad  jiolley  of 
their  government. 

I  have  investigated  the  origin  of  the 
present  European  war.  and  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  forced 
upon  Germany,  that  Germany  tried  as 
far  as  possible  to  preserve  peace.  Con- 
sidering the  fact  that  Germany  has 
been  growing  and  expanding  until  the 
other  nations  of  Europe  became  alarmed 
lest  she  suri'iiss  them  in  industry  and 
power,  the  war  was  perhaps  unavoid- 
able. It  was  rather  hard  on  Germany 
that  the  three  biggest  powers  of  Europe 
fell  upon  her  simultaneously,  but  this 
concerted  action  was  part  of  their 
agreement.  It  was  the  plan  of  the 
Triple  Entente,  and  constituted  their 
hope  of  victory.  The  war  will  be  a 
test  of  Germany's  strength  and  efli- 
ciency.  and  the  test  is  great,  very  great. 

The  cause  of  Germany  has  been  much 
misrepresented  in  the  English  sjieaking 
world  but  she  has  more  friends  than 
would  appear  from  the  oi>inions  imb- 
lished  in  the  newsjiapers.  This  is  cer- 
tainly true  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  I  grant  that  many  Anglo- 
Americans  side  with  the  Triple  En- 
tente, and  most  of  England's  friends 
are  noisy  in  their  denunciations  of  Ger- 
man militarism  and  of  the  tyranny  of 
the  Kaiser;  they  are  untiring  in  their 
accusations  of  the  (Jerman  breach  of 
neutrality,  of  the  atrocities  committed 
in  Belgiiim,  of  the  burning  of  Louvain 
and  the  destruction  of  the  Uheims 
cathedral.  The  friends  of  Germany 
are  quiet,  but  most  of  them  are  Intense 
in  their  convictions  and  among  them 
are  the  German-Americans. 

The  Geniian-.Aiiierlcans. 

The  German-.Vmerlcans  stand  by 
Germany  because  they  feel  that  Ger- 
many and  all  that  Germany  represents 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  das 
Druischium  or  Germandom.  the  spirit 
of  Germany  itself.  Is  at  stake  in  the 
liresent  crisis.  The  (Jermans  in  Amer- 
ica are  by  no  means  blind  in  their  judg- 
ment. They  have  not  always  stood  by 
the  falherland.  nor  do  they  now  with- 
out due  consideration  of  the  facts. 
They  do  not  take  sides  simply  because 
(Jermany  has  been  their  home  and  <!er- 
many  is  on  one  side  while  the  rest  of 
Europe  is  ranged  on  the  other.  The.v 
stand  by  their  fatherland  becau.se  they 
are  fully  and  firmly  convinced  that 
I  heir  failierland  is  In  the  right  and 
that  the  others,  especially  the  English, 
are  in  the  wrong.  The  German-Cana- 
dians  do   not    know    the   actual    facts. 


318 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


they  know  only  the  British  side  of  the 
war.  so  they  appear  to  stand  by  Eng- 
land. 

Xo  better  evidence  of  tlie  objectivity 
of  thought  of  the  German-Americans 
can  be  furnished  than  their  position 
during  our  wnr  with  Spain.  After  Ad- 
miral Dewey  had  taken  Manila,  the 
German  navy  under  Admiral  Dietrich 
entered  Manila  Harbor  with  a  force 
superior  to  the  American  fleet  and  be- 
haved in  such  a  way  that  they  practi- 
cally challenged  the  American  fleet  to 
battle.  Their  attitude  almost  brought 
about  a  war  between  Germany  and  the 
United  States,  but  in  thts  dangerous 
crisis  the  German-Americans  stood 
faithfully  by  their  ne\y  home,  the 
United  States.  They  openly  denounced 
the  attitude  of  Dietrich,  and  the  Ger- 
man government,  noticing  that  it  had 
made  a  serious  mistake,  made  up  for 
its  blunder  as  well  as  it  could.  The 
Kaiser  sent  Prince  Henry  to  the  United 
States  to  show  his  good  will  and  Prince 
Henry  was  well  received  here. 

The  story  goes  that  once  in  the 
Kaiser's  younger  years  when  a  visitor 
was  announced  to  Iilm  as  a  German- 
American,  he  remarked  that  he  knew 
Germans  and  he  knew  Americans,  but 
German-Americans  he  knew  not.  The 
remark  reflected  the  spirit  of  a  certain 
portion  of  German  officialdom,  and 
alienated  many  German-Americans 
from  the  German  government.  They 
felt  that  the  German  government  was 
too  narrow  to  understand  that  we  have 
a  vei-y  strong  representation  of  German 
nationality  in  the  United  States,  just 
as  we  have  traditions  of  all  nations. 
We  have  Irish-Americans,  Anglo-Amer- 
icans, Franco-Americans,  etc.,  and  the 
German-Americans  are  certainly  not 
the  least  among  them.  The  Kaiser's 
hasty  comment  cost  him  i\.  great  deal 
of  sympatliy  in  the  United  States,  for 
if  the  German-Americans  feel  that 
their  Germandom  Is  no  longer  recog- 
nized in  Germany,  they  will  naturally 
drop  it  and  become  purely  American, 
To  be  sure,  the  German-Americans  are 
Americans,  but  the  patriotism  of  this 
country  is  not  so  narrow  as  to  demand 
an  absolute  cutting  off  of  former  tra- 
ditions. Every  one  in  this  country  Is 
welcome  to  become  an  American,  and 
American  patriotism  is  broad  enough 
to  cherish  all  the  old  traditions  of 
other  nationalities.  Every  one  who 
comes  to  this  country  is  expected  to 
bring  with  him  the  best  he  has  ac- 
quired in  his  old  home  and  there  is 
no  need  to  lose  his  love  of  that  home. 
We  do  not  hate  any  nationality  and 
every  stranger  can  find  a  home  here 
■without  abjuring  his  former  fatherland. 
It  is  well  recognized  that  the  Germans 
make  very  good  American  citizens, 
while  English-Americans  are  rare. 
English  people  who  live  in  this  coun- 
try mostly  retain  their  allegiance  to 
the  British  crown. 

Upon  the  whole.  English  people  think 
quite  disparagingly  about  America.  I 
feel  justified  In  calling  it  a  prejudice, 
for  it  is  in  most  cases  a  prejudice  with- 
out reasonable  foundation.  They  judge 
Americans  after  the  type  of  the  loud 
and  uncultured  specimens  who  force 
their  presence  into  conspicuous  evi- 
dence wherever  they  are.  mostly  so 
abroad,  and  they  disregard  the  better 
classes.    They  forget  that  England,  too, 


has  specimens  of  whom  the  better  Eng- 
lishmen have  no  reason  to  be  proud. 
All  nationalities  are  pretty  much  alike 
in  this  respect,  but  it  may  be  a  good 
symptom  of  strength  that  the  English 
are  more  English,  and  therefore  more 
vigorous  in  national  self -consciousness 
than  any  other  nation.  This  Impressed 
me  particularly  when  the  first  English- 
man I  met  here  an.swered  my  assump- 
tion that  he  was  naturalized  since  lie 
had  become  a  permanet  resident  of 
America.  He  said :  "I  have  never  fore- 
sworn my  allegiance  to  Her  Majesty, 
the  Queen !"  To  become  naturalized 
here  necessarily  includes  that  allegi- 
ance to  a  sovereign  should  be  fore- 
sworn, but  It  does  not  mean  a  break 
with  one's  ancestral  traditions.  On  the 
contrary,  here  in  America  we  want 
every  foreigner  who  comes  to  preserve 
everything  of  his  old  country  that  Is 
good  and  introduce  it  into  the  American 
commonwealth  we  are  building. 

It  is  a  requirement  of  the  Greek 
church  that  any  convert  who  enters  its 
fold  must  curse  his  former  faith  in 
pretty  vile  terms,  and  from  this  rule 
not  even  a  Czarina  is  excepted ;  for, 
as  the  story  goes,  it  was  quite  hard  on 
the  wife  of  the  present  ruler  of  Russia, 
a  German  princess,  to  curse  her  old 
faith  when  joining  the  church  of  her 
husband,  since  she  could  not  be  ex- 
empted from  this  awful  obligation.  In 
court  circles  It  is  secretly  asserted 
that  the  poor  empress  feels  pangs  of 
conscience  whenever  new  misfortunes 
visit  the  empire,  as  if  they  came  as  a 
just  punishment  for  her  apostacy  from 
the  evangelical  church.  This  demand 
of  the  Greek  church  is  in  line  with 
old  traditions  and  is  deemed  right  in 
Russia  :  but  everything  is  quite  differ- 
ent in  American  patriotism,  for  here 
we  are  In  the  habit  of  cultivating  all 
that  Is  good  and  noble  In  other  nations. 
Yea,  our  own  patriotism  is  to  be  based 
on  cosmopolitan  grounds.  We  cherish 
the  Idea  that  universal  love  of  all  man- 
kind should  be  compatible  with  the 
love  of  our  own  country,  and  so  we 
believe  that  German-Americans  may 
just  as  well  live  harmoniously  in  this 
country  together  with  Irish-Americans 
or  Anglo-Americans,  with  Franco-Amer- 
icans or  with  emigrants  from  any  coun- 
try of  the  world. 

Our  American  ideal  has  not  been 
fully  realized,  for  we  must  confess  that 
we  welcome  only  the  European  nation- 
alities. Theoretically  we  draw  no  lines, 
but  practically  objections  have  been 
raised  against  the  Asiatic  races ;  and 
even  in  this  case  we  feel  the  incon- 
gruity of  measures  against  the  immi- 
gration of  special  races  for  reasons 
which  we  must  grant,  but  we  need  not 
enter  into  a  discussion  of  them  here. 
Here  we  are  followed  by  Canada  which 
discriminates  against  the  Hindus.  This 
is  more  illogical  since  they  belong  to 
the  British  empire  as  well  as  the  Cana- 
dians themselves. 

Germany  is  not  without  faults,  and 
nobody  Is  more  critical  than  the  Ger- 
mans themselves  unless  It  be  the  Ger- 
man-Americans. The  wrong  kind  of 
militarism  has  sometimes  made  itself 
felt  in  Germany,  and  nobody  has  criti- 
cized its  obnoxious  traits  more  than 
the  Germans.  The  German  people 
themselves  objected  to  the  Zabern  af- 
fair most  severely,  while  in  the  Drey- 


fus case  the  French  were  drunk  with 
militarism  in  favor  of  Esterhazy,  the 
Russian  spy,  and  no  other  nation  has 
reacted  against  military  supercilious- 
ness more  strongly  than  the  Germans. 

The  officialdom  of  Germany,  the  pride 
of  men  In  high  position,  has  proved  of-  J| 
fenslve  In  many  respects,  but  whenever 
it  occurred  publicly  it  lias  been  more 
emphatically  and  effectively  criticized 
by  Germans  than  any  similar  attitude 
of  other  governments  by  their  own  peo- 
ple. On  the  contrary,  most  of  the  objec- 
tionable deeds  of  other  governments 
have  passed  by  unnoticed.  In  Russia 
all  objections  to  the  tyranny  of  the 
government  are  suppressed  with  iron 
severity.  Nor  are  the  French  and  Eng- 
lish governments  without  blame  in  this 
regard. 

What  people  in  the  common  walks 
of  life  call  "bureaucracy"  in  lower  Ger- 
man officialdom,  is  often  represented 
in  our  country  by  a  tyranny  of  petty 
officials,  and  strange  to  say,  Germany 
has  often  been  denounced  on  account 
of  its  "Intolerable  bureaucracy."  We 
have  reasons  to  envy  Germany's  bureau- 
cratic institutions,  for  Germany  has 
attained  the  best  and  the  most  efficient 
service  at  the  lowest  cost  by  granting 
her  lower  officials  positions  for  life 
on  condition  of  unflinching  honesty  and 
good  behavior.  German  officials  are 
strict  in  enforcing  rules,  and  punctual 
in  their  duties,  but  they  have  little  or 
no  opportunity  to  tyrannize  any  one. 
Reformers  have  often  endeavored  ap- 
proximatel.v  to  introduce  one  or  an- 
other feature  of  German  bureaucracy 
here,  but  upon  the  whole  our  political 
bosses  oppose  reforms  of  this  kind.  It 
Is  precisely  in  the  distribution  of  bu- 
reaucratic positions  that  the  power  lies 
by  which  political  leaders  are  able  to 
pay  their  supporters  for  campaign  as- 
sistance. 

The  lack  of  religious  liberty  in  Ger- 
many is  still  to  be  lamented,  and  I 
can  tell  instances  from  my  own  experi- 
ence; but  I  have  discovered  that  condi- 
tions are  worse  in  England  and  even  to 
some  extent  here  in  America. 

There  is  no  need  of  entering  into 
further  details.  The  Kaiser's  speeches 
were  criticized,  and  not  least  severely 
by  the  Germans  themselves,  until  he 
mended  his  ways.  We  may  incident- 
ally add  that  what  he  really  meant 
was  by  no  means  as  terrible  as  his 
words  sounded,  and  it  is  sure  that 
if  his  successor  were  to  rule  in  the 
spirit  in  which  the  imperial  speeches 
have  been  interpreted,  Germany  would 
soon  change  into  a  republic.  However, 
as  long  as  the  coming  Hohenzollerns 
will  fill  their  high  office  in  the  sense  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  as  the  first  serv- 
ants of  the  state,  they  will  never  be  a 
danger  to  liberty  nor  need  they  fear  a 
revolution. 

Other  faults  noticeable  in  modern 
Germany  are  perhaps  common  to  man- 
kind in  other  portions  of  the  world, 
including  England.  These  are  the  snob- 
bishness of  some  rich,  the  increasing 
indulgence  of  pleasure-seekers,  a  de- 
teriorated taste  In  literature,  a  prefer- 
ence for  Bismarck's  kind  of  Rcalpolitik. 
the  loud  swagger  of  false  militarism 
and  the  insolence  of  officialdom.  But 
wherever  these  unpleasant  features  ap- 
pear in  Germany  they  are  not  a  whit 
worse   than   in   other   countries.   Great 


SOME  VALUABLE  LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR 


319 


Britain  uot  excepted.  Certainly  all 
these  faults  are  no  reason  to  make  war 
on  a  country.  Any  enumeration  of 
ttiem  can  only  be —  and  Indeed,  as  I 
understand  the  situation,  is  meant  to 
he — a  mere  excuse  of  English  people 
for  endorsing  the  government's  action 
in  making  war. 

English  Views. 

The  English  periodical  "The  Nation"' 
notes  the  striking  resemblance  between 
the  German  mind  as  shown  in  German 
papers  and  the  English  mind  as  exhib- 
ited in  the  English  press.  In  both 
countries  there  prevails  "the  unanimous 
confidence  In  the  justice  of  the  war, 
the  conviction  that  it  was  forced  uixin 
them  by  the  base  and  treacherous  de- 
signs of  their  enenjies.  and  the  confident 
assurance  that  their  cause  will  be  tri- 
umphant in  the  end."  After  quoting 
some  German  verses  and  characteriz- 
ing some  (Jerman  opinions,  the  un- 
signed article  continues:  "What  a  far- 
ragii  of  liypiicrisy  !  English  readers  will 
be  disposed  to  say.  Yet  it  is  impossible 
to  read  such  writing  without  recog- 
nizing that  the  writers  are  saying  what 
they  believe."  .Vfter  noting  the  views 
of  Komain  Holland  and  Gerhardt 
liauptiiiann  (the  latter  a  severe  critic 
of  German  officialdom  and  militarism) 
we  reail  on  :  "How  can  such  men  be 
blind  to  what  appears  to  us  the  hard 
fads  regarding  German  aggressiveness 
and  German  atrocities  and  lawless- 
ness?" .\nd  agiiin  further  down  : 
"However  preposterous  it  sounds  to  us, 
for  the  Cernian  people  this  is  a  de- 
fensive war.  primarily  against  the  long- 
laid  designs  of  France  and  Russia, 
though  the  tiitterest  feelings  are  di- 
rected against  England  for  our  'treach- 
ery.' It  simply  enrages  English  readers 
to  read  expressions  of  pity  for  Belgium 
from  (Jernians.  for  the  people  they  have 
so   foully    and   brutally    maltreated." 

lias  the  author  of  this  article  in  "The 
Nation"  never  seen  the  vindication  of 
the  Germans  by  the  American  reporters, 
Messrs.  Bemiett.  McCutcheon.  Irvin  S. 
Cobb.  Harry  Hansen,  and  Koger  Lewis? 
No  one  wlio  knows  them  doubts  their 
honesty  and  impartiality.  English  peo- 
ple do  not  seem  to  have  seen  the  state- 
ment signed  b.v  them  in  common,"  nor 
any  of  their  descriptions  of  the  war. 
So  our  author  continues : 

"But  how  is  the  ordinary  German  to 
know  the  crimes  he  has  committed? 
The  'Berliner  Tageblatt'  is  quite  a  re- 
spectable paper.  It  devotes  some  space 
to  atrocities.  But  they  are  assigned 
to  Russians  in  East  Prussia,  to  Belgian 
peasants  and  occasionall.v  to  French- 
men. German  soldiers  are  so  well  disci- 
plined that  they  do  not  commit  atro- 
cities'. It  is  the  enemy  that  uses 
dumdum  bullets,  fires  on  white  flags, 
and  abuses  the  Red  Cross,  mutilates 
or  assassinates  wounded  soldiers,  shells 
ambulances,  assaults  women  and  chil- 
dren, sets  villages  on  fire  for  sheer 
wantonness,  and  brutalizes  In  every 
way  the  art  of  war  I  .*>«)  far  as  mate- 
rial destruction  is  concerned,  we  have 
the  evidence  of  the  photographer  and 
the  admission  of  the  Cerman  com- 
manders  that    these   things    have   been 


•October   17.   1914,  p.   59. 

"  For  their  statement  see  "The  European 
War."  In  the  October  "Open  Court,"  p. 
630. 


done  in  the  course  of  (he  Belgian  lu- 
\asiou.  liut  Germans  at  home  uelieve 
tuat  these  charges  brought  against 
iiieiu  are  wicked  calumnies,  the  prod- 
ucts ol  "lie-taclories  in  i'aris  and  Imu- 
uon."  Ihey  conduct  the  war  in  a  civil- 
ized fashion:  but  those  Russians,  Bel- 
gians, auu  i' reiich  are  capable  of  any- 
umigi' 

The  photograph  of  a  ruined  house  is 
no  eviuence  oi  Ijermany  s  urutaluy,  and 
\>e  KUow  very  well  mat  war  is  hell. 
Blame  the  men  who  have  started  the 
war,  uot  lUe  men  wuo  expose  their  lives 
Hi  Lame;  una  leiaeiuuer  that  many 
houses  aud  iieautuui  trees  tas  lor  in- 
hiance  lu  Alauuesj  Ua\e  ueeu  destroyed 
i.y  tne  lieigians,  noi  uy  the  Germans, 
iue  iiUoLograim  shows  neither  the 
author  or  lUe  war  nor  the  men  who 
have  made  the  ruins. 

ill  explanation  oi  the  unreliability  of 
photograiihs  I  will  insert  here  a  little 
story  Loiu  me  t.y  a  Uerman-Americau 
who  had  ser\ed  in  the  tiermau  army  in 
ls>iU-ii.  Ills  name  is  W  mdmiller  aud 
he  was  on  his  return  to  nis  American 
home  with  his  wile  and  daughter  alter 
having  visited  the  lathenana  aud  some 
battlerielUs  where  he  nad  faced  the 
i-  rench  mitrailleuse,  lie  had  lain  in 
a  house  with  one  lieutenant  of  his 
sUaipsUooter  uatalliou,  lor  the  purpose 
Ol  Keeping  on  some  i' reuch  assailants, 
ilie  two  ueld  the  enemy  at  a  distance 
oy  Reeiiing  up  a  brisk  hre  so  as  to 
give  the  impression  that  there  were 
great  uumljeis  oi  tliem.  As  a  result 
they  drew  ujjou  themselves  the  hostile 
lire  trom  dmereut  quarters  and  even 
of  artillery.  The  house  was  often  hit 
but  its  two  defenders  remained  un- 
harmed. Upon  his  visit,  Mr.  \Yiud- 
miller  found  the  house  preserved  lu  the 
same  coudition  he  had  left  it  in  with 
all  the  marks  of  the  French  bullets. 
He  climbed  on  an  opposite  wall  to 
photograph  the  place,  but  an  old  woman 
told  him  that  he  could  buy  a  picture 
of  the  house  in  the  village  store,  and 
truly  there  he  found  it  printed  on  a 
postcard  with  an  inscription  which  de- 
clared that  it  had  been  "defendue  par 
(les  braves  francstireurs."  I'ictures  do 
not  prove  the  stories  told  about  them. 

In  America  the  opinion  is  often 
strongly  expressed  that  it  is  a  right  of 
every  one,  of  civilians  and  also  of 
women,  to  attack  an  invading  enemy,  to 
shoot  at  hostile  troops  from  their  win- 
dows, from  ambush,  from  anywhere. 
But  we  answer  that  if  this  lie  the  case, 
if  private  persons  take  part  in  the 
war,  they  forfeit  their  right  as  neu- 
trals to  the  enemies'  protection  of  their 
lives  and  property;  and  it  will  bo  a 
matter  of  course  that  war  will  revert 
to  its  original  savagery.  If  civilians 
take  part  in  the  combat  the  invading 
enemy  will  be  forced  in  sheer  self-de- 
fense  to   extend   the   war   to   civilians. 

Before  condemning  the  punishment  of 
snipers,  ple.-isc  la  lie  the  trouble  to  read 
the  rejiorts  printed  in  Cerman  pajiers 
about  Belgian  civilians'  iiarlicipation  in 
the  war,  and  consider  that  (ierinan  offi- 
cers are  human  beings  possessed  of  a 
deep-seated  love  of  their  men.  What 
are  the,v  to  do  If  they  enter  a  village 
and  are  suddenly  attacked  from  all 
sides  by  snipers  hidden  in  surrounding 
houses?  I  saw  the  letter  of  a  captain 
publishe<l  somewhere  who  reporte<l  that 
he  had  lost  more  men  in  such  a  situa- 


tion than  in  the  open  battlefield.  How 
would  one  of  our  most  kind-hearted 
humane  readers  act  if  he  were  in  a  sim- 
ilar position?  Perhaps  he  would  say: 
"A  goodly  number  of  my  men  have  lieen 
killed  and  wounded ;  the  dead  have 
gone  to  heaven.  It  is  Christian  to  for- 
give the  enemy,  and  I  will  bless  the 
people  who  have  done  the  deed." 
*  «  *  * 
Another  English  opinion  appeared  in 
the  ".^^atnrday  Review"  as  long  ago  as 
February,  l.'^90.  It  is  written  from  a 
"biological"  standiioint ;  it  makes  a 
plea  for  the  Russians  and  the  French 
and  is  important  because  it  is  this  view 
which  has  directed  British  politics, 
which  created  the  Triple  Entente  and 
caused  the  British  government  to  con- 
spire with  Belgium  in  secret  treaties 
by  which  England  was  in  h«nor  bound 
to  begin  the  war.  This  article  was 
written  for  Britons  alone,  not  for  Ger- 
mans nor  for  Americans.  In  its  clos- 
ing paragraph  it  insists  first  on  im- 
perialism ("federate  our  colonies")  ; 
second,  on  the  defeat  of  Germany;  and, 
third,  readiness  to  fight  America.  It  is 
re|u-inteti  on  another  page  of  this  issue. 

Tlie  article  is  apparently  written  by 
the  same  author  who  a  year  later 
wrote  the  other  article  of  the  "Satur- 
da.v  Review."  republished  as  the  first 
article  of  the  October  number  of  "The 
Open  Court."  The  underlying  ideas 
are  quite  similar  and  here  also  the 
principle  of  extermination  is  taught  as 
the  most  Important  factor  in  the  prog- 
ress of  evolution.  We  read  :*  "Were 
every  German  to  be  wipeil  out  tomor- 
row, there  is  no  English  trade,  no  Eng- 
lish pursuit  that  would  not  immedi- 
ately expand.  Were  every  Englishman 
to  be  wiped  out  tomorrow,  the  Germans 
would  gain  in  proportion.  .  .  .  One 
or  the  other  has  to  go ;  one  or  tlie  other 
will  go." 

How  untrue  this  principle  is  we  shall 
see  later  on.  England  is  even  now  suf- 
fering from  the  war  by  having  her 
trade  with  Germany  ruinefl. 

The  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  the  Right 
Reverend  .T.  W.  Diggle,  D.D..  must 
have  read  the  article  from  the  biological 
point  of  view.  In  an  article  in  the 
"Hibbert  Journal"  of  October,  1914, 
"The  Ethics  of  War."  he  says :  "Bio- 
logical science  affirms  that  in  the  ani- 
mal world  the  highest  types  have  been 
evolved  out  of  pitiless  struggles."  The 
Lord  Bishop  seems  to.  accept  this  affir- 
mation as  a  fact  and  declares  "that 
war.  both  in  its  roots  and  fruits,  is 
evil."  Rut  he  takes  comfort  in  the 
"most  encouraging  fact  that,  under  the 
moral  government  of  the  world,  even 
evil  can  lie  compelled  to  bring  forth 
good.  .  .  .  And  the  unparalleled 
crime  of  tlie  crucifixion  is  still  leading 
humanity  forward  toward  its  final  re- 
demi)lion.  These  facts  are  very  strange 
and  deep." 

Mr.  I,.  P.  .Tacks  publishes  his  opinion 
editorially  in  the  same  number  of  the 
"Hibbert  .Tournal,"  under  the  strange 
title.  "Mechanism,  I>iabolism  and  the 
War,"  and  we  quote  the  following  sen- 
tences : 

"Every  one  who  reflects  on  the  pres- 
ent state  of  Europe  must  feel  that  he  Is 


•  Compare  this  with  the  sentence  quoted 
In  the  middle  of  page  608  In  the  October 
"Open  Court." 


320 


THOUGHTS  OX  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


in  the  presence  of  something  anomalous, 
self-contradictory  and  absurd.  .  .  . 
Intellect,  trained  for  the  discovery  of 
truth  by  elaborate  systems  of  educa- 
tion, takes  service  under  the  Father  of 
Lies,  calls  itself  'diplomacy.'  and  lures 
nations  to  ruin.  .  .  .  What  is  the 
force  that  unites  us?  The  sense  of 
common  danger,  the  call  of  common 
duty,  the  certainty  of  common  suffer- 
ing, the  memory  of  a  common  past- 
each  plays  a  part.  .  .  .  Having  re- 
gard to  all  the  circumstances  under 
which  this  war  has  been  forced  upon 
us.  I  cannot  doubt  that  it  may  be  con- 
verted into  a  great  moral  opportunity. 
.  .  .  The  primary  feature  will  be  the 
reawakening  of  the  moral  conscious- 
ness of  the  people.  .  .  .  Luxury, 
frivolity,  and  class  selfishness  will  re- 
ceive a  check.  .  .  .  We  shall  all 
know  better  than  before  what  it  is  to 
have  a  man's  part  in  the  world.  .  .  . 
Our  religion  also  will  be  less  voluble 
and  more  sincere ;  we  shall  have  seen 
something  of  the  terrors  of  the  Lord." 

Sir  Henry  Jones  in  the  same  period- 
ical expresses  his  conviction  in  the 
words :  "This  war  has  come  upon  us 
as  a  duty."  .  .  .  "The  British  peo- 
ple as  a  whole  .  .  .  have  gone  forth 
into  this  struggle  with  an  open  brow 
and  a  clear  conscience."  "All  the  same, 
the  substantial  truth  is  that  the  Ger- 
man people  regards  itself  as  a  nation 
with  a  mission,  and  we  will  do  well  to 
remember  that  its  conscience  also  is 
in  the  war." 

German  policy  is  thus  characterized : 
"It  is  the  reasoned  belief  in  territorial 
brigandage  and  in  the  methods  of  bar- 
barism, provided  they  are  employed  by 
and  for  the  sake  of  the  German  nation. 
.  .  .  The  pathos  of  the  situation  is 
overwhelming." 

On  another  page  T.  W.  Rolleston 
speaks  of  "the  megalomania  of  Ger- 
many, or  more  strictly  of  Prussia, 
which  is  now  forcing  such  terrible 
issues  on  Europe,  her  towering  ambi- 
tions, her  attitude  of  cynical  disregard 
of  every  national  or  individual  right 
which  might  stand  in  the  way  of  these 
ambitions  or  clog  their  flight  towards 
the  goal  of  world-power." 

English  Critics  of  British  Politics. 

It  does  credit  to  the  English  people 
that  there  are  independent  men  among 
them  who  do  not  endorse  their  coun- 
try's war  policy  and  who  denounce 
the  government  for  having  started  the 
war.  Best  known  of  these  critics  are 
the  three  cabinet  members  who  resigned 
bec-ause  of  their  disapproval. 

We  will  here  quote  two  other  opin- 
ions, one  of  the  Hon.  Bertrand  Russell, 
as  reprinted  in  the  "Cambridge  Maga- 
zine." from  the  "Labour  Leader,"  the 
other  of  Arthur  Ponsonby  published  in 
"The  Nation"  (London)  of  August  22, 
1'.I14.  p.  703. 

The  former  blames  as  the  cause  of 
the  war  the  intolerable  dread  of  one 
another  in  which  the  people  of  Europe 
have  been  living.    Mr.  Russell  says : 

"In  every  nation,  by  the  secrecy  of 
diplomacy,  by  co-operation  of  the  press 
with  the  manufacturers  of  armaments, 
by  the  desire  of  the  rich  and  the  edu- 
cated to  distract  the  attention  of  the 
working  classes  from  social  injustice, 
su.spicion  of  other  nations  is  carefully 
cultivated,   until   a  state  of  nightmare 


terror  is  produced,  and  men  are  pre- 
pared to  attack  the  enemy  at  once,  be- 
fore he  is  ready  to  inflict  the  ruin 
which  he  is  believed  to  be  contemplat- 
ing. In  sudden  vertigo,  the  nations 
rush  into  the  dreaded  horror ;  reason  is 
called  treachery,  mercy  is  called  weak- 
ness, and  universal  delirium  drives  the 
world  to  destruction. 

"All  the  nations  suffer  by  the  war, 
and  knew  in  advance  that  they  would 
suffer.  In  all  the  nations,  the  bulk  of 
ordinary  men  and  women  must  have 
dreaded  war.  Yet  all  felt  the  war 
thrust  upon  them  by  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  preserving  themselves  from  in- 
vasion and  national  extinction.  Austria- 
Hungary,  a  kind  of  outpost  of  western 
civilization  among  the  turbulent  Balkan 
states,  felt  its  existence  threatened  by 
revolutionary  Slavs  within  its  own  bor- 
ders, supported  by  the  aggressive  and 
warlike  Servians  on  its  frontier.  Rus- 
sia, being  of  the  same  race  and  religion 
as  the  Servians,  felt  bound  in  honor 
to  protect  them  against  Austria.  Ger- 
many, knowing  that  the  defeat  of  Aus- 
tria would  leave  it  at  the  mercy  of 
Russia,  felt  bound  to  support  Austria. 
France,  from  dread  of  a  repetition  of 
1S70.  had  allied  itself  with  Russia, 
and  was  compelled  for  self-preservation 
to  support  Russia  as  soon  as  Germany 
was  involved.  And  England,  believing 
that  the  German  navy  was  designed  to 
secure  our  downfall,  had  felt  impelled 
through  fear  to  form  the  entente  with 
France  and  Russia. 

"If.  when  this  war  is  ended,  the 
world  is  to  enjoy  a  secure  peace,  the  na- 
tions must  be  relieved  of  the  intolerable 
fear  which  has  weighed  them  down  and 
driven  them  into  the  present  horror. 
Not  only  must  armaments  be  immensely 
reduced,  but  the  machinery  of  mobiliza- 
tion must  be  everywhere  rendered  more 
cumbrous  and  more  democratic,  the  di- 
plomacy must  be  conducted  more  pub- 
licly and  by  men  more  in  touch  with 
the  people,  and  arbitration  treaties 
must  bind  nations  to  seek  a  peaceful 
settlement  of  their  differences  before 
appealing  to  brute  force.  All  these 
things  can  be  secured  after  the  present 
war  if  the  democracy  is  insistent :  none 
will  be  secured  if  the  negotiations  are 
left  in  the  hands  of  the  men  who  made 
the  war." 

Mr.  Ponsonby's  letter  reads  in  extract 
thus : 

"I  am  not  an  uncompromising  'peace- 
at-anv-price.'  'stop-the-war'  advocate, 
but  am  as  jealous  of  my  country's 
honor  as  any  one  that  could  be  found. 
Nothing  matters  while  our  national 
safety  is  threatened,  and  I  ask  myself: 
.  .  ".  Would  it  not  be  better  to  be 
silent  and  so  tacitly  express  approval 
of  the  past  policy  of  the  government, 
and  applaud  the  self-laudatory  articles 
with  which  the  press  is  fllled?  It 
would  certainly  be  very  much  easier, 
and  I  wish  to  goodness  I  could  do  it. 

"But  principles  I  believe  in  cannot 
be  dispelled  at  will,  and  do  not  allow 
me  any  peace  of  mind.  Inconvenient 
(piestions  keep  on  iiresenting  themselves 
to  me  and  waiting  for  an  answer. 
.  .  .  I  am  not  going  to  embark  on  a 
long-reasoned  argument  which  cannot 
be  compressed  into  the  limits  of  a  let- 
ter. I  will  simply  ask  some  questions 
and  answer  them  with  a  single  mono- 
syllable. 


"Have  the  Government  during  the 
past  six  years  joined  in  the  insane 
competition  in  armaments,  and  led  the 
way  in  matters  of  expenditures? 
Yes.     .    .     . 

"Have  they  consistently  advocated, 
supported,  and  encouraged  the  policy 
of  the  balance  of  power,  which  divided 
Europe  into  two  hostile  camps,  produc- 
ing high  tension  and  possible  outbreak 
of  war  at  every  diplomatic  dispute 
that  arose?     Yes.     .     .    . 

"So  far  from  the  correspondence  in 
the  White  Papers  being  the  cause  of 
the  war.  does  it  not  clearly  show  that 
our  previous  policy  had  committed  us. 
and  we  were  simply  entangled  in 
the  meshes  of  oiir  own  creation?     Yes. 

"Is  it  right  or  even  advisable  to  make 
binding  engagements  with  other  nations 
behind  the  backs  of  the  people  in  se- 
cret?    iYo. 

"Did  the  Government  declare  in  the 
most  explicit  way  that  we  were  free 
and  unfettered  in  the  event  of  war, 
when  all  the  time  British  and  French 
naval  experts  were  drawing  up  plans 
for  mutual  defense  and  assistance? 
Yes. 

"Should  we  have  declared  war  on 
France  if  she  had  found  it  incumbent 
on  her  for  the  sake  of  national  safety, 
to  send  her  army  across  the  Belgian 
frontier?     A'o. 

"Did  Germany  know  from  the  first 
that  we  were  bound  to  support  France 
and  did  she  want  to  fight  us? 
Yo.     .     .     . 

"Did  the  Prime  Minister  in  referring 
to  what  he  called  the  'infamous  pro- 
posal," at  the  same  time  draw  attention 
to  the  German  Ambassador's  concili- 
atory request  at  a  later  date  that  we 
should  'formulate  conditions  on  which 
we  would  remain  neutral'?     Yo. 

"Is  not  Germany's  chief  fear,  which 
has  been  enormously  increased  of  late, 
a  Slav  inroad  from  Russia?    Yes. 

"Does  our  support  of  Russia  mean 
the  strengthening  of  Russian  autocracy 
and  Russian  militarism,  and  the  conse- 
quent check  of  the  development  and  en- 
lightenment of  the  Russian  people? 
Yes. 

"Will  Russian  success  mean  a  further 
acquisition  of  territory  by  Russia  in 
Europe,  and  is  not  this  very  undesir- 
able?    Yes. 

"Is  there  a  vestige  of  foundation,  in 
view  of  the  hopeless  strategic  position 
in  which  Germany  now  finds  herself, 
for  the  idea  that  this  is  all  the  out- 
come of  a  German  plot  against  this 
country  ?     Xo. 

"Is  it  possible  or  desirable  that  the 
German  empire  should  be  shattered  and 
her  national  expansion  forever  pre- 
vented?    .Yo. 

"Is  the  capture  of  all  German  col- 
onies likely  to  make  a  passive  and  sub- 
missive Germany   in   the  future?     Yo. 

"Was  there  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  any  animosity  among  the  Brit- 
ish people  against  the  Germans?    Yo. 

"Is  there  reason  to  suspect  that  in 
the  oflicial  world  an  anti-German  policy 
has  been  steadily  pursued  for  some 
time  past?     Yes. 

"Is  it  not  deplorable  that  when  Great 
Britain  is  plunged  into  the  most  de- 
vastating war  the  world  has  ever  seen, 
we  should  none  of  us  know  clearly  what 
we  are  fighting  for?    Yes. 


SOME  VALUABLE  LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR 


321 


"Are  the  peoples  of  Europe  going  to 
l)e  massacred  iu  hiui<lreds  of  thousands, 
and  are  incalculable  uumbei-s  of  non- 
combatants  going  to  be  reduced  to 
misery  and  ruin  only  because  a  few 
ministers,  diplomats  and  monarchs  have 
quarrelled?     Yc.s. 

•'Are  the  victors  going  to  gain  any- 
thing, either  materially  or  morally  by 
this  war?     .Vo." 

England  may  be  proud  of  the  fact 
that  these  isolated  criticisms  have  been 
published  in  England. 

THelve  I'oints  Assiu-ed. 

I  repeat  here  that  I  shall  change  my 
opinion  and  gladly  confess  it  publicly 
if  I  can  be  convinced  of  being  mistaken. 
I  deem  the  following  facts  assured : 

1.  Tan-Slavism  is  a  movement  insti- 
gated and  directed  by  Russia.  Its  true 
aim  is  to  confederate  all  Slavs  under 
Kussian  rule,  and  since  many  Slavs,  in- 
cluding the  Poles,  the  Bulgarians  and 
the  Bosnians,  are  opposed  to  Russian 
rule  and  against  Pan-Slavism,  the  Serbs 
are  its  main  supporters  outside  Russia. 
A  victory  of  Pan-Slavism  would  not 
only  doom  Poland  to  a  continuance  of 
her  .slavery  but  also  deal  a  death-blow 
to  Austria-Hungary,  because  there  are 
nunionius  Slavs  living  iu  that  country 
intermingled  with  Germans,  Magyars, 
the  Saxons  of  Transylvania  and  Rou- 
manians. The  present  war  is  a  conflict 
between  Pan-Slavism  and  Germanism 
in  which  Great  Britain,  against  her  real 
interest  supports  the  former. 

2.  As  the  Russians  have  develoi)ed  a 
system  of  international  intrigue,  mainly 
against  the  English,  and  have  employed 
spies  more  than  any  other  nation,  so 
the  Serbs  deemed  it  proper  to  fight  ttieir 
real  or  supposed  enemies  by  assassins, 
and  were  encouraged  by  the  Russian 
government. 

3.  Both  Servia's  method  of  practic- 
ing assassination  and  Russia's  supiwrt 
of  it  were  carried  on  officially,  even  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Sorvia  being  impli- 
cated in  suspicion,  and  so  Russia  was 
in  honor  bound  to  protect  Servia  when 
Austria-Hungary  demanded  a  thorough 
investigation  into  the  conspiracy  which 
caused  the  death  of  the  archduke 
at  Sarajevo.  However,  neither  Servia 
nor  Russia  could  afford  to  let  the  truth 
of  the  details  become  fully  known  and 
established. 

4.  The  Germanic  races  detest  assas- 
sination. It  should  be  remembered  that 
when  Napoleon  I  crushed  Germany,  the 
German  people  rose  against  him  and 
beat  him  in  an  honest  and  open  fight 
at  Leipsic  and  at  Waterloo  after  several 
failures  such  as  Schill's  rebellion,  but 
not  even  one  attempt  was  made  to 
assassinate  the  tyrant.  It  seems  quite 
unintelligible  that  ICngland,  a  couutry 
more  (Icrmanic  in  blood  than  Germany, 
could  support  or  sympathize  with  the 
Russo-.Servian  cause  which  spells  ruin 
first  to  Austria-Hungary  and  then  also 
to  Germany,  and  there  Is  but  one  ex- 
cuse :  England  always  plays  the  pro- 
tector of  small  stales.  The  point  may 
briefly  be  summed  up  that  while  Aus- 
tria-Hungary meant  to  extirpate  assas- 
sination, Russia  and  England  insisted 
that  Servia's  sovereignty  should  not  be 
interfered  with;  its  govornmeiit  should 
he  allowed  to  continue  its  pnlicy  which 
Austria-Hungary  and  Germany  regard 
as  criminal. 


"i.  Russia  continued  to  mobilize  in 
spite  of  official  assurances  that  it  was 
not  doing  so,  and  Germany  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  war  had  become  un- 
avoidable. 

0.  The  Kaiser  made  vain  efforts  by 
a  personal  correspondence  with  Czar 
Nicholas  and  Iving  George  of  England 
to  avoid  the  war,  or  at  least  to  isolate 
it  as  much  as  possible,  but  Russia  had 
promised  to  sujiport  Servia  and  Eng- 
land was  "in  honor  bound"  to  help 
Russia  and  France. 

7.  Germany  had  positive  informa- 
tion that  the  French  intended  to  ad- 
vance into  Germany  through  Belgium 
and  since  she  was  threatened  by  Rus- 
sia and  France  at  the  same  time,  deter- 
mined to  prevent  the  French  plan.  Ger- 
many regretted  that  she  was  compelled 
to  break  Belgian  neutrality  but  was 
fully  justified  later  on  liy  finding  posi- 
tive evidence  that  the  Belgians  had 
broken  neutrality  long  before  a  Ger- 
man soldier  set  foot  on  Belgian  ground. 

S.  Germany's  breach  of  Belgian  neu- 
trality was  made  England's  pretext  for 
n  declaration  of  war — a  very  question- 
able act  in  consideration  of  the  fact 
that  England  herself  had  been  guilty 
of  a  breach  of  Belgian  neutrality.  We 
grant,  however,  that  England  was  "in 
honor  bound"  to  come  to  Belgium's  a.?- 
sistance.  on  account  of  her  former 
agreements  with  Belgium. 

9.  From  the  standpoint  of  Belgium 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  England  did 
not  y)rotect  her  in  her  extremity  as 
Belgium  had  a  right  to  expect,  but 
England  was  not  sufl5eiently  prepared 
for  the  war  she  had  declared,  excei)t 
perhaps  on  sea.  Apparently  she  ex- 
pected that  her  continental  allies  would 
be  suflicient  to  crush  Germany. 

10.  France  went  into  the  war  be- 
cause she  nourished  lier  old  grudge 
against  Germany  and  demanded  re- 
venge. She  believed  she  had  consider- 
ably improved  her  army,  especially  her 
artillery,  and  was  convinced  that  Ger- 
many had  remained  stagnant:  at  tho 
same  time  she  felt  assured  that  Russia 
with  her  overwhelming  ntnnbers  would 
soon  enough  invade  Germany  on  the 
east  and  take  Berlin. 

11.  England,  jealous  of  Germany's 
expansion  and  determined  not  to  allow 
any  further  increase  of  her  navy,  had 
concluded  the  Triple  Entente  with 
France  and  Russia  and  felt  in  honor 
bound  to  join  the  belligerents,  thinking 
it  would  be  safe — an  easy  task. 

12.  Germany  has  suffered  much  in 
former  centuries  from  incursions  of  her 
neighbors,  especially  the  French.  T'nder 
the  pressure  of  repeated  and  unpro- 
voked unjust  attacks  Germany  has  been 
compelled  to  unite  into  an  empire  and 
introduce  a  well-organized  institution 
of  self-defense,  recently  called  "mili- 
tarism." Through  many  sad  experi- 
ences. Germany  has  learned  that  the 
iiest  defense  is  to  take  the  offensive  and' 
strike  the  first  blow.  This  foresight  on 
the  part  of  fiermany  has  been  called 
"aggressiveness."  As  soon  as  the 
Kaiser  recognized  that  war  was  inevit- 
able and  that  the  Triple  Entente  was 
determined  to  crush  Germany,  he  acted 
promptly  and  led  his  army  against  his 
enemies. 


These  are  the  twelve  main  |ioints  that 
chtiracterize  the  origin  of  the  war  and 
we  will  here  only  add  that  the  Belgian 
civilian  population  took  part  in  the 
fight  on  a  large  scale,  sometimes  even 
in  a  most  barbarous  fashion,  so  that 
the  German  troops  frequently  suffered 
heavier  losses  by  sniping  than  in  battle, 
and  this  naturally  led  to  severe  pun- 
ishments of  the  guilty.  These  reprisals 
were  called  "atrocities"  and  are  stoutly 
believed  by  the  supporters  of  the  Brit- 
ish cause,  although  they  are  sufficiently 
refuted  by  the  Round  Robin  of  the  five 
American  reporters. 

Was  the  War  Unavoidable? 

War  was  avoidable  if  the  belligerents 
had  used  any  sense  at  all,  common  sense 
or  foresight,  or  -wisdom.  The  Czar 
would  have  kept  peace,  so  far  as  he 
personally  was  concerned,  but  in  his 
corresimndence  with  the  Kaiser  he 
speaks  of  the  pressure  exercised  upon 
him,  and  this  pressure  comes  from  those 
around  him,  the  archdukes  headed  by 
his  uncle  Nicolaus  Nikolajewitch.  The 
ICaiser  tried  his  best  to  avert  the  calam- 
ity of  fighting  all  Europe.  Neverthe- 
less, as  soon  as  he  saw  that  his 
enemies  were  determined  on  war  he 
no  longer  hesitated  but  took  a  most 
vigorous  initiative  according  to  his  old 
Prussian  traditions. 

It  aiipears  that  Russia  would  not 
have  venturetl  into  the  war  if  England 
had  not  promised  to  join.  Statements 
have  been  made  to  this  effect,  but  docu- 
mentary evidence  is  still  lacking.  We 
deem  it  probable. 

One  thing  may  safely  be  asserted, 
that  whereas  the  Triple  Alliance  of 
Germany.  Austria-Hungary  and  Italy 
was  intended  to  preserve  the  present 
status  of  Europe,  the  Triple  Entente 
of  England  with  France  and  Russia 
meant  war.  It  was  a  federation  of 
three  positively  antagonistic  races  made 
for  the  purpose  of  combining  these  three 
most  unlike  and  mutually  uncongenial 
nationalities  to  serve  on  connnon 
hatred.  The  aim  of  the  three  was  to 
crush  Germany,  and  it  can  scarcely  be 
doubted  that  English  statecraft  is  the 
moving  jwwer  of  the  whole  scheme. 
Thus  it  seems  assured  that  war  became 
unavoidable  at  the  moment  when  the 
Triple  Entente  was  concluded. 

England  has  always  been  anxious  to 
rule  the  seas  and  her  European  policy 
has  always  ptirsued  the  aim  of  antagon- 
izing the  niain  powers  on  the  continent 
and  posing  as  protectress  of  the  small 
states.  She  has  been  especially  careful 
not  to  let  the  coast  opposite  England 
fall  into  powerful  hands,  so  an  attack 
on  Bolghnn  appeared  to  her  like  an  at- 
tack on  Great  Britain. 

Here  lies  the  defect  in  English  state- 
craft. Either  England  should  have 
sent  the  English  army  at  once  to  Bel- 
gium for  the  sake  of  protecting  Bel- 
gium efliciently  against  a  German  in- 
vasion, or  she  should  have  advised 
Belgium  to  allow  the  Germans  to  pass 
through  the  country  on  their  (iromise 
to  rcsjiect  Belgian  independence.  In 
this  latter  rase  the  Germans  could  not 
have  taken  the  Belgian  coast  for  the 
purpose  of  attacking  England.  As 
matters  stand  now,  English  diplomats 
have  ruined  Belgium  and  force<l  Ger- 
many into  a  hostile  attitude  towards 
England.  The  statesmen  of  England 
thought    they   could  afford   to    venture 


322 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


into  a  war  when  Germany  was  sur- 
rounded by  enemies  on  both  the  east 
and  west,  and  England  would  thereby 
maintain  her  supremacy  on  the  seas. 

Speaking  of  the  wars  of  England 
since  Queen  Elizabeth,  Field-Marshal 
Earl  Roberts  expresses  his  view  in  the 
"Hibbert  Journal"  (October,  1914),  as 
follows : 

"This  struggle  has  always  the  same 
underlying  motive — viz..  the  determi- 
nation on  the  part  of  England  that  no 
single  state  shall  be  allowed  to  upset 
the  balance  of  power  and  to  dominate 
the  western  half  of  Europe.  As  soon 
as  any  state  attempts  this,  and  then 
gains  possession  of,  or  tries  to  establish 
itself  in.  the  Low  Countries,  then  Eng- 
land is  compelled  to  take  up  arms. 

"In  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  Spain 
was  the  powerful  and  aggressive  nation 
of  western  Europe,  and  she  was  estab- 
lished in  the  Netherlands;  and  when 
the  great  Armada  sailed  the  chief  de- 
sign of  the  whole  operation  was  that 
this  powerful  fleet  should  gain  com- 
mand of  the  English  Channel,  pick  up 
tlie  Duke  of  Parma's  trained  veterans 
in  the  Low  Countries,  and  escort  them 
to  the  English  coast.  The  real  men- 
ace to  England  lay  in  the  fact  that 
Spanish  power  was  established  in  the 
liOw  Countries.  The  main  purpose  of 
Marlborough's  famous  campaigns  was 
to  check  the  ambitious  designs  of  the 
French  under  Louis  XIV.  and  the 
great  battles  of  Ramilies,  Malplaquet 
and  Oudenarde  were  fought  in  the 
Ix)w  Countries. 

"The  war  against  the  French  Repub- 
lic was  undertaken  because  the  French 
had  seized  the  mouth  of  the  Scheldt ; 
the  fighting  began  in  Flanders  in  1793, 
and  ended  at  Waterloo,  a  few  miles 
south  of  Brussels,  in  1815. 

"At  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century  we  And  ourselves  engaged  in 
a  colossal  struggle  against  Germany, 
for  she  is  now  the  strong  and  aggres- 
sive power  which  seeks  to  dominate  the 
western  half  of  Europe,  and  has.  we 
hope  only  for  a  time,  established  her- 
self in  Belgium. 

"If  Germany  succeeds  in  maintain- 
ing her  hold  on  Belgium,  Holland  and 
Denmark  will  pass  under  her  sway. 
Then  her  sealioard  will  extend  in  one 
unbrolien  line  from  Memel,  along  the 
southern  shore  of  the  Baltic,  round 
Denmark,  and  then  by  Holland  and 
Belgium  to  the  shores  of  the  English 
Channel  itself.  In  Holland  and  Belgium 
she  will  find  great  naval  bases  close 
to  our  own  shores.  The  hardy  sailors 
and  fishermen  of  Denmark  and  Holland 
— seamen  little,  if  at  all,  inferior  to 
our  own — will  he  taken  to  man  tlie 
warships  of  the  German  navy,  and  the 
naval  competition  between  Germany 
and  ourselves  will  become  many  times 
more  severe  tlian  it  is  at  present." 

Incidentally  we  will  say  in  comment 
on  Earl  Roberts'  historical  reflections 
that  the  victories  which  in  England  are 
commonly  attributed  to  Marlborough 
were  won  by  Eugene,  I'rince  of  Savoy, 
and  the  battle  of  Waterloo  was  lost  by 
Wellington  when  the  Prussian  army 
under  Bllieher  appeared  in  time  to  save 
the  day  and  rout  Napoleon. 

The  English  denounce  German  mili- 
tarism as  barbarous ;  but  their  "naval 
supremacy"    is   considered   as   unobjec- 


tionable. Says  i:arl  Roberts:  "The 
British  Isles  are  the  heart  of  the  em- 
pire, parts  of  which  are  scattered  all 
over  the  face  of  the  globe.  These  scat- 
tered portions  of  the  empire,  though 
sundered  by  the  Seven  Seas,  are  kept 
together  by  the  British  navy  which 
guards  those  seas.  Naval  supremacy  is 
therefore  absolutely  necessarj-  for  us 
if  we  are  to  maintain  the  empire." 

By  "empire"  Earl  Roberts  means  im- 
perialism, a  union  of  England  with  her 
colonies  which  would  make  the  colonies 
obedient  dependencies  in  such  a  way 
that  if  the  British  premier  decides  on 
war,  Africa,  India,  Australia  with  New 
Zealand,  and  Canada  shall  be  drawn 
into  the  struggle.  The  same  proposi- 
tion is  made  in  the  "Saturday  Review" 
article  of  1S96,  cited  above  and  re- 
printed on  another  page,  where  the  de- 
mand is  expressed  by  the  words  "to 
federate."  We  remember  that  imperial- 
ism in  Germany  has  been  bitterly  con- 
demned by  British  authors,  but  for  the 
maintenance  of  Great  Britain's  domin- 
ion all  over  the  world  the  federation  of 
all  colonies  into  an  empire  is  an  indis- 
pensable principle;  and  further  the 
British  empire,  in  this  sense  of  im- 
perialism, presupposes  Great  Britain's 
naval  supremacy. 

In  addition,  the  powers  on  the  con- 
tinent ought  to  be  equally  balanced; 
Earl  Roberts  quotes  from  Lord  Milner : 
"But  in  order  to  help  maintain  that 
balance  we  require  an  army,  and  no 
puny  army."  This  means  "militarism." 
Militarism  is  to  lie  destroyed  in  Ger- 
many, but  England  ought  to  have  it. 

And  we  agree  with  Earl  Roberts.  If 
militarism  had  existed  in  Great  Britain 
as  it  exists  in  Germany,  if  every 
Englishman  had  to  serve  in  the  army. 
Sir  Edward  Grey  would  not  have  ven- 
tured into  this  war  so  unconcernedly 
as  he  did.  and  for  this  reason,  if  not 
for  others  as  well,  it  is  highly  desirable 
that  the  German  system  of  militarism 
should  be  introduced  into  Great 
Britain. 

If  we  grant  the  premises  from  which 
Earl  Roberts  argues,  that  Britain  domi- 
nance over  the  world  (or.  as  he  more 
guardedly  expresses  it.  her  "naval  su- 
premacy") is  "absolutely  necessary"  for 
the  British,  his  warlike  attitude  is 
quite  natural,  and,  both  from  the  old 
standpoint  of  Macchiavellian  politics 
and  from  the  biological  point  of  view, 
the  policy  of  the  English  government 
would  be  quite  intelligible.  Tlie  British 
cabinet  held  these  views  and  so  war 
was  unavoidable. 

But  is  the  biological  standpoint  really 
true,  and  is  it  wise  to  act  accordingly? 
It  risks  England's  present  position  by 
a  war  which  might  hasten  the  crisis 
with  exactly  the  evil  result  that  Eng- 
lish statesmen  intend  to  avoid. 

A  Struggle  for  Iieadershlp. 

There  is  a  certain  justice  in  ICnglish 
ambition  to  keep  ahead  in  the  struggle 
for  leadership  in  the  world.  Every  lui- 
tion  has  a  right  to  do  her  best  to  excel 
all  the  others  and  be  the  first  among 
them.  It  is  the  old  principle  taught  in 
ancient  Greece  where  Homer  thus  ex- 
pressed it  in  his  Iliad: 
"Always  to  be  in  the  lead  and  to  be  to 
the  others  superior." 

England  has  l)een  the  dominant  na- 
tion   in   the   world   and    maintains   lier 


prominence  by  ruling  the  seas :  but  two 
rivals  are  slowly  growing  stronger  with 
the  probability  that  each  of  them  will 
take  a  place  besides  Great  Britain,  and 
these  are  Germany  and  the  United 
States.  Should  their  growth  be  toler- 
ated? Should  not  the  increase  of  their 
power  be  stopped  in  time  before  it  is 
too  late?  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
English  author  who  expresses  the  bio- 
logical view,  Great  Britain  should  be 
on  guard.  Russia  is  not  dangerous; 
France  is  not  dangerous;  no  other 
smaller  power  can  become  dangerous. 
There  are  only  two  rivals,  Germany  and 
America.  Our  English  author  "  says 
directly  Gcrmania  est  delenda.  and  im- 
plies as  the  future  aim,  America  est 
delciuia.  Is  not  this  principle  right? 
Is  not  the  maxim  of  Homer  both  true 
and  noble?  And  is  not  the  struggle 
for  existence  a  law  of  nature  fully 
proved  by  science? 

Britannia  still  rules  the  seas ;  and  we 
can  very  well  understand  that  she 
would  and  should  do  anything,  even 
risk  a  war,  to  maintain  her  supremacy. 
We  grant  that  she  has  a  right  to  do 
so,  but  we  believe  that  she  has  not 
taken  the  right  way  to  carry  out  her 
determination. 

England  has  done  wrong  in  forcing 
the  war  upon  Germany,  and  though  the 
moment  is  comparatively  well  chosen, 
though  Germany  is  at  present  in  a 
most  precarious  position,  it  seems  clear 
to  me  that  England  is  greatly  endan- 
gered and  has  herself  to  blame  if  she 
loses  her  world  dominion  in  the 
struggle. 

Has  not  Great  Britain's  action  in  de- 
claring war  on  Germany  fully  justified 
Germany  in  building  a  navy?  Without 
any  cause  of  her  own  for  war  England 
joined  Germany's  enemies  and  destroyed 
her  large  trade  over  sea  through  the 
use  of  superior  naval  power.  England's 
statesmen  know  perfectly  well  that  Ger- 
many's breach  of  Belgian  neutrality 
was  excusable  and  fully  justified,  but 
they  claim  that  the  war  was  deliber- 
ately forced  upon  England  by  Germany's 
aggressiveness  because  Germany  has 
been  from  time  to  time  increasing  not 
only  lier  army  but  also  her  navy,  and 
especially  after  the  establishment  of 
the  Triple  Entente.  Her  navy  is  now 
almost  half  as  large  as  the  British 
navy,  and  according  to  English  opinion 
this  is  reason  enough  to  claim  that  Ger- 
many has  forced  England  to  begin  the 
war  and  to  blame  her  for  aggressive- 
ness. Says  Earl  Roberts :  "The  agi'ee- 
ments  between  Great  Britain  and 
France  were  signed  in  London  1904" 
the  "good  understanding  be- 
tween Great  Britain,  France  and  Rus- 
sia was  completed  in  1907,"  and  in  an- 
other ]ilaee  he  ixiints  out  the  great  fault 
of  Germany,  saying: 

"The  German  .\rmy  was  increased  in 
1912,  and  again  in  191.'^,  to  snrli  an  ex- 
tiMif  that  tile  peace  sln'Tii,'lli  expanded 
from  about  0.50.000  in  1911  to  .v_'2,(i00  in 
1913;  and  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note 
that  this  addition  of  170,000  men  to  the 
numl)ei-s  with  the  colors — an  addition 
just  equal  to  our  lOxpcdllionary  Force 
— was  made  alinost  iiiuHcdiately  after 
the  Morocco  crisis  of  1911.  when  the 
British  Government  had  shown  its  de- 
termination to  stand  by  the  side  of 
France  against  any  attempt  of  German 
aggression." 


SOME  VALUABLE  LESSOXS  OF  THE  WAR 


323 


80  it  is  apparent  tliat  iu  liritish  uiiiii- 
ion  Germauy  beare  all  the  guilt.  The 
Triple  Entente  succeeded  in  thwarting 
Germany's  attempt  to  receive  a  portion 
of  Aloroceo  which  the  French  reserved 
for  themselves.  The  I'^nglish  succeeded 
in  gaining  the  good  will  of  the  strong- 
est nations  against  Germany,  and  Ger- 
many deemed  it  wise  to  strengthen  her 
defense.  If  Germany  had  remained 
as  weak  as  in  ISOi;,  England  would 
have  condescended  to  i)atronize  the  Ger- 
man people  as  she  patronizes  all  weali 
nations,  for  instance  Servia  and  Bel- 
gium. 

Eugland  has  always  been  an  enemy 
of  every  nation  that  might  become  a 
competitor  of  her  naval  supremacy,  but 
small  nations  enjoy  her  ostensible 
friendship.  A  small  nation  is  one  that 
could  never  gain  headway  on  the  ocean, 
never  build  a  navy  and  never  have  a 
chance  to  dominate  the  world.  Eng- 
land's love  of  sni!\ll  nations  has  always 
been  jiraised  iiy  the  British  as  her  be- 
nevolent humanitarianism,  as  her  kind- 
ness for  the  downtrodden,  but  closely 
idiisidered  it  is  due  to  selfishness,  for 
ihi'sc  smaller  nations  have  always  given 
IintixiM  for  England  to  promote  her 
(iwn  interest.  So,  for  instance,  Bel- 
gium is  now  claimed  to  be  a  protegee 
of  England,  but  in  fact  Belgium  has 
been  utilized  as  Englisli  territory  on 
the  cunllnent,  and  at  the  instigation  of 
Diiglish  statesmen  the  Belgians  have 
liecn  liglitiiig  the  battles  of  England  in 
I  he  v.iiii  confidence  that  England  was 
(Icfendiiig  their  cause. 

I'oor  Belgium  is  a  victim  of  English 
politics,  for  the  English  have  not  given 
them  enough  assistance  to  protect  Bel- 
gian territory  from  the  horrors  of  war. 
The  people  living  on  the  same  stretch 
of  country,  formerly  connected  with 
Holland  under  the  name  of  the  Xether- 
lands.  were  once  a  most  [lowerful  sea- 
faring state,  but  England  waged  a  war 
on  these  Netherlands  for  no  other  rea- 
son than  because  the  country  had  be- 
come almost  as  powerful  as  England  on 
the  seas.  But  no  nation  may  rule  the 
waves  liiit  i:ngland.  and  so  the  Nether- 
lands fell  a  victim  to  lOnglish  politics 
and  lost  valualile  colonies  beyond  the 
seas.  Now  it  is  Germany's  turn  to  have 
her  navy  destroyed,  and  English  jingoes 
do  not  hesitate  to  announce  the  United 
States  of  America  as  the  next  power  to 
lie  overcome  in  order  to  preserve  for 
the  fulure  that  supremacy  on  the  seas 
which  is  absolutely  necessar.v  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  British  empire. 

The  Higher  View. 

We  grant  that  life  is  struggle  and 
struggle  cannot  be  avoidable  in  life.  We 
grant  that  struggle  implies  war  and 
tliat  under  certain  circumstances  war 
is  unavoidable.  Therefore  every  nation 
(our  own  United  States  by  no  means 
excepted)  is  in  duty  bound  to  be  always 
re.idy  for  self-defense,  and  this  implies 
Miiliinrism.  But  we  maintain  that  the 
fierceness  of  the  struggle,  its  suffering, 
its  unnecessary  Jiangs  and  pains  can  be 
eliminated,  or  at  any  rate  reduced  and 
this  is  done  in  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tioM.  Uniiciessary  wars  can  lie  avoided, 
and  they  will  be  avoided  not  so  much 
by  humaneness  and  kindheartedness  as 
by  intelligence.  Humaneness  does  not 
work,  liec.'iuse  a  genuine  true  humane- 
ness, a  humaneness  associated  with  In- 
telligence, is  too  rare,  and  is  iiractlcally 


pure  sentiment  which  does  not  affect  the 
broad  masses,  for  we  must  not  forget 
tliat  mankind  is  brutish,  not  humane. 
The  salvation  of  mankind  can  be 
brought  about  only  by  education,  by 
■  teaching  how  the  worst  ills  of  life  can 
be  avoided,  and  that  much  of  the  evil 
which  people  suffer  is  of  their  own 
making. 

Why  was  this  or  that  war  unavoid- 
able'?  Because  the  people  who  started 
it  did  not  possess  sufficient  insight  to 
recognize  its  inadvisaliility.  To  speak 
plainly,  the  stupidity  of  the  leading  men 
is  the  ultimate  cause  of  a  war. 

T.ake  an  example. 

The  war  of  secession  was  acttially  un- 
avoidable because  at  the  time  the  people 
did  not  understand  the  slave  (juestion. 
First,  there  were  some  idealists  who 
believed  in  the  liberty,  equality  and 
brotherhood  of  man,  who  thought  the 
negro  was  as  much  a  child  of  God  as 
the  white  man.  and  slavery  a  most 
dainnalile  institution.  I  shall"  not  enter 
into  details  which  modify  the  ideal; 
suHice  it  to  say  that  if  men  are  equal 
before  the  law  it  does  not  mean  that 
they  are  of  the  same  worth  and  value. 
Tho.se  who  felt  instinctively  the  errors 
of  the  ideal  saw  the  reverse  aspect  of 
the  statement  and  claimed  that  the 
land  of  cotton  needed  workers  in  the 
fields  and  that  the  maintenance  of 
slavery  was  a  question  of  life  or  death 
for  the  southerners.  The  difference  of 
opinion  caused  the  demand  for  seces- 
sion.    Hence  the  war  was  unavoidable. 

Now  let  us  assume  that  one  among 
tlie  leading  men  had  understood  the 
slave  question,  and  especially  this  phase 
of  it ;  while  slavery  seems  to  be  a 
special  jihase  in  the  economical  develop- 
ment of  mankind,  it  always  abolishes 
itself  when  the  time  comes.  Slavery  is 
a  benefit  not  only  for  the  slave  owner, 
but  as  a  rule  also  for  the  slave,  who  is 
incapable  of  making  a  living  for  him- 
self. The  slave  owner  lias  to  jirovide 
for  him.  has  to  care  for  his  future  and 
in  this  way  takes  many  burdens  off  his 
shoulder  which  he  is  as  yet  incapable 
of  carrying.  To  keep  slaves  is  expen- 
sive, and  as  soon  as  there  is  a  sutficient 
amount  of  free  labor  that  can  do  the 
work  more  cheaply,  slavery  will  die  out 
rapidl.v. 

This  statement  is  simple  and  un- 
deniable; and  it  is  a  fact  that  no  one 
would  now  be  willing,  even  if  it  were 
not  against  the  law,  to  reintroduce 
slaver.v  in  tlie  southern  states  because 
free  labor  is  cheaper  than  the  main- 
tenance of  slaves,  and  from  this  jioint 
of  view  we  will  learn  that  slavery 
would  in  time  have  abolished  itself  and 
the  abolition  of  slavery  would  possibly 
and  probably  have  come  about  grad- 
ually and  at  a  more  seasonable  period. 

If  this  truth  had  been  known  and 
ajipreciated  there  would  have  been  no 
necessit,v  for  our  war  of  secession.  Ig- 
norance made  the  war  unavoidable.  I 
do  not  mean  to  say  tliat  the  people  were 
unintelligent  and  stupid  in  every  re- 
spect, they  were  as  clever  and  intelli- 
gent as  jieople  are  nowadays ;  luit  they 
were  ignorant  on  one  jioint  which 
hapiiened  to  be  the  silent  issue  <if  the 
day.  Their  excitement  blinded  them 
to  the  truth  that  would  have  been  their 
salvation. 

The  [iresent  war  is  unavoidable  in 
the  same  sense,  but   it   cmild  have  been 


avoided  if  the  men  who  started  it  had 
been  possessed  of  more  intelligence  on 
the  point  at  issue.  God  did  not  endow 
them  witli  that  wisdom,  and  so  I  pray 
that  their  stupidity  may  be  regarded 
as  an  extenuation  of  their  crime — but 
the  results  are  terrible. 

What  is  the  reason  of  the  war,  the 
underlying  ground  that  makes  it  un- 
avoidable'^ I  do  not  now  mean  the 
occasion.  The  occasion  is  the  assassi- 
nation of  the  archduke  and  the  right 
of  Servia, on  the  plea  of  her  sovereignty, 
to  have  an  investigation  of  the  plot  pre- 
vented. The  real  reason  of  the  war 
is  Great  Britain's  fear  that  Germany 
might  grow  too  powerful.  The  jealousy 
that  has  developed  between  the  two  na- 
tions is  founded  on  their  rivalry.  The 
author  of  the  English  article  in  the 
"Saturday  Ueview"  written  from  a 
"biological"  point  of  view  said  that  Ger- 
many is  at  present  the  only  dangerous 
competitor  and  in  the  future  the  next 
will  be  America.  If  the  laws  of  nature 
can  be  relied  upon  the  struggle  is  un- 
avoidable. Men  impressed  with  the 
truth  of  this  idea  have  guided  the 
destiny  of  lOngland ;  they  brought  about 
the  Triple  Entente,  the.v  iilanned  to 
utilize  neutral  Belgium  as  a  basis  for  a 
British  attack  on  Germany.  Germany 
knew  that  the  war  with  England  was 
threatening  and  she  began  to  prepare 
for  it.  nor  can  we  blame  her  for  doing 
so.  She  began  to  build  a  navy  which, 
though  very  much  weaker  in  numbers 
than  the  lOnglish  navy,  is  by  no  means 
inferior  in  quality. 

Now  the  question  arises,  was  the  war 
truly  unavoidable  under  these  circum- 
stances? I  answer,  Yes.  It  was  un- 
avoidable if  we  grant  that  the  men  who 
brought  it  about  were  lilessed  with  that 
gift  of  God  we  have  characterized  as  a 
lack  of  intelligence.  These  men  are  no 
doubt  very  clever  and  bright  in  every 
other  respect,  but  they  lack  a  deeper 
insight  into  what  I  call  the  higher  view, 
which  throws  light  on  the  salient  point 
at  issue.  The  present  war  could  have 
been  avoided  if  the  men  who  made  it 
had  understood  the  law  of  progress 
in  the  history  of  the  world;  but  the 
avoidance  of  unnecessary  war  will  be 
possible  only  when  the  leading  men  of 
the  world's  affairs  will  take  the  higher 
view  of  politics  and  learn  the  law  of 
civilization  by  which  the  unnecessary 
ills  of  struggle  may  be  eliminated. 

First  I  would  tell  the  man  who  wrote 
Oei))iaiiia  cxt  dclciifla.  that  England 
would  not  gain  by  the  destruction  of 
Germany.  On  the  contrary  she  would 
lose,  as  she  actually  lias  lost  now  in 
many  quarters  through  destruction  of 
her  own  commerce  with  (Jermany.  But 
I  want  to  make  another  more  important 
point. 

Suppose  I  were  the  owner  of  a  drug- 
store doing  a  lucrative  business  and 
just  when  I  felt  that  I  had  established 
a  good  business,  whidi  practically 
nmounled  to  a  monoi>oIy,  another  drug 
store  was  established  by  an  enterpris- 
ing young  competitor  across  the  street, 
and  at  a  further  distance  in  the  Ameri- 
can (piarter  of  the  town  a  third  one 
was  starling  in  business.  My  business 
had  become  somewhat  stationary,  we 
might  even  say  stagnant,  liut  I  had  a 
hard  time  In  establishing  it  and  felt 
that  it  was  my  own  and  that  my  com- 
petitors li.id  no  right  to  interfere  with 


324 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


my  trade.  If  I  could  do  away  with 
them,  there  was  no  branch  in  my  store 
which  would  not  become  more  prosper- 
ous. By  killing  a  competitor  I  would 
certainly  get  rid  of  him,  but  would  gain 
nothing.  The  shop  would  remain  as 
sloven  as  before.  In  order  to  make  true 
progress  I  must  imitate  my  rival's  pro- 
gressiveness,  must  improve  my  methods 
and  do  better  than  he!  To  kill  people 
is  against  the  law  in  a  civilized  society, 
but  sovereign  states  do  not  recognize 
any  international  law,  and  the  sword 
must  decide  questions  of  right.  So  it 
has  been  in  the  past  and  I  fear  it  will 
still  continue  for  a  long  time.  Here 
comes  in  the  duty  of  developing  man- 
hood, or,  to  use  the  modern  term, 
"militarism." 

In  history,  the  progressive  nation  has 
generally  been  superior  in  intelligence 
to  her  powerful  aggressor.  Take  for 
instance  the  world  power  of  Persia  and 
little  Greece,  the  former  inexhaustible 
in  resources,  the  latter  inspired  by 
Ideals  representing  a  definite  stage  in 
the  development  of  mankind,  the  study 
of  which  was  called  later  on  htimaniora. 
The  situation  was  absolutely  hopeless 
for  Greece  on  any  human  consideration; 
a  miracle  only  could  save  her  from  the 
teeming  millions  of  the  Persian  hosts, 
and  yet  the  miracle  happened.  Greece 
came  out  victorious.  It  is  true  the 
stupid  rivalry  between  Sparta  and 
Athens  ruined  Greece,  but  the  spirit  of 
Greece  lived  in  the  Macedonian  hero 
Alexander,  and  he  made  Greek  civili- 
zation triumph  over  the  older  culture  of 
Asia. 

Numbers  of  soldiers  are  very  im- 
portant in  battle,  the  quantity  of  ton- 
nage is  a  great  factor  in  a  naval  en- 
counter, but  after  all,  quality  is  de- 
cisive, the  quality  of  soldiers  and 
sailors,  of  ships  and  armament,  and 
above  all  of  intelligence. 

I  wonder  whether  the  English  cabinet 
has  taken  that  point  into  consideration. 
It  does  not  seem  so,  for  they  were  ap- 
parently unprepared  for  the  occurrences 
In  the  war.  They  are  now  clamoring 
for  "an  army  and  a  large  army."  Why 
did  they  not  train  an  army  before  they 
declared  war?  Because  they  were  so 
uninformed  about  Germany  that  they 
regarded  her  army  an  easy  prey  to 
superior  numbers. 

And  what  constitutes  Germany's 
strength?  It  is  the  German  spirit,  Ger- 
man grit,  German  intelligence,  it  is 
quality  which  we  might  characterize 
In  the  word  "Germandom,"  to  translate 
what  the  Germans  call  Deutschthum. 

Germandom.  or  Deutschthum,  is  a 
peculiar  phase  in  the  development  of 
mankind,  and  its  essential  feature  may 
be  characterized  as  objectivity.  I  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  olijectivity  is  ab- 
sent in  England,  in  France,  in  the 
United  States  and  other  countries,  but 
It  is  more  predominant  in  Germany  and 
constitutes  an  aim,  an  ideal,  a  state 
of  mind  to  be  desired  for  certain  pur- 
poses and  is  closely  connected  with 
the  efflorescence  of  science. 

Science  is  the  ideal  of  the  present 
age,  and  it  is  best  realized  and  most 
widespread  in  Germany.  It  is  there 
applied  to  practical  life  more  than  in 
any  other  country.  German  education 
is  superior  and  the  Germans  are  more 
quick-witted  and  versatile  than  the 
English. 


England  has  not  been  so  progressive 
as  Germany.  A  comparison  of  the  two 
countries  does  not  show  England  in  a 
favorable  light.  France  has  improved 
wonderfully,  but  not  as  much  as  Ger- 
many. The  wealth  of  England  is  still 
enormous,  but  it  is  not  well  distributed. 
There  is  the  rich  aristocracy  and  the 
wretched  population  of  London's  east 
end,  whose  destitution  can  nowhere 
be  equaled  either  in  France  or  Ger- 
many. It  even  seems  as  if  every  con- 
servative man  was  shrinking  from 
having  any  change  introduced  into  the 
social  system.  A  great  scientist  in 
England  once  told  me :  "We  make  no 
changes  because  one  change  might  lead 
to  others  and  our  whole  system  of 
social  arrangements  might  collapse." 
What  would  appear  as  a  reform  in  the 
beginning  might  end  in  an  utter 
breakdown  of  the  entire  body  politic. 

Several  visiting  foreigners  have  as- 
sured me  that  according  to  their  sin- 
cere conviction  England  is  on  its  down- 
ward march,  that  it  is  the  least  pro- 
gressive nation  and  is  beginning  to  lag 
considerably  behind  the  advance  of  the 
times.  Englishmen,  they  say,  can  least 
easily  adapt  themselves  to  new  condi- 
tions ;  they  are  slow  and  at  the  same 
time  proud,  they  look  upon  other  Euro- 
pean nations,  the  Germans  and  the 
French  included,  at  best  with  bene- 
volent condescension,  sometimes  with 
contempt,  while  Americans,  so  far  as 
they  approve  of  them  at  all.  are  but 
second-class  Englishmen.  More  ac- 
curately speaking  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  third  class.  Itecause 
the  Canadians  and  other  colonials 
range  in  second  degree.  I  will  make 
these  statements  without  further  dis- 
cussion because  a  full  explanation  will 
lead  too  far  here,  and  I  prefer  to  set 
forth  the  higher  view  which  would 
make  a  war  avoidable. 

From  the  lower  standpoint  as  ex- 
pressed by  the  anonymous  author  of 
the  article  from  a  biological  point  of 
view,  the  war  is  actually  as  unavoid- 
able as  the  war  of  secession  was  in 
the  United  States.  Germany  has  grown 
with  an  unprecedented  rapidity  in  pros- 
perity and  power ;  if  her  progress  con- 
tinues, she  will  outgrow  the  British 
empire  within  a  calculable  time  and  if 
tlae  British  empire  means  to  retain  her 
grip  on  the  globe,  she  will  have  to  out- 
do Germany  and  keep  ahead  of  her. 
This  is  as  much  England's  duty  as  it 
Is  Germany's  right  to  grow  and  expand 
and  do  better  than  Great  Britain. 

But  I  will  ask  the  question  right 
here.  If  Germany  were  eliminated 
would  every  Englishman  really  be 
benefitted  thereby?  In  a  certain  sense, 
perhaps :  England  would  lose  a  rival. 
But  in  another  sense,  not ;  the  British 
would  remain  or  fall  hack  into  their 
old  slovenly  way  of  carrying  on  their 
business.  They  would  not  profit  by 
killing  off  their  rival,  they  would  not 
learn,  they  would  not  progress ;  and 
when  other  rivals  rise,  either  in 
America  or  in  some  other  continent 
from  their  own  colonies,  or  perhaps 
in  Russia  they  would  again  be  obliged 
to  dispose  of  their  rivals  by  knocking 
them  out.  If  thoy  are  smart  enough 
and  follow  the  old  methods  taught  by 
Macchiavelli,  they  might  succeed,  but 
they  would  not  succeed  in  furthering 
mankind  to  a  higher  and  higher  de- 
velopment. 


The  stages  of  progressive  mankind 
are  not  accidental,  they  are  predeter- 
mined. And  when  the  Persians,  those 
sturdy  mountaineers,  appeared  in  his- 
tory they  took  the  lead  and  became  the 
rulers  of  Babylon  and  the  whole  Ba- 
bylonian empire.  But  the  Greeks 
reached  a  higher  plane,  and  though 
few  in  numbers  could  not  be  sul)dued 
but  grew  and  expanded  until  they  over- 
threw the  Persian  empire,  and  the 
Greek  spirit  permeated  all  hither  Asia. 

A  new  civilization  arose  and  it  took 
root  in  all  civilized  nations,  but  main- 
ly in  what  we  have  characterized  as 
Germandom ;  and  this  Germandom  is 
not  the  civilization  born  of  German 
blood,  it  is  the  civilization  of  man- 
kind which  concentrated  mainly  in  Ger- 
many. The  Greeks  passed  away,  but  if 
mankind  wanted  to  advance  and  become 
superior  to  the  Greeks,  it  could  not 
have  done  so  hy  eliminating  the  Greeks, 
by  slaying  them  or  disposing  of  them 
in  any  way.  The  northern  barbarians 
would  always  have  remained  barbar- 
ians had  t^ej  not  risen  above  their 
own  stage  and  attained  the  plane  of 
Greek  thought.  The  Germans  have 
done  this  more  than  any  other  nation, 
not  merely  by  learning  what  the 
Greeks  taught,  but  by  becoming  Greeks 
themselves.  I  do  not  deny  that  since 
the  Kenaissance  there  have  been  Greek 
spirits  in  Italy,  France  and  also  In 
England,  but  the  Germans  have  im- 
bibed Hellenism  into  their  souls  in  its 
purest  form,  and  in  their  literature  It 
rose  to  a  classical  efflorescence  in 
Schiller  and  Goethe. 

Further  the  Germans  were  always 
more  cosmopolitan  than  others  and  this 
is  instanced  in  the  fact  that  they  were 
interested  in  all  other  nations.  There 
has  been  no  work  of  significance  in 
England,  in  France,  in  Spain,  in  Rus- 
sia, that  has  not  been  translated  into 
German.  Shakespeare,  Cervantes,  Mol- 
iere,  Turgeniev,  are  as  well  known  and 
appreciated  in  Germany  as  in  their  own 
countries,  and  the  most  valuable 
thought  of  all  the  world  has  grown  into 
the  spirit  of  German  literature.  The 
soul  of  every  other  civilized  nation  has 
taken  abode  in  Germany ;  every  one 
was  welcome,  every  one  was  appre- 
ciated, every  one  has  grown  into  Ger- 
mandom. 

Nor  is  Germany  limited  to  German 
blood  in  its  inmost  constitution,  its  bio- 
logical system.  Some  of  the  most  rep- 
resentative Germans  are  Slavs,  Poles 
or  Wends,  some  are  French  Huguenots, 
and  still  others.  Italians,  and  there  is 
no  nationality  of  Europe  which  is  not 
interwoven  into  the  texture  of  the  Ger- 
man nation.  Nor  must  we  forget  that 
Germany  owes  valuable  contributions  to 
Judaism,  the  main  and  best  represent- 
ative of  the  old  Oriental  nations.  Ger- 
mandom has  become  most  cosmopoli- 
tan, a  feature  which  is  developing  in 
a  still  higher  degree  in  America. 

If  the  English  would  outdo  the  Ger- 
mans, they  can  do  it  not  by  killing 
them  but  by  imitating  them.  They 
must  adopt  that  Germandom  which 
they  now  despise.  They  must  learn 
from  the  Germans.  They  must  adopt 
their  methods,  they  must  introduce  re- 
forms which  will  best  be  modelled  after 
German  patterns,  they  must  imitate 
German  efficiency  also  in  defense,  or  in 


SOME  VALUABLE  LESSONS  OF  THE  WAR 


325 


other  words,  they  miust  copy  (ierman 
militarism. 

To  eliminate  by  war  and  slaughter  a 
rival  who  is  dangerous  because  he  is 
too  progressive  and  gi-owing  too  power- 
ful, may  be  the  pro])er  thing  to  do  from 
the  lower  standpoint,  which  In  the 
"Saturday  Review"  has  been  called 
"biological,"  but  at  best  it  will  be  a 
poor  and  unsatisfactory  method  of 
keeping  ahead.  This  method  of  keep- 
ing ahead  is  dangerous,  for  history 
teaclies  us  that  the  people  to  be  dis- 
posed of  in  this  brutal  manner  usually 
accomplish  exactly  what  their  enemies 
planned  to  prevent  and  so  the  Biblical 
sentence  is  frequently  applicable  that 
"ye  thought  evil  against  me,  but  God 
meant  it  unto  good"   (Gen.  1:20). 

The  underlying  question  of  this  war 
is  after  all  a  question  of  power.  The 
war  is  to  decide  whether  England  will 
retain  her  supremacy  over  the  seas, 
which  means  her  dominanci  over  the 
world:  and  questions  of  power  cannot 
be  decided  by  argument,  they  must  be 
decided  by  the  proof  of  actual  superior- 
ity. England's  strength  lay  in  peace,' 
but  she  has  chosen  war.  England 
risks  much  more  than  Germany,  cer- 
tainly more  than  her  leaders  think  or 
have  thought.  Tlie  author  of  the  arti- 
cles in  the  ".Saturday  Review"  thinks 
"that  i;ngland  is  the  only  great  power 
who  cunld  light  Germany  without  tre- 
mendous risk  and  without  doubt  of 
the  issue." 

To  me  it  seems  almost  pitiable  that 
a   few  men  could  mislead  the  English 


'  The  war  with  the  Boers  was  the  same 
mistake.  The  Boers  would  have  lost  in  a 
peaceful  competition  with  the  "uitlanders," 
but  England  preferred  war,  a  war  most 
disastrous  to  England.  England  subjected 
the  Boers  but  laid  the  basis  for  a  future 
United  States  of  South  Africa. 


people  and  rush  them  into  the  war,  the 
greatest  calamity  that  ever  could  fall 
upon  England.  It  is  a  misfortune  that 
these  men,  originally  a  few  jingoes, 
seized  the  government,  manufactured 
opinion,  induced  the  country  to  ally  it- 
self tirst  with  France,  then  with  Rus- 
sia, sowed  hatred  against  Germany,  the 
nation  that  is  most  kin  to  the  English, 
and  walk  a  path  that  will  lead  to  per- 
dition. When  the  war  is  over  we  shall 
understand  history  better,  we  shall  see 
more  clearly,  and  those  statesmen  who 
have  begun  the  war  will  be  wiser. 

Before  1870  Germany  counted  thirty- 
eight  million  inhabitants  and  now  eon- 
tains  sixty-six  millions.  She  has  grown 
in  power  not  by  militarism  but  by  a 
peaceful  development.  But  acwrding 
to  Sir  Edward  Grey  himself  the  "un- 
measured aggrandizement"  is  the  true 
reason  of  the  war.  If  that  is  the  case, 
the  reason  of  the  war  is  indeed  a  mere 
question  of  power.  Two  cannot  be  the 
first.  According  to  such  conceptions 
the  seas  must  lielong  to  one  nation ; 
any  important  rival  must  be  di.^posed 
of  in  battle  while  the  small  ones  may 
be  tolerated.  There  is  no  question  of 
right ;  it  is  a  question  of  supremacy,  of 
retaining  leadership.  Herein  lies  the 
reason  that  the  British  have  no  argu- 
ments and  do  not  even  need  a  ca.sM« 
belli.  They  state  their  reasons  in  gen- 
eral phrases,  as  Germany's  militarism, 
Germany's  increase  of  power,  Ger- 
many's unprecedented  growth,  etc. 
England  does  not  seem  to  feel  the  un- 
fairness of  the  present  war,  but  neither 
did  she  see  the  unfairness  of  her  for- 
mer wars.  It  is  really  an  astonishing 
fact  that  no  English  war  in  modern 
times  can  be  defended.  And  now.  why 
begin  a  war  to  exterminate  Germany's 


militarism  or  imperialism?  France 
has  a  severer  militarism,  and  real  Im- 
perialism is  most  developed  in  Russia. 
And  if  Germany  be  crushed  now,  will 
she  not  rise  phoenix-like  again  and 
again?  And  will  not  that  spirit  which 
now  dominates  Germandom  surely  con- 
quer in  the  end? 

Here  is  the  point  we  make  on  the 
issue:  The  English  statesmen  will  not 
attain  what  they  want,  they  will  not 
keep  England  in  the  lead,  they  are 
positively  endangering  England's  pre- 
dominance in  the  world  most  terribly. 
The  odds  are  awful  against  Germany, 
the  moment  for  attacking  her  was 
shrewdly  chosen;  but  it  would  have 
been  wiser  to  conquer  Germany  with 
her  own  weapons  by  introducing  Ger- 
man methods  in  England  and  raising 
the  level  of  English  institutions,  of 
English  schools  and  industrial  condi- 
tions, of  English  science,  medicine, 
chemistry,  and  other  branches,  to  the 
German  standard.  The  reverse  is  done. 
In  Russia  the  very  name  Petersburg  is 
changed  to  Petrograd.  and  if  every 
trace  of  German  influence  were  wiped 
out  in  Russia  the  Muscovites  would 
certainly  he  the  losers,  and  if  German 
music  is  to  be  cut  out  in  England  as 
has  been  proposed,  and  if  German 
medicines  are  to  be  replaced  by  Eng- 
lish imitations,  the  English  drugstore 
may  have  reasons  to  be  grateful,  but 
scarcely  English  patients. 

One  way  to  keep  in  the  lead  is  to 
kill  a  rival.  It  is  the  old  barbarous 
way  and  after  all  inefficient.  The 
higher  way  is  not  only  nobler,  but  also 
better  and  leads  to  success.  It  con- 
sists in  the  firm  endeavor  to  excel  your 
rival.  That  is  not  easy,  for  it  demands 
hard  labor,  but  it  leads  to  the  goal. 


National  Ideals,  Morality,  and  the  Justification  of  Force 
Diplomacy  and  Politics  in  the  War 


THE  MORALS  OF  \V  \K. 


Is  War  Immoral? 


Milwaukee  Free  Press. 

Professor  Hugo  Muensterberg. 

[The  following  article  Is  composed  of 
extracts  from  Prof.  Muensterberg's  new 
book,  "The  War  and  America,"  just  pub- 
lished by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  The  first 
edition  was  practically  exhausted  In  ad- 
vance   of   publication. — Editor.] 

A  gigantic  destruction  of  human 
life  such  as  this  war  demands  must 
naturally  force  on  every  one  the  wish 
for  a  substitute  which  is  less  pain- 
ful to  the  imagination.  But  any 
echemes  which  renounce  those  higher 
gifts  of  war  that  serve  the  historic 
progress  of  mankind  are  utterly  un- 
fit and  would  never  be  of  lasting 
value. 

It  might  not  be  difficult  to  con- 
struct plans  which  conserve  the 
chance  distribution  of  national  pos- 
sessions today  still  more  firmly  than 
any  mere  treaty  and  arbitration 
Bchemes.  But  whenever  the  aim  is 
simply  to  guarantee  the  present  na- 
tional  boundaries   without  means  to 


change  them  in  constant  adjustment 
to  new  inner  needs  of  the  plan  is  con- 
demned by  the  tribunal  of  historic 
morality. 

I  for  my  part  see  only  one  logical 
possibility.  War  making  could  be 
overcome  only  if  the  fundamental 
condition  of  wars  were  artificially 
changed,  and  this  would  not  be  utter- 
ly beyond  man's  power. 

Almost  all  the  wars  between  na- 
tions have  been  struggles  to  gain 
territory,  or  at  least  to  deprive  other 
nations  of  their  territory.  Inter- 
national wars  would  disappear  if  na- 
tions did  not  own  their  countries. 
The  idea  of  such  a  state  of  mankind 
would  be  entirely  parallel  to  that  of 
socialism  for  individuals  in  the  state. 

The  socialistic  plan  abolishes  the 
economic  struggle  of  the  individuals 
by  eliminating  capitalism.  This 
world  plan  for  the  nations  would 
abolish  the  struggle  of  war  by  elim- 
inating territorialism.  The  territory 
on  the  globe  would  be  distributed  so 
that  any  one  million  beings  would 
receive  an  equal  share. 

Of  course,  it  would  not  be  equal- 
ity of  size,  but  ot  value.     The  terri- 


tory of  Turkey  even  today  is  larger 
than  that  of  France,  Germany,  Eng- 
land and  Italy  taken  together.  The 
equal  distribution  would  therefore  in- 
volve very  different  areas.  But  fund- 
amentally any  one  million  persons 
would  gain  equal  chances,  and  as 
with  the  growth  of  decay  of  the  pop- 
ulation and  with  the  development  of 
the  territory  new  distributions  would 
always  be  arranged,  no  one  would 
have  any  interest  in  fighting.  No  na- 
tion would  possess  land  any  more 
than  the  socialistic  individual  would 
possess  capital. 

This  seems  to  me  the  only  possible 
solution  of  the  problem  which  would 
not  stifle  the  progress  of  mankind. 
As  long  as  nations  have  possessions 
of  land  there  will  be  constant  need  of 
new  adjustment,  which  no  human 
court,  but  only  war  can  regulate. 
The  anti-torritorialism  would  bring 
to  the  nations  all  the  blessings  which 
are  hoped  from  anticipation  for  the 
Individuals. 

There  would  be  no  poor  and  no 
economic  misery  If  socialism  were 
carried  through;  there  would  be  no 
militarism  and  no  war,  If  cosmochor- 


326 


THOUGHTS  OX  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


Qnn  ocmiit^Jti^cr  «fat  in  ben  Sotafomficn  Bon  SBoiiicciiuuurt. 
A  QUIET  GAME  OF  '■.SKAT"  IN  THE  CATACOMBS  AT  BAXDESIXCOUKT 

(By   Courtesy   ot   the    "Illinois  Staats-Zeitung" ) 


ism  were  the  scheme  of  the  world. 
The  word  cosmochorism  is  formed 
from  the  Greek,  chora,  the  land.  A 
cosmopolitan  order  of  mankind 
would  be  one  in  which  the  state  loses 
its  individuality;  in  cosmochoristic 
order  the  nations  would  retain  their 
Btate  forms,  but  their  land  would  be- 
long to  the  whole  world. 

I  do  think  that  the  transition  to  so- 
cialism is  possible  and  would  not 
even  be  extremely  difficult  in  our 
present  days.  I  think  that  an  equal 
distribution  of  land  for  all  the  peo- 
ples on  earth  without  any  one  people 
having  a  right  to  possession  of  land 
■  would  be  equally  possible.  Cos- 
mochorism might  be  carried  out  even 
without  externally  changing  much  in 
the  present  status.  But  It  would 
carry  with  it  all  those  important  and 
thousand  times  discussed  disadvan- 
tages of  the  socialistic  system. 

Most  men  are  still  convinced  that 
the  evils  of  capitalism  are  less  than 
those  which  a  socialistic  order  would 
involve.  The  stimulus  which  the  pos- 
session of  private  and  inheritable 
property  has  given  to  the  world  ought 
not  to  be  dispensed  with.  The  prog- 
ress of  mankind  in  the  same  way 
needs  the  possibility  of  private  lajid 
possession  by  the  individual  nations; 
it  needs  the  rivalry,  and  I  believe 
that  such  an  antl-terrltorlallstic  plan 
ought  ultimately  to  be  defeated  for 
the  same  reasons  for  which  the  ma- 
jority of  the  civilized  nations  still 
opposes  the  socialism  of  the  anti- 
capitalists. 


But  this  is  certain:  As  long  as 
private  possession  of  land  by  the  na- 
tions is  sanctioned  incessant  changes 
in  the  size  of  the  territories  are 
needed  and  must  be  secured  by  free 
competition. 

Of  course  it  may  happen  that  the 
industrious,  intelligent  merchant  has 
bad  luck  and  remains  poor  while  his 
less  worthy  rival  grows  rich  by  acci- 
dent or  trickery!  No  unfailing  jus- 
tice lies  in  the  decision  of  the  ac- 
count books.  Yet  on  the  whole  our 
economic  system  Is  backed  by  the 
belief  that  free  competition  brings 
gain  to  the  worthy  and  keeps  down 
the  less  efficient. 

In  this  sense  certainly  no  unfailing 
justice  lies  in  the  decision  of  the  wea- 
pons but  in  the  great  average  his- 
tory has  proved  that  those  nations 
will  rise  which  are  worthy  of  it 
and  those  will  fall  which  deserve 
punishment  from  the  highest  point  of 
view  of  civilization.  Success  or  fail- 
ure in  war  may  come  to  nations 
without  any  reference  to  certain  out- 
lying valuable  factors  of  national  cul- 
ture. France  was  beaten  by  Ger- 
many at  a  time  when  it  was  superior 
to  its  opponent  in  the  art  of  paint- 
ing. But  on  the  whole  the  empire  of 
the  third  Napoleon  deserved  to 
crumble. 


IS  WAR  IMMORAL^ 


The  Courage  of  Their  Convictions. 


The  Austrian  army  had  a  good  day 
yesterday.  It  was  only  "practically 
exterminated." — From  "The  Chicago 
Tribune,"  September   18,   1914. 


New  Yorker  Staat,s-Zeitung. 
Herman  Ridder. 

As  I  glance  through  the  New  York 
papers  from  day  to  day  and  see  the 
amount  of  criticism  that  is  being 
heaped  upon  my  head  because  of  my 
editorial  policy  with  regard  to  the 
Staats-Zeitung,  I  often  wonder  where- 
in lies  the  blame  which  attacnes  to 
me.  Do  my  critics  believe  for  a  mo- 
ment that  the  Staats-Zeitung  should 
follow  the  path  of  the  New  York 
Herald,  for  instance,  and  become  a 
French  paper  published  in  the  Ger- 
man language?  Do  not  misunder- 
stand me.  for  I  have  the  most  sin- 
cere admiration  for  the  New  York 
Herald  and  its  frank  declaration  of 
friendship  for  Prance. 

An  editor  must  have  the  courage 
of  his  conviction  and  no  man  can 
truthfully  tell  me  that  I  am  afraid 
to  print  what  I  believe  to  be  true. 
If  I  were  to  publish  an  American 
paper  printed  in  the  English  language 
I  would  conduct  it  in  the  same  vig- 
orous and  definite  manner  that  I 
conduct  an  American  paper  printed 
In  the  German  language.  I,  for  one, 
have  no  patience  with  the  journalis- 
tic code  that  permits  a  publisher  to 
conduct  one  paper  for  one  side  and 
another  for  the  other.  A.s  an  exam- 
ple, consider  Mr.  W.  R.  Hear.st,  and 
anyone  will  do  for  an  example.     He 


NATIONAL  IDEALS.  MORALITY  AND  FORCE 


327 


prints  a  picture  of  British  troop.s  in 
his  New  Yorlc  American  of  Sept.  9th, 
and  the  dest-riptive  matter  reads: 
"This  is  the  type  of  English  soldier 
who  is  doing  such  tremendous  worlt 
on  the  battle  front  in  Prance."  The 
same  day  he  brings  the  same  picture 
In  his  German  paper  and  the  des*>rip- 
tive  matter  is  an-anged  to  suit  the 
German  taste,  reading:  "British 
troops  that  run  so  fast  that  it  is 
not  possil)le  for  the  Germans  to  cap- 
ture them."  However,  that  is  the 
business  of  Mr.  Hearst  and  not  mine. 
If  he  is  successful  in  keeping  his 
left  hand  from  knowing  what  his 
right  hand  is  doing  and  at  the  same 
time  in  satisfying  his  constituents  on 
both  sides,  he  is  performing  a  feat 
of  journalistic  legerdemain  which 
calls  for  applause  from  all  galleries. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  England  and 
the  friends  of  England  would  like 
to  see  the  war  in  Europe  sugar- 
coated  and  capsulized  for  the  par- 
ticular benefit  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  British  Isles.  Among  those 
friends  of  England  I  class  a  certain 
element  of  the  American  press,  which 
Is  today  crying  out  against  the  par- 
tial destruction  of  the  cathedral  at 
lUieiuis.  Two  weeks  ago  this  same 
element  of  the  press  featured  in  its 
Sunday  editions  the  utilization  by 
the  enemies  of  Germany  of  cathedral 
towers  to  mount  guns  against  air- 
ships. I  have  been  attacked  and  vil- 
lalnized  because  I  could  see  in  the 
damage  done  to  the  cathedral  in 
Rheims  nothing  beyond  what  was  re- 
quired by  the  circumstances  of  the 
case. 

It  is  purest  piffle  to  say  that  be- 
cause Rheims  has  been  spared 
through  seven  centuries  it  should  be 
spared  today.  During  no  one  of 
those  seven  centuries  was  Rheims 
the  center  of  conflict  between  a  mil- 
lion men  fighting  for  their  hearths 
and  homes  and  a  greater  number 
bent  on  the  destruction  of  the  same. 
It  Is  not  necessary  to  go  into  the  de- 
tails of  military  privileges  in  the  time 
of  war.  The  most  simple-minded 
editorial  writer  must  admit  not  only 
the  possibility  of  unintentional  dam- 
age to  the  prominent  landmarks  in 
the  theater  of  operation,  but  also 
the  right  of  each  belligerent  to  pro- 
tect himself  against  the  employment 
of  such  landmarks  by  the  enemy.  We 
cannot  discuss  the  war  at  all  unless 
we  are  prepared  to  accept  the  word 
of  each  side  with  the  same  faith  in 
Its  integrity.  The  German  Emperor 
has  expressed  himself  clearly  and  un- 
mistakably in  the  sense  that  the  ar- 
mies of  Germany  will  not  resort  to 
unnecessary  acts  of  destruction.  Let 
us  be  candid  and  fair-minded  and  ac- 
cept this  assurance  until  the  con- 
trary is  proven.  We  have  to  date 
absolutely  nothing  In  controversion 
thereof.  It  is  not  without  the  bounds 
of  probability  that  the  fortunes  of 
war  should  bring  the  allied  armies 
to  tbo  banks  of  the  Rhine  and  that 
the  great  Gothic  cathedral  at  Cologne 
should  suffer  a  fate  similar  to  that 
of  the  cathedral  in  Rheims.  If  that 
day  should  come  to  pass,  England 
would  have  a  very  different  line  of 
argument  to  offer. 

It  is  a  simple  matter  to  talk  of  re- 
prisals,  when  the  war  has  been   car- 


ried into  German  territory.  Such 
talk,  however,  can  serve  but  one  pur- 
pose: to  justify  what  German  arms 
have  done  In  Belgium  and  France. 
In  the  same  breath  England  cries 
out  against  the  destruction  of  Lou- 
vain  and  Rheims  and  then  promises 
to  destroy  the  first  place  of  art  she 
can  lay  her  hands  upon  in  Germany. 
Would  it  not  raise  a  greater  mead  of 
sympathy  in  the  world  at  large  If 
that  self-satisfied  nation  which  has 
stirred  up  this  world  conflagration 
would  take  its  stand  solidly  on  one 
side  of  the  fence  or  the  other? 

I  feel  as  keenly  as  any  man  can 
the  Irreparable  loss  to  art  and  ar- 
chitecture involved  In  the  present 
war,  but  what  I  cannot  and  will  not 
allow  myself  to  be  talked  or  wailed 
or  bulldozed  into  thinking  is  that  the 
destruction  of  material  things  can 
be  compared  with  the  wiping  out  of 
the  thousands  of  human  lives  that 
are  being  cut  short  in  this  unholy 
struggle  forced  upon  Germany-  I 
have  been  assailed  on  every  side  be- 
cause I  have  not  joined  In  the  gen- 
eral pro-English  outcry  against  the 
inevitable  results  of  war  In  the  coun- 
try of  the  enemy.  If  I  could  see  one 
single  point  where  Germany  has  been 
wrong  or  the  wail  of  the  Allies  jus- 
tified, I  would  go  half  way  to  meet 
my  assailants. 

On  the  contrary,  I  cannot  but  feel 
that  the  American  people  are  being 
asked  to  forget  a  great  deal  in  order 
that  they  may  place  their  faith  im- 
plicitly in  the  logic  of  England's 
present  expression  of  horrified  sur- 
prise at  the  eventualities  which  have 
taken  place  on  the  continent.  The 
halls  of  the  national  museum  of 
London  are  crowded  with  the  loot 
of  the  world.  It  is  well  nigh  a 
century  now  since  Byron  taunted 
Britain  with  the  theft  of  the  "Elgin 
Marbles"  and  they  have  not  yet  been 
returned  to  the  Parthenon.  In  the 
smallness  of  our  occidental  vision  we 
are  inclined  to  magnify  the  value 
of  Europe's  treasures  of  art,  to  the 
disadvantage  of  those  of  the  East. 
Those  who  are  loudest  in  their  criti- 
cism of  the  necessary  results  of 
armed  conflict  in  Europe,  forget  the 
blackened  swarth  of  British  arms  in 
India,  carved  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other  by  the  ruthless 
policy  of  instilling  respect  by  the 
wanton  destruction  of  religious  edi- 
fices. It  does  not  matter  whether 
reared  to  Jehovah,  .love  or  Lord,  re- 
ligious houses  should  be  spared  when 
possible  and  British  arms  forgot  this 
fact  in  India  and  China.  Why,  then, 
should  Britain  and  a  pro-British  press 
in  this  country  raise  their  voices 
when  a  temple  meets  an  unfortunate 
fate  in  a  city  held  and  defended  by 
the  enemy? 

The  whole  plaint  is  too  hypocrit- 
ical, too  much  in  keeping  with  Eng- 
land's whole  plan  of  campaign  against 
Germany,  to  be  deserving  of  serious 
consideration  on  this  side  of  the 
water.  The  value  of  England's  sin- 
cerity in  condemning  Germany's  con- 
duct of  the  war  is  measured  by  her 
talk  of  reprisals  in  kind  on  German 
soil.  By  virtue  of  German  foresight 
and  preparedness,  the  conflict  is  now 
being  waged  in  the  territory  of  the 
enemy.      But    does    one    single    mis- 


guided soul  on  this  side  of  the  At- 
lantic believe  for  a  moment  that 
were  the  theater  of  war  now  on  Ger- 
man soil,  British  and  French  arms 
would  respect  Germany's  art  treas- 
ures one  whit  more  than  German 
arms,  bound  by  the  necessities  of 
war,  have  respected  those  of  France 
and  Belgium?  The  answer  is  in  the 
Louvre  and  the  London  Museum. 


1)0  THE  PEOPLE  WANT  W.AR? 


Loyalty  of  German  Socialists. 

Literary  Digest,   New  York. 

The  German  followers  of  the  great 
Socialist  leader  Bebel  are  very  differ- 
ent from  the  French  followers  of 
Jaurt^s,  the  brilliant  Socialist  and  an- 
tlmilltarist,  recently  assassinated  be- 
cause of  his  outspoken  opposition  to 
the  military  ardor  and  warlike  en- 
thusiasm which  he  saw  animating 
the  bulk  of  his  fellow  countrymen  on 
the  brink  of  war.  The  German  So- 
cialists are  ready  to  fight  down  what 
they  style  Russian  despotism,  and 
they  rally  round  their  Government  in 
Its  war  policy  because  of  their  hatred 
and  dread  of  the  Czar.  They  style 
the  Kaiser  "a  prince  of  peace,"  and 
speak  of  him  as  "showing  himself  the 
protector  of  universal  tranquility." 
The  chief  organ  of  Socialism  in  Ber- 
lin, the  Vorwiirts,  contains  the  fol- 
lowing editorial  utterance: 

"We  are  always  open  enemies  of 
the  monarchic  form  of  government, 
and  we  always  will  be.  We  were 
often  obliged  to  conduct  a  bitter  op- 
position to  the  temperamental  wearer 
of  the  crown.  But  we  have  to 
acknowledge  today  that  William  II. 
has  shown  himself  the  friend  of  uni- 
versal peace." 

In  harmony  with  this  is  the  speech 
made  at  a  mass-meeting  of  Social 
Democrats  by  N.  Feuerstein,  Socialist 
member  of  the  Reichstag,  from  which 
the  Vossische  Zeitung  (Berlin) 
quotes   the   following   passage: 

"We  are  all  convinced  that  the 
German  Government  is  peace-loving 
and  desires  nothing  better  than  to  up- 
hold the  peace.  I3ut  in  the  case  of 
the  present  war  It  Is  the  duty  of  every 
Social  Democrat  called  to  arms  to  do 
his  best  fighting  beside  his  fellow 
countrymen,  especially  when  oper- 
ations are  directed  against  Russia, 
whose  absolute  despotism  constitutes 
a  menace  and  danger  to  civilized 
Europe." 

"War  In  our  country,"  declares  the 
Volkstimme.  a  Socialist  organ  of 
Chemnitz,  compels  all  comrades  'to 
unite  against  the  foe,'  and  this  paper 
proceeds  to  say: 

"All  must  set  aside  the  aims  and 
purposes  of  their  party,  and  bear  In 
mind  one  fact — Germany,  and  In  a 
larger  sense  all  Europe,  is  en- 
dangered by  Russian  despotism.  At 
this  moment  we  all  feel  the  duty 
to  fight  chiefly  and  exclusively 
against  Russian  despotism.  Ger- 
many's women  and  children  must  not 
become  the  prey  of  Russian  besti- 
ality; the  German  country  must  not 
be  the  spoil  of  Cossacks:  because  If 
the  Allies  should  be  victorious,  not 
an    English    governor    or    a    French 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


republican  would  rule  over  Germany, 
but  the  Russian  Czar.  Therefore  we 
must  defend  at  this  moment  every- 
thing that  means  German  culture  and 
German  liberty  against  a  merciless 
and  barbaric  enemy." 

A  similar  sentiment  is  expressed 
by  the  Socialist  Deputy  Kolk,  in  an 
article  in  the  Volksfreund  (Carls- 
ruhe),  when  he  says: 

"If  the  Russian  Government  should 
really  be  senseless  enough  to  force, 
against  all  common  sense,  reason, 
and  humanity,  this  European  war, 
every  Social  Democrat  will  he  ex- 
pected to  do  his  duty  toward  his 
fatherland,  culture,  and  humanity.  It 
will  be  the  last  thing  that  Social 
Democracy  could  endure  to  have  Rus- 
sian Czarism  act  as  political  arbiter 
of  Europe." 

Deputy  Haase,  speaking  In  the 
Reichstag,  voiced  the  view  of  the 
Socialists  in  a  speech  regretting  the 
war,  but  pledging  support  to  the 
Government.* 


in  any  quantity  at  the  above  men- 
tioned office  of  the  society.  The  prices 
are  five  cents  for  a  single  copy,  and 
all  profits  from  them  will  be  turned 
over  to  the  Society  of  the  Red  Cross. 


*A!so  read  editorial  from  "The 
Hartford  Daily  Courant,"  entitled 
"A  Piece  of  Evidence,"  reprinted  in 
full    on    another   page. 

We  ask  our  readers  to  read  care- 
fully "The  Session  of  the  German 
Reichstag  on  August  the  Fourth, 
1914,"  which  has  been  printed  In 
pamphlet  form  by  the  Germanistlc 
Society  of  Chicago,  332  South  Mich- 
igan Ave.,   Chicago. 

This  pamphlet  contains  the 
speeches  of  the  Imperial  Chancellor 
von  Bethmann  HoUweg,  Dr.  Kaempf, 
President  of  the  Reichstag,  Mr. 
Haase,  representative  of  the  Socialist 
party,  which  were  compiled  and 
translated  into  English  by  Mr.  Alex- 
ander R.  Hohlfeld,  Professor  of  Ger- 
man at  the  University  of  Wisconsin. 
These  pamphlets  may  be  purchased 


DO  THE  PEOPLE  WANT  AVAR? 


The  Popularity  of  the  War. 


Editorial,  Xew  York  Sun. 

The  Peace  Parade  makes  today  a 
fit  time  to  ask:  Is  not  war  always 
or  usually  popular? 

Here  is  no  question  of  the  merits; 
merely  of  the  facts.  Take  our  own 
country.  A  candid  study  of  history 
might  or  might  not  say  that  the 
United  States  had  as  good  reason  to 
go  to  war  with  France  as  with  Great 
Britain  in  the  infant  years  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  chose  war 
with  Great  Britain.  A  war,  it  has 
been  said,  forced  upon  Madison  by 
the  young  Democrats  of  the  West  and 
South.  Was  it  not,  outside  of  New 
England,  whose  shipping  interests 
suffered,  a  popular  war?  Opposition 
to  it  was  about  the  final  stroke  to  the 
Federalist  party.  It  was  scarcely  a 
war  of  brilliant  American  success  on 
the  land  at  least,  until  that  post- 
pacem  victory  of  Jackson's  at  New 
Orleans,  yet  the  memory  of  it  sur- 
vives as  something  we  are  supposed 
to  be  proud  of. 

The  Mexican  war  again  was  popu- 
lar outside  of  the  Free  Soilers  and 
Abolitionists.  It  gave  the  country  a 
Whig  President.  Participation  in  it 
was  all  there  was  to  General  Scott's 
candidacy  in  the  moribund  Whig 
party  of   1852. 

The  political  fate  of  the  Copper- 
heads, of  the  Democratic  nonsense  of 
1864,  is  familiar  to  everybody.     The 


Republican  party  long  lived  on  the 
war. 

In  1898  the  country,  it  Congress 
represented  the  country,  forced  Mr. 
McKinley  into  the  war  with  Spain. 

Politically,  to  oppose  a  war,  at 
least  after  it  has  been  declared,  is 
fatal.  The  people  who  didn't  want 
war  are  usually  a  little  more  bellicose 
and  fiery  for  its  prosecution  than  its 
original  supporters. 

We  are  all  against  the  war  in  Eu- 
rope, partly  from  general  weak  phil- 
anthropic peace  sentiments — we  don't 
speak  of  them  as  weak  in  themselves, 
but  as  flabbily  and  insincerely  held 
when  war  has  become  an  American, 
not  a  European,  fact — partly  because 
it  causes  various  losses  and  inconve- 
niences to  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  But,  if  war  at  home  has  al- 
ways been  popular,  can  we  say  that 
there  is  any  firm  reality  to  our  beau- 
tiful  romantic   pacifism? 

"Honor  and  vital  interests:"  is 
anybody  really  going  to  refer  them 
to  some  "impartial  tribunal?"  To 
its  honor  and  vital  interests  a  nation 
can't  help  being  partial.  And,  then, 
there  are  so  many  causes,  outside 
these  categories,  which  may  bring 
war.  As  M.  Renan,  or  one  of  his 
characters  in  the  "Philosophic 
Dramas"  says,  in  effect:  "War  is 
rather  the  result  of  a  given  situation 
than  of  the  will. 

We  won't  say  may  the  Lord  deliver 
the  United  States  permanently  from 
war,  for  all  the  piety  of  Europe 
seems  military  at  present;  but  such 
is,  of  course,  the  hope  of  most  of  us. 

In  reminding  the  peace  paraders  of 
the  political  and  popular  strength 
which  war  seems  to  possess,  we  wish 
merely  to  emphasize  the  difficulty, 
perhaps  the  human  impossibility,  of 
making  man  or  woman  an  unwarlike, 
at  any  rate,  a  war  shunning,  animal. 


It  is  Immoral  for  a  Nation  to  Allow  Criminal  Neighbors 
to  Prostitute  its  Sacred  Trust 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


GERMAN  SCHOLARS  AND  THE 
LARGER  VIEW. 

Cultivate  the  philosophic  point  of 
view. — Editor. 

Professor  Wilhelm  Ostwald,  pres- 
ident of  the  Monistic  Alliance,  and  the 
right-hand  man  of  Ernst  Haeckel, 
expresses  his  views  on  the  present 
war  in  the  official  monthly  organ  of 
the  Monists,  "Das  Monistische  Jahr- 
hundert,"  page  860.  He  shows  a  con- 
ciliatory spirit,  and  we  quote  from 
his  article  the  following  paragraphs: 

"Amid  the  noise  and  hubbub  of 
war  the  scientifically  minded  man 
must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
war  is  after  all  an  abnormal  state. 
Peace  is  the  aim  and  end  of  war.  But 
this  peace  we  must  endeavor  to  shape 
in  such  a  way  that  it  does  not  render 
unnecessarily  difficult  the  resumption 
of  normal  relations  between  the  great 
civilized  peoples  of  the  earth.  We 
are  dependent,  materially  and  spir- 
itually, on  other  nations  and  states, 
as  they  are  on  us. 


"Above  all  let  us  beware  of  im- 
puting to  a  race  or  people  the  deeds 
of  its  government  or  of  small  groups 
of  isolated  states.  Let  us  guard 
against  generalizations  which  lead  to 
rash  judgments  concerning  the  na- 
tional character  of  individual  peo- 
ples. 

"It  avails  nothing  to  wage  a  war 
which  has  for  its  object  the  wresting 
of  world  dominion,  or  the  acquiring 
of  a  political  hegemony  which  would 
be  but  the  prelude  to  a  bitter  strug- 
gle of  the  other  nations  against  the 
formidable  dominating  people.  We 
are  waging  war  to  preserve  our  inde- 
pendent national  existence.  We  are 
battling  for  the  life  of  our  political 
organism,  which  is  the  foundation  for 
the  further  development  of  German 
culture. 

"We  consider  the  community  of 
German  culture,  however,  as  part  and 
parcel  of  the  international  fellow- 
ship of  men  throughout  the  world. 
We  value  our  labor  of  civilization  not 
only  as  a  labor  for  the  German  na- 
tion, but  as  a  contribution  to  the  de- 


velopment of  mankind.  Even  in 
time  of  war  we  must  remember  that 
this  labor  will  be  the  more  fruitful, 
the  livelier  the  exchange  of  material 
and  spiritual  things — the  same  inter- 
change which  has  carried  human  de- 
velopment to  its  present  stage.  An 
international  interchange  of  culture 
is  the  chief  essential  even  for  flour- 
ishing national  civilizations,  as  well 
as  for  the  unimpeded  progress  of 
man." 

Similar  sentiment  is  to  be  found  in 
the  fourth  yearbook  of  the  Schopen- 
hauer Society,  where  Prof.  Paul 
Deussen  writes:  "  'Not  to  my  con- 
temporaries,' says  Schopenhauer,  'not 
to  my  countrymen,  but  to  humanity 
do  I  commit  my  work  which  is  now 
completed,  in  the  confidence  that  it 
will  not  be  without  value  to  the  race.' 
Science,  and  more  than  every  other 
science,  philosophy,  is  international. 
.  .  .  Foolish,  very  foolish,  therefore, 
is  the  conduct  of  certain  German  pro- 
fessors who  have  renounced  their 
foreign  honors  and  titles.  And  what 
shall  we  say  of  a  member  of  our  so- 


THE  SACRED  TRUST  OF  NATIONS— VIRTUE 


329 


ciety  who  demanded  that  citizens  of 
those  states  which  are  at  war  with  us 
should  be  excluded  from  the  Schopen- 
hauer Society,  and  who,  when  it  was 
pointed  out  that  our  foreign  mem- 
bers certainly  condemned  this  infa- 
mous war  as  much  as  we  Germans, 
protested  that  she  could  not  belong 
to  an  association  in  which  French- 
men, Englishmen  and  Russians  took 
part,  and  announced  her  withdrawal 
from  our  society,  indeed  even  pub- 
lished her  brave  resolution  in  the 
column  of  a  local  paper  in  her  pro- 
vincial town.  We  shall  not  shed 
any  tears  for  her  having  gone." 


AN  AMERICAX  RESIDENT  OP 
FRANCE. 


On  the  I'hilosophy  of  the  Failure  of 
preparedness  for  War. — Editor,  War 
Echoes. 

Grenoble,  Nov.  12,  1914. 

The  Open  Court. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Carus: 

I  have  read  with  interest  your 
article  on  "The  European  War"  in 
the  October  number  of  "The  Open 
Court"  and  note  your  frankness  in 
saying,  "Should  I  be  mistaken  1  wish 
to  be  refuted." 

It  is  not  with  any  hope  of  convinc- 
ing you  that  you  are  mistaken  that 
I  write  you,  but  simply  as  a  friend 
desirous  that  you  know  e,\actly  my 
opinion  and  my  point  of  view,  for  I 
have  given  the  question  a  great  deal 
of  thought. 

You  may  think  that  my  thirty-four 
years'  residence  in  France  has  preju- 
diced me,  but  you  must  not  forget 
that  I  was  born  and  educated  in 
America,  and  am  still  an  American, 
while  I  cannot  forget  that  you  are 
an  ex-officer  of  the  German  army  and 
an  ardent  promulgator  of  "German 
culture." 

I  note  that  you  criticize  English 
and  French  papers,  though  you  make 
quotations  from  them,  when  it  serves 
your  purpose,  of  what  seem  to  me 
unquestionable  fabrications. 

Undoubtedly  a  large  part  of  what 
we  read  in  the  daily  press  is  pure 
fancy,  but  from  my  own  experience 
in  talking  with  the  wounded,  with 
refugees,  and  people  back  from  the 
front,  to  say  nothing  of  unimpeach- 
able documents,  I  am  absolutely  con- 
vinced that  there  have  been  horrible 
atrocities,  cold-blooded  cruelties  and 
flagrant  injustice,  to  say  nothing  of 
wanton,  needless  destruction  far  sur- 
passing what  any  journalist  has  been 
able  to  picture.  But  when  we  add 
to  this  the  thousands  of  killed,  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  wounded  and 
maimed  for  life,  the  millions  of  inno- 
cent sufferers,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, the  billions  of  dollars'  worth 
of  property  and  business  enterprise 
wantonly  thrown  away,  it  staggers 
one.     What  a  "Great  Illusion." 

But  this  is  not  all.  Think  of  the 
hatred  engendered  among  civilized 
people,  more  extensive  and  bitter 
than  any  example  you  can  cite  In  his- 
tory. For  if  you  correctly  describe 
the  enthusiasm  in  Germany,  you  must 
remember  that  in  France  it  is  the 
same  thing.  Here  there  are  no  par- 
ties, no  discords,  every  man,  woman 


and  child  believes  they  are  fighting 
tor  their  very  existence;  and  it  is  the 
same  in  Belgium,  England  and  Rus- 
sia. 

Now  all  this  convinces  me  that  we 
are  witnessing  the  most  momentous 
crisis  in  the  world's  history,  only 
comparable  with  that  of  the  long 
drawn-out  Reformation.  What  will  it 
lead  to'.'  1  hope  and  believe  to  in- 
ternational and  compulsory  arbitra- 
tion, which  is  my  dream;  especially 
do  I  hope  for  this  where  questions 
of  honor  are  at  stake,  for  I  can  con- 
ceive of  no  question  of  honor  being 
justly  settled  when  a  rat  terrier  kills 
a  mouse  or  even  a  tabby  cat. 

It  is,  as  you  know,  a  long  and  com- 
plicated story  which  has  led  to  the 
present  situation.  Volumes  have 
been  and  will  be  written  on  the  sub- 
ject. 1  will  simply  refer  to  one  or 
two  of  the  points  whereon  I  differ 
from  you. 

But  first  there  is  one  point,  and  I 
think  in  this  we  agree;  perhaps  no- 
body will  be  found  to  differ  from  us; 
and  that  is  that  Germany  has  built 
up  the  most  marvelous  army  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  When  war 
broke  out  it  had  reached  its  maxi- 
mum strength  in  numbers,  in  disci- 
pline, in  armament  and  preparedness 
tor  a  sudden  call.  Never  before  was 
such  a  magnificent  fighting  machine 
conceived  of. 

Now  from  what  I  have  read, 
heard  and  seen,  it  is  my  opinion  that 
more  marvelous  still  is  the  way  in 
which  Germany  has  disciplined 
everything,  thought,  science,  art,  in- 
dustry and  commerce,  to  one  pur- 
pose, the  greatness  and  power  of 
Germany.  Every  man,  woman  and 
child  is  convinced  of  its  incompara- 
ble superiority  on  all  points  to  any 
other  nation.  By  the  way,  a  little 
logic  should  lead  us  to  the  conclusion, 
that  during  the  present  crisis  the 
German  press  has  been  censored,  and 
calumnies  and  untruths  have  been 
circulated  with  a  system  and  thor- 
oughness not  possible  by  any  other 
people.  I  say  this  with  no  sarcastic 
spirit.  Were  I  a  German  I  should 
likely  be  proud  of  it,  for  all  Germans 
are;  but  as  an  independent  I  can  only 
say  that  if  you  bar  the  military  part 
of  it,  the  rest  would  sooner  or  later 
be  counterbalanced  in  other  coun- 
tries. 

Militarism,  pure  and  simple,  or  dis- 
ciplined brute  force,  I  consider  fit 
only  for  savages,  whether  it  be  in 
Germany,  France,  England  or  the 
United  States,  and  there  is  some  of 
it  everywhere;  but  when  carried  to 
the  extent  Germany  has  carried  it  it 
becomes  abhorrent  and  should  be 
suppressed. 

It  is  this  military  spirit,  this  confi- 
dence in  their  army  and  brute  force 
that  makes  so  many  Germans  un- 
sympathetic. There  is  little  doubt  in 
my  mind  that  what  made  the  Ger- 
man people  so  enthusiastic  over  this 
war,  was  the  universal  conviction 
that  they  would  swallow  the  French 
army  at  a  gulp  and  leisurely  chew 
up  Russia  without  any  serious  re- 
sistance; and  their  sudden  and  in- 
tense hatred  of  England  is  only  due 
to  the  fact  that  they  think  it  inter- 
feres with  their  little  pleasure  trip. 

You  say  the  dream  of  your  life  has 
been   a   federation   of   "England   and 


the  United  States  centering  about 
Germany"  to  insure  the  peace  of  the 
world.  Possibly  some  people  think 
that  France,  England  and  Russia 
should  be  intrusted  with  the  job,  and 
I  think  their  chances  of  success  not 
less  probable. 

It  is  this  conception  of  the  incom- 
parable superiority  of  "German  cul- 
ture" and  German  righteousness, 
giving  her  the  right  to  dominate  and 
direct  the  world,  that  staggers  me. 
.A.fter  all,  is  not  Germany,  as  a  world 
power,  and  a  great  nation,  a  mush- 
room growth  of  fifty  years'  standing? 
Has  no  other  nation  a  culture,  a  his- 
tory, men  of  worth?  Can  you  not 
respect  in  others  a  spirit  of  independ- 
ence and  patriotism,  even  of  national 
pride,  however  small  that  nation 
may  be?  And  you  would  entrust  the 
domination  and  control  to  one  nation 
or  group  of  nations.  No,  Dr.  Carus, 
no  nation  ever  has  been  or  ever  will 
be  so  near  God  as  to  be  worthy  of 
that  mission,  and  I  believe  my  dream 
nearer  realization  than  yours. 

Contrary  to  you,  I  believe  Austria's 
ultimatum  to  Servia  the  immediate 
cause  of  this  war.  One  man  and  one 
man  only  could  have  stopped  it  be- 
tween the  2Sth  and  30th  of  July, 
and  that  man  is  the  German  Emperor. 
That  ultimatum  and  the  violation  of 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium  are  the 
two  dominating  facts  of  the  crisis. 
All  your  history,  going  back  to 
Caesar,  and  all  your  precedents  carry 
no  weight  with  me.  The  crisis  is  here 
and  so  momentous  that  it  behooves 
humanity  to  cry  halt,  and  in  some 
way  make  the  repetition  of  two  such 
atrocities  impossible.  When  that  is 
done  there  is  a  possibility  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  realization  of  my 
dream,  and  not  before. 

I  am  not  an  Englishman,  but  all 
the  arguments  put  forward  to  prove 
that  England  brought  on  this  war 
seem  to  me  silly  twaddle.  It  is  my 
opinion  that  if  Germany  had  had  a 
diplomat  of  the  caliber  of  Sir  Edward 
Grey,  the  war  would  not  have  been 
entered  upon  as  it  was. 

I  believe  the  world  has  greatly 
changed  for  the  better  during  the 
last  hundred  years,  the  mentality  of 
the  lower  classes  as  well  as  of  the 
upper  has  developed,  but  you  would 
seem  to  think  that  Germany  alone 
has   progressed. 

The  majority  of  thinking  French- 
men, w-hile  proud  of  the  genius  of 
Napoleon,  admit  that  what  he  repre- 
sented was  doomed  to  failure.  Simi- 
larly I  believe  that  in  a  hundred  years 
from  now  German  thinkers  and  his- 
torians will  feel  humiliated  when 
they  read  that  famous  "Appeal  to 
Civilized  Nations"  signed  by  ninety- 
three  of  the  most  illustrious  savants 
of  Germany.  Among  other  things 
they  say:  "Without  our  militarism 
our  civilization  would  have  been  anni- 
hilated long  ago,"  and  "The  German 
army  and  the  German  people  are 
one."  Evidently  they  have  a  differ- 
ent conception  of  German  civilization 
and  German  culture  from  what  I 
should  like  to  see  them  pride  them- 
selves in.  These  ninety-three  Ger- 
man savants  will  not  help  much  to- 
wards the  realization  of  my  dream. 

The  intellectual  element  in  France 
is  as  enthusiastic  over  real  "German 


330 


THOrCHTS  0\  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


HOyVVE     CIRCLE     STR/VTEGY. 


h^rrv,   if  the  english  mave 
Such  conPioence   in 
THE.IR  N/kVY    WHY  po^4•T 

They   fiqht  the 
german  fleet? 


WELL,  The    EN6USM    W^ftVf 

To  "iT&v  There  ano 

WATCH    FOR    THEM 

Do^^'T   Tmey? 


Tme  English  Could  uiE 

THETR  i=^LE6T   SOMEM/HEPE 
ELSe     COULDNT    TmEY' 


iMELL     WHY    DON'T 

They  co  richt   in 
AND    6eT   it  OViK  With? 


I  Know,  But  They  Could 
Sent>  some  of  Their 

CAPTURED    VESSELS   AHEAP 
Oj:    THEM  And   BIPIOOE 

Tme  /^ines,  couldn't  they? 


Ha'Ra'  Thats  a  Cood  one  ! 
WHY,  Tme  Germans  are 
"~Si^       All  Bottled  up  in 
The  Baltic  SeaI 


OF   CDuK^E,    MY   OCAR. 
TmEY   DON'T  WANT  To  <iiVE 

Them  a  CwanC£  To  get 
out. 


»   SUPPOSE  So.  But 
ft  IS  NeEoeD    THERE 
NOW. 


That  seems  plausible  it> 
A  casual  reader .  Bur 

YOO   SEE  TUe.   ENTRANCES 
ARE   AU    MINED. 


YOf  Do  NT  UNDERSTAND 

The  situation, mv  dca*? 

I'LL  EXPLAIN    IT   All 

sometime. 


hello  marry,  whadpa  va 
Thimic  about  The  war  ? 


Say,  I  CANT  SEE  WHY  The 

tNGiLiSH  FLKT   DOESNT  RUN   SOME 
CAPTURED    SMiPS  AKEAD  OP   IT 
AND  00  IN  AND  Clean  up 

tH£      CCCMAN      NAVY 


-From    "The   Chicago   Tribune,"   October    23.    19J4 


Culture"  as  Germans  themselves. 
Goethe,  Beethoven,  Kant,  etc.,  will 
live  even  if  Germany  and  every  Ger- 
man living  were  blotted  out  ot  exist- 
ence. There  is  no  need  of  a  German 
army  or  a  German  navy  to  impose 
them  on  people  of  real  culture. 

One  may  differ  from  others,  but  I 
see  no  reason,  when  convictions  are 
sincere,  why  they  should  alter  friend- 
ship. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

JOHN  STEEL. 

Editorial  Comments. 

While  it  is  true  that  I  was  born  in 
Germany  and  am  an  ex-officer  of  the 
German   army,    I   claim   emphatically 


that  it  is  not  without  good  reason 
that  I  am  pro-German  in  this  war.  I 
took  a  positively  anti-German  posi- 
tion at  the  time  of  the  Manila  trou- 
bles, and  I  know  that  the  larger  num- 
ber of  German-Americans  were  on 
the  same  side.  I  am  not  blind  to 
certain  German  shortcomings,  and 
I  concede  that  many  Germans  present 
themselves  to  foreigners  in  a  most 
unfavorable  light. 

I  agree  with  Mr.  Steel  that  the 
worst  feature  of  the  war  is  the  hatred 
engendered  between  the  various  na- 
tionalities, and  the  worst  hatred  has 
originated  where  I  lament  it  most, 
between  Germany  and  England.  I 
recognize  that   this   hatred   has  been 


fostered  in  certain  circles  and  in  cer- 
tain yellow  journals;  but  it  seems  to 
me,  and  facts  confirm  it,  that  in 
England  this  spirit  has  taken  hold 
of  the  government,  while  the  German 
government  has  done  its  best  to  come 
to  an  amicable  understanding.  Since 
England  supported  the  Slavs  and  the 
French,  popular  indignation  in  Ger- 
many has  so  much  increased  that  the 
Germans  feel  friendly  toward  the 
French  and  indifferent  toward  the 
Russians,  but  extremely  bitter  to- 
ward the  English.  It  will  be  long 
before  this  hostility  can  be  overcome. 
I  have  read  in  German  papers  that 
while  the  Germans  in  the  field  are 
on     terms     of     hostile     comradeship 


THE  SACRED  TRUST  OF  NATIONS— VIRTUE 


331 


along  the  French  lines,  while  they 
exchange  little  courtesies  and  under 
certain  conditions  abstain  from  hos- 
tilities, this  spirit  is  absolutely  lack- 
ing where  the  English  are  concerned, 
and  a  similar  odium  of  the  English 
has  also  been  noticed  among  the 
French  prisoners  of  war  who  express 
a  strong  aversion  to  their  British  fel- 
lows detained  in  the  same  camp. 

Mr.  Steel's  view  of  German  mili- 
tarism seems  to  me  strongly  influ- 
enced by  French  and  English  repre- 
sentations of  it.  I  know  German 
militarism  in  its  good  aspect  and  all 
I  can  concede  is  that  there  are  some 
lilusterins;  Germans  who  lack  the 
necessary  discretion  and  naturally 
make  a  very  offensive  impression 
upon  foreigners;  but  I  wish  to  insist 
that  such  unpleasant  individuals 
exist  in  all  nations,  and  I  believe 
many  Americans  traveling  abroad 
have  often  had  occasion  to  feel 
ashamed  of  some  of  their  fellow  coun- 
trymen who  have  made  themselves 
offensive  when  touring  through  Eu- 
nijie.  'I'lie  French  as  a  rule  are  the 
least  blatant  because  wherever  they 
make  a  display  of  national  conceit 
it  is  done  with  such  a  child-like  van- 
ity that  they  appear  amiable  even  in 
a  display  of  their  faults. 

The  dream  of  my  life  has  indeed 
been  an  alliance  between  England, 
Germany  and  the  United  States,  but 
I  did  not  think  the  others  should  be 
"centered"  about  Germany.  Smaller 
nations  would  form  groups  about 
each  of  the  three.  Mr.  Steel  has  read 
the  passage  hastily,  for  what  I  said 
was  that  "if  these  three  groups  of 
nations,  centering  about  Germany, 
England  and  the  United  States, 
stand  together,  the  peace  of  the 
world  will  be  assured." 

Mr.  Steel  has  given  his  conception 
of  my  view,  and  I  will  say  that  for 
different  reasons  I  do  not  deem  either 
the  French  or  the  Russians  fit  to 
sway  the  destinies  of  the  world.  Both 
are  peculiarly  liable  to  be  prejudiced 
in  their  judgment  of  others.  Neither 
can  understand  a  foreigner;  and  I 
begin  to  fear  that  the  British  are 
little  better  in  this  regard.  It  is  a 
great  mistake  to  consider  Germany's 
advance  in  the  last  fifty  years  as  the 
whole  of  German  history.  The  de- 
velopment of  German  strength  is  not 
a  "mushroom  growth,"  as  Mr.  Steel 
thinks.  It  is  the  slow  development 
of  a  healthy  and  vigorous  race  under 
most  unfavorable  conditions.  The 
Germans  were  deprived  of  the  results 
of  their  labor  again  and  again,  until, 
under  the  most  dire  stress  of  neces- 
sity, they  developed  what  is  now 
defense.  Now  that  they  have  becoma 
called  militarism  for  the  sake  of  self- 
strong  they  are  blamed  for  defend- 
ing themselves  and  overthrowing 
their  enemies. 

I  have  never  declared  that  the  Teu- 
tonic race  should  be  the  sole  arbiter 
of  the  world's  history.  On  the  con- 
trary I  have  emphasized  again  and 
again  that  other  nations,  such  as  the 
French,  and  even  such  smaller  ones 
as  Switzerland.  Holland,  Sweden,  and 
Norway,  etc.,  have  made  most  valu- 
able contributions  to  the  development 
of  a  world-civilization.  At  the  same 
time  civilization  in  these  is  not  based 
on  blood,  that  is,  on  the  closeness  of 


their  relationship  to  the  Teutonic 
people."  Please  consider  that  France 
has  constantly  received  a  strong  ad- 
mixture of  German  blood,  not  only 
before  Caesar  conquered  Gaul,  not 
only  when  the  Franks,  the  Burguu- 
dians,  the  Visigoths,  the  Normans, 
and  Alamans  settled  in  Gaul,  but  also 
in  recent  times.  Paris  and  other 
cities  are  constantly  flooded  with  Ger- 
man immigrants,  and  the  importance 
of  this  immigration  should  not  be 
underrated. 

I  can  only  say  that  I  differ  as  to 
the  facts  concerning  Mr.  Steel's  state- 
ment that  the  German  Emperor  could 
have  prevented  the  war  by  not  stand- 
ing by  Austria  against  the  regicide 
propaganda  of  pan-Slavism,  vigor- 
ously and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  ig- 
nominiously  supported  by  Sir  Edward 
Grey. 

Together  with  this  letter  of  Mr. 
Steel  I  am  in  receipt  of  a  statement 
by  Americans  living  in  Munich  who 
proclaim  in  most  vigorous  terms  their 
support  of  the  German  cause  on  the 
irrduiiil  that  "England  is  dirccil!/  re- 
.tIKiiixihU--  for.  and  must  share  the  guilt 
of,  this  terrible  war,"  saying  that  "at 
the  most  critical  hour  in  the  history 
of  European  civilization.  England  ar- 
rayed herself  on  the  side  of  Servian 
regicide  and  in  the  interest  of  Rus- 
sian  autocracy  and  barbarism." 

1  See  for  in.stance  my  explanation  of 
•'nprmandom"  in  the  December  number  or 
■•the  Open  Court,"  pp.   769-772. 


O.  C.  K.  I  do  not  agree  with 
your  statement  that  "when  the  in- 
terests of  a  country  no  longer  de- 
mand that  she  keep  a  treaty  she  has 
a  perfect  right  to  break  it." 

Your  reference  is  to  the  reply  to 
G.  R.  V.  in  last  Saturday's  issue,  in 
regard  to  Italy's  action  in  withdraw- 
ing from  the  Triple  Alliance.  A  line 
must  be  drawn  between  theory  and 
practice,  here  as  elsewhere;  and  the 
practice  of  nations  has  been  to  ob- 
serve their  agreements  with  other 
nations  only  so  long  as  it  has  been 
to  their  interests  to  do  so.  You  will 
find  few  examples  in  history  where 
this  principle  has  not  guided  the 
conduct  of  nations.  Diplomacy  often 
times  has  skillfully  covered  its  ob- 
servance, but  the  principle  has 
nevertheless  been  there.  Self-pre- 
servation is  the  first  law  of  nations 
as  of  men,  and  anything  which  in- 
terferes with  it  must  give  way  to  it. 
In  opposing  the  pretention  of  Eng- 
land in  Venezuela  in  1895,  Richard 
Olney,  then  Secretary  of  State  and 
one  of  the  most  clear-visioned  men 
who  have  ever  held  the  post,  used 
these  significant  words:  "The  people 
of  the  United  Stales  have  learned  in 
the  school  of  experience  to  what  ex- 
tent the  relations  of  states  to  each 
other  depend  not  upon  sentiment 
nor  principle,  but  upon  selfish  in- 
terests." We  may  not  agree  with 
the  ethics  of  this  condition,  but  we 
must  admit  the  fact  of  its  existence, 
and  the  fact  constitutes  its  own  justi- 
fication. "What  ever  is."  said  Pope, 
"is  right." — From  the  "Questions 
and  Answers"  column  in  the  "New 
Yorker  Staats-Zeitung."  November 
6,  1914. 


FATE   AND   THE   WAR. 

If  Progress  is  inevitable,  we  hear 
the  cry  of  the  patriot  and  martyr  in 
but  lies". —The  Editor. 

By  the  Editor.* 
It  almost  ai>pears  as  if  Friedrich  von 
Bernhardl  had  made  the  present  war. 
No  books  of  his  have  appeared  until 
recently,  and  he  was  little  known  as 
an  author  before  his  death  in  1913. 
One  of  his  books,  "On  the  Customs  of 
War,"  was  published  in  190-2.  but  it 
was  merelv  an  official  statement  of  the 
German  General  Staff  for  public  in- 
formation. His  main  work,  entitled 
"Germany  and  the  Next  War,"  which 
appeared  in  1912  in  the  midst  of  peace, 
now  sounds  like  a  prophecy,  and  the 
contents  of  this  book  have  been  pop- 
ularized in  a  still  more  recent  book 
(publishetl  in  1913)  entitled  "Our  Fu- 
tm-e—A  Word  of  Warning  to  the  Ger- 
man Nation."  General  Beruhardi  was 
apparently  an  able  general,  and  also 
a  keen  diplomat  who  had  studied  the 
historv  of  nations,  their  wars,  their 
rise  aiid  decline  and  ever-shifling  posi- 
tions in  the  world,  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  make  him  a  most  able  judge  of 
national  development  in  the  history  of 
mankind.  That  he.  a  German  general, 
should  have  proved  to  be  a  true  Ger- 
man patriot  is  surely  deserving  only 
of  commendation;  that  he  was  a  good 
writer  must  likewise  be  counted  in  his 
favor;  but  if  we  arc  to  consider  him 
as  a  prophet,  his  role  has  truly  been 
a  terrible  one.  for  his  projAecy  seems 
to  have  been  almost  fatalistic  in  its 
consequences.  But  I  will  add  here 
that,  as  Herr  Dernburg  claims,  Bem- 
hardi's  pessimistic  utterances  and  his 
assistance  in  the  movement  for  in- 
creased armaments  were  not  approved 
by  the  German  government,  and 
cansed  his  discharge. 

In  spite  of  his  high  rank  in  the 
army  and  his  position  in  the  General 
Staff  Friedrich  von  Bernhardi  was 
little  known  in  Germany.  His  warning 
though  in  some  places  obviously  di- 
rected against  the  peace  policy  of  the 
Kaiser,  was  not  specially  heeded  by 
the  (Jernian  iK><iple.  and  as  an  author 
he  roniainiHl  iinknown  to  fame.  Vn- 
fortuiiatelv.  however,  his  second  book 
was  translated  into  English,  the  work 
being  done  by  J.  Ellis  Barker  who  did 
not  hesitate  to  change  its  title.  "Our 
p,m„.e — A  Word  of  Warning  to  the 
German  Nation."  into  the  more  alarm- 
ing words.  liiifain  as  Gcniinnu's  ^  aa- 
s-nt.  This  change  is  not  just  to  the 
author,  for  there  is  not  a  word  in 
Bernhardi's  book  which  suggests  the 
idea  of  making  Britain  a  vassal  of 
Germany.  On  the  contrary  it  is  a 
Iiook.  as  Bernhardi  himself  says,  of 
"warning  to  the  Germans."  and  he 
claims  that  Germany  stands  at  that 
point  of  her  development  where  she 
lias  to  decide  for  herself  whether  she 
will  remain  a  continental  jiower  of 
spcnndarv  importance  or  whether  she 
will  continue  her  course  of  expansion 


•In  order  to  assist  «be  reader  to  the 
10Kir.ll  ponncrtion  with  the  discuFKlon  that 
leads  up  to  this  final  reply,  m  w  ndinp  UP 
a  most  valuable  deb.ite  on  the  many 
points  In  question  In  connection  with  the 
war  til"  rondor  Is  advised  to  look  up 
Cnriis,  Jourd.Tln,  War- (European)— in 
the  Index.  This  article  Is  the  final  „reply 
b"  the  Editor  of  "The  Open  Court."  Dr. 
rarus.  to  Mr.  Jourdain  s  "An  Ansiccr  to 
the  ■European  War.'" 


332 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


and  become  a  world-power  possessing 
colonies,  like  England  and  the  United 
States. 

General  Bemhardi  recently  under- 
took a  journey  round  the  world  to 
gather  impressions,  and  he  passed 
through  the  United  States;  but  though 
he  had  then  finished  his  literary  career, 
he  was  unknown.  His  presence  here 
did  not  create  even  a  ripple  of  excite- 
ment, and  there  are  tew  who  saw 
his  name  mentioned  in  the  papers.  He 
became  famous  only  since  the  trans- 
lation of  his  books  created  a  stir  in 
England;  and  an  Englishman  can  well 
shudder  with  fear  as  he  contemplates 
the  need  of  Germany's  expansion  and 
the  native  vigor  of  her  teeming  mil- 
lions demanding  also  their  share  of 
space  on  this  globe.  On  the  other 
hand,  Bernhardi  points  out  England's 
established  policy  of  refusing  to  tol- 
erate the  growth  of  another  naval 
power  and  of  antagonizing  whichever 
state  happens  to  be  the  most  power- 
ful in  continental  Europe. 

England  and  Germany  have  formerly 
been  united  by  the  closest  ties  of  na- 
tional relationship  and  the  personal 
kinship  of  their  rulers.  For  several 
centuries  the  English  royal  family  has 
hailed  from  Germany,  and  has  been 
related  to  the  houses  of  Hanover,  Sax- 
ony Coburg  and  Prussia.  The  pres- 
ent King  of  England  and  the  Kaiser 
are  cousins.  Queen  Victoria  was  the 
grandmother  of  both,  and  if  the  laws 
of  succession  were  slightly  modified  or 
some  of  the  Queen's  descendants  had 
unexpectedly  died,  or  had  not  been 
born,  both  thrones  might  be  held  by 
the  same  man. 

The  English  language,  a  daughter 
of  Anglo-Saxon  speech,  is  practically 
a  Low  German  dialect,  and  the  Low- 
Germans  of  the  northern  part  of  the 
fatherland  constitute  the  dominant 
and,  in  military  matters,  the  most  efB- 
cient  portion  of  northern  Germany. 
The  English  people  come  from  the  ter- 
ritory where  formerly  Saxon  or  Low 
German  was  spoken,  and  the  Low- 
land Scots  are  of  the  same  race.  The 
Saxons  conquered  the  Celtic  portions 
of  Britain,  and  also  Ireland,  and 
though  they  form  only  about  one-third 
of  the  population  of  Great  Britain  they 
have  impressed  upon  the  remainder 
their  language  and  national  character. 

At  present  the  inhabitants  of  Great 
Britain  are  about  45,000,000,  but  with 
a  verj'  far-sighted  and  practical  policy 
they  "have  succeeded  in  acquiring  the 
most  important  inhabitable  portions 
of  the  globe,  such  as  southern  Africa, 
Australia,  Canada  and  India,  and  at 
the  same  time  have  possessed  them- 
selves of  all  important  naval  bases, 
chief  among  them  being  the  Suez  Canal 
together  with  Aden  at  the  end  of  the 
Red  Sea,  and  Malta,  and  Gibraltar. 

England's  position  is  practically  that 
of  ruler  of  the  ocean  and  with  great 
foresight  the  English  have  always  in- 
sisted on  having  the  strongest  navy  in 
the  world.  In  modern  politics  Eng- 
land has  always  opposed  any  nation 
likely  to  develop  a  powerful  navy,  and 
so  it  was  perhaps  inevitable  that  Great 
Britain  should  be  arrayed  against  Ger- 
many notwithstanding  her  old  blood- 
ties  "with  that  country,  the  kinship  of 
their  royal  families,  and  all  their  com- 
mon historical  interests,  and  should 
side  with  her  old  enemy,  France,  and 


even  with  Russia,  so  dangerous  to 
England  everywhere  in  Asia.  She  has 
allied  herself  with  these  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  checking  the  more  sys- 
tematic and  therefore  more  formidable 
advance  of  Germany. 

The  German  danger  was  pointed 
out  by  an  anonymous  pen  in  two  ar- 
ticles which  appeared  in  the  London 
"Saturday  Review"'  and  which  must 
be  mentioned  here  because  their  under- 
lying principles  have  guided  English 
politics ;  they  have  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Triijle  Entente,  and 
they  explain  the  plan  of  an  English  in- 
vasion of  France  through  Belgium  and 
the  determination  to  have  Germany 
crushed  between  France  and  Russia 
while  England  destroyed  Germany's 
trade  and  starved  the  whole  country 
into  submission,  a  plan  which  it  was 
expected  would  be  very  easy  and  one 
whose  execution  was  urged  while  it 
was  still  feasible. 

The  English  apprehension  of  the 
German  danger  was  the  real  cause  of 
the  war;  the  Servian  quarrel  was  only 
the  occasion  on  which  Russian  eager- 
ness to  assert  its  Pan-Slavic  ambition 
with  the  help  of  the  Triple  Entente 
grew  bold  enough  to  start  the  trouble, 
and  the  German  breach  of  Belgian 
neutrality  furnished  England  a  pre- 
text to  join  in  the  general  fray. 

In  former  articles  I  have  defended 
Germany  for  standing  by  Austria  in 
her  determination  to  have  the  con- 
spiracy of  the  regicide  fully  investi- 
gated, and  I  have  also  maintained  that, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  she  was 
threatened  with  an  invasion  through 
Belgium,  Germany  was  justified  in  at- 
tempting a  passage  through  this  no 
longer  neutral  territory.  There  is  no 
need  of  re-opening  the  discussion  on 
this  problem.  Since  we  know  that  Eng- 
land herself  had  intended  to  break 
into  Germany  through  Belgium,  Ger- 
many's action  is  perfectly  justified.  I 
assume  that  every  one  who  wishes  to 
investigate  the  situation  with  impar- 
tiality will  familiarize  himself  with 
the  documents  discovered  at  Brussels, 
which  do  not  admit  of  any  other  in- 
terpretation than  that  Belgium  had 
joined  with  England  and  France  in  the 
project  of  an  attack  on  Rhenish  Ger- 
many. In  connection  with  this  we  re- 
fer to  the  letter  of  Baron  Greindl.  at 
that  time  Belgian  ambassador  at  Ber- 
lin, who  warns  his  government  against 
the  danger  to  which  such  a  step  would 
expose  them.  England  saw  no  wrong 
in  breaking  Belgian  neutrality  with 
Belgium's  consent,  but  she  angrily  de- 
nounces Germany  for  breaking  it  witJi- 
out  that  consent. 

Baron  Greindl  was  a  Belgian  patriot. 
He  did  not  want  to  have  the  Germans 
admitted  to  Belgian  soil ;  he  wanted 
to  preserve  the  independence  of  his 
country.  For  this  reason  he  deemed 
it  dangerous  to  hand  the  Belgian  for- 
tresses and  defenses  over  to  the  British 
and  French  who  were  more  easily  in- 
vited than  disposed  of  when  no  longer 
needed.  His  warnings  remained  un- 
heeded and  now  comprise  a  document 
testifying  to  anti-German  intrigue. 
Another  letter  of  a  similar  purport 
was  written  July  30.  1914,  by  M.  de 
I'Escaille,  the  Belgian  ambassador  at 
St.   Petersburg.     This  was  also  found 


'See    "The    Open    Court"    for    October, 
1914,  p.  577,  and  December,  1914,  p.  719. 


by  the  Germans  in  Brussels  and  was 
published  in  the  "Norddeutsche  Zei- 
tung."  M.  de  I'Escaille  recognizes  that 
the  war  has  been  unavoidable  from 
the  time  that  the  war  party  at  St. 
Petersburg  gained  the  upper  hand,  and 
he  concludes  thus : 

"The  army,  which  feels  itself  strong, 
is  full  of  enthusiasm  and  relies  on 
great  hopes  based  on  the  enormous 
progress  that  has  been  achieved  since 
the  Japanese  war.  The  navy  is  so 
far  from  having  realized  the  program 
of  its  reconstruction  and  its  reorgani- 
zation that  it  can  scarcely  enter  into 
the  matter  of  reckoning.  It  is  prob- 
ably there  that  the  motive  lies  which 
gives  such  great  importance  to  the  as- 
surance of  England's  support." 

This  expectation  was  expressed  be- 
fore the  Germans  entereci  Belgium.  It 
is  clear  that  England  wanted  to  throw 
her  full  weight  into  the  balance  with 
France  and  Russia.  The  Germans 
asked  twice  whether  England  would 
remain  neutral  if  Belgium  were  left 
alone  or  if  Germany  promised  not  to 
attack  France  by  sea,  or,  if  not,  what 
conditions  would  satisfy  her ;  but  Sir 
Edward  Grey  refused  to  commit  him- 
self and  so  Germany  could  run  no  risk 
of  a  hostile  attack  through  Belgium 
and  saw  no  other  chance  to  forestall 
her  enemies.  Even  then  she  would  have 
guaranteed  Belgian  independence  if 
Belgium  had  been  willing  to  allow  her 
passage  through  Belgian  territory.  It 
was  the  duty  of  Germany  to  protect  first 
of  all  her  own  citizens  and  so  she 
reluctantly  decided  to  open  the  war 
by  taking  Belgium,  otherwise  the  Brit- 
ish and  French  trenches  might  now 
lie  around  Aix-la-Chapelle  or  Cologne. 

The  English  make  light  of  the  dis- 
coveries of  the  Conventions  anglo-bel- 
tjcs  at  Brussels,  and  speak  of  them  as 
"an  academic  discussion,"  relating  only 
to  the  "event  of  Belgian  neutrality 
being  infringed  upon  by  one  of  its 
neighbors,"  but  to  a  reader  of  these 
documents  there  is  no  doubt  that  Bel- 
gium joined  England  and  France  with 
definite  promises  and  made  common 
cause  with  them.  The  documents 
prove  a  plan  to  attack  Germany ;  they 
mention  the  possibility  of  an  attempted 
march  of  German  troops  through  Bel- 
glum  only  as  one  eventuality,  not  as  the 
condition   of   the   whole   proposition.     • 

The  question  that  remains  is  simply 
a  problem  of  the  future.  It  is  this : 
Will  Germany  continue  to  expand,  or 
will  England's  dominating  power  crush 
it  before  its  navy  is  large  enough  to 
rival  her  own  on  the  seas  ?  In  other 
words,  we  stand  before  a  crisis  in  his- 
tory. The  crisis  is  here.  But  the 
question  is,  were  the  diplomats  of  Eng- 
land wise  in  having  it  decided  by  war? 
— for  no  one  who  has  studied  the  dip- 
lomatic events  of  the  last  days  of 
July,  1914,  doubts  that  England  brought 
about  the  war.  Can  England  much 
longer,  either  by  war  or  peace,  main- 
tain her  dominant  position  in  the 
world?  The  truth  is  that,  apart  from 
her  forty-five  millions  at  home,  she 
counts  not  more  then  twenty  millions 
of  whites  in  her  colonies — Canada, 
Australia,  South  Africa  and  India — 
to  defend  her  vast  empire,  and  she 
has  not  even  enough  sailors  to  man 
her  navy — which  is  not  surprising 
when  we  consider  the  constant  drain 
there  must  be  to  keep  up  to  the  two- 


THE  SACRED  TRUST  OF  NATIONS— VIRTUE 


333 


power  standard.  England  Is  a  com- 
paratively small  country,  her  people 
are  not  as  prolific  as  the  Germans,  and 
her  hold  on  her  tremendous  colonial 
possessions  is  more  or  less  precarious. 
Ought  she  not,  under  these  circum- 
stances, to  have  allied  herself  with 
some  virile  country  such  as  Germany, 
and  would  not  both  countries  have 
benefitted  thereby? 

The  question  has  been  proposed, 
whether  England,  Germany  and  the 
United  States  could  agree  to  stand  to- 
gether for  a  peaceful  development,  and 
have  questions  of  right  or  wrong  de- 
cided by  mutual  agreement.  Of  course 
the  basic  question  of  mutual  recog- 
nition of  their  respective  spheres 
should  be  settled  at  the  start.  This 
would  have  been  the  ideal  solution, 
and  it  is  the  one  we  have  always 
advocated ;  but  it  seems  that  the  dis- 
trust between  the  nations  has  grown 
too  strong  to  permit  any  friendly  under- 
standing between  them,  for  English 
policy  has  recently  been  very  deter- 
mined to  put  a  cheek  upon  any  possible 
aggrandizement  of  German  colonies  or 
colonial  life.  The  English  have  also 
been  very  much  opposed  to  the  in- 
crease of  Germany's  navy,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Germans  have  been 
just  as  determined  not  to  allow  any 
interference  with  the  development  of 
their  military  or  naval  power. 

Germany  would  have  preferred  to 
continue  a  peaceful  competition  with 
England  like  that  which  prevailed  be- 
fore the  war.  and  from  her  own  stand- 
point this  would  have  been  the  better 
course.  Germany  was  noticeably  gain- 
ing, and  England  seemed  either  unwill- 
ing to  exert  herself  to  outdo  German 
trade  and  commerce,  or  unable  to  out- 
do it.  War  finally  appeared  to  the 
British  government  to  be  the  only 
chance  of  suppressing  the  German 
danger. 

If  two  nations  are  actually  unwilling 
to  allow  each  other  free  development 
the  result  must  be  war,  and  in  this 
sense  we  speak  of  the  war  as  having 
been  unavoidable.  It  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  right,  it  is  a  question  of  might. 

In  studying  the  facts  closely,  and  in 
trying  to  understand  what  the  English 
and  the  sponsors  of  their  policy  mean 
by  the  "aggressiveness"  of  Germany,  we 
conclude  that  it  Is  Germany's  unwel- 
come advance  in  population,  in  trade, 
in  power,  in  influence,  in  wealth,  etc., 
b.v  which  it  ma.v  rival  England.  No 
wonder  they  deem  it  intolerable.  The 
question  is  only  whether  it  is  wise 
to  check  their  intoleral)le  aggressive- 
ness by  war.  I  believe  it  would  have 
been  wiser  to  compete  with  Germany 
by  adopting  German  methods  and 
striving  to  outdo  the  Germans  in  their 
peaceful  accomplishments,  by  imitat- 
ing their  schools,  by  fostering  science 
and  teaching  the  growing  generation 
to  apply  themselves  in  a  severer  atten- 
tion to  the  duties  of  life. 

Another  feature  of  modern  Germany 
which  the  English  find  unpleasant  is 
her  militarism.  They  would  much 
prefer  to  see  her  helpless.  But  this 
very  institution  of  universal  military 
service  is  the  strength  of  Germany,  and 
it  Is  this  that  renders  her  invincible. 
It  is  Germany's  backbone.  If  England 
wants  to  continue  this  war  she  will 
have  to  adopt  universal  military  serv- 
ice, and  she  could  not  do  better  than 


imitate    the    much    denounced    German 
militarism  as  speedily  as  possible. 

England  has  chosen  the  war,  not  Ger- 
many !  England  was  unprepared  for 
the  war  for  she  thought  it  would  be  an 
easy  game.  Her  former  wars  have 
been  easy,  and  this  war  loo  seemed 
as  sure;  and  it  was  a  matter  of  course 
to  crush  any  power  that  threatened 
to  grow  stronger  and  richer  than  her- 
self. In  the  Triple  Entente  with  all 
its  secret  implications  and  corollaries, 
they  believed,  lay  their  weaiwn  for 
the  isolation  and  strangulation  of  Ger- 
many. From  the  English  point  of  view, 
however.  I  do  not  condemn  them  for 
the  course  they  have  pursued,  for  they 
certainly  have  ample  cause  for  appre- 
hension;  and  from  the  old  standpoint 
of  Macchiavelljan  statecraft  there  is 
no  right  or  wrong  in  diplomacy.  But 
even  from  their  point  of  view  their 
diplomacy  has  been  grossly  deceived; 
the  Triple  Entente  will  not  accomplish 
what  they  hoped  for ;  and  the  disaster 
which  they  have  plaimed  for  Germany 
will  recoil  on  their  own  heads. 

The  present  situation  apiJears  like  the 
work  of  fate.  Similar  conditions  have 
repeated  themselves  in  history.  And 
is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  Kaiser, 
though  he  did  his  utmost  to  preserve 
peace,  should  finally  be  forced  into  this 
confiict  against  his  wilK'  It  Is  as  if 
the  German  pc>oi>le  had  been  compelled 
to  come  forth  in  all  their  might  to 
show  themselves  worthy  of  becoming 
a  world-|iower. 

The  Germans  are  naturally  a  peace- 
ful people.  Their  much  denounced 
militarism  is  positively  a  peaceful  in- 
stitution, for  it  means  that  every  father, 
son  and  brother  nmst  fight  the  battles- 
of  his  country.  If  England  possessed 
this  system  the  English  people  would 
have  been  considerably  less  vociferous 
in   their   clamors  for  war. 

Germany  has  accepted  the  challenge, 
not  for  the  sake  of  gaining  a  new  and 
larger  position  in  the  world,  but 
simply  to  maintain  her  old  hold  and 
to  ward  off  the  invaders  to  the  west  and 
the  east.  Hero,  however,  appears  a 
new  factor  in  history.  England  has 
become  the  main  enemy  of  Germany, 
and  it  will  be  very  difficult,  if  ijossible 
at  all,  to  eradicate  the  intense  hatred 
which  has  suddenly  arisen  in  Germany 
against  their  cousins  beyond  the  chan- 
nel. 

A  university  professor  whose  only 
son  and  all  of  whose  sons-in-law  are 
in  the  field  writes :  "We  pity  the  French 
and  are  sorry  that  the  Belgians  were 
so  misguided ;  we  regret  that  our  men 
have  to  pit  their  lives  against  the 
Cossacks.  But  we  feel  a  positive  hos- 
tility toward  the  English.  They  have 
become  the  arch-enemy  of  Germany  and 
we  know  that  peace,  an  honorable 
I)eace.  will  be  possible  only  if  we  suc- 
ceed in  humbling  Albion.  We  shall 
probal)ly  fight  against  France  and 
Russia  only  until  we  can  establish  our- 
selves on  foreign  soil  In  a  secure  de- 
fensive position,  and  then  we  will  con- 
centrate all  our  forces  against  Eng- 
land." 

Another  friend  of  mine,  also  a  uni- 
versity professor,  a  scholar  highly 
respected  also  in  English-speaking 
countries,  writes  as  follows: 

"Our  losses  on  the  battlefield,  espec- 
ially in  the  west,  are  terrible,  but  how 
is  it  with  the  enemy?  We  have  to 
fight  hard   for  every  foot  of  territory 


we  gain,  but  even  if  the  struggle  Is 
slow  no  one  doubts  here  but  we  shall 
win  in  the  end ;  for  there  is  but  one 
enemy,  and  that  is  England.  She  is 
not  only  our  enemy,  but  the  enemy  of 
mankind. 

"Vou  have  not  the  slightest  idea  of 
the  intense  hatred  against  England 
which  moves  all  Germany.  Since  docu- 
ments have  been  found  in  Brussels 
proving  a  compact  made  between  Bel- 
gium and  England,  a  plan  according 
to  which  Belgium  would  allow  English 
troops  to  march  through  Belgian  terri- 
tory into  the  Rhenish  provinces  of 
Germany,  indignation,  wrath  and  con- 
tempt for  British  hypocrisy  knows  no 
limits  among  us.  And  .vet  the  English 
government  could  take  Germany's 
broach  of  Belgium's  neutrality  as  a  rea- 
son for  declaring  war,  whereas  the  Eng- 
lish and  French  had  broken  it  long  be- 
fore. 

"England  Is  the  instigator  of  the 
whole  war  and  of  all  the  unspeakable 
misery  which  has  been  brought  not  only 
upon  innocent  Germany,  but  also  upon 
the  allies  themselves,  the  Belgians  and 
the  French.  The  most  simple-minded 
man  in  the  Landwehr  and  every  peas- 
ant knows  this  to  be  the  case,  so  that 
for  centuries  the  deadliest  hatred 
against  England  will  remain  the  most 
sacred  inheritance  in  every  German 
family,  to  be  handed  down  from  father 
to  son. 

"And  what  will  be  the  harvest  of  this 
terrible  crop  of  hatred?  Even  if  peace 
could  be  obtained  now,  this  hatred  will 
remain,  and  the  thought  of  England  as 
the  cause  of  all  this  horror  will  not  be 
blotted  out  in  future  generations.  It 
will  produce  new  seeds  for  future  wars, 
and  the  representatives  of  the  German 
people  will  always  he  ready  to  grant 
any  number  of  millions  needed  for 
preparing  attacks  upon  England.  Our 
armies  see  the  need  of  conquering  the 
Russians  in  the  east  and  the  French 
in  the  west,  but  all  their  ambition  burns 
for  a  humiliation  of  England,  and  they 
ivill  succeed!  Nothing  is  more  appar- 
ent than  the  degeneration  of  that  ruth- 
less nation,  and  careful  observers  have 
noticed  the  several  symptoms  which 
show  the  lowering  of  their  national 
conscience,  of  which  every  day  brings 
new  evidences." 

The  hatred  of  England  which  has 
suddenly  developed  in  Germany  is  ex- 
plicable only  through  England's  sudden 
and  unexpected  declaration  of  war.  an 
act  which  showed  conclusively  that  Eng- 
land had  definitely  determined  that 
Germany's  commercial  and  naval  de- 
velopment should  receive  a  crushing 
blow.  Previous  to  the  summer  of  1914, 
there  was  not  the  slightest  animosity 
towards  England  among  the  great  ma- 
jority of  Germans.  'The  report  that 
the  most  popular  toast  in  certain 
circles  in  Germany  since  the  time  of 
Edward  VII  has  been  Der  Tag  or  Die 
Stunde  (referring  to  the  day  or  hour 
when  Germany  should  finally  settle 
accounts  with  England)  is  absolutely 
unknown  to  me,  although  I  have  been 
in  Germany  repeatedly  and  should  cer- 
tainly have  seen  something  of  this 
bellicose  attitude  had  it  existed.  In 
certain  quarters  in  Germany,  it  is  true, 
there  has  always  been  an  antagonism 
to  England,  but  the  idea  of  war  with 
that  country  has  never  been  prevalent 
in  military  circles.  Possibly  such  a 
toast   may   have   been   offered   in    the 


334 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


German  navy,  as  might  just  as  easily 
be  the  case  in  any  other  navy  since 
England  is  practically  the  only  possible 
opponent  on  the  seas ;  but  it  certainly 
could  not  have  been  in  general  use  In 
the  army.  Some  one  may  possibly 
have  witnessed  such  a  toast  in  some 
corner,  but,  if  so,  it  was  certainly  an 
exception  and  does  not  represent  the 
general    spirit    before    August,    1914. 

Whatever  my  English  friends  have 
said  in  their  accusations  of  Germany 
has  only  confirmed  my  conviction  that 
Germany  is  right  in  being  what  she  is 
to-day,  and  that  the  steps  she  has 
taken  in  self-defense  are  justified.  One 
of  my  friendly  critics  ends  his  private 
letter  with  the  following  postscript : 
"When  Germany  shall  have  lost  all  her 
navy,  all  her  colonies,  all  Polish 
Prussia,  she  will  be  greater  than  ever 
spirituall.y — greater  in  the  things  which 
made  her  great  in  1813 — and  1S70  also." 

I  grant  that  Germany  was  great  in 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  ; 
it  was  the  Germany  of  Goethe,  Schiller, 
Mozart,  Beethoven,  etc.  Napoleon's 
armies  were  garrisoned  in  the  country, 
and  the  people  were  impoverished  by 
unendurable  war-taxes ;  .vet  (Jermany 
was  great,  and  accomplished  things 
that  will  be  immortal.  It  is  this  state 
of  Germany  that  the  English  would 
Mice  to  restore,  helpless  but  noble,  poor 
but  ideal,  downtrodden  b.v  her  invad- 
ers but  famous  for  poetry  and  science. 
Such  is  the  idea  of  my  friend.  Mr. 
Poultney  Bigelow.  Perhaps  the  his- 
torian of  the  future  will  declare  that 
Germany  in  her  greatest  distress  in 
1800-1813  was  greater  than  in  her 
military  glory  and  in  the  restoration 
of  the  empire  in  1871 ;  but,  after  all, 
I  can  not  blame  the  Germans  for  tak- 
ing steps  to  iirevent  the  return  of  this 
humiliating  state  of  purely  ideal  great- 
ness. The  Triple  Entente  was  con- 
cluded to  cheek  Germany's  growth  and 
the  question  now  is  not  whether  the 
Serbs  should  or  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  assassinate  the  heirs  to  the 
throne  of  Austria,  or  whether  the  Bel- 
gians have  or  have  not  the  right  to  al- 
low the  English  and  forbid  the  Germans 
to  march  through  Belgium.  The  ques- 
tion is  whether  the  Triple  Entente  can 
crush  Germany,  and  I  say  they  will 
not  succeed. 

At  best,  from  the  English  standpoint, 
the  war  will  fizzle  out  in  a  drawn  state 
of  hostility  without  reaching  a  definite 
decision.  The  hope  in  which  the  war 
was  undertaken  and  which  seemed  so 
easy  of  realization — the  hope  that  Ger- 
many could  be  crushed  between  the 
French  and  the  Russians — ^^vill  scarcely 
be  fulfilled  and  becomes  more  and  more 
improbable.  On  the  other  hand  it  be- 
comes more  and  more  ap7)arent  that 
Germany  suffers  less  through  her  isola- 
tion than  England,  whose  trade  is  also 
crippled  through  the  war.  On  the  one 
hand  the  Germans  adapt  themselves 
more  easily-  to  new  conditions  which 
really  are  not  worse  than  a  prohibi- 
tive tariff  (so  highly  praised  by  pro- 
tectionists in  this  country),  and.  on 
the  other  hand.  England  suffers  as 
much,  perhaps  more,  through  this  pa- 
triotic destruction  of  trade  and  in  addi- 
tion runs  greater  risks.  Her  domina- 
tion in  India,  South  Africa  and  Egypt 
seems  pretty  well  established,  but  it 
may  be  shaken  at  any  time,  and  if  so, 
it  will  probably  collapse.    The  war  is  a 


test  of  Germany,  but  it  will  prove 
equally  a  test  of  those  who  are  re- 
sponsible for  the  war,  and  above  all 
of  England.  And  it  seems  to  me  very 
doubtful  whether  England  will  stand 
the  test.  It  is  strange  that  my  Eng- 
lish friends  do  not  see  the  question 
from  this  point  of  view. 

Wars  are  not  made  by  kings  or  em- 
perors, nor  are  they  made  by  the  peo- 
ple. They  come  upon  mankind  like  fate. 
They  .seem  predestined.  When  they 
first  break  upon  us  they  have  a  stulti- 
fying effect  and  all  manner  of  insane 
hates  are  engendered ;  but  as  time 
passes  on  the  wounds  heal — though 
sometimes  slowly,  as  for  instance  after 
the  Thirty  Years'  War — new  times  and 
conditions  arise,  new  generations  come 
on,  and,  forgetful  of  the  past,  the 
development  of  mankind  progresses 
along  fresh  channels.  If  mankind  stood 
on  a  higher  plane,  if  the  leaders  in 
European  politics  had  commanded  a 
broader  vision,  the  war  might  have 
been  avoided,  but,  as  conditions  were,  it 
was  inevitable.  We  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States  can  only  regret  this 
struggle,  for  we  are  closely  allied  to 
both  pyugland  and  Germany,  and  we 
feel  keenly  the  terrible  losses  on  both 
sides.  And  for  the  outcome, — nous 
vcrrons  .se  vi/e  nous  verrons ! 


IX  ANSWER  TO  CRITICS. 

In  the  current  issue  I  have  taken 
pleasure  in  publishing  a  number  of  ar- 
ticles which  take  the  opposite  ground 
to  my  own,  but  I  do  not  feel  like  re- 
suming the  controversy  and  restating 
my  arguments.  In  most  cases  my  crit- 
ics simply  offer  anti-German  testimony 
from  any  source  available,  but  their 
arguments  do  not  carry  conviction,  and 
I  have  seen  no  reason  for  changing  my 
position.  The  enemies  of  Germany 
harp  continually  on  the  same  string. 
Over  and  over  again  they  repeat  the 
charge  of  atrocities,  and  Sir  A.  Conan 
Doyle  speaks  of  this  war  as  nothing 
but  murder.  I  recommend,  however, 
the  perusal  of  the  open  letter  by  Mr. 
James  O'Donnell  Bennett,  the  well- 
known  American  journalist,  in  answer 
to  Sir  Conan  Doyle,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  "Chicago  Tribune"  of  Jan- 
uary 17,  1915.  In  his  letter  Mr.  Ben- 
nett expresses  his  astonishment  that  a 
man  of  Sir  Conan  Doyle's  intelligence 
can  lend  his  pen  to  the  propagation  of 
such  untruths.  Mr.  Bennett  is  a  man 
whose  honesty  is  beyond  question,  and, 
although  an  eye-witness  of  German 
niananivres  in  Belgium  and  France,  he 
was  nowhere  able  to  discover  a  founda- 
tion for  these  stories.  On  the  contrary, 
he  has  observed  many  highly  humane 
feat\ires  lioth  among  the  German  sol- 
diers, and  among  the  civilians ;  and  the 
■wounded  and  prisoners  from  the  en- 
emy's ranks — English,  French  and  Bel- 
gian— are  the  appreciative  recipients 
of  many  kindnesses  at  their  hands. 

Another  favorite  theme  resorted  to 
by  those  bent  on  proving  the  injustice 
of  the  German  cause  is  the  German 
breach  of  Belgian  neutrality ;  and  this 
Is  reiterated  again  and  again  in  spite 
of  the  well-known  discovery  in  Brus- 
sels of  documents  proving  that  an 
arrangement  had  long  before  been  con- 
cluded between  England  and  Bplgiuni 
for   the   purpose   of    invading    Klienish 


(ieruiauy.  In  these  papers  all  the  de- 
tails are  specified,  the  harbors  at  which 
the  English  troops  should  be  lauded,  the 
provision  of  interpreters  and  also  of 
capable  spies  for  the  German  provinces. 
Such  a  contract  cannot  be  interpreted 
as  a  mere  provision  for  defense,  and 
when  a  neutral  country  enters  into  such 
a  compact  it  forfeits  its  protection  un- 
der international  treaties. 

I  might  add  that  the  contents  of  these 
Brussels  documents  have  been  published 
in  convenient  pamphlet  form,  with  fac- 
similes of  the  original  French  and  a 
rather  precarious  English  translation, 
under  the  title  "The  Case  of  Belgium ;" 
they  are  procurable  from  "The  Interna- 
tional Monthly,  Inc.,"  of  New  York  City, 
and  also  doubtless  through  German  con- 
sulates. "The  Continental  Times" 
(Berlin  W.  .50,  Augsburger  Str.,  38),  in 
its  issue  of  November  S.^,  1914,  has  like- 
wise reprinted  the  substance  of  the 
documents,  which  are  no  doubt  pro- 
curable also,  through  German  con- 
sulates. Consult:  "The  Case  of  Bel- 
gium" in  War  Echoes. — Editor. 


WAR  A.S  A  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 


Is  War  a  Necessit.yV 


The  Great  Struggle  in  Europe. 


The  .Annalist,  New  Y'ork. 

It  remains  for  the  psychologist,  if 
he  can.  to  tell  us  why  people  pretend 
to  disbelieve  in  war  and  yet  both 
glorify  and  jiractice  it. 

No  civilized  country  can  teach  the 
history  of  itself  to  its  youth  without 
glorifying  the  wars  of  their  fathers. 
It  begins  in  the  elementary  textbooks, 
and  even  before  that  in  the  story  books. 
Who  was  the  Father  of  his  Country? 
George  Washington,  a  General,  victor- 
ious in  war  against  tremendous  odds. 
Fancy  beginning  the  narrative  of  this 
country's  liberation  with  such  asser- 
tions as  that  the  Revolutionists  were 
a  lot  of  wild,  blood-lusting  men  who  in- 
volved themselves  and  the  American 
colonists  in  a  war  with  England, 
reckless  of  the  fact  that  it  was  im- 
moral and  unnecessary  and  altogether 
unprofitable,  and  that  if  the  Thirteen 
Colonies  had  remained  at  peace  with 
the  mother  country  it  would  have  been 
much  better  in  the  end ! 

But,  of  course,  you  say,  that  was  a 
righteous  war.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  intolerable  provocation.  A  war  in 
self-defense,  a  war  of  liberation,  a  war 
for  the  rights  of  man — those  may  be 
righteous    wars. 

That  leaves  us  worse  off  for  argu- 
ment than  before. 

True,  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
righteous  war,  and  will  be  so  long 
as  people  other  than  ourselves  are 
capable  of  unrighteousness,  in  our 
point  of  view,  but  one  must  see  that 
when  one  has  admitted  the  righteous- 
ness of  war  at  all.  on  any  ground,  he 
has  admitted  pretty  nearly  the  whole 
case  of  war.  because  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  an  unrighteous  war,  taking  it 
from  the  point  of  view  of  those  who  en- 
gage in  it. 

Only  a  few  weeks  ago  our  own  coun- 
try, now  boasting  of  its  hold  ujion  peace 
and  feeling  somehow  morally  superior 
to  the  war-crazed  people  of  Europe — we 


THE  SACRED  TRUST  OF  NATION'S— VIRTUE 


335 


ourselves  adopted  force  in  Mexico,  sac- 
rificed lives  Ui  take  the  Custom  House 
of  Vera  Cruz,  and  were  prepared  to  do 
battle  with  a  man  named  Huerla.  That 
seemed  to  us  to  be  a  nec-essary  and 
righteous  thing  to  do,  and  we  did  it 
sorrowfully,  but  it  was  the  beginning 
of  war  (happily  averted),  and  might 
have  cost  thousands  of  lives  on  both 
sides.  We  thought  it  a  proper  thing  to 
do.  We  justified  it  to  our.selves.  or  we 
couldn't  have  undertaken  to  do  it ;  but 
the  Mexicans,  at  least  a  great  many  of 
them,  and  almost  certainly  a  very  large 
majority  of  them,  thought  very  differ- 
ently, and  were  perhaps  as  unready  and 
unable  to  see  the  righteousness  of  it 
as  France  is  to  see  the  righteousness  of 
Germany  making  war  upon  her,  or  as 
Germany  is  to  see  righteousness  in  the 
cause  of  the  Allies. 

Germany  may  be  both  wrong  and 
blind,  but  she  has  simply  got  to  believe 
in  the  justice  of  her  cause,  else  war 
would  be  imjwssible.  The  spectacle  of 
the  German  Socialists  themselves  going 
to  war.  willing  to  shoot  down  other  So- 
cialists from  France,  all  of  whom  were 
for  peace  in  theory  independently  of 
economic  and  racial  lines — what  does 
that  signify? 

The  P^rench  Revolution,  100  years 
ago,  was  thought  to  be  an  event  of  tre- 
mendous augnries  for  the  people.  It 
was  the  coming  of  the  people  into  their 
own.  The  people  thereafter  should 
rule,  and  never  again  would  two  Kings 
be  able  to  send  their  subjects  into  a 
battlefield,  as  Carlyle  said,  to  shoot  the 
souls  out  of  one  another.  People  were 
under  the  delusion,  you  see.  that  Kings 
made  war.  Then  came  the  uprising  of 
the  masses  in  many  directions,  espe- 
cially in  England,  and  after  that  rose 
Socialism,  the  most  important  move- 
ment, perhaps,  of  the  last  century.  It 
was  opjxjsed  to  war.  and  proposed  to 
keep  peace  in  the  world.  But  what  has 
happened?  Socialism  has  failed  to 
keep  the  peace,  and  three  Kings  are 
said  to  have  plunged  Europe  into  the 
greatest  war  in  the  history  of  Western 
civilization.  They  didn't,  though.  They 
were  but  the  agents,  the  instruments, 
the  helpless  leaders.  One  does  not  have 
to  go  so  far  as  Tolstoy,  who  eliminated 
the  personal  equation  entirely,  to  be 
able  to  see  that  Kings  and  Emperors 
cannot  make  war  alone,  nor  at  all.  save 
in  obedience  to  an  urge  so  much  greater 
than  themselves  as  perhaps  to  sweep 
them  all  away. 

The  world  has  been  ruled  by  strength 
since  man  possessed  it.  and  though  that 
may  change  in  time,  it  will  require  a 
great  deal  of  time,  indeed,  so  that  for 
the  present  it  is  enough  to  say  that 
there  is  no  substitute  for  it.  Indeed,  it 
is  impossible  to  teach  the  history  of  civ- 
ilization itself  without  glorifying  war 
and  the  heroism  of  war.  Man  has  had 
to  fight  for  his  place  in  the  stin.  for  his 
liberties  and  for  his  economic  rights. 

Assume  the  Slav  peril  really  to  exist 
What  then?  The  Slavs  are  fMjople  with 
emotions  and  traditions  and  wants  and 
qualities,  as  other  f*eople  are.  and  yet 
they  are  dammed  up.  nearly  200.000.000 
of  them,  on  an  inhospitable  soil,  prac- 
ticing industry,  frugality,  and  reproduc- 
tion. Fancy  their  saying  to  Europe. 
"Please,  we  want  a  place  in  the  sun !" 
Would  they  get  it?  Certainly  not 
When  they  are  strong  enough,  then  they 
can  get  it — by  taking  it  They  think 
they  have  a  right  to  fight  for  it  and  the 


German  Emperor  thinks  he  has  a  right 
to  resist,  believing,  no  doubt,  that  In 
doing  so  he  is  the  servant  of  all  West- 
ern civilization  and  protects  it  against 
a  rising  tide  of  semi- Asiatics.  The  con- 
sequence is  war. 


IS  W.4R  A  NECESSITY  • 


Why  General  Disarmaiuent  is  Im- 
possible. 


Leslie's  Illustrated  Weekly. 

Dr.  Constautin  Theodor  Uiunba. 
EJJITOWH  yOTE: 

The  editorial  in  "Leglie'g"  of  Sep- 
temher  10th,  entitled  "Make  It  the  Laist 
War,"  tcliich  recxim mended  that  the 
civiliced  urorld  nhould  insist  that  no 
treaty  of  peace  let  ween  three  belliger- 
ent nfitionii  should  he  concluded  unless 
it  involved  an  ar/reement  for  general 
disarmament  Ims  attracted  %cide  alien- 
ti/jn  and  much  approval.  The  Ambas- 
sador to  the  United  States  from  Aus- 
tria-Hungary, Dr.  Constwntin  Tlieodor 
Dumba,  Privy  Councilor,  vDrites  the 
folloicitig  interesting  and  enlightening 
letter  on  the  subject.  We  commend  it 
to  the  careful  perusal  of  our  readers. 
It  comes  from  a  statesman  and  scholar 
as  well  as  a  diplomat  of  the  highest 
reputation: 


To  the  Editor  of  Leslie's: 

I  cordially  sympathize  with  the 
high  humanitarian  feelings  which  in- 
spired your  editorial  in  favor  of  dis- 
armament. War  is  a  horror,  and  the 
sufferings  entailed  by  it  are  outrage- 
ous, barbarous  and  in  keeping  neither 
with  religion  nor  with  real  civiliza- 
tion. And  yet  I  profoundly  regret  to 
be  unable  to  agree  with  your  sugges- 
tion to  "Command  peace  by  refusing 
to  purchase  the  war  bonds  or  the 
manufactured  products  of  any  nation 
that  will  not  consent  to  a  general 
disarmament." 

After  a  gigantic  struggle  like  the 
present,  a  natural  reaction  sets  in. 
The  continental  nations,  exhausted 
and  impoverished  by  a  prolonged 
war,  will  be  unable  to  bear  even  the 
heavy  burdens  of  armament  now 
weighing  them  down.  They  will  be 
compelled  to  submit — at  least  for 
some  time — to  the  verdict  of  history, 
to  the  solution  brought  by  the  peace 
treaty  to  come.  But  general  disarm- 
ament is  impossible  for  the  reason 
that  the  victors  in  the  present  strug- 
gle would  never  consent  to  it,  even 
if  they  were  able  to  impose  it  upon 
the  defeated  Powers.  Can  Great 
Britain,  if  victorious,  possibly  pro- 
ceed to  such  a  reduction  of  her  fleet 
that  she  no  longer  would  enjoy  ab- 
solute command  of  the  sea?  Does 
she  not  rely  for  her  food  supplies  on 
this  control  of  the  sea,  considering 
that  her  40,000,000  of  inhabitants 
could  be  reduced  to  starvation  the 
moment  she  should  lose  her  absolute 
power  over  the  ocean? 

As  to  Germany,  of  course  if  she 
is  reduced  to  Prussia's  fate  in  1806, 
she  might  disarm  ;  but  then  she  would 
cease  to  be  an  independent  power. 
Owing  to  her  central  geographical  po- 
sition she  is  exposed  to  frontal  at- 
tacks from  France,  her  hereditary 
enemy,  and  from  Russia,  the  protag- 


onist of  Slavonic  expansion.  It  is  a 
question  of  life  and  death  to  her  to 
keep  a  strong  and  highly  efficient 
army  to  protect  her  frontier  and  her 
independence. 

To  give  you  another  example:  Can 
the  United  States  fulfill  its  civilizing 
mission  without  a  strong  navy?  Can 
she  defend  the  Panama  Canal,  police 
the  Central  American  republics,  pre- 
vent Japanese  encroachments  on  the 
Pacific,  after  having  disarmed  her 
dreadnoughts? 

Again,  with  other  Powers,  such  as 
Austria-Hungary,  Russia,  Italy,  the 
army  is  a  civilizing  and  educating  in- 
stitution in  which  the  illiterates  learn 
at  least  the  rudiments  of  reading  and 
writing,  and  by  discipline  and  efB- 
ciency  are  raised  from  the  low  cul- 
tural level  of  peasantry.  Besides,  a 
strong  army  is  necessary  even  in 
France  to  check  the  socialistic  ten- 
dencies and  dangerous  outrages  of 
the  Unions  (federations  of  labor) 
threatening  general  strikes,  and  to 
prevent  anarchy. 

As  to  the  suggestion  against  the 
purchase  of  war  bonds  and  of  the 
manufactured  products  of  any  nation 
refusing  to  disarm,  I  regret  to  say 
that  it  does  not  seem  to  me  practical. 
Wealthy  nations  with  unlimited  re- 
sources like  Great  Britain,  France  or 
even  Germany,  place  their  war  bonds 
with  their  own  people,  especially  in 
moments  of  great  national  enthusi- 
asm. A  boycott  of  foreign  commodi- 
ties may  be  kept  up  for  some  time, 
while  national  passions  are  roused — 
as  in  Turkey  against  Greece  in  1908 
— but  gradually  the  high  waves  of 
popular  feeling  subside  and  trade  fol- 
lows its  natural  outlets  and  paths  in- 
dicated by  self-interest.  Whoever 
produces  better  or  cheaper  is  certain 
in  the  long  run  to  find  buyers. 

Peoples,  like  individuals,  are  gov- 
erned by  the  instinct  of  self-preserva- 
tion, and  whenever  their  existence  is 
at  stake  nothing  will  prevent  them 
from  recourse  to  the  extreme  means 
of  violence  in  order  to  annihilate 
their  foes.  This  is  the  reason  why 
I  am  reluctantly  compelled  to  regard 
the  cry  for  general  disarmament  as 
a  generous  Utopia. 

C.  DUTilBA. 


"The  World."  as  Established  by  Jo- 
seph   Pulitzer.  May   19,   1883. 

"An  institution  that  should  always 
fight  for  progress  and  reform,  never 
tolerate  injustice  or  corruption,  al- 
ways fight  demagogues  of  all  parties, 
never  belong  to  any  party,  always  op- 
pose privileged  classes  and  public 
plunderers,  never  lack  sympathy  with 
the  poor,  always  remain  devoted  to 
the  public  welfare,  never  be  satisfied 
with  merely  printing  news,  always 
be  drastically  independent,  never  be 
afraid  to  attack  wrong,  whether  by 
predatory  plutocracy  or  predatory 
poverty." 

The  above  appears  dally  as  first 
item  on  the  editorial  page  of  "The 
World,"  New  York. — The  Publisher 
of  "War  Echoes." 


Joffre  reports  an  "undeniable"  vic- 
tory, which  proves  that  he  doesnlt 
know  Von  Bernstorff. — From  the 
"Boston    Evening    Transcript." 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


No  Nation  without  Laws;  No  Law  without  Force;  ConfHct  and  Force 
Ergo:     The  Tail  End  of  Every  Law  is  a  Whip 


WHAT   CONSTITUTES   .MILI- 
TARISM? 


Reply  to  Certain  Hypocritical  Asser- 
tions of  the  Allies. 


Editorial,    Army   and   Navy   Journal, 
Xew  York. 

The  persistence  with  which  there 
Is  flung  across  the  oceans  the  asser- 
tion that  the  allies  will  not  agree 
to  peace  till  "German  militarism  is 
wiped  out"  has  so  systematic  an  as- 
pect that  it  would  seem  that  some 
people  are  determined  to  make  mili- 
tarism the  scapegoat  of  this  war. 
Hence  it  is  part  of  present  and  future 
wisdom  to  analyze  the  term  "Ger- 
man militarism,"  to  ascertain  exactly 
what  is  meant  by  it,  for  our  efforts 
for  the  last  forty  years  to  awaken 
the  American  people  to  the  need  of 
an  adequate  army  and  navy  has  been 
met  with  the  parrot-like  cry  of  "mili- 
tarism." By  "German  militarism" 
there  must  be  meant  something  en- 
tirely different  from  every  other  kind 
of  militarism,  for  the  accredited  in- 
tention of  the  allies  has  nothing  to 
do  with  French  or  British  or  Russian 
militarism,  and  if  they  found  their 
own  door  yards  encumbered  they 
certainly  would  not  go  abroad  with 
brooms. 

By  German  militarism,  then,  we 
take  it,  is  meant  a  plant  of  a  pecu- 
liarly baleful  influence  upon  civiliza- 
tion, a  plant  that  grows  only  on  Ger- 
man soil,  and  unless  exterminated 
threatens  to  blight  the  whole  world. 
It  is  gratifying  in  a  measure  to  have 
the  term  militarism  against  which 
the  present  wrath  is  directed  quali- 
fied with  the  word  German,  for  too 
long  before  has  it  been  applied  to 
any  attempt  to  give  a  country  proper 
military  defenses.  It  has  been  ap- 
plied to  the  preparations  which  little 
Switzerland  has  taken  for  the  de- 
velopment of  an  army,  and  even  the 
modern  statesmen  of  China  who  have 
sought  to  arouse  that  country  from 
her  torpor  by  giving  to  her  people 
that  stimulus  and  sense  of  solidarity 
that  come  from  the  possession  of  a 
military  establishment  have  had  the 
word  militarism  thrown  at  them. 

But  the  present  war  has  resulted 
in  a  differentiation.  There  is  mili- 
tarism and  militarism.  The  special 
brand  which  needs  the  immediate  ap- 
plication of  an  extinguisher  is  the 
German  brand.  The  inference  is  not 
unwarranted,  therefore,  that  those 
who  hope  to  purify  the  world  by  get- 
ting rid  of  German  militarism  see  in 
it  elements  which  the  military  estab- 
lishments of  other  big  continental 
nations  do  not  possess. 

We  have  kept  a  fairly  close  watch 
of  the  development  of  the  military 
systems  of  Europe  in  the  last  fifty 
years,  and  we  confess  to  an  utter 
inability  to  find  anything  in  "German 
militarism"  which  differs  radically 
from  the  military  establishments  of 
other  countries.  The  two  funda- 
mentals of  present-day  "German  mili- 
tarism" are  universal  compulsory 
military  service  for  all  citizens  of  the 
German   empire  and  complete  readi- 


ness. But  compulsory  military  serv- 
ice is  not  confined  to  Germany.  It 
obtains  in  Prance,  Austria,  Italy  and 
Russia.  In  fact,  of  the  large  Euro- 
pean powers,  Great  Britain  alone  has 
no  compulsory  service  law. 

It  is  not,  then,  in  compulsory  serv- 
ice that  "German  militarism"  differs 
from  the  other  "militarisms"  of  Eu- 
rope. It  may  be  said  that  Germany's 
military  establishment  exacts  more 
of  the  country  in  the  way  of  annual 
drafts  from  the  ranks  of  its  young 
men  than  any  other  of  the  nations 
of  the  continent,  but  study  of  the 
military  strength  of  Germany  and 
France  disclose  the  fact  that  with  a 
population  nearly  twenty-five  millions 
less  the  actual  war  strength  of  the 
two  countries  is  practically  the  same. 
We  base  this  statement  as  to  prac- 
tical equality  of  numbers  on  the 
admissions  made  in  the  work  pub- 
lished a  few  months  ago  from  the  pen 
of  Lieutenant  Colonel  W.  von  Bre- 
men, of  the  German  army,  which  was 
recently  extensively  reviewed  in  our 
columns.  The  title  of  this  work  is 
"The  German  Army  After  Its  Re- 
organization." On  page  6  of  this 
volume  the  German  officer-author 
says: 

After  the  autumn  of  1914  we  shall  be 
able  to  dispose,  in  time  of  peace,  of 
735,000  men  without  counting  officers. 
France  after  the  autumn  of  1913  has 
been  able  to  dispose  of  749,000  men.  As 
to  the  war  effectives  one  can  make  only 
estimates,  but  in  doing  so  one  arrives  at 
the  conclusion  that  France,  after  mailing 
the  proper  deductions  for  fortress  garri- 
sons, will  be  able  to  put  into  the  field 
an  army  of  2,750,000  men.  It  is  possible 
that  we  can  put  as  many  into  the  field, 
but  not  more,  at  the  present  moment. 

If  with  a  far  smaller  population 
France  is  able  to  put  into  the  field  a 
trained  army  as  great  as  that  of  Ger- 
many, it  must  he  plain  that  French 
"militarism"  is  drawing  more  heavily 
on  the  men  of  that  country  than  the 
German  system  is  drawing  on  the 
men  of  Germany.  Comparatively, 
then,  if  the  maintenance  of  large 
forces  is  a  drain  upon  a  country,  as 
is  claimed,  France  suffers  more  from 
her  militarism  than  does  Germany. 
The  point  is  thus  firmly  established 
that  "German  militarism"  does  not 
demand  extraordinary  sacrifices  from 
the  people  of  the  empire,  that  the 
sacrifices  are  greater  in  France.  Two 
things  have  now  been  cleared  up:  (1) 
That  Germany  is  not  peculiar  in  hav- 
ing compulsory  service;  (2)  that  her 
military  system  does  not  draw  upon 
her  resources  as  heavily  in  propor- 
tion to  population  as  other  systems 
draw  upon  her  neighbors. 

There  is  left,  then,  only  the  last 
supposition,  namely,  that  "German 
militarism"  is  condemnable  because 
of  its  extreme  readiness.  But  this 
is  a  feature  of  her  military  system  for 
which  Germany  should  be  praised, 
not  blamed,  for  what  is  any  army 
worth  if  it  is  not  ready  when  the 
call  comes?  The  more  nearly  ready 
it  is,  the  more  nearly  it  approaches 
those  standards  of  value  and  effi- 
ciency for  which  all  great  com- 
manders have  striven  through  all  the 
ages.      Instead,    therefore,    of    "Ger- 


man militarism"  being  something 
that  should  be  "wiped  out,"  it  is 
something  that  should  be  imitated 
closely  imitated  by  other  nations,  not 
excepting  our  own  United  States.  By 
being  as  ready  as  it  proved  Itself  to 
be  at  the  outbreak  of  the  present 
hostilities,  Germany  has  got  more  out 
of  its  army  for  the  expense  Involved 
in  maintaining  It  than  perhaps  any 
other  nation,  and  in  this  respect  is 
a  shining  example  to  her  neighbors. 

Further  proof  that  It  cannot  be  the 
compulsory  military  service  obtain- 
ing In  Germany  that  merits  this  gen- 
eral "wiping  out"  of  which  we  hear 
so  much  just  now  is  furnished  by 
the  attitude  of  Field  Marshal  Lord 
Roberts  and  other  distinguished  Brit- 
ish soldiers  toward  compulsory  serv- 
ice. Lord  Roberts  was  so  gravely 
Impressed  by  the  military  unpre- 
paredness  of  Great  Britain  that  a 
few  years  ago  he  organized  a  league 
the  purpose  of  which  was  to  carry 
on  a  propaganda  In  favor  of  compul- 
sory service.  The  agitation  he  began 
has  resulted  in  dividing  the  military 
sentiment  of  the  British  empire  into 
large  camps,  one  favoring  the  present 
voluntary  system  and  the  other  advo- 
cating the  Ideas  of  Lord  Roberts, 
which  are  practically  the  Ideas  ob- 
taining In  Germany. 

We  have  referred  only  to  "German 
militarism"  on  land,  for  we  do  not 
believe  that  Its  enemies  would  desire 
to  bring  In  the  question  of  whether 
"militarism"  also  Includes  large  sea 
forces,  for  if  they  did,  they  would  find 
the  British  navy,  which  has  been 
overwhelmingly  predominant  on  the 
seas  for  generations,  condemned  by 
the  force  of  their  own  logic.  If  there 
Is  such  a  thing  as  militarism  on  land, 
it  is  only  fair  to  conclude  that  there 
is  a  militarism  of  the  sea  as  well. 
Yet  we  believe  that  there  would  be 
a  loud  protest  if  an  attempt  were 
made  to  indict  Great  Britain  on  the 
ground  that  her  "naval  militarism" 
were  something  that  should  be  ut- 
terly "wiped  out."  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  however,  the  army  of  Germany 
is  not  so  large  in  proportion  to  the 
armies  of  her  neighbors  as  the  navy 
of  England  Is  compared  to  the  navies 
of  other  nations.  It  may  be  argued 
that  an  overwhelming  navy  Is  essen- 
tion  to  Great  Britain  on  account  of 
her  colonial  possessions.  Nobody 
will  gainsay  that,  nor  should  anyone 
doubt  that  Germany  may  find  In  the 
existence  of  two  great  enemies  to  the 
east  and  west  of  her  an  equally  good 
excuse  for  the  excellent  army  which 
she  has  had  for  more  than  half  a 
century. 

Thus  an  analysis  of  the  thing  called 
"German  militarism"  discloses  noth- 
ing that  has  In  it  any  aspect  or  char- 
acter of  a  monster  that  is  going  about 
among  the  nations  seeking  whom  it 
may  devour.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
found  to  contain  elements  of  national 
strength  that  other  nations  would  do 
well  to  copy  and  that  even  England 
has  been  urged  to  adopt. — Reprinted 
from  the  editorial  page  of  the  "Mil- 
waukee Free  Press,"  of  October  8, 
1914. 


THE  TAIL-END  OF  EVERY  LAW  IS  A  WHIP 


337 


JULITAKISM  AXD   THK   WAR. 

This  is  the  tenth  article  of  a  series 
OH  THE  EL  ROPE  AX  WAR,  which 
appeared  in  the  October  'Kumher  of 
THE  OPES  COURT,  under  the  title 
•■Militarism,"  written  hy  the  Editor, 
Dr.  Paul  Varus. 

Consult  the  INDEX  for  the  com- 
plete series,  and,  in  order  to  see  tchere, 
in  the  various  Chapters  of  the  hook, 
the  different  articles  of  this  treatise 
viay  he  found,  look  for  EUROPEAX 
M'AR  (THE).  In  this  way  the  reader 
may  read  the  entire  scries  of  articles 
in  their  orir/inal  order,  if  he  chooses 
to  do  so,  while  the  present  arrange- 
ment still  gives  him  the  advantage  of 
hrinying  the  various  articles  under 
their  proper,  respective  Chapter-head- 
ings of  the  book. 

This  i.1  a  series  of  exceptionally 
fine  articles  on  the  subject  in  ques- 
tion, and  they  bear  a  unique  and  im- 
portant relation  to  each  other.  lie 
sure  to  read  them  also  in  their  original 
order. — Editor,  "War  Echoes." 

The  term  "militarism"  is  of  re- 
cent coinage,  and  it  may  mean  the 
German  institution  of  universal  mil- 
itary service,  or  the  shortcomings  of 
military  institutions.  The  former  is 
militarism  as  it  ought  to  be,  the  lat- 
ter are  excrescences  of  military  arro- 
gance, a  kind  of  social  disease  which 
will  naturally  and  from  time  to  time 
make  its  appearance,  or  develop  into 
an  epidemic.  There  is  no  need  of 
explaining  the  disease  of  militarism 
which,  as  it  seems,  was  contracted  by 
some  members  of  the  officers'  corps 
at  Zabern,  and  which  has  been  se- 
verely censured  in  Germany  by  the 
Reichstag.  We  will  only  say  that 
militarism,  in  that  sense,  has  always 
been  of  a  transient  nature  and  has 
never  been  worse  in  Germany  than 
in  other  countries. 

Militarism,  as  an  institution  of  the 
German  empire,  established  by  law, 
with  the  full  consent  of  the  German 
people,  for  the  sake  of  national  de- 
fense, is  a  state  of  things  that  can 
neither  be  condemned  nor  com- 
mended off-hand,  but  must  be  studied 
and  understood.  Only  people  who 
know  it,  not  merely  from  experience 
but  also  in  its  history  and  actual  ef- 
ficiency, can  really  express  an  intel- 
ligent opinion  regarding  it. 

If  there  is  any  one  outside  of  Ger- 
many who  can  speak  with  authority 
on  the  subject,  it  is  the  writer  of  the 
present  article.  He  is  sufficiently  in- 
formed as  to  its  history  during  the 
last  one  hundred  and  six  years;  he 
has  served  in  the  German  army  and 
has  been  an  officer  in  a  Saxon  artil- 
lery regiment;  he  knows  the  German 
needs,  which  demand  the  sacrifice  of 
military  service,  and  is  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  spirit  of  German 
patriotism  which,  for  the  sake  of  pa- 
triotism, assents  to  it. 

The  German  army  is  different  from 
any  other,  and  especially  from  the 
English  array.  The  official  definition 
of  the  German  army  reads  that  It  is 
"the  Ooriniiii  iieople  in  nrins" — da,'< 
deutsrhr  i  oik  in  Wifffrn.  The  father- 
land does  not  enlist  mercenaries;  it 
calls  upon  every  able-bodied  man  of 
the  nation  to  appear  at  the  colors  and 
be  ready  for  the  defense  of  his  coun- 


try. The  Kaiser  is  the  leader,  the 
lord  of  battle,  who  has  the  highest 
command,  and  to  whom  every  soldier 
has  to  swear  his  oath  of  allegiance. 

How  often  do  foreigners  misrepre- 
sent the  state  of  things,  and  pity  the 
German  soldiers  for  allowing  them- 
selves to  be  enslaved  in  the  service 
of  a  tyrant  who  will  lead  them  to  be 
slaughtered.  What  foolishness!  Does 
any  one  believe  that  the  German 
army  could  win  its  decisive  battles 
if  it  consisted  of  slaves  and  were 
serving  the  private  interests  of  a 
vainglorious  monarch?  Great  battles 
can  be  won  only  by  free  men  inspired 
by  an  idea,  and  the  Germans  of  to-day 
do  not  fight  for  the  possession  of  a  few 
hundred  million  pounds  sterling,  not 
for  dollars  and  cents,  but  for  their 
homes,  their  liberty,  their  country. 
In  order  to  defeat  Germany,  her  ene- 
mies will  have  to  slay  the  whole  male 
population  capable  of  hearing  arms. 

The  origin  of  the  present  system 
of  militarism  dates  back  one  hundred 
and  five  or  six  years,  to  the  time  when 
Napoleon  I  had  humiliated  Prussia. 
One  of  the  conqueror's  conditions  of 
peace  was  that  the  Prussian  army 
should  be  limited  in  numbers.  So  the 
Prussian  general  Scharnhorst  kept 
on  changing  his  soldiers;  he  had  them 
trained  and  discharged,  only  to  be 
replaced  by  new  recruits,  and  when 
the  day  of  liberation  dawned,  the  in- 
habitants rose  in  great  masses,  not 
as  raw  recruits,  but  as  trained  men, 
in  an  army  about  four  times  as  strong 
as  had  been  permitted  to  be  kept. 
This  system  of  regarding  the  stand- 
ing army  as  a  school  has  been  worked 
out  first  for  Prussia  and  then  for 
Germany,  to  its  present  completion, 
not  for  the  benefit  of  one  man,  but 
for  the  people;  and  the  history  of 
Germany  has  impressed  the  necessity 
of  militarism  upon  the  whole  nation. 
The  suddenness  with  which  the  pres- 
ent war  broke  upon  Germany  is  but 
a  new  proof  of  the  absolute  necessity 
of  a  national  defense. 

Militarism  in  this  sense,  as  a  sys- 
tematic defense  of  the  nation,  will 
not  be  abolished,  as  some  ignoram- 
uses predict,  but  will  be  more  se- 
curely and  permanently  established 
than  ever  in  the  fatherland,  and  all 
the  enemies  of  Germany  will  have  to 
adopt  it  if  they  intend  to  have  the 
same,  or  approximately  the  same, 
military  efficiency. 

France  has  introduced  militarism, 
but  the  English  newspaper  writers 
find  no  fault  with  French  militarism, 
although  it  is  more  severe  than  the 
German  system,  and  lacks  its  intel- 
lectual advantages.  I  will  only  men- 
tion here  the  one-year  service  in  Ger- 
many, reserved  for  youths  of  higher 
education,  a  distinction  which  is  not 
permitted  in  France,  on  the  ground 
that  there  ought  not  to  be  prefer- 
ence of  any  kind  in  a  republic.  But 
the  preference  shown  is  not  that  of 
a  privileged  class,  it  is  not  due  to 
noble  birth,  nor  to  wealth;  this  pref- 
erence is  allowed  to  those  who,  by 
public  examinations  or  in  their  course 
of  education,  prove  themselves 
worthy  of  this  distinction;  any  one 
can  secure  the  privilege  if  he  but 
reaches  the  required  standard  of  edu- 
cation. From  these  volunteers  for 
one-year     service,     the     oflScers     are 


chosen  tor  the  reserves.  This  privi- 
lege of  a  one-year  service  looks  like 
an  aristocratic  institution.  It  is  not, 
and,  as  a  result,  there  is  no  one,  not 
even  among  the  Social  Democrats, 
who  finds  fault  with  it.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  a  stimulus  to  education. 

The  German  army  is  one  of  the 
most  democratic  institutions  in  the 
world.  Its  supreme  law  is  efficiency, 
and  that  is  being  attained  without  re- 
spect to  persons.  The  son  of  a  duke, 
a  prince,  the  millionaire's  son,  or 
any  poor  fellow  from  the  lowest 
ranks  of  the  peasantry,  all  are  treated 
alike,  all  have  to  perform  their  duty, 
and  from  the  beginning  the  best  ex- 
ample has  been  set  by  the  princes  of 
the  imperial  house,  the  Hohenzol- 
lerns  themselves. 

And  what  is  the  result?  The  Ger- 
man people  acquire  an  invaluable 
education  in  duty,  in  promptness,  in 
accuracy,  qualities  in  which  all  other 
nationalities,  without  exception,  are 
sorely  deficient.  Even  young  men 
who  do  not  serve  are  benefited  by 
German  militarism,  for  they  inevita- 
bly imbibe  its  spirit. 

How  often  has  the  criticism  been 
made,  that  the  German  youths  lose 
two  or  three  years  from  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  their  lives,  in  mili- 
tary service;  but  the  truth  is  that 
the  money  annually  spent  on  the 
army  brings  as  great  returns  as  that 
which  is  expended  for  public  schools; 
this  militarism  is  part  and  parcel  of 
the  German  education,  and  some- 
times men  wonder  where  Germans 
have  acquired  those  qualities  of  stur- 
diness,  of  a  sense  of  duty,  of  exactness 
in  details.  A  wealthy  foreigner  liv- 
ing in  Germany,  and  wishing  to  en- 
gage a  driver,  will  naturally  first  pro- 
pose to  a  candidate  for  the  position 
the  question  whether  he  has  served 
in  the  army;  for  if  he  has  done  so, 
he  will  probably  be  the  more  ef- 
ficient and  the  more  reliable.  Would 
not  our  American  youths  be  better 
equipped  for  life  if  they  had  served 
in  the  army? 

Germany's  militarism  does  not 
suit  Germany's  enemies,  for  mili- 
tarism, in  the  best  sense  of  the  term, 
has  enabled  Germany  to  withstand 
the  attacks  of  her  foes.  While  the 
Germans  were  absolutely  peaceful, 
their  neighbors  fell  upon  the  father- 
land and  tore  off  province  after  prov- 
ince from  the  empire,  and  those  Ger- 
man tribes  that  found  no  support  in 
the  common  fatherland  became  inde- 
pendent. Strasburg  and  other  cities 
of  Alsace-Lorraine,  became  French, 
Pomerania  fell  to  Sweden,  the  Neth- 
erlands and  Switzerland  became  in- 
dependent, and  finally  the  entire 
German  empire  broke  down.  Thus 
the  exigencies  of  national  struggles 
developed  German  militarism  so 
called,  to  supply  the  manhood  of  the 
country  with  a  methodical  training 
in  self-defense. 

Mr.  H.  G.  Wells,  the  English  nov. 
elist,  declares  that  "every  soldier 
who  fights  against  Germany  now  is 
a  crusader  against  war."  He  adds: 
"This  greatest  of  all  wars  is  not  just 
another  war;   it  is  the  last  war!" 

There  are  many  apparently  intel- 
ligent people  who  claim  that  Eng- 
land, France  and  Russia  are  not 
fighting  Germany,  but  the  militarism 


338 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


of  Germany,  and  as  soon  as  the 
power  of  this  institution  is  brolcen, 
the  era  of  universal  peace  will  be  at 
hand.  There  is  scarcely  any  need 
of  refuting  the  hypocrisy  of  this 
claim.  One  thing  is  certain:  if  in 
Great  Britain  every  man  were  in 
duty  bound  to  rally  to  the  defense 
of  his  country,  the  ISritish  would  not 
have  rushed  into  war,  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  if  the  German  type  of  mil- 
itarism were  introduced  throughout 
the  world,  there  would  be  fewer 
wars,  and  none  of  them  would  be 
entered  into  with  such  frivolous  and 
unscrupulous  stupidity  as  the  war  of 
this  year. 

Militarism. 

And  here  is  Mr.  Jourdain's  reply  to 
the  Editor's  discussion  of  this  subject. — • 
Editor,  War  Echoes. 

In  this  section  the  Editor  makes  a 
useful  distinction  between  two  uses 
of  the  word  militarism.*  With  the 
training  of  a  large  proportion  of  the 
citizens  of  military  age  for  military 
service,  which  is  the  practice  of  nearly 
every  country  in  Europe,  few  English 
critics  find  fault ;  though  hitherto  Eng- 
land, standing  outside  the  European 
system,  has  contented  herself  with  a 
small  professional  army.  The  French 
are  also  "the  French  nation  in  arms."' 
The  militarism  that  is  condemned  by 
England  and  France  is  not  only  "the 
disease  of  militarism  contracted  by 
some  members  of  the  officers'  corps  at 
Zabern,'"  but  the  political  condition 
characterized  by  the  predominance  of 
the  military  class  and  its  armed  doc- 
trine. It  was  against  this  subordina- 
tion to  armed  doctrine  that  Theodor 
Mommsen  warned  his  constituents  at 
Halle:  "Have  a  care,  gentlemen,  lest 
in  this  state  which  has  been  at  once  a 
power  in  arms  and  a  power  in  intelli- 
gence, the  intelligence  should  vanish, 
and  nothing  but  the  pure  military  state 
should  remain."  • 

Growing  Militarism. 

And  here  is  Mr.  Jourdain's  reply  to 
the  Editor's  discussion  of  this  subject. — 
Editor,  War  Echoes. 

Whether  a  peace  party  will  make  an 
end  of  armaments'  in  the  future  or 
whether  militarists,  the  men  who  be- 
lieve with  Moltke  that  universal  peace 
is  "a  dream  and  not  a  pleasant  dream," 
is  an  academic  question  suitable  for  a 
debating  society,  and  from  its  nature 
Insoluble  at  the  present  moment.  Other 
contentions  in  this  section  are  that 
Germany  has  been  converted  from  a 
friendly  to  an  inimical  nation,  which 
has  been  dealt  with  already,  and  that 


*  "O.  C,"  p.  636.  Militarism,  according 
to  the  "New  English  Dictionary,"  is  "the 
spirit  and  tendencies  characteristic  of  the 
professional  soldier the  political  con- 
dition characterized  by  the  predominance 
of  the  military  class  in  government  and 
administration :  the  tendency  to  regard 
military  efficiency  as  the  paramount  inter- 
est  of  the  state." 

"  Before  the  war  the  French  army,  with 
84  per  cent  of  competent  men  called  up, 
was  even  more  "a  nation  in  arms"  than 
the  German  army  with  only  53  per  cent  of 
such   men  called  up. 

'"O.  C."  p.  636.  It  is  hardly  correct 
that  militarism  in  this  sense  "has  never 
been  worse  in  Germany  than  in  other 
countries." 

•But  the  intelligence  has  not  yet  van- 
ished ;  to  the  contrary,  it  is  the  ever-In- 
creasing superiority  and  surpassing  Effi- 
ciency that  Germany's  enemies  fear. — 
Editor,  War  Echoes. 

'"Ibid.,"  pp.   639-640. 


in  Germany  warfare  has  developed  into 
a  science.'  "The  German  army  is  a 
school  in  which  German  youths  are 
training  to  be  good  soldiers  and  the 
German  staff  is  also  a  school  in  which 
officers  are  instructed  in  strategy. 
There  is  not  a  Moltke  to  lead  them,  but 
Moltke's  spirit  guides  them  all.  Should 
one  of  them  die  to-day,  even  if  he  oc- 
cupy the  highest  rank,  there  are  dozens 
who  can  take  up  his  work."  Strategj' 
is  not  the  monopoly  of  the  German  gen- 
eral staff;  and  the  German  operations 
on  both  fronts  have  hitherto  shown 
small  signs  of  serious  strategy.  In  the 
west  there  was  the  occupation  of  Bel- 
gium and,  while  the  way  to  Calais  and 
Dunkirk  lay  open,  the  rush  to  Paris. 
Then  the  retreat  from  Paris,  a  defeat 
on  the  Marne ;  and — Calais  is  now  the 
objective!  In  the  east,  an  advance 
toward  Warsaw  and  a  strategic  retreat 
with  heavy  losses.  Some  of  the  army's 
defects  in  war  were  foreseen  by  a 
critic  of  the  manoeuvres  in  1911  when 
the  military  expert  of  the  "Times"' 
gave  warning  that  "the  German  army 
has  seen  less  of  modern  war  than 
any  other  which  stands  in  the  front 
rank.  The  contempt  which  it  displays 
for  the  effects  of  inodern  fire,  and  pro- 
fesses to  hold  for  armies  of  naval 
states  with  which  it  may  come  in 
conflict  can  only  be  set  down  to  ignor- 
ance." But  the  end  tries  all,  and  it 
is  not  wise,  as  the  Editor  points  out, 
to  discredit  the  enemy." 

Illustrations. 

At  the  close  of  my  examination  of 
the  Editor's  statement  of  Germany's 
case  I  wish  to  draw  attention  to  some 
of  the  illustrations  in  the  October  num- 
ber of  "The  Open  Court."  As  a  pend- 
ant to  the  serious  damage  to  Rheims 
cathedral  the  Editor  gives  a  photo- 
graph of  the  Castle  of  Heidelberg,  and 
the  same  juxtaposition  of  the  two 
buildings  has  occurred  to  German 
purveyors  of  picture  postcards.  No 
one  defends  the  ravage  of  the  Palati- 
nate in  16S8,  but  as  I  have  pointed  out 
we  do  not  draw  our  precedents  from 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  With  refer- 
ence to  the  three  views  of  Nurem- 
berg, the  Editor  writes :  "It  is  almost 
forgotten  that  according  to  newspaper 
reports,  the  first  boml>s  were  not 
dropped  over  Antwerp  or  France  or 
England,  but  from  French  aeroplanes 
on  this  city  of  old  German  art." 
"Newspaper  reports"  (exclusively  in 
German  papers,  by  the  way)  are  not 
sufficient  evidence  for  this  statement 
It  is  inconsistent  with  the  attitude 
of  the  French  government,  which  with- 
drew the  French  army  six  miles  from 
the  frontier  to  prevent  a  collision  be- 


•"Ibid.,"   p.    642. 

•  "There  is  nothing  In  the  higher  lead- 
ing at  the  manoeuvres  of  a  distinguished 
character,  and  mistakes  were  committed 
which  tended  to  shake  the  confidence  of 
foreign  spectators  in  the  reputation  of  the 
command.  ..  .The  German  army,  apart 
from  its  numbers,  confidence  in  itself  and 
high  state  of  organization,  does  not  pre- 
sent any  signs  of  superiority  over  the  best 
foreign  models  and  In  some  ways  does 
not  rise  above  the  second  rate."  "Times," 
October  28,  1911. 

"The  cheerful  brutality  of  Mr.  Winston 
Churchill's  speech  at  the  recruiting  meet- 
ing at  Liverpool  in  which  he  used  the  fol- 
lowing words  :  "If  the  German  navy  does 
not  come  out  and  fight,  they  will  be 
brought  out  like  rats  In  a  hole"  (Quoted 
In  "O.  C,"  p.  641),  Is  also  to  be  depre- 
cated. 


1  "The  French  troops  have  orders  not  to 
go  nearer  to  the  German  frontier  than  a 
distance  of  10  kilometers,  so  as  to  avoid 
any  grounds  for  accusations  of  provocation 
to  Germany."  "G.  B.  and  the  E.  C."  p. 
69. 

»"0.  C,"   pp.   587-595. 

•Consult  Burgess  in  Index. — Editor. 
•     '"Ibid.,"   p.    681. 

'This  appeal  was  published  by  ninety- 
three  German  savants  and  artists.  Among 
the  signatures  are  Eucken,  Haeckel,  Freda, 
Humperdinck.  Sudermann,  Hauptmann, 
Lamprecht,    Kaulbach.   Dorpfeld. 

•"The  Nation"  (New  York),  October 
29,    1914. 


fore  the  outbreak  of  war'  and  later 
protested  against  German  bomb-drop- 
ping upon  and  bombardment  of  un- 
fortified towns, 

England's  Blood-Guilt  in  the  World 
War. 

The  Editor's  contribution  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  Germany's  case  is  by  far 
the  largest  and  most  considerable  of 
the  papers  in  the  October  number.  But 
there  remain  two  papers  to  be  con- 
sidered. That  by  Professor  Burgess," 
reproduced  from  the  "Springfield  Re- 
publican," brings  forward  no  point  of 
importance,  and  its  value  may  be 
gathered  from  the  fact  that  he  gives 
up  a  whole  page  to  an  account  of  a 
dinner  at  Wilhelmshohe  with  the  Em- 
peror, including  a  list  of  the  guests. 
Haeckel's  contribution,  "England's 
Blood  Guilt  in  the  World  War,"  like 
the  German  appeal  "To  the  Civilized 
World,"  is  interesting  as  showing  that 
German  savants  have  not  realized  that 
assertion  is  not  proof.     We  read : 

"Parliament  and  the  Press  of  the 
hostile  Triple  Entente,  the  English, 
French  and  Russian  newspapers  are 
endeavoring  ...  to  throw  the 
whole  blame  upon  Germany.  ,  .  . 
Emperor  William  II  has,  in  the  twenty- 
six  years  of  his  reign,  done  everything 
within  his  power  to  preserve  for  the 
German  people  the  blessings  of  peace, 
,  .  .  Similarly,  the  other  two  mem- 
bers of  the  Triple  Alliance,  Austria- 
Hungary  and  Italy,  have  ever  en- 
deavored to  preserve  the  precious  bless- 
ing of  peace  and  avoid  ISuropean  com- 
plications. Rather  does  the  whole 
responsibility  for  the  outbreak  of  this 
world  war  fall  on  that  mighty  triple 
coalition,   the  entente   cordiale.     .     .     . 

"In  the  splendid  speech  from  the 
throne  with  which  Emperor  William 
II  opened  the  German  Reichstag  on 
.August  4  he  shoiced  the  real  causes 
that  drove  the  enemies  of  our  Ger- 
man empire  to  their  insidious  attack, 
envy  of  the  prosperity  of  the  dear 
fatherland,"  etc' 

The  method  is  that  of  a  Free  Kirk 
minister  dealing  with  the  difficulties  of 
belief  in  the  existence  of  John  the 
Baptist.  He  began:  "Some  people 
say  John  the  Baptist  did  not  exist," 
(Very  solemnly)  "He  did.'  Having  dis- 
posed of  that  difficulty.     ,     ,     ." 

It  is  the  spirit  of  the  German  ap- 
peal to  the  civilized  world*  with  its 
many  national  trumpet-peals,  each  be- 
ginning "It  is  not  true,"  sheer  denial 
with  no  attempt  at  adducing  evidence 
for  the  denial.  The  appeal  might  have 
originated  in  the  Wolff  bureau,  not  in 
the  minds  of  savants.  As  the  Nation' 
points  out,  "Nowhere  is  there  any 
evidence  of  a  desire  to  undertake  an 
unbiased  investigation  of  facts,  logic 
is  thrown  to  the  winds,  and  we  are 
treated  to  a   flood  of  rhetoric  and  of 


THE  TAIL-END  OF  EVERY  LAW  IS  A  WHIP 


339 


unsupported  Btatements.  ...  It 
really  seems  as  if  some  of  the  pro- 
fessors who  have  rushed  into  jirint  to 
defeud  Germany's  cause  are  doing  it 
quite  as  much  harm  as  the  enemy." 
The  appeal  to  the  cultured  world  has 
destroyed  the  myth  of  German  culture. 
The  rest  of  Ilaeckel's  pajKjr  is  not- 
able only  for  a  few  misstatements — 
such  as  that  "Russia  iu  the  beginning 
of  August  declared  war  on  Germany 
and  Austria,""  whereas  Germany  sent 
an  ultimatum  to  Kussia  on  July  31,'  at 
a  time  when  negotiations  were  still 
[)roceeding  l)etween  Kussia  and  Aus- 
tria.* and  that  England  aims  at  a 
world  empire,  "the  annihilation  of  the 
independent  German  empire,  the  de- 
struction of  German  life  and  works, 
the  subjection  of  the  German  people 
to  British  donunatlon,"'  a  dream 
worthy  of  a  German  mind.  The  con- 
clusion has  a  very  unlucky  prophecy, 
also  an  outcome  of  German  subjectiv- 
ity, that  Germany  would  find  powerful 
allies  among  the  nations  that  already 
bear  England's  unbearable  yoke — Can- 
ada. India,  Austria.  Egypt  and  South 
Africa.  Prophecy  is  of  all  controver- 
sial weapons  the  most  dangerous. 

TAvelve  Points  Assured. 

And  liere  is  Mr.  Jourdain's  reply  to 
the  Kditor's  discussion  of  this  subject. 
— Kditor. 

The  only  important  controversial 
points  in  the  liditor's  December  article, 
"Lessons  of  the  War."  are  summed  up 
in  the  section  "Twelve  Points  As- 
sured," pp.  75S-7G0.  The  Editor  re- 
gards certain  points  as  assured.  Could 
he  give  any  evidence  that  Russia  "offi- 
cially" supports  a  iwlicy  of  assassina- 
tion in  Servia  (p.  75S)?  In  the  fourth 
paragraph  he  assumes  that  the  con- 
flict between  Austria-Hungary  and  Ser- 
via  is  the  result  of  the  assassination 
of  the  Archduke  Franz  Ferdinand  in 
1914.  We  now  know,  thanks  to  Signor 
Giolitti's  revelations  to  the  Italian 
parliament,  that  the  murder  of  the 
archduke  and  the  indictment  of  Ser- 
via's  complicity,  which  figured  so 
largely  in  the  Austrian  ultimatum,  had 
little  "to  do  with  the  settled  purpose 
of  Austrian  policy.  In  the  middle  of 
1913  Signor  Giolitti,  then  Italian  prime 
minister,  was  informed  by  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  government  that  it  con- 
temi)latpd  imniodiate  action  against 
Servia  and  reckoned  on  the  support  of 
Italy  under  the  terms  of  the  Triple 
.\lliance.  The  Italian  government  re- 
plied that  it  could  not  regard  the  ac- 
tion indicated  as  constituting  a  cn-sM.s 
forilrih.  wliieh  would  never  arise  out 
of  an  aggressive  act.  This  reply  in- 
duced .\ustria-IIungary  to  postpone  ac- 
tion. .\s  the  Austro-IIungarian  policy 
was  already  set  in  191.S.  it  is  aiisurd 
to  speak  of  it  as  conditioned  by  the 
Sarajevo  assassination  in  1014.  T  have 
already  dealt  with  further  jioints  such 
as  the  Relgian  neutrality  and  Russian 
mobilization.  In  the  case  of  Ger- 
many's "positive  evidence  that  the  Bel- 
gians had  broken  neutrality  long  be- 
fore a  German  soldier  set  foot  on  Bel- 


'"O.  C"  p.  SS4.* 

'  "G.   B.   and  the  E.  C,"  p.   GS. 

•On  July  31.  "the  Austro-Hung.-irlan 
ambassador  declared  th*^  readiness  of  his 
eovemment  to  dl.scuss  the  substance  of  the 
Austrian  ultimatum  to  Servia."  "Ibid.," 
p.  69. 

•"O.   C."   p.    585. 

•  For  the  comi)letc  reference  see 
Jourdaln   In   the   Index. — Editor. 


gian  soil."  the  English  case  is  strength- 
eneil  by  Herr  Dernburg's  publication  of 
the  military  convention  between  Eng- 
land and  Belgium.  The  proposed  help 
from  i:nglaud.  it  is  definitely  stated  in 
this  document,  was  only  to  be  given 
lifter  lU'lgian  ncutralUy  had  hceii  vio- 
lated. 


VEST   POCKET  ESSAY. 


THE  GERM.4N  EMPIRE. 


'.\t 


By     George    Fitch,     .Author    of 
Good  Old  Siwa.sh." 

The  German  empire  is  a  world 
power  which  is  contained,  with  diffi- 
culty, by  Europe.  It  has  200,000 
square  miles  and  6."), 000, 000  round 
citizens.  It  alarms  England  on  the 
west,  backs  Russia  off  on  the  east, 
impinges  seriously  on  Austria  to  the 
south  and  reduces  France  to  a  state 
of  frantic  irritation  on  the  southeast. 
It  is  not  large  in  area,  but  has  a 
14-inch  rifled  voice  with  large  pen- 
etration which  is  widely  respected. 

The  German  empire  once  consisted 
of  a  large  number  of  kingdoms,  each 
of  which  are  a  different  variety  of 
sausage  and  were  otherwise  at  vari- 
ance. About  50  years  ago,  however, 
these  nations  united  and  since  then 
Germany  has  grown  until  even  Rus- 
sia is  respectful  in  its  presence. 

The  German  empire  has  two  ar- 
mies which  inspire  great  fear.  One 
is  composed  of  a  million  soldiers  and 
the  other  consists  of  several  thou- 
sand traveling  men  who  are  selling 
goods  from  Cape  Horn  to  Nome. 
Germany  manufactures  everything 
from  battleships  to  Teddy  bears,  and 
its  cities  are  growing  faster  than 
Chicago.  They  do  not,  however, 
grow  in  the  same  way.  German  cit- 
ies are  handsome  and  clean  and 
whenever  a  man  throws  paper  on 
the  street  he  is  arrested.  Americans 
subject  to  heart  failure  from  great 
shocks  should  not  visit  German 
cities. 

Germany  is  surrounded  by  the 
North  Sea,  the  Baltic  Sea,  the  Alps 
and  custom  houses.  Its  greatest 
rivers  are  the  Rhine,  the  Elbe,  '^A'urz- 
burger,  Pilsener  and  Munchener. 
There  is  not  much  water  in  Ger- 
many, and  the  citizen  who  drinks 
any  "of  it  is  charged  with  wasting  a 
natural  resource. 

Germany  has  the  finest  musicians, 
the  deepest  thinkers,  the  largest  air- 
ships, the  fastest  automobiles,  the 
greatest  steamships,  the  tallest 
cathedrals,  the  haughtiest  lieuten- 
ants and  the  most  obedient  private 
citizens  in  the  world.  The  whole 
duty  of  Germany  is  to  obey  the  army 
and  the  whole  duty  of  the  army  is  to 
obey  the  Kaiser. 


.S.WING  .\  CATHEDRAL. 

From  "The  Chicago  Tribune,"  Octo- 
ber 24,  1914. 

Chicago,  Oct.  21. —  (Editor  of  The 
Tribune.) — Of  the  many  valuable 
and  interesting  facts  which  your  cor- 
respondents on  the  European  battle- 
fields have  recently  brought  before 
the   .\merican    public   I   consider   the 


article  in  this  morning's  "Tribune" 
by  Joseph  Medill  Patterson,  together 
with  your  staff  photographer's  pic- 
ture of  the  "Guns  Mounted  on  the 
Antwerp  Cathedral,"  one  of  the  best 
and  most  convincing  yet  published. 

The  Christian  world  owes  your  cor- 
respondents a  deep  gratitude  for  the 
saving  of  this  beautiful  cathedral. 
But  for  them  this  sacred  structure 
would  now  be  in  ruins  and  we  would 
have  been  told  by  London  and  Paris 
that  it  was  willfully  destroyed  by  the 
German  guns  as  a  pure  act  of  van- 
dalism by  the  German  army.  Your 
photograph  speaks  for  itself  and 
shows  as  the  real  vandals  the  French 
and  Belgian  governments,  who  send 
their  armies  to  mount  guns  on  top 
of  these  cathedral  towers.  Many  will 
now  say  what  a  pity  your  photog- 
rapher was  not  in  Reims,  for  he  prob- 
ably would  have  saved  that  sacred 
ediflce  by   another   such   photograph. 

The  millions  of  liberty  loving  and 
impartial  citizens  throughout  the 
Cnited  States  will  continue  to  appre- 
ciate your  efforts  for  truth  and  jus- 
tice in  this  lamentable  conflict. 

J.  Matthews. 


DEWEY  AND  DIEDRICHS. 


Quarrel     of     "Xe«si)a|)er     Manufac- 
ture," Said  .\nierican  .Vrtiiiiral. 


(From  "The  Fatherland."  New  York, 
October  14.   1914.) 

From  the  days  of  Frederick  the 
Great  and  General  George  Washing- 
ton, the  German  people  have  been  the 
friends  of  the  United  States,  while 
twice  England  has  been  engaged  in 
war  with  us,  and  time  and  again  she 
has  all  but  provoked  us  to  war, 
notably  in  1861-.";,  and  during  the 
Venezuela  episode.  But  enemies  of 
Germany  have  tried  to  erect  the 
Dewey-Diedrichs  affair  in  Manila  har- 
bor into  a  German  attempt  to  em- 
barrass the  United  States.  Hence  it 
is  interesting  to  recall  an  exchange 
of  letters  between  the  two  admirals, 
published  July  6,  1898.  The  first 
is  addressed  to  Dewey  under  date  of 
March    17,   and   reads: 

Sir: — 1  have  the  honor  to  acknowl- 
edge the  receipt  of  your  communica- 
tion of  March  4,  informing  me  your 
excellency  has  been  promoted  Admi- 
ral. WHiile  congratulating  your  ex- 
cellency sincerely  upon  this  new  to- 
ken of  recognition,  I  beg  you  to  be- 
lieve your  good  news  has  given  me 
the  greatest  satisfaction. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  Ex- 
cellency's obedient  servant. 

DIEDRICHS. 

Admiral  Dewey  replied  April  16, 
saying: 

Dear  Admiral  von  Diedrichs: — I 
wish  to  thank  you  most  heartily  for 
your  cordial  letter  of  congratulations 
upon  my  promotion.  It  is  a  great 
pleasure  for  me  to  feel  my  advance- 
ment is  a  source  of  satisfaction  to 
you,  and  I  rejoice  that  our  differences 
have  been  of  newspaper  manufac- 
ture. 

Hoping  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  you  again  before  leaving  this 
station,  I  am,  very  sincerely. 

DEWEY. 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


THE   FIELD  DENTIST 

Dentist  Office  in  the  Field  behind  the  Trenches  in  Galieia 

(By   Courtesy    of   the    "Chicago    Abendpost") 


GROWING   ftULITARlSM   AND  THE 
WAR. 

This  is  the  eleventh  article  of  a. 
series  on  TEE  EUROPEAN  WAR, 
which,  appeared  in  the  Octoher  Num- 
her  of  THE  OPEN  COURT,  under 
the  title  "Growing  Militarism,"  written 
Vy  the  Editor,  Dr.  Paul  Cams. 

Consult  the  INDEX  for  the  com- 
plete scries,  and,  in  order  to  see  ivhere, 
in  the  various  Chapters  of  the  boolc, 
the  different  articles  of  this  treatise 
may  he  found,  look  for  EUROPEAN 
WAR  (THE).  In  this  way  the  reader 
may  read  the  entire  series  of  articles 
in  their  oriyinal  order,  if  lie  chooses 
to  do  so,  while  the  present  arrange- 
ment still  (jives  him  the  advantage  of 
hringing  the  various  articles  under 
their  proper,  respective  Chapter-head- 
ings of  the  book. 

This  is  a  series  of  exceptionally 
fine  articles  on  the  subject  in  ques- 
tion, and  they  bear  a  unique  and  im- 
portant relation  to  each  other.  Be 
sure  to  read  them,  also  in  their  original 
order. — Editor,  "War  Echoes." 

The  advocates  of  peace  are  often 
peculiar  people;  they  preach  peace 
on    earth,    and    their    ideal    is    quite 


commendable;  but  each  clamors  for 
his  own  peace.  England  will  pre- 
serve peace  so  long  as  she  owns  the 
seas,  and  Germany's  chief  fault  is 
the  exasperating  persistence  with 
which  she  builds  up  a  navy.  Italians 
of  the  "peace"  party  condemn  war, 
but  they  justify  the  conquest  of  Trip- 
oli; and  there  are  Americans,  for  ex- 
ample, Mr.  William  Randolph  Hearst 
and  Mr.  Richmond  P.  Hobson,  who 
demand  a  strong  American  navy  to 
dominate  the  Pacific  and  the  At- 
lantic. 

Such  views  are  often  uttered.  A 
certain  famous  "peace  advocate"  once 
said  that  he  would  shoulder  the  gun 
himself  to  keep  the  Japanese  out  of 
the  United  States,  and  Mr.  Tschirn. 
whose  German  poem  we  have  quoted 
above,  also  belongs  to  those  who  de- 
sire "peace  at  any  price." 

There  are  some  in  England  who 
declare  that  the  present  war  will  be 
the  last  one;  that  it  is  commendable, 
because  it  is  a  war  against  militar- 
ism; but  one  Englishman,  Mr.  C. 
Cohen,  a  liberal  and  freethinker, 
prophesies  that  this  war  can  not  lead 
to  peace,  hut  is  sowing  future  dis- 
cord.    He  says:     "Who  is  to  say  that 


there  shall  be  no  more  wars?  Is  it 
England?  Is  it  Russia?  Is  it  France? 
Is  it  the  three  combined?  Will  any 
of  these  trust  the  others  enough  to 
depute  the  task?  Are  Russia  and 
France  and  England  in  alliance  with 
each  other  because  of  their  mutual 
love  or  because  of  their  enmity  of 
others?  Was  it  love  of  Russia  that 
drove  France  into  alliance,  or  hatred 
of  Germany?  And  with  Germany 
eliminated  what  bond  is  there  that 
can  unite  the  autocracy  of  the  Czar 
and  the  republicanism  of  France?" 

He  continues:  "An  international 
agreement  that  would  secure  peace 
is  a  laudable  ideal,  but  how  is  it  to 
be  secured?  England,  it  may  be  as- 
sumed, will  still  demand  the  control 
of  the  seas.  It  suits  us,  and  we  say 
it  is  necessary  to  our  existence.  Very 
good;  but  can  we  expect  every  other 
country  to  submit  to  this  ownership 
of  the  world's  highway  forever  and 
with  good  feeling?  Why,  this  fact 
alone  will  drive  other  nations  along 
the  old  line  of  offensive  and  defen- 
sive alliances,  the  fruits  of  which  we 
are  reaping  in  the  present  war.  And 
alliances  based  upon  such  consider- 
ations as  hold  the  Christian  nations 


THE  TAIL-END  OF  EVERY  LAW  IS  A  WHIP 


341 


of  the  world  together  may  be  broken 
at  any  moment.  Nor  is  there  any 
power  based  upon  force  too  strong 
to  be  overthrown.  Of  course,  it  may 
be  said  that  it  is  to  everybody's  in- 
terest that  some  international  agree- 
ment should  be  reached  when  this 
war  is  concluded,  and  such  outbreaks 
prevented  in  future.  Quite  so;  but 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  never  to 
anybody's  real  interest  to  go  to  war. 
Even  to  win  is  to  lose.  The  truth 
is,  that  nations  do  not  go  to  war  be- 
cause it  really  pays  them,  but  be- 
cause of  misdirected  ambitions  and 
mistaken  ideals;  in  other  words,  be- 
cause of  lack  of  intelligence  and 
defective  civilization. 

"How  wrongly  the  lessons  of  this 
war  are  being  read,  may  be  seen  in 
the  newspaper  talk  about  'blotting 
Germany  out,'  or  'wiping  Germany  off 
the  map.'  These  are  the  greatest 
fools  of  all.  It  by  'blotting  out  Ger- 
many' is  meant  the  destruction  ot 
the  German  navy  and  defeat  of  the 
German  army,  that  may  be  done,  and 
looks  like  being  done — unless  our 
press  censorship  is  keeping  us  in  the 
dark.  But  Germany  remains,  the 
German  people  remain,  German  am- 
bitions remain,  and  there  will  also 
remain  the  memory  ot  crushing  de- 
feat. And  the  man  is  a  lunatic,  blind 
alike  to  the  lessons  of  history  and 
the  facts  of  human  nature,  who  imag- 
ines that  a  nation  of  seventy  millions 
can  be  "blotted  out.'  All  the  power 
of  Russia  has  not  been  able  to  crush 
the  sentiment  of  nationality  in  Fin- 
land. All  the  power  of  Russia,  Ger- 
many and  Austria  has  not  been  able 
to  crush  out  the  sentiment  of  nation- 
ality in  Poland.  After  four  cen- 
turies, England,  in  spite  of  all  it 
could  do,  finds  the  sentiment  of  Irish 
nationality  as  active  as  ever.  Short 
of  an  absolute,  a  complete  massacre, 
a  nation  of  seventy  millions  cannot 
be  'blotted  out.'  They  remain,  their 
Ideals  and  ambitions,  and  their  way 
of  looking  at  life,  must  always  be 
reckoned  with.f 

"Armaments  will  go  on;  of  that 
I  feel  assured,  although  I  should  be 
only  too  pleased  to  find  myself  mis- 
taken."* 

Note  that  Mr.  Cohen  e.xpects  Great 
Britain  and  her  allies  to  win,  but  his 
belief  is  subject  to  a  slight  doubt. 
Certainly  we  agree  with  him  in  his 
conclusion  when  he  says:  "There  is 
only  one  way  to  peace;  and  that  is 
the  growth  of  intelligence  and  hu- 
manity." 

The  peace  advocates  in  England 
are  certainly  mistaken  if  they  claim 
that  this  war  is  a  war  against  mili- 


t  See  "The  Metaphysical  Point  of  View 
of  Italv  in  the  Turkish  War,"  In  The  Open 
Court.  XXVI,  p.  190. 

•One  of  the  noblest  sentiments  of  my 
experience!  This  expression  alone 
ouKht  to  commend  the  Author  to  the 
profoundest  respect  and  a  generous 
consideration  of  his  articles. 

We  all  appreciate,  to  a  great  extent, 
the  value  of  the  pros  and  cons  on 
Militarism.  Whatever  we  mli?ht  say 
or  do  ahout  It.  I  am  convinced  of  one 
thlnp:  the  peace  advocates  who  seem 
to  deplore  German  militarism  so  much, 
and  would  Impress  us  with  their  noble 
work  of  doing  away  with  It.  need  les- 
sons in  lORlc  and  common  sense,  for  I 
can  hardly  conceive  of  anything  that 
would  have  a  greater  effect  In  an  exactly 
opposite  direction  than  that  of  their  pre- 
tended and  hypocritical  boast. — Editor. 


tarism  and  that  it  will  be  the  last 
war.  There  are  symptoms  of  a  grow- 
ing militarism. 

The  British  government  has  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  war  will 
not  be  so  easy  as  originally  supposed. 
It  will  need  more  soldiers,  and  so  re- 
cruiting offices  are  opened.  We  read 
in  the  newspapers  that  Rudyard  Kip- 
ling has  offered  his  oratorical  talent 
to  persuade  young  men  to  join  the 
army,  and  that  he  said: 

"We  must  have  many  men,  if  we, 
with  the  allies,  are  to  check  the  in- 
rush of  organized  barbarism.  We 
have  only  to  look  to  Belgium  to  real- 
ize the  minimum  of  what  we  may 
expect  here.  Germany's  real  object 
is  the  capture  of  England's  wealth, 
trade  and  world-wide  possessions." 

If  you  knew  a  little  more  about 
Germany  and  were  a  little  less  in- 
fected with  English  egotism,  Mr. 
Kipling,  you  would  be  ashamed  of 
what  you  have  said! 

Speaking  at  a  great  recruiting 
meeting  in  Liverpool,  Winston 
Churchill,  First  Lord  of  the  Aaml- 
ralty,  said:  "If  the  German  navy 
does  not  come  out  and  fight,  they 
will  be  brought  out  like  rats  in  a 
hole.  .  .  .  The  English  should  have 
no  anxiety  about  the  result  of  the 
war." 

No  comment  Is  necessary  on  this 
specimen  of  modern  English,  as 
spoken  in  these  days  by  the  men 
who  are  guiding  English  destinies. 
England's  navy  must  be  proud  of  the 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty. 

In  the  second  week  of  September 
another  inducement  to  join  the  army 
appeared  in  London,  on  large  bill- 
boards, which  read  thus: 

"We've  got  to  beat  Germany  be- 
cause her  arrogant  brutality  is  a 
menace  to  civilization;  because  she 
breaks  treaties;  because  she  murders 
non-combatants;  because  she  de- 
stroys beautiful  cities;  because  she 
sows  mines  in  the  open  sea;  because 
she  fires  on  the  sacred  Red  Cross; 
because  her  avowed  object  is  to  crush 
England. 

"Men  of  England,  remember  Lou- 
vain. 

"The  fight  is  democracy  vs.  tyr- 
anny. 

"Do  you  wish  to  share  the  fate  ot 
Belgium? 

"If  not,  enlist  now." 

Why  did  the  author  of  these  post- 
ers not  say:      "The  Germans  are  can- 
nibals;    they    are    coming    to    roast 
your  babies  for  supper  and  will  make 
boots    of    human    skin!"      Such    de- 
scriptions    of     the     Germans     might 
liave     been     more     effective.       They 
would  not  have  been  less  false  than 
the    placard,    and    would    have    been 
more     fanciful,     more    poetical     and 
more  romantic.      In  modern  English 
newspapers,  Germany  is  almost  com- 
parable to  the  ogre  shouting: 
"Fee,  Fi,  Fo,  Fum, 
I  smell  the  blood  of  an  Englishman, 
Be  he  alive  or  be  he  dead, 
I'll    grind    his    bones    to    make    my 
bread." 

My  dear  English  friends:  It  your 
liberty  is  really  at  stake,  rush  to  the 
colors,  have  your  names  enrolled  in 
your  country's  service,  take  up  arms 
to  defend  England's  honor;  but  I 
fear  the  honor  ot  England  has  been 


tarnished,  not  by  the  Germans,  but 
by  your  own  ministers,  by  your 
statesmen,  your  diplomats,  by  those 
men  who,  by  their  secret  treaties,  by 
the  machinations  of  the  Triple  En- 
tente, have  led  you  into  a  most  per- 
verse and  stupid  war.  If  your  coun- 
try needs  defense,  join  the  army,  but 
first  have  your  generals  replaced  by 
capable  men  who  are  able  to  meet 
an  enemy  as  great  as  your  Saxon 
brothers  of  the  continent.  And, 
above  all,  see  to  it  that  you  fight  for 
a  cause  that  is  honorable,  not  merely 
a  fiimsy  excuse  to  rid  your  shop- 
keepers ot  a  dangerous  rival,  even 
though  the  sum  at  stake  may  average 
two  hundred  million  pounds  a  year! 
Fight  for  a  cause  endorsed  by  men 
of  understanding,  by  men  of  honor! 

And  if  you  fight,  do  not  slander 
your  enemy,  do  not  discredit  him,  do 
not  lie  about  him,  do  not  brag  about 
your  own  superiority,  your  greater 
prowess,  your  courage,  your  un- 
rivaled heroism;  history  will  correct 
your  bravadoes  and  you  are  running 
the  risk  of  making  yourselves  ridic- 
ulous. The  writer  of  these  lines  has 
been  your  friend,  your  defender, 
your  supporter.  He  feels  ashamed 
now  of  the  misjudgment  he  has 
shown,  and  even  yet  he  feels  inclined 
to  defend  you  by  saying  that,  in  his 
opinion,  you  English  people  are  per- 
fectly honorable,  and  that  it  is  only 
a  very  small  diplomatic  clique  that 
has  misled  you.  This  small  clique 
has  brought  on  the  war  without  the 
consent  of  the  people,  and  even  now 
your  government  establishes  a  cen- 
sorship of  news  and  propagates  de- 
liberate falsehoods'  for  the  sake  ot 
defending  the  war,  and  to  induce 
English  youths  to  prop  up  the  blun- 
ders that  have  been  made. 

I  would  try  to  convince  you  that, 
by  provoking  the  war.  Great  Britain 
has  not  only  done  wrong — a  grievous 
wrong — but  she  has  proved  to  be 
blind.  The  war  policy  leads  you  to 
your  own  ruin.  You  have  made  an 
enemy  of  a  people  that  has  been  your 
friend,  and,  in  Germany,  you  will 
have  a  most  insistent  and  dangerous 
enemy.  At  present  you  do  not  care, 
but  the  time  will  come  when  you  will 
regret  having  lost  Germany's  good 
will.  I  can  not  help  seeing  greater 
danger  in  this  war  for  England  than 
for  Germany.  Great  Britain  is 
scarcely  prepared  to  face  the  danger. 

As  soon  as  war  has  begun,  people, 
as  a  rule,  become  impervious  to  rea- 
son, and  I  fear  that  my  friends  in 
England  have  reached  that  stage. 
They  have  grown  mad;  they  have  be- 
come incapable  of  arguing  calmly 
and  impartially.  They  believe  all, 
they  hope  all,  they  suffer  all.  They 
believe  all  accusations  against  their 
enemies,  the  most  impossible  ones. 
They  hope  for  victories  where  there 
is  but  little  if  any  chance.  They  suf- 
fer defeats  with  patience,  in  antici- 
pation of  a  final  triumph  which  they, 
in  their  vanity,  think  must  be  theirs. 

In  Germany,  warfare  has  been  de- 
veloped into  a  science,  and  it  is  not 
left  to  a  genius  who  is  able  to  as- 
sume leadership.  The  German  army 
is  a  school  in  which  German  youths 
are  trained  to  be  good  soldiers,  and 
the  German  general  staff  is  also  a 
school  in  which  officers  are  instructed 


342 


THOUGHTS  OX  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


in  strategy.  There  is  not  a  Moltke 
to  lead  them,  but  Moltke's  spirit 
guides  them  all.  Should  one  ot  them 
die  today,  even  if  he  occupy  the  high- 
est rank,  there  are  dozens  who  can 
take  up  the  work. 

The  indignation  of  the  Germans 
against  the  English  is  tremendous. 
The  Germans  were  prepared  for 
French  hatred  and  Russian  impu- 
dence, but  the  bickerings  between 
these  brother  nations  were  (at  least 
in  the  writer's  opinion)  petty  jeal- 
ousies such  as  often  exist  among 
quarrelsome  brothers.     But  now  Eng- 


land declares  war  at  a  moment  when 
Germany  is  in  the  greatest  danger 
from  the  simultaneous  attack  ot  her 
two  neighbors,  in  the  east  and  in  the 
west,  the  two  mightiest  land-powers 
next  to  herself.  And  at  this  critical 
moment  for  Germany,  England  casts 
in  her  lot  with  Germany's  foes,  in 
the  hope  of  dealing  a  crushing  blow. 
But  England  may  be  mistaken. 
Things  may  turn  out  differently  from 
what  is  now  expected.  My  good  Eng- 
lish friends,  how  I  wish  you  had  not 
been  so  rash  in  venturing  into  this 
war — this  abominable  war,   this  vic- 


ious, mean,  ill-intentioned  war,  this 
most  stupid  war. 

The  Roman  proverb  says,  Quern 
Deng  pcrdcre  vult  eum  dementat. 
When  surrounded  by  enemies,  Ulrich 
von  Hutten,  the  valiant  knight  ot  the 
age  of  the  Reformation,  exclaimed, 
VM  Feiiid.  riel  Ehr!  Certainly. 
Germany,  much  honor  is  thine,  for 
thine  enemies  are  numerous,  and 
England  among  them!  What  a  glory 
for  Germany!  What  a  shame  on 
England! 

QuantiUa  pnutcntin  Britannm  regi- 
tur!  How  small  is  the  wisdom  with 
which  Great  Britain  is  ruled. 


JT'ST  WHAT  TERMS  USED  IN  DE- 
SCRIBING BIG  AR>nES  MEAN. 


From  the  Chicago  Evening  American, 
August  25,  1914. 

Do  you  know  the  difference  between 
a  corps,  a  division,  and  a  brigade?  Few 
do.  The  terms  are  not  used  the  same 
in  the  various  armies.  Here  is  an  en- 
lightening table: 

Germany. 

Army  Corps — Its  staff:  Two  infan- 
try, two  regiments  of  field  artillery, 
three  squadrons  of  cavalry,  a  company 
of  pioneers,  a  bridge  train,  field  bak- 
eries, telegraph  troops,  field  hospital, 
etc.,  one  or  two  batteries  of  heavy  field 
howitzers  or  mortars  and  a  machine 
gun  group.     Total,  40,000  men. 

Infantrv  Division — Two  brigades.  To- 
tal. 12.000  men. 

Brigade — Two  regiments.  Total, 
6.000  men. 

Regiment — Three  battalions  of  four 
companies  each.    Total,  3.000  men. 

Battalion — Four  companies  of  250 
men  each.     Total  1,000  men. 

Regiment  of  Field  Artillery — Nine 
batteries  of  field  guns  and  three  of 
field  battery,  six  guns :  howitzers. 
Seventy-two  pieces. 

Brigade  of  Cavalry — Two  and  occa- 
sionally three  regiments.  Total.  1,600 
to  2,400  men. 

Regiment   of   Cavalry — Four    squad- 
rons of  200  men  each.    Total.  800  men. 
France. 

Army  Corps — Two  infantry  divisions, 
one  brigade  of  cavalry,  one  brigade  of 
horse  and  foot  artillery,  one  engineers' 
battalion,  one  squadron  of  train.  Total, 
40.000  men. 


Infantry  Division — Two  brigades  of 
infantry,  one  squadron  of  cavalry, 
twelve  batteries.  Total.  12.000  men  and 
48  guns. 

Brigade — Two  regiments  of  three  bat- 
talions each.     Total,  6.000  men. 

Regiment — Three  battalions  of  four 
companies  each.    Total,  3.000  men. 

Battalion — Four  companies  of  250 
men  each.     Total,  1.000  men. 

Cavalry  Division — Two  and  some- 
times three  brigades.  Total,  3,200  to 
4,800  men. 

Brigade  of  Cavalry — Two  regiments 
of  eight  squadrons,  with  two  batteries 
of  artillery. 

Regiment  of  Cavalry — Four  squad- 
rons.    Total,  800  men. 

Squadron  of  Cavalry — Two  hundre<l 
men. 

Battery  of  Artillery — Six  guns. 

Great  Britain. 

Brigade  of  Infantr.v — Four  battalions 
and  administrative  and  medical  units. 
Total.  4.000  men. 

Cavalry  Brigade — Two  regiments  of 
four  squadrons  each.    Total.  800  men. 

Brigade  of  Artillery — Three  batter- 
ies eighteen  guns ;  heavy  artillery,  fif- 
teen field  howitzers,  two  batteries, 
horse  artiller.v.  two  batteries. 

Batter.v — Six  guns. 

Division — Fif  t.v-four  field  guns, 
twelve  howitzers  and  four  heavy  field 
guns.     Total  15,000  combatants. 

Russia. 

Battalion  of  Infantry — Eight  hundred 
men. 

Squadron  of  Cavalry — One  hundred 
and  twenty-five  men. 

Batterv  of  Artillery— Eight  guns. 


TEN    MAXmS    ARE    LAID    DOWN 
FOR  GERMAN  .SOLDIERS. 


By  Harry   Hansen. 

(From   "The   Daily   News."   Chicago, 
September  28,    1914.) 

(Special      Correspondence      of      The 

Daily  News.) 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Germany,  Sept. 
14. — Here  are  ten  maxims  of  the 
German  army  that  come  to  me  from 
an  officer  who  considers  them  as 
potent  as  the  ten  commandments; 
there  is  no  need  to  add  that  they 
epitomize  the  spirit  of  the  German 
army: 

No  soldier  can  lead  who  has  not 
first  learned  to  obey. 

The  character  of  the  discipline  in 
an  army  augments  or  weakens  its 
numerical  strength. 

A  soldier  insufficiently  fed  may  be 
overcome  without  recourse  to  the 
sword. 

Courage  is  worth  more  than  co- 
horts. 

The  bravery  and  resourcefulness 
of  an  officer  inoculates  a  thousand 
men. 

A  soldier  should  wish  to  teach 
the  enemy,   not  learn   from  him. 

He  who  prefers  the  defensive  reaps 
greater  security,  but  ultimately  loses 
more   than   he   gains. 

A  good  soldier  defeats  rather  than 
reviles  the   enemy. 

The  victor  defeats  himself  if  he 
allows  the  vanquished  time  to  re- 
cuperate. 

The  soldier's  worst  enemies  are 
presumptuousness  and  pride. 


Interesting  Comment  and  Speculation  concerning  Results  of  the  War 


EMERSON   ON   THE   PHILOSOPHY 
OF  WAR. 

The  struggle  of  Germany  for  the 
right  to  exist  as  a  free  and  united  na- 
tion is,  in  some  respects,  similar  to 
our  own  struggle  to  preserve  the  Union. 
The  high  contemplations  aroused  in  that 
great  contest  for  human  rights  and  the 
integrity  of  our  Union  were  most  fit- 
tingly expressed  by  Emerson,  in  his  per- 
oration on  "Lincoln,"  and  may  be  prof- 
itably poudered  at  this  time : 

There  is  a  serene  Providence  which 
rules  the  fate  of  nations,  which  makes 
little  account  of  time,  little  of  one  gen- 
eration or  race,  makes  no  account  of 
disasters,  conquers  alike  by  what  is 
called  defeat  or  b.v  what  is  called  vic- 


tory, thrusts  aside  enemy  and  obstruc- 
tion, crushes  everything  immoral  as  in- 
human and  obtains  the  ultimate  tri- 
umph of  the  best  race  by  the  sacrifice 
of  everything  which  resists  the  moral 
laws  of  the  world.  It  makes  its  own 
Instruments,  creates  the  man  for  the 
time,  trains  him  in  poverty,  inspires  his 
genius,  and  arms  him  for  his  task.  It 
has  given  every  race  its  own  talent,  and 
ordains,  that  only  that  race  which  com- 
bines perfectly  with  the  virtues  of  all, 
shall  endure.* 


•This  extract  rightly  belongs  at  the  end 
of  Mr.  Albert  E.  Henschel's  article,  TF<ir 
Hypocrisy  Unveiled,  found  in  Chapter  H 
of  War  Echoes.  But  it  was  a  great  temp- 
tation to  put  this  bit  of  Philosophy  on 
War  from  Emerson  under  Philosophy  on 
the  TTar.— Editor. 


L.  E.  M.  Is  it  true  that  as  an 
answer  to  the  action  of  England  and 
France  in  prohibiting  the  production 
of  the  compositions  of  Wagner  and 
other  leading  German  dramatists  and 
composers,  Germany  has  barred 
Shakespeare? 

It  is  not.  The  question  was  raised 
in  Germany  of  adopting  this  retali- 
ating measure,  but  was  unanimously 
opposed  by  the  leading  Germans  con- 
sulted and  was  consequently  lost. 
Among  those  most  emphatic  in  their 
stand  for  the  continued  production 
of  Shakespeare's  plays  were  Profes- 
sors Harnack  and  Max  Liebermann 
and  the  Chancellor.  Dr.  v.  Bethmann- 
Hollweg.  Shakespeare  will  be  played 
as  usual. — Herman  Ridder. 


SOME  PROPHECY  ON"  RESLLTS  OF  THE  WAR 


343 


TAKl.Ni;   liKl'AUTrUi;   AITEU   1;1XU\  Klii 
(By   Courtesy   of   the   "Chicago   Abendpost") 


GKHMAXY'S       DESTRUCTION      AS 
KOKKTOLD  BY  A  FREXCHMAN. 

In  Major  de  Civrieux's  book.  La  fin 
de  I'empire  allenmnde. — La  hataille  du 
Champ  des  liottleaux  191..  (Paris  and 
Limoges,  Henri  Charles-Lavanzelle. 
1012),  we  gain  an  interesting  insight 
into  the  Belgian  neutrality  question  as 
seen  througli  French  spectacles,  and  we 
get  the  impression  that  the  invasion  of 
Belgium  by  Germany  was  not  only  ex- 
pected by  France  but  ardently  hoped 
for  in  order  to  make  an  end  of  Ger- 
many. 

The  book  gives  an  imaginary  pic- 
ture of  the  end  of  Germany  in  the  near 
future.  This  takes  place  in  the  fol- 
lowing way :  After  the  German  fleet 
has  been  annihilated  through  a  sudden 
attack  by  the  Knglish  fleet,  following, 
as  the  book  says,  the  example  of  Japan 
In  the  Russo-Japjinese  war,  without  any 
further  declaration  of  war,  the  invading 
German  armies  are  defeated  by  the 
French  at  Apremont,  southwest  of 
Metz,  then  at  Neufchateau,  south  of 
Toul,  and  on  the  Ourthe  in  Belgium: 
in  the  latter  battle  in  conjunction  with 
the  English  and  Belgians.  After  these 
defeats  the  victors,  strengthened  fur- 
ther by  the  Dutch,  press  forward  from 
different  directions  through  the  Rhine 
province   and   Westphalia,   and   finally 


make  an  end  of  Germany  in  "the  battle 
of  the  Birch  field"  ne-ar  Hamm.  Wil- 
liam II  is  also  killed  in  this  battle,  as 
the  last  German  emperor,  his  head- 
quarters being  smashed  into  a  thousand 
fragments  by  bombs  thrown  from 
French   flying  machines. 

In  the  book  the  following  sentences 
are  significant.  First,  that  one  in  the 
preface,  written  by  Major  Driant,  re- 
presentative from  Xancy,  to  the  author 
of  the  book,  and  those  by  the  author 
himself.  Major  Driant  says :  "The  pro- 
posed violation  of  Belgian  neutrality 
has  long  ceased  to  be  a  secret.  True, 
every  one  resists  this  idea,  we  know 
that:  but  in  sjiite  of  this,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  the  intimate  relations  l)etween 
France  and  England,  this  violation 
is  unavoidable.  It  is  of  the  most  press- 
ing interest  to  Germany  to  march 
through  Belgium  as  quickly  as  possible, 
first,  in  order  to  hinder  the  junction 
of  the  British  forces  and  the  northern 
French  armies,  second,  in  order  to  gain 
the  shortest  and  most  weakly  defended 
route  to  Paris." 

The  author.  Civrleux,  says  in  his  Im- 
aginary description  of  the  future  war: 
"As  long  as  the  Belgian  border  was 
barred  to  the  French  movements  every 
French  attack,  which  found  itself  con- 
fined within  the  narrow  space  between 


Basel  and  Mezif-res,  had  to  go  to  pieces 
against  the  powerful  girdle  of  German 
fortifications  in  Alsace-Lorraine,  and, 
behind  them,  against  the  fortified  line 
of  tlie  Rhine.  On  this  narrow  space  a 
campaign  having  a  prospect  of  victory 
was  impossible.  Never  could  it  have 
carried  our  troops  along  with  enthu- 
siasm. It  would  have  come  to  a  bitter 
and  terrible  struggle,  and  one  of  ex- 
treme sacrifice,  without  a  spark  of  hope 
for  victory  in  the  hearts  of  the  fighters. 
On  the  contrary,  the  superior  mass  of 
the  Germans  would  have  crushed  the 
French  through  its  weight  alone,  for 
the  mobility  of  the  French  would  have 
been  restricted  by  the  narrowness  of 
the  war  area,  yes,  would  have  been 
made  entirely  ineffective.  But  now,  all 
at  once,  the  plains  of  Belgium  were  op- 
en to  the  French  armies,  where,  besides, 
there  were  100.000  Belgians  ready  to 
defend  the  violation  of  their  neutrality. 
X^ow  the  prospect  was  altogether  differ- 
ent. After  a  victorious  fight  on  Belgian 
soil  there  would  be  an  invasion  Into 
the  enemy's  country,  toward  the  Lower 
Rhine,  which  was  without  fortifica- 
tions, hand  in  hand  with  the  English 
ally  who  ruled  the  sea  and  would  now 
set"  foot  on  the  continent." 
Iowa  City,  Ia.,  Feb.  11,  1915. 

A.  Kampmeike. 


344 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  WAR 


AN  AMERICAN  GENERAL  ON  THE 
WAR. 


"The  war  will  be  over  by  fall,  and 
the  German  submarine  will  win  it,"  de- 
clared General  Samuel  Pearson,  of 
Scranton,  Pa.,  to  a  reiwrter  of  the  >.ew 
York  "Staats-Zeitung"  when  he  arrived 
on  March  24th  on  the  Danish  steamer 
llellis;  Olav.  "The  real  submanue  war 
has  not  commenced  as  yet:  when  Ger- 
many once  begins  it  with  all  the  power 
at  her  disposal,  England  will  get  the 
surprise  of  her  life,  and  give  in  very 

'^"cenei-al  Pearson  was  American  Con- 
sul at  Johannesburg.  South  Africa. 
When  the  Boer  war  broke  out.  and  took 
part  in  the  war  against  England  as 
Quartermaster  General  of  the  Boer 
forces  At  the  outbreak  of  the  present 
war  he  was  sojourning  in  Germany, 
where  he  stayed  until  now,  and  has 
watched  the  unrolling  of  events  with 
critical  and  expert  eyes. 

••It  is  possible,"  he  said,  "that  there 
are  still  people  here  who  believe  in  a 
defeat    of    Germany    in    this    gigantic 
struggle   for    her   existence,   and   it    is 
also  possible  that  the  allies  themselves 
are  still  hoping  for  a  victory.    Anybody, 
however,    who    has    been    in    Germany 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  and  has 
kept  his  eves  and  ears  open,  as  I  have 
done,  cannot  have  any  doubts  as  to  the 
outcome  of  the  war.    Germany  will,  and 
must   remain  victor  because  it  is  one 
and  indivisible,  because  all  her  prepa- 
rations for   this  war  have  been   made 
with  the  most  wonderful  foresight,  and 
because  her  organization  is  so  perfect 
that  nothing  has  gone  wrong  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war.     Any  odds  that 
may  have  been  against  her  have  been 
wiped    out    bv    her    submarines.     The 
German  tribes  and  states  ever  since  the 
declaration    of   war   are    more    like    a 
great  big  family  than  they   have  ever 
been  before,  and  on  her  own  soil  Ger- 
many can  never  be  overcome.   The  Ger- 
mans  of  whom  it  was   said   formerly, 
•Two    Germans,    three    opinions,'    now 
have  onlv  one  opinion  about  the  war, 
'Forward  till  everything  that  is  oppos- 
ing us  has  been  overcome.'  and  a  people 
of  seventv  million,  to  whom  this  has  be- 
come a  kind  of  religious  dogma,  cannot 
be    vanquished,    and    if    the    civilized 
world  should  go  up  against  them. 

"The  German  submarines  will  win  the 
war  in  the  long  end,  and  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  it  will  take  longer  than  fall. 
The  real  submarine  war  has  not  even 
begun,  for  most  of  the  IIC  German  sub- 
marines are  at  present  busy  with  lay- 
ing 30.000  mines  all  around  England. 
When  that  war  once  begins  England 
will  experience  the  surprise  of  her  ex- 
istence, against  which  the  German  4'2- 
centimeter  mortars  will  have  been  child's 
play.  England  may  have  made  her 
calculations  very  accurately,  but  I  be- 
lieve that  she  has  left  the  German  sub- 
marines out  of  her  calculations  and 
that  will  be  her  doom.  In  the  German 
ship  vards  forty  thousand  men  are 
working  day  and  night  to  complete  fur- 
ther sulmiarines,  and  I  have  been  told 
that  more  than  one  of  them  is  launched 
every  week.  Building  material  is  on 
hand  in  great  quantities,  money  more 
than  snffiiient.  and  as  to  soldiers  and 
sailors.  Germany  will  never  want  for 
them.  T.et  America  furnish  the  allies 
with  all  the  guns  and  munitions  they 


want,  tiennany  manufactures  herself 
overvthing  that  she  needs,  and  her  food 
supply  is  sufficient  until  the  ue.xt  crop ; 
the  ■neutrality'  of  the  I'nited  States 
can  only  make  the  war  last  longer,  but 
can  have  no  decisive  influence  on  the 
outcome. 

"Personally  I  do  not  think  so  much  of 
the  Zeppelins  as  of  the  German  subma- 
rines, but  I  am  not  an  expert  and  as  I 
have  furthermore  not  seen  these  big 
airships  in  action  I  cannot  judge  au- 
thoritatively. It  seems  to  me  that  they 
offer  too  large  a  target  even  if  they 
have  to  be  hit  a  number  of  times  to  be 
injured  fatally.  One  thing  is  sure,  that 
so  far  no  aeroplane  has  been  invented 
which  could  become  dangerous  to  a 
Zeppelin.  A  Zeppelin  can  carry  bombs 
of  a  maximum  weight  of  four  tons  and 
there  is  no  doubt  about  it  that  in  a  hos- 
tile fortress  it  could  cause  enormous 
destruction  if  only  these  bombs  could 
be  thrown  with  more  accuracy. 

"I  am  not  of  the  opinion  that  the 
present  way  of  fighting  in  trenches  is 
something  new.  During  the  Boer  war 
we  used  trenches  with  great  success 
against  the  English,  and  Lee  and  Grant 
had  used  them  during  the  Civil  war. 
"As  to  the  Dardanelles.  Germany  is 
not  troubled  a  bit.  During  the  last  five 
years  they  have  been  newly  fortified  by 
"the  Germans,  and  the  old  fortifications 
were  at  the  same  time  greatly  strength- 
ened. I  know  that  at  the  narrowest 
point  of  the  channel  are  placed  some  42 
cm.  mortars  on  either  side,  and  if  the 
battleships  of  the  allies  really  should 
succeed  to  get  that  far,  further  they 
iviU  iwt  get. 

"In  Germany  everything  goes  on  as 
usual.  The  streets  of  Berlin  have  the 
same  appearance  as  in  times  of  peace 
except  that  you  see  soldiers  every- 
where. It  is  hard  to  believe  when  you 
see  all  these  recruits,  that  already  five 
to  six  million  soldiers  are  in  the  field. 
In  other  countries  it  is  not  sufficiently 
recognized  how  little  disturbance  the 
war  had  produced  in  the  everyday  oc- 
cupations of  the  German  people,  how 
business  goes  on  as  usual,  and  how  at 
the  same  time  there  Is  a  quiet  but  al- 
most incredible  enthusiasm  permeating 
the  whole  people  from  the  lowest  to  the 
very  highest.  If  the  neutral  countries 
were  correctly  informed  about  all  this 
I  should  think  that  the  opinion  would 
quickly  change  in  favor  of  Germany, 
especially  here  in  America,  for  the 
American  loves  to  be  on  the  winning 
side." 

General  Pearson  declared  that  he 
would  soon  return  to  Germany,  as  he 
would  not  miss  for  the  world  the  spec- 
tacle of  the  final  German  victory. 


The  German  citizens  of  this  coun- 
try have  heretofore  avoided  entering 
the  political  field  as  Germans.  The 
spitework  and  falsifications  of  our 
newspapers  and  statesmen  will  be  to 
blame  if  the  Germans  should  find  it 
necessary  to  organize  a  German 
party.  Pressure  always  induces 
counter  pressure.  The  Germans  in 
America  no  longer  want  to  tolerate 
oppression. — From  a  Faithful  Ameri- 
can. 


The  modern  machine  gun  hasn't 
been  able  to  put  the  bayonet  out  of 
business;  which  shows  that  you  can't 
invent   a     substitute   for   courage. 


THE  NEW  EUROPE  AND  THE 
NEW  CULTURE.* 

The  World  War  will  bring  us  a 
new  Europe  and  a  new  culture.  This 
opinion  was  upheld  bp  Dr.  Max 
Maurenbrecher  in  a  lecture  delivered 
to  the  "Hamburger  Ortsgruppe  des 
Deutschen  JNIonistenbundes."  It  is  to- 
day that  the  dream  of  centuries,  that 
was  to  have  been  realized  in  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  German  Empire 
on  January  18,  1871,  has  first  be- 
come a  reality.  A  new  unit  of  feel- 
ing and  purpose  unites  the  whole  of 
the  German  nation.  The  breaking 
out  of  the  war  has  settled  many  dis- 
putes. It  has  removed  the  final  op- 
position to  the  establishment  of  the 
empire,  and  we  shall  never  again 
quarrel  as  to  whether  it  is  necessary 
to  assure  the  security  of  the  nation, 
by  means  of  strong  military  forces. 
After  the  decision  we  are  mutually 
determined  to  do  what  is  necessary. 
The  policy  of  our  Emperor  has  al- 
ways reckoned  with  the  possibility 
of  a  war  with  England  (Heligoland, 
the  fleet,  friendship  with  Turkey) ; 
but  it  aimed  at  rendering  this  war 
impossible. 

Now  England's  declaration  of  war 
has  cleared  matters  up.  Our  whole 
future  will  have  an  anti-British  ten- 
dency. But  we  are  fighting  against 
the  English  state,  the  universal  em- 
pire, not  against  British  culture  or 
British  people.  Our  trade  will  never 
more  be  able  to  exist  in  the  shadow 
of  British  universal  commerce;  we 
have  become  independent.  The  Brit- 
ish universal  empire  must  be  demol- 
ished if  our  policy  is  to  flourish.  It 
sounds  harsh,  but  we  must  learn  it 
and  stand  firm,  then  England's  ene- 
mies will  become  our  friends.  Cul- 
tural intercourse  with  the  British, 
however,  must  be  taken  up  again 
after  the  war.  In  the  same  way  we 
will  look  toward  the  East.  Faithful 
to  the  promise  made  to  his  grand- 
father, the  Emperor  endeavored  up 
to  the  last  moment  to  keep  peace 
with  Russia.  The  Prussian  govern- 
ment, too,  has  nearly  always  been 
backed  up  by  Russia.  But  the  Ger- 
mans as  a  people  were  on  the  side 
of  Austria,  and  felt  Austria  to  be  our 
friend  and  brother,  Russia  on  the 
other  hand,  our  enemy.  The  future 
of  Germany  now  depends  on  her 
union  with  Austria.  The  watchword 
•'Germans  against  Slavs"  is  now  done 
away  with,  for  the  Slavs  of  Austria- 
Hungary  are  our  allies.  It  is  now  a 
case  of  antagonism  between  occident- 
al and  oriental  culture.  The  war  has 
drawn  this  dividing  line  very  dis- 
tinctly. 

As  a  universal  empire,  Germany 
alone  is  too  small;  only  in  combina- 
tion with  her  natural  ally  will  she 
constitute  a  will-power  sufficient  to 
turn  the  balance.  Either  the  state 
on  the  Danube  will  remain,  or  the 
Russian  state.  At  any  rate  it  we  are 
not  powerful  enough  to  split  up  the 
Russian  Empire  into  its  elements,  we 
must  at  least  prevent  any  further 
expansion.  We  are  looking  forward 
to  a  union  from  the  North  Sea  to  the 
Persian  Gulf;  Germany,  Austria,  the 
Balkan  States   (as  many  as  care  to 


»  See  also  Index  for  Macchiavelliism, 
by    Dr     Paul   Cams. — Editor. 


SOMK  PROPHPXV  0\  RESULTS"  OF  THE  WAR 


join  us),  Turkey  as  far  as  the  Indian 
frontier. 

The  speaker  then  turned  his  at- 
tention to  the  home  policy.  We  do 
not  depend  on  our  ships  for  our 
bread,  but  on  our  farmers.  Social 
democracy  must  learn  to  participate 
in  the  formation  of  our  policy;  the 
social  idea  must  flow  into  the  stream 
of  culture.  Culture  is  the  general 
way  in  which  a  group  of  human 
beings  live.  It  includes  their  econo- 
my and  their  politics.  It  is  not  a 
possession  to  satisfy,  but  a  star  we 
are  determined  to  reach  in  the 
future.  The  lecturer  touched  deli- 
cately on  the  necessity  for  the  fall 
of  France  and  compared  this  with 
the  internal  growth  of  Germany  out 
of  the  talent,  the  history  and  the 
present  condition  of  the  German 
nation.  Fichte  already  saw  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Germans  the  idea  of 
cultivating  a  higher  state  of  human- 
ity. We  shall  form  an  economic 
power  to  sustain  us,  but  we  shall 
stand  firm  by  our  German  culture. 
Our  policy  will  constitute  the  means 
by  which  to  climb  up  to  a  greater 
and  firmer  future.  Then  we  shall  ex- 
perience a  wonderful  reconciliation 
with  the  history  of  our  nation.  It  is 
just  because  we  were  split  up  and 
had  to  accustom  ourselves  to  another 
culture,  other  religions  and  other 
political  arms,  that  we  are  now  able 
to  enclose  a  portion  of  humanity 
■within  the  bonds  of  culture  without 
injuring  them.  We  came  later  than 
other  nations  and  were  so  much  the 
fitter.  This  great  reconciliation  with 
our  past  is  our  best  comfort,  should 
everything  turn  out  a  mere  vision. 
But  if  it  is  possible  our  WILL  will 
bring  about  a  new  reality,  for  during 
the  centuries  we  have  grown  capable 
of  this  work  which  the  war  is  now  to 
complete.  This  is  the  sacrifice,  the 
tremendous  stakes.  But  the  goal  is 
worth  such  a  sacrifice,  for  it  procures 
us  the  reconciliation  for  the  private 
suffering. 


WILL,  GEK>fAXY  BECOME  A 
KEPt-BLIC? 

In  a  letter  to  the  New  York  "Kvening 
Mail"  Mr.  George  Caillaux.  of  British- 
Holland  and  French  Huguenot  ancestry, 
says :  "What  amuses  me  most  is  the 
prediction  that  the  form  of  govern- 
nieut  in  Germany  will  change  to  a  re- 
public. I  do  not  see  any  reason  for 
such  a  change.  Everybody  in  Germany 
admires  and  loves  the  Kaiser :  his  ad- 
ministration was  immensely  successful ; 
it  brought  prosperity  and  enormous 
wealth.  A  country  seven-eighths  the  size 
of  Texas,  with  65.000.000  peoi)le.  made 
remarkable  progress  in  industry  and 
scientific  farming,  so  that  the  Ger- 
mans doubled  their  crops  in  thirty 
yeai-s.  Their  prosperity,  of  course,  de- 
pended on  the  forty  years  of  peace  and 
work. 

"The  municipal  Governments  are 
clean,  and  services  are  not  equaled  in 
any  other  country.  The  poor,  sick  and 
invalids  are  cared  for  in  a  remarkable 
way.  Why  should  they  change?  To 
have  every  four  years  an  eleetiou.  we 
know,  if  we  are  honest,  how  these 
changes  affect  our  business  life.  The 
uncertainty,  what  is  to  come  next, 
would  be  very  annoying  for  the  con- 
servative character  of   the   Teutons. 

"Besides,  all  of  the  responsible 
positions  in  Germany  are  held  by  peo- 
ple trained  in  their  vocations  and 
elected  on  account  of  their  fitness. 
Graft  is  absolutely  unknown,  impos- 
sible."— From  "The  Crucible." 


The  United  States  is  not  at  war 
with  any  nation  and  the  newspapers 
should  be  so  conducted  that  the  fact 
will  be  made  clear  to  all  who  read. 


Reader,  do  you  blame  that  Ger- 
man soldier  who  "upon  a  certain  day 
took  the  farmer's  hen  away"  to 
brake  the  monotony  of  the  "large, 
furious,  green  sausages,  built  on  a 
displeasing  foundation  of.  stew?" 
We  are  almost  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  German  hating  editorial 
writer  of  the  "Chicago  Herald" 
would  do  the  same  under  equal  con- 
ditions, although  in  his  sanctum  he 
may  today  pretend  to  be  very 
shocked  at  every  thing  he  himself 
and  others  of  his  ilk  lay  at  the  Ger- 
mans' door. — The  Publisher  of  "War 
Echoes." 


EXGLAXI)  S    DISILLUSION'S 
(JHEATEST. 

COPEXHAGLX,  March  4.  —  The 
"Xationaltideude"  says :  The  English 
and  the  British  Prime  Minister  are  for 
the  first  time  beginning  to  realize 
clearly,  that  the  world's  war  is  a  far 
harder  thing  than  they  had  at  first 
anticipated.  When  we  glance  back  at 
the  past  seven  months  of  war  we  find 
that  all  the  military  leaders  and  states- 
men have  miscalculated.  The  German 
general  staff  in  the  imagination  that 
it  could  bring  France  to  her  knees  be- 
fore the  Russian  mobilization  was  com- 
pleted ;*  the  French  and  Russian  lead- 
ers because  they  had  not  thought  that 
Germany  could  bring  into  the  field 
such  a  mighty  army  to  protect  her  two 
fronts  as  she  has  been  able  to  do.  The 
Russian  ministry  of  war.  in  its  idea 
that  it  could  annihilate  the  German 
army.  The  greatest  disillusion,  how- 
ever, lies  in  Churchill's  often  repeated 
statement  of  his  thorough  satisfaction 
with  the  competency  of  the  navy  as 
being  able  to  rule  the  seas,  upon  the 
top  of  which  comes  the  German  block- 
ade. Even  if  Germany  does  not  man- 
age to  threaten  England  seriously, 
there  will  still  remain  the  disagree- 
able sentiment  that  England,  profes- 
sing to  rule  the  waves,  has  been  un- 
able to  defend  her  own  coasts. — The 
"Continental  Times,"  Berlin. 


The  lies  about  German  Socialists 
are  in  keeping  with  the  doctored 
cablegrams  that  represent  the  Ger- 
man army  as  defeated  all  along  the 
line.  If  the  stories  which  are  coni. 
stantly  appearing  in  the  anti-German 
press  of  this  country  were  true,  the 
French,  English  and  Russian  armies 
should  by  this  time  be  well  on  their 
road  to  Berlin.  So  far  from  this  be- 
ing the  case,  they  are  fighting  to  hold 
their  own  against  the  onward  march 
of  the  Kaiser's  troops,  which  at  this 
writing  are  advancing  with  the  irre- 
sistible momentum  of  a  mighty 
avalanche  menacing  with  destruction 
all   that  stands   in   its  w-ay. 


INDEX 


Air  Craft — 

Air  War — No  Time  to  Prepare  for  tlie 297 

Has  Knocked  Military  Strategy-  into  a  Cocked  Hat 298 

On  the  Use  of  Air-Craft  in  the  World  War 

The  Use  of  Dirigibles  More  Common  Than  Suspected.  298 

Alliance — Germany  and  the   Holy 16 

The   Crystallization   of    the   Anglo-Japanese 134 

Triple — Withdrawal  of  Italy  from  the — H.  Ridder 235 

Allies — England    to    Fight    on    if    Allies    Quit — Winston 

Churchill    112 

Jews  Should  Support  the — Zangwill  Thinks 130 

Shells  for  Allies  Earns  Falk  Censure 215 

Alsace  in  1870 — Count  Zeppelin  in — Karl  Klein,  The  Open 

Court    123 

Anarchy — Foreign  to  Germany 15 

Anglo-Japanese    Alliance — The    Crystallization    of    the — 

Herman  Ridder,  New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung 134 

Anglo-Saxons — The  Peace  of  the — The  Crucible,  Editorial  120 

Antwerp  and  After — The  Chicago  Tribune 264 

Armament — The  Cost  of — Editorial,  The  Milwaukee  Free 

Press 172 

America — See  also  United  States — 

America  and  Japan — The  Continental   Times 134 

America's  Enemy? — Who  Is — Translation  of  an  Editorial, 

Tlie   Illinois   Staats-Zeitung,   Chicago 110 

American  Eyewitnesses    216 

American  General  on  the  War — An — The  Crucible,  Edi- 
torial,  Richmond,   Va 344 

American    Neutrality — Frank    Harris 220 

Americans — See  also  United  States — 

Americans  are  to  be  strictly  neutral 166 

American  Character — Lest  we  forget — Herman  Ridder.  260 

.Americans  must  set  house  in  order 29 

Americans  took  their  lives  in  their  hands 289 

Dernberg's  Comment  on  warning  to  Americans 290 

Quarrel    of    Newspaper    Manufacture,    said    American 

General     339 

Armies — See  also  Navies,  Militarism — 

Just  What  Armv  Terms  Used  IMean — Chicago  American  342 

Of  Nations  at  War 273 

Arms — Shall   America  Furnish 215 

Asquith   Says  Atrocity  Reports   Lack  Confirmation 90 

Atrocities — 
An   Authoritative   Statement  on  German — The   Spring- 
field   Union    263 

Are  Fiction — German — James   O'Donnell   Bennett — The 

Chicago  Tribune  249 

English  Perfidy  and  Russian — The  Vital  Issue 131 

Atrocity  Reports  are  Libelous 258 

Austria — See  also  Austro-Hungary — 

Mobs  in  Italian  Cities  Try  for  War  on — The  Chicago 

Examiner  236 

Reason  for  the  LHtimatum 150 

The  Central  Empires — Germany  and 278 

The  Seven  Weeks'  War  With 18 

Austria   and    the    National    Liberty   of    Her    People — Dr. 
Erwin  Klein,  Peekskill,  N.  Y. — The  Vital  Issue,  New 

York  City   278 

Austria-Hungarv — Letter  of  Emperor  Francis  Joseph   to 

the  Children  of— The  Crucible 201 

Austria-Hungary — The  Continental  Times 201 

Austrians — Germans    and — Their    Treatment     in    France 

Objected  to  by  Gustave  Herve 123 

Austrian  Ultimatum — 

Could  Germany  Have  Pacified  the  Slavs? 243 

Did  Germany  Approve  in  .Advance  of  Note  to  Servia?. .  243 
Austria's  Part  in  the  War— The  Editor,  The  Crucible....  279 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire  and  Consequently  Against  Ger- 
many— Intrigue  Against  the 74 

Austro-Hungarian  Red   Cross 201 

B 

Balkan    Alteration — Denies 285 

"Barbarian"      Hallucination — The — General      Suggestions 
.About     Germany     the     "War-Seeker,"     L.     Niessen- 

Deiters,   Bonn,   Germany 108 

Belgian — See  also  Belgium — 

Commission — With  President  Wilson  at  Washington...     91 
Diplomat — Anent   Germany's  Efforts   for  the   Mainten- 
ance of  Peace 75 

History — Points  in — Topic  Under:  War  Hypocrisy  Un- 
veiled.    Albert  E.  Henschel ' 78 


History — Belgian  Vicissitudes  for  a  Century — Neutral- 
ity and  International  Law 78 

Invasion — Reasons  Justifying — Topic  Under  :  War  Hy- 
pocrisy Unveiled.     Albert  E.  Henschel 84 

Belgian  Neutrality — Various  Topics  on 60 

A     Fraud — The     Exposure     of     the — The     Hamburger 

Fremdenblatt    64 

Surrendered    60 

A  Myth — The  German  Ambassador  to  U.  S 66 

Has  Germany  Violated  the 69 

Its  Real  Meaning — "Scrap  of  Paper" — The  Vital  Issue, 

New  York  City 59 

Queen  Victoria  on 81 

Belgian    Pretext   for   War — Discredits 67 

Belgian  Royal  Commission — President  Wilson's  Greeting 

to  the — Chicago  Daily  News 219 

Belgian   Vicissitudes    for   a   Century — Neutrality   and   In- 
ternational Law — A  Sketch  of  Belgian  History 78 

Belgians  and  Germans  at  the  White  House 218 

Belgium — As  Related  to   the   Nations   in  the  War — See  also 
Belgian — ■ 
Bellicose — Topic     Under:     War     Hypocrisv     L'nveiled. 

Albert  E.  Henschel   81 

British   Interest  in 82 

Change  of  Policy  of 61 

During   Franco-Prussian   War — England   Readv   to   In- 
vade  ......' 83 

Germany  and — Editorial,  The  Chicago  Tribune 67 

In  1866 — France  Tries  to  Anne.x 82 

Justice    to — Topic    Under :    War    Hypocrisy    Unveiled. 

Albert  E.  Henschel 78 

Mistrusted  England  in  1913 — Earl  Grey  says 83 

New  Life  Since  that  Nation's  Liberation  from  Holland    85 
The  Deeper  Meaning  of  the  Alignment  of  Nations  in 

the   War    91 

The  Powers  Plotting  Against — Topic  Under :  War  Hy- 
pocrisy Unveiled.     Albert   E.   Henschel 82 

The  Outlook  Justifies   Retributive  Action   by  Germans    90 

United   States  L'pholds  Germans  in   Belgium 93 

Bernhardi  on  the  War 39 

Bernstorff — Count  J.   H.  Von — German  Imperial   Ambas- 
sador to  the  United  States — 

Germany  and  the  Great  War 243 

Regrets  Loss  of  Life  on  Lusitania 291 

Bismarck — What   Would    Bismarck    Say   and    Do    in    the 

Great   War 6 

And  the  French  Prisoners  in  '71 5 

Carlyle's  Estimate  of — New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung....     20 

German  Ideals  and  Their  Realization 4 

On  the   Purpose  and   Policy  of  the  German   Empire — 

Julius  Goebel,  The  Fatherland 161 

What  Would  Bismarck  Say  ? 6 

Bismarck's   Program   18 

Bismarck's  View  and  the   War — Dr.   Paul   Cams.   The 

Open   Court    7 

Blockade  a   Chimera — Complete 112 

Boer's  Opinion — The  Illinois  Staats-Zeitung,  Chicago....     17 
Britain's    Attack    on     Neutral    Rights — Milwaukee    Free 

Press  119 

British — See  also  Great  Britain,  Britons,  England — 
Action    Against    Kaiser — Submarine    Blockade    Forces 

Drastic — Chicago  Examiner   114 

Admiralty  Plot  the  Destruction?— Did  the— Hobson. . .  289 

And  German  White  Papers 55 

Authorities  on  Law  and  Self-Preservation 84 

British  Principles  and  Character  in  Action 110 

British  Subtle— Calls  190 

Censors    Forge    Dispatches — Corey    Declares — St.    Paul 

Dispatch  256 

Combine   .Against   Rivals 190 

Government    Wanted   War — Not   the    British    People — 
Topic     LInder:     War  Hypocrisy     Unveiled.       .Albert 

Henschel    85 

Illiberal    Foreign    Policy 131 

In  a  Supreme  Task  Speech  Making — Mr.  .Asquith...  258 
Interest  in  Belgium — Topic  Under :  War  Hypocrisy  Un- 
veiled.    .Albert  E.  Henschel 85 

Reply  to  Wilson  Note  to  Cite  More  German   Faults — 

Chicago  Daily  News 292 

The  Situation  in  Persia 131 

Violates  International  Law 119 

We  Cannot  Submit  to  British  Demands 119 

British  Policy — See  also  Great  Britain.  England — 
Holding  Up  Mail  to  Read  It 258 


INDEX 


Leaders    Object    to 55 

London   Papers   Begin   Rebelling 257 

Sharp   Surprise   for   Censor 257 

Suppressing  the   Prime   Minister 258 

Tried  to   Suppress   Antwerp   Story 257 

What   Happened   to    Patterson 257 

What   Kitchener   Would    Do 258 

Britons  in  Protest — Milwaukee  Free  Press 144 

Bryan — Hon.  William  Jennings — Secretary  of  State 221 

C 

Causes    of    the    War — Sec    also:    Diplomacy,    Treaties, 
Progress — 

Looking  Deeper  and  Beyond  Casual  Appearances 3 

Cause    and    the    War — The    German — Dr.    Paul    Carus, 

Editor,  The  Open  Court 153 

Cause    of    War — "Made    in    Germany" — Real — Sam.    II. 

Clark 285 

Cause  That  Forced  the  Kaiser's  Hand — The  Underlying — 

Prof.  Kuno   Francke,   Harvard  University 26 

Censors  Forge  Dispatches.  Corey  Declares — British — Her- 
bert Corey,  St.  Paul  Dispatch 256 

Chancellor's   Error — The   66 

Chancellor — The    Iron — George    Sylvester    Yiereck — The 

Independent,   New  York   City 7 

Chicago  Irish  Leaders  Denounce  Recruiting  in  Ireland — 

The  Irish   Yoice 99 

Chinese    Neutrality    Assailed 66 

Christianity  and  the  Reformation 15 

Civilization  at  Stake 1(X) 

Civilization? — In    Defense    of — Editoral.    The    Chcago 

Tribune    63 

Civilization — How   Will   the   Historian   Settle   Accounts 
With  the  Nations  at  War? — Anti-Macchiavelliism. .  .     15 

Civilization — The  New   15 

Civilized  World — Appeal  to  the 148 

Congress — An  .Awakened — Armv  and  Xavv  Journal.  New- 
York  City   ■ ". 171 

Conspirator — England  the  Arch — The  Fatlierland 64 

Contraband  List  is  Growing — Associated   Press 120 

Count  Zeppelin  in  ."Msace  in  1870 — Karl  Klein,  The  Open 

Court  123 

Crime — Against  Austria — 

.Assassination    321 

Belgian  Neutrality  321 

Crush    Germany    321 

England    Jealous    321 

England's   Pretext   : 321 

Germanic  Races  Detest  Assassination 321 

International  Intrigue 321 

Against  Ireland — Sir  Roger  Casement.  The  Crucil)le...   321 

Kaiser  Made  Vain  Efforts 321 

Pan-Slavism     321 

Political   World   Machinations  and    Intrigue.' 258 

The  Trick 321 

Twelve  Points  Assured 321 

Unable   to    Verify 252 

Crisis — The — See  also  :  Critical,  Horizon  Darkens — 

Could  Have  Believed  Kaiser 152 

Dramatic  Scene   Played 151 

England's   E.xcuse  Given 152 

I'our  Days  Had  Been  Lost 152 

France  Had   Made   Pledge 152 

France  Sees    Interest    1 52 

Motives    Not    Considered 151 

Spirit  of  Women  Noble 152 

The  Emperor's  Speeches — The  European  Situation  Has 

Come   to    ■ 237 

Thinks  Mediation  Was  Offered 151 

\\as  the  Day  of  Servia's  Answer 151 

Critics — 
In  .Answer  to — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  Editor,  The  Open  Court  334 
Lessons  of  the  War — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  Editor,  The  Open 

Court    315 

Crucltv  and  Inhumanitj — Editorial — The  Chicago  Tribune  260 

Cruelty— Kiss,  Slap,  Then  a  Smile 252 

Cruelty    of    Germans    Untrue — .Alleged — The    Chicago 

Tribune    262 

Culture — The  New  Europe  and  the  New 344 

Crar— Reveals  Morgan  Bent— $25,000,000  Loan  to— Boer- 

sianer.    Chicago   Examiner 216 

Czar — The  New  York  World   for  the — The  New  York 

Herald    239 

Czar's  Ukase — The— The  Fatherland   130 


D 

Defenses  and  Defenders — 
Defend  Your  Home — A  Right  to— The  Chicago  Herald 

—Editorial    259 

Defender  of  Small  Nations — The — The  Irish  Voice....   114 

Defense — .A  Passionate  Defense  of  Germany 147 

Defense  of  Civilization — Editorial,  The  Chicago  Tribune    63 
Democracy — .A   Difference  of   Position — H.   Ridder,   New- 
Yorker  Staats-Zeitung 310 

Democracy — German    Forces    of — Topic    under  :     War 

Hypocrisy  Unveiled — .Albert  E.  Henschel 78 

Diplomacy — .And  Diplomatic  Relations — 

.And  International  Politics — Vital  Causes  of  the  War..     43 

Diplomatic  Correspondence — The  Chicago  Herald 45 

Macchiavelli    Diplomacy  —  Dr.   Paul   Carus,   The   Open 

Court    IS 

Secret  Diplomacy — H.  Brand,  The  Illinois  Staats-Zeitung    63 

Talleyrand    Diplomacy    15 

Disarmament  is  Impossible — Why  General — Dr.  Constan- 

tin  Dumba.  Leslie's  Weekly 335 

Dum-Dum  Bullets — Germans  Capture 90 

Duni-Dum  Charges — Specific  220 

Duty — of  Peace  and  War — See  also  Patriotism — 

.All  Neutrals  During  the  War  —  Fairness  and  Impar- 
tiality the  Plain  Dutv  of 30 

Is  Neutrality  Our  Duty ? 227 

Preparedness — The  Duty  of — Editorial,  The  Cliicago 
Tribune    ' 187 

E 

Editor — War  Echoes — (George  W.  Hau VHI 

.Acknowledgment    \TI 

.Anti-Macchiavelliism    and    the    New    Civilization XV 

Cause  of  the  War — Vanity  and  Jealousy XI 

Defending  the  Fatherland — Why X 

Deutschland,    Deutschland    iiber   Alles VIII 

Difficult  Position  of  the  United  States X 

Faith  in  the   Fatherland  vs.  The   Lying  Press .XI 

Feeding  the  War — Stevenson   Stops X 

Luther  on  the  True  Soldier VIII 

.Mission  of  War  Echoes VIII 

Neutrality  of  the  United   States — Popular  and  Official     IX 

People  and  Their  Governments IX 

Promise  of  War  Echoes .• IX 

Responsibility  of   the   Editor XII 

Task  in  its  Inception XII 

Unpopular  Cause — Championing  an  XI 

Egypt — England's    Benevolence    Toward,s — Topic    L'nder  ; 

War  Hypocrisy  Unveiled.     .Albert  E.  Henschel 78 

Emperor  F'rancis  Joseph  to  the  Children  of  Austria-Hun- 
gary— Letter    of — The    Crucible 201 

Emperor  William  II — See  also  :  Kaiser — 

Emperor  a  Lover  of  Peace — The — Topic  Under  :     War 

Hypocri.sy  Unveiled.     Albert   E.  Henschel 78 

Emperor's  Addresses — From  the    80 

Emperor's  Speeches — The     European     Situation      Has 

Come  to  a  Crisis — The 237 

Emperor  William  the  Man.     Dr.   Hugo   Muensterberg, 

Everybody's    Magazine 182 

Empire — .A  More  Extensive  .Account  of  the  Evolution 

of   Germany   Since  Luther 13 

Empire — The  Evolution  of  the  German 16 

Enemies — Forgives — Speech  by  Kaiser  Wilhelm   H....  238 
l-jiemy? — Who  is  America's — Editorial,  Illinois  Staats- 
Zeitung    110 

England — See  also  :     British,   Britain,  Great   Britain — 

Cutting  the  German   Cable,   Violates  Our   Neutrality..     69 
England  and  Her  Dear  Ireland — Hamburger  I-'remden- 

biatt,   Hamburg.  Germanv 102 

England  in  1812  for  Self-Protection— We  Had  to  Fight  214 
England  in  1913 — Earl  Grav  Savs  Belgium  Mistrusted.     83 

England— Right  Rev.  Dr.— England's  Fall 102 

England  the  -Arch  Conspirator — The  Fatherland,  New- 
York  City  64 

England  the  Real   .Aggressor   286 

I-'rank  in  One  Thing — Its  War  is  a  Commercial  One — 
Dr.  Edmund  von  Mach,  The  F'atherland,  New-  York 

City 29 

In   Conspiracy  .Against  Germany 66 

Ready  to  Invade  Belgium  During  the  Franco-Prussian 
War — Topic  Under:  War  Hvpocrisv  L'nveiled.  .Al- 
bert E.  Henschel 83 


348 


INDEX 


The    United    States    and    England — Hamburger    Frem- 

denblatt,  Hamburg,  Germany 227 

Threatened  by  Strikes — The  Sun 103 

To  Fight  On  if  Other  Allies  Quit— The  Daily  News..  112 

Violates  the  Moral  and  International  Law....™ 79 

England's — Sins  and  Virtues.     See  also :     England,   English, 
Britain's,  Great  Britain's — 

Benevolence  Towards   Egypt 79 

Black  Soldiers — Some  of  the  Deviltries  of 100 

Blood-Guilt  in  the  World  War — Jourdain 338 

Case — The   Buttressing  of — Herman  Ridder,   The  New 

Yorker   Staats-Zeitung   112 

Case — Herman  Ridder,  The  New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung  145 
Contempt  for  American  Rights — The  Irish  World,  New 

York     City 286 

Declaration — Editorial,   The   Illinois   Staats-Zeitung....  105 

Disillusions  Greatest — The  Continental  Times,  Berlin..  345 

Domestc  Troubles  and  Outlook 99 

England's  Cause — Editorial,  The  Illinois  Staats-Zeitung  71 

England's  Jealousy     138 

Fall— Right  Rev.  Dr.  England 102 

False  Steps — New  York  Evening  Post Ill 

Hypocrisy — Bernard   Shaw  Shows  Up — The   Crucible..  67 
Neutrality  Stand — FoUv  of — The  Fatherland,  New  York 

City   ..' ...'. 236 

Treason  to  the  White  Race — Continental  Times,  Berlin  99 

Wars  Since  1870 — The   Chicago  Tribune 168 

English — See  also :   England,  Britain,  Great  Britain — 
Arrogance  May  Bring  About  an  Anglo-American  War 

— Complaisance    Under    286 

Critics  of  British  Politics — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  Editor,  The 

Open  Court.    Topic  Under:    Lessons  on  the  War....  320 

English  Detectives    Search    Mail 302 

Englishman  to  His  German  Friend — Letter  of  an — The 

Continental   Times,    Berlin 49 

English  Point    of     View — The — Jourdain,     The     Open 

Court 24 

English  Press — Violent  Outbursts  of  the — The  Father- 
land.   New   York    148 

English  Protectorate — France  as  an   126 

English  Views — Dr.    Paul    Carus,    Editor,    The    Open 

Court.     Topic  Under:     Lessons  of  the  War 315 

Entente — Playing  the  Greatest  Game  of  World  Politics 

Ever  Played   23 

Faithlessness — More — Translation  of  Editorial,  The  Illi- 
nois  Staats-Zeitung ; 75 

London  Buoyed  Up  by  Lies 302 

Nursing  Hatred  Toward  the  Kaiser — The 115 

Outbursts  of  the  English   Press — The  Fatherland 148 

Perfidy  and  Russian  Atrocities — The  Vital   Issue 131 

Point   of   View  and   the    War — The — Dr.    Paul    Carus, 

The   Open    Court 24 

Evolution   of   Germany   Since   Luther — Present   Situation 

of  the  Empire-^Dr.  George  L.  Scherger 13 

Expansion — Serbia's  Dream  of 135 

F 

Falaba — Explanation  as  to 225 

Force :    Conflict  and  Force — The  Tail-end  of  Every  Law 

is  a  Whip 336 

France — See  also  :     French,   Franco-German,   Entente — 

An  American  Resident  in — John  Steel,  The  Open  Court  329 

And  the  "Dime  Novel"  Literature 304 

As  an  English  Protectorate — Hamburger  Fremdenblatt, 

Hamburg,    Germany    126 

France   and   Germany 10 

France's  Meaning  Clear       189 

French  Civilians  Peaceable  89 

Frenchman — Germany's  Destruction  Predicted  By  a...  343 

French  Militarism    167 

French  Socialist   Objects — The   Fatherland,   New   York 

City ...123 

French  Writer — Who   Served  in  Franco-Prussian  War 

— Tribute  to  German  Soldier 166 

Franco- Prussian  War — The   19 

Has  Behaved  for  a  Century  -Among  Her   Neighbors — 

How    265 

In  the  Great  War — Bits  of  News  on 122 

National  Ideals,  Morality,  and  the  Justification  of  War.  325 

Prisoners  in  '71 — Bismarck  and  the 5 

Whips  the  Kaiser's  Armv — The  Fatherland,  New  York 

City   '. 265 

Frederick   the   "Wise" — Editor,   War   Echoes 15 


G 

Germany's — See   also  The  Fatherland — 
Action  in  Belgium — The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  upholds — The  Fatherland,  New  York  City....     93 

Appeal  to  America — German  Chancellor 29 

Declaration — Horace    L.    Brand — The    Illinois    Staats- 
Zeitung,   Chicago    199 

Destruction   as    foretold    by   a   Frenchman — A.   Kamp- 

meier.  The  Open  Court,  Iowa  City,  la 343 

Enemies — Germany's  Efforts  for  the  Maintenance  of..     75 
Enemies — Rev.  Alfred  E.  Meyer,  Chicago  Mass  Meet- 
ing,   Auditorium,    Chicago 137 

Foes  and  the  war — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  Editor,  The  Open 

Court 178 

Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity — Her  Defense...   194 
Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity — Patriotism  and 

Duty 186 

Moral  and  Sacred  Trust  to  Posterity — Spiritual  Values  199 
Place  in  the  Sun — Dr.  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler,  President 

of   the   University   of    California 162 

Struggle  for  Existence — H.  C.  G.  Von  Jagemann,  The 

Outlook    10 

Gibraltar — The     German — Why    given     up — The     Boston 

Herald    195 

Gladstone  on  Treaties — See  J.  Ramsey  Macdonald,  Why 

we  are  at  war 98 

Grosscup — Judge  Peter  S. — An  Appeal  for  a  Fair  Judg- 
ment— The   New   Yorker   Staats-Zeitung,   New   York 

City,  Oct.  5,  1914 30 

God?— On  Whose  Side  is — The  Fatherland,   New   York 

City     23 

Goebel — Dr.   Julius — Head   of    Dept.    of   Germanic    Lan- 
guages and  Literature,  The  University  of  Illinois- 
Bismarck  on   the    Purpose   and   Policy   of  the   German 

Empire,  The  Fatherland,  New  York 161 

The   German-American   and   the   President's   Neutrality 

Proclamation     217 

Great    Britain    and   her    Enemies    in    the   war — See    also 
Britain,   English — 

Great  Britain'  Reprimands   President  Wilson 231 

Great  Britain's  and  Russia's  Part  in  the  World  War...   131 
Great    Britain's    Case — Herman    Ridder,    New    Yorker 

Staats-Zeitung,  Oct.  19,   1914 70 

Great  Britain's  Position — Some  Remarkable  Confessions  121 
Great  Britain's   Real   Motive   for  Entering  War — Her- 
man Ridder,  The  New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung 72 

In  .■\frica,  Egypt,  and  at  Home 293 

On  Germany— Peaceful  Pursuit  of  Industry  Spurned..     49 

On  International    Law , , •■••   '^^ 

The    Entente — Playing    the    Greatest    Game    of   World 

Politics    ever    Played 23 

German — See  also  Germany — the  Fatherland — 

.\  German  Gibraltar — The  Boston  Herald 195 

Army  Absolute  Necessity   •  •   122 

Armv  and  Navy — To  the — Proclamation  of  Kaiser  Wil- 

helm    II , 237 

Army  and  the  German  People  in  France  and  Belgium — 

With  the   245 

•Army — Swedish  Poet  on  the  German — The  Crucible...   172 
British  Cite  More  German  Faults — Chicago  Daily  News  292 

Cause  in  the  War — German  Character  and  the ISO 

Character  in  the  Conflict — The  Vital  Issue 163 

Culture   and   "Kultur" — Topic   under :    War    Hypocrisy 

Unveiled.     Albert  E.  Henschel   78 

Difliculty  of  Digging  Out  the  German  Navy  —Editorial, 

The   Sun,   New   York 

From  a  German   Sympathizer — "The  Times-Picayune," 

New  Orleans   311 

Empire — Proclamation  of  the  New 19 

Food  Until  Next  Harvest 190 

Forces   of   Democracy — Topic   Under :    War    Hypocrisy 

Unveiled.     Albert  E.  Henschel 78 

German  Militarism — Topic  LTnder :  War  Hypocrisy  Un- 
veiled.    .-Mbert  E.  Henschel 78 

Government  and  the  German  People — The 139 

Ideals   and   Their   Realization — Bismarck 4 

In  France  and  Belgium — With  the  German  .\rmy....       245 

Invaders  Prove  Quiet 252 

Leaders    of    Liberty — Topic    Lender:     War    Hypocrisy 

Unveiled.    .Albert  E.  Henschel  78 

Letter  from  an  Englishman   49 

Menace — George  William  Hau.  Editor,  War  Echoes 53 

Mobilization  of  German  Women — The  Independent....  273 
Patriotism  in  the  Fatherland,  Editorial — The   Crucible, 
Richmond,   \'a 187 


INDEX 


Race    Wars    for    Lite — Joseph    Medill    Patterson,    The 

Chicago  Tribune  188 

Reply  to  U.  S. — Official  Text  of — Von  Jagow,  Minister 

of  Foreign  Affairs,  The  Chicago  Daily  News 225 

Representative    Men — An    Appeal   to   the    World — The 

Fatherland     148 

Scholars  and  the  Larger  View — The  Open  Court 328 

Scholars — In  Appeal  to  the  United  States 149 

Socialists — United  with  Germany 345 

Soldiers     of     the     Fatherland     Respect     Women — The 

Fatherland,  Xew  York  City 166 

Spirit  of  German  Life — Tribune  Gives  Xew  Light  on — 

James  O'Donnell  Bennett,  The  Chicago  Tribune 245 

Stability  Tested — Jobless  Few  in  Fatherland — The  Chi- 
cago  Daily   News 198 

Supremacy  in  Commerce  and  Industry 160 

Supremacy  in  Agriculture — The  Outlook,   New   York. .   160 
The    German    Empire — Bismarck   on   the    Purpose   and 
Policv    of    the — Dr.   Julius    Goebel,    The    Fatherland, 

New  ■  York 161 

The  German   Position — Dernberg's  Statement — H.  Rid- 

der,  Ne\y  York  City 139 

The  Significance  of  German  Militarism — George  Stuart 

FuUcrton,   Prof,  of   Philosophy,   Columbia  University  167 
The    Women    of    the    Fatherland — An    Appeal    by   the 

Kaiserin.  Auguste  Victoria,  Berlin 273 

"War-Makers" — A   Critical   Study — Noel   Sargent,   The 

L'niversity  of  Washington   37 

White  Papers — The  British  and   German — The   Boston 

Herald    55 

Germans — See  Also :    German,  Germany,  Fatherland — 
Accusations  of  Germans  lack  confirmation,  says  .\squith     90 

Belgians  and  Germans  at  the  White  House 218 

Cable  Kaiser  Love — 10,000— The  Chicago  Tribune 185 

Disdain    Italy — for   Italy's   ignoble   conduct 282 

Feel    Confident    245 

In  Faneuil  Hall — Speeches  made  at  a  Mass  Meeting  of 

— Robert   Sturm.   Boston   Globe 210 

In   Washington — E.xpect   Victory 284 

Misjudged— Believe   250 

Naughtv    "Liebe    Kinder" 255 

No   Panic  after  Battle 255 

Nothing  Against  Foe 255 

Pay    for   What   They   Buy 255 

Salute   Their   Prisoner 255 

.Shows  German   Patience 255 

To   be  Trusted 250 

Treat   Frenchmen   Well 254 

German-.American — The — In  the  United  States — 

German-.\merican  and  the  President's  Neutrality 
Proclamation — The— Prof.  Julius  Goebel,  The  Father- 
land. New  York  City 217 

'  lerman-.'Xmericans — in   Chicago   Mass   Meeting 137 

German  .Atrocities — See  also  Cruelties,  Vandalism,  Huns, 
Ghauls,  etc. — 
.An  .Authoritative  Statement  on — The  Springfield  Union  263 
Ciermany  and  .Atrocities — Extracts  from  Ediorial.     Her- 
man Ridder,  New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung 294 

I'iction,  So  Far  as  Tribune  Men  in  Belgium  Can  Find — 

James  O'Donnell  Bennett,  Chicago  Tribune 249 

(ierman  Atrocity  Reports  Lack  Confirmation 90 

Germanistic  Society  of  Chicago — "War-Makers" — Noel 

Sargent 37 

Resolution   .Adopted  by  300  Passengers  on   Board   the 

Holland    Line   Steamer   "Rotterdam" 26 

Joseph  .Medill  Patterson  on 277 

The  Duchess  of  Marlborough  on 277 

German  Cruelties — Denied  by  U.  S.  Correspondents — See 
also  .Atrocities — 
Irvin  S.  Cobb,  Saturday  Evening  Post  and  Pliiladelphia 

Public  Ledger   209 

James  O'Donnell  Bennett,  Chicago  Tribune 209 

John  T.  McCutcheon.  Chicago  Tribune 209 

German    .Menace — -A — Editor,   War    Echoes 53 

German  Militarism — See  Militarism,  Navalism — 

German  Militarism — Dr.  Paul  Cams 80 

Militarism  and  English   Navalism 214 

Militarism  and  the  Evolution  of  the  Empire 165 

The  Significance  of  German  Militarism 167 

Germany — See   also  :    German,   Germans,   l-'atherland — 

A   Competitor 188 

An  .American  Sympathizer  with — The  Open  Court....   191 
And    the    Great    War — The    Imperial    German    Ambas- 
sador. The  Independent,  New  York 243 

Become  a  Republic? — Will — The  Crucible — Editorial, 
Richmond,  Va 345 


Belgium  and  Germany — Editorial,  The  Chicago  Tribune    67 
Colossal  Machinations  and  Intrigue  Against  the  Austro- 

Hungarian    Empire 74 

Congressman  Bartholdt's  Plea  for — The  Fatherland...   143 

Does   Not   Threaten   England 122 

Doing  Without — The  Literary  Digest,  New  York  City.   159 

Full  Text  of  President  Wilson's  .Answer  to 226 

Germany — of  To-day — Charles  Tower,  Prof,  of  the  Uni- 
versity  of    Chicago 156 

Germany — "Made   in    Germany" — Real    Cause   of    War — 

Sam.   H.   Clark 285 

Germany  Warned  Us  Says  Senator  Vardaman 290 

Had  No  Desire  for  War — Topic  Under:    War  Hypoc- 

risv  Unveiled.     .Albert  Ilenschel 85 

Had'to  Strike  First 189 

In  Self-Defense — Topic  under:  War  Hypocrisy  Un- 
veiled.    -Albert  Henschel .' 85 

In  the  Crisis — .Attacking  and  Defending 143 

Jobless  Fewer  than  Year  Ago  in — The  Chicago  Daily 

News 198 

National  Life  and  International  Importance  of ■. . .       8 

.Necessity   for  the   German   Nation 198 

On  Lusitania — Has  Expressed  Its  Regret 225 

Passionate  Defense  of — Editorial,  The  Chicago  Even- 
ing  Post    147 

Peaceful   Pursuit  of   Industrj'   Spurned — Great  Britain 

and 49 

Previous  Efforts  Not  Effective 198 

Railroad  Receipts   Almost   Normal 198 

Since    Luther — Present    Situation    of    the     Empire— ^.A 

More   Extensive  Account  of  the   Evolution   of 13 

Swing   Thinks   Germany   was   Forced    Into   the   War — 

Raymond   E.   Swing,   The   Daily   News 

Terrors  of  the  Sea  Owned  by — History  of 287 

The  Case  for  Germany — W.  G.  Nasmith,  The  Outlook, 

New   York 154 

The  German   Menace — Kipling   177 

The  Only  World  Power  that  has  Kept  the  Peace  for 
a  Generation — Topic  under :  War  Hypocrisy  Un- 
veiled.    Albert   E.   Henschel 80 

The  Real    Purpose    of 8 

The  World  is   Fighting 234 

"War-Seeker" — The  "Barbarian"  Hallucination — Ger- 
many the — L.  Niessen-Deiters,  Bonn,  Germany 108 

Who  Began  the  War,  and  Why? — The  Case  for — Speech 

by  Kaiser  Wilhelm   II 231 

Why  Germany  is  at  War — The  Irish  Voice 43 

Why  I  Champion  Germany — Dr.  John  W.  Burgess,  The 

Boston   Evening   Transcript 8 

Will  Seize  All  Grain  in  Nation — The  Daily  News 195 

H 

Hindenburg — German  Field  Marshal — 

Character  and  Characteristics 169 

Is  Hero  of  Every  German  Town 274 

Saved  Mazurian  Lakes 274 

"We  Shall  Win,"  says  Hindenburg — The  Fatherland...   168 
History,  Historical,  and  Historians — 
How  Will  the  Historian  Settle  Accounts  with  the  Na- 
tions at  War? : 15 

Historical  Instances  of  the  Plea  of  Self-Defense — Topic 

under:    War  Hypocrisy  LInveiled.     Albert  Henschel.     84 
History   of    Eight    Days — (The) — Translation    of    Edi- 
torial— The   Illinois    Staats-Zeitung 48 

History   on    Modern   Ultra-Pragmatism   in    this    World 

Politics — The    Philosopher   of 37 

History    Repeat    Itself?— Will — The    Fatherland,    New 

York     265 

I  larris — Frank — American    Neutrality 220 

Hau — George  W. — See :    Editor,  War   Echoes ;  also  see : 
Preface. 

The  German  Navy — .A  Menace 53 

The  Deeper  Meaning  of  the  War 15 

The  New  Civilization 15 

Helgoland — Whv  Ceded  to  Germany? — The  Boston  Her- 
ald     : 195 

Holland— 

In  1839 — Belgium's  New  Life  Since  that  Nation's  Lib- 
eration   from 85 

In  the  European  War — The  Position  of — Albert  Ooster- 

hcerdt   203 

Resolution   .Adopted   by  .^OO   Passengers  on   Board  the 

Steamer  "Rotterdam" 209 

Hope  for  Russian  Jew.s^The  Chicago  Tribune 129 


350 


INDEX 


Hypocrisy — See  also:    Secret  Diplomacy — 

False  and  Malignant  Analog)- 78 

Hypocrisy — A  True  Analogy 78 

Hypocrisy — Justice  to  Belgium 7S 

Limitless   Self-Deception  Conduct   Abject  and   Degrad- 

,   ing   106 

\\  ar  Hypocrisy  Unveiled — E.  Henschel 78 

I 

Ideals,  Morality,  and  the  Justification  of  Force 325 

Immoral — Is  War — Herman  Ridder,  New  Yorker  Staats- 

Zeitung     326 

Immoral  for  a  Nation  to  Allow  Criminal  Neighbors  to 

Prostitute  its  Sacred  Trust— It  is 328 

Intrigue  Against  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire  and  Con- 
sequently Against  Germany 74 

Ireland — See   also:     Irish,   Irish    Publications- 
Chicago    Irish    Leaders    Denounce    Recruiting    in — The 

Irish  _  Voice    99 

Extracts  from  the  Crime  Against— By  Sir  Roger  Case- 
ment— The   Crucible    100 

Irish — See  also   Ireland,   Irish   Publications — 

The  Resolutions 214 

To  Organize  Throughout  the   Country 214 

Italy — Fact  and  Comment,  Pro  and  Con — 

And  the  War— An  Ally,  Neutral,   Belligerent 234 

From    the    "Triple"    Alliance — The    Withdrawal    of— 

Herman  Ridder,  New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung 23S 

Germans  Disdain— Say  She  Deserves  Punishment 282 

Mobs  in   Italian   Cities   Cry  for  War  on   Austria— The 

Chicago  Examiner 235 

Italy's   Action— Leaving  the  Triple  Alliance 331 

Action  to   Prolong  War— Peace  Far  Off 284 

Cause  in  the  War— Translation  of  Editorial— The  Illi- 
nois Staats-Zeitung   282 

Entry    Into    the    War— The    Military    Expert    of    The 
Fatherland  281 

J 

Japan— In  Alliances  and  in  the  War— Also  See :    Entente- 
America   and    134 

Japan   and   Kiautschau — Translation   of   Editorial,   The 

Illinois   Staats-Zeitung    133 

Japan  and  the  War— Dr.  Paul  Cams,  Editor,  The  Open 

Court    133 

Japan's  Broken    Pledges    181 

Japan  Sees   Us   Rival ' ' .   189 

Jews — The — Russia  and  Poland — 

Hope   for   the  Russian  Jews 129 

My   Beloved  American  Jews 130 

The  Jewish  People  and  Their  Liberation  by  Russia..!!   127 
The  Jews  and  the  Polish— Russia's  Declaration  of  Love 

for   129 

The  Jews  and  Russia  — Herman     Ridder,     The     New 

Yorker    Staats-Zeitung    128 

The  United  States  to  Support  Russia,  Says  Zangwili..!   130 

Justice — Five    Men    Want 252 

Justice  to  All    Nations — Policy    of ! ! !  ~80 

Pustice  Olson— Chief— Not    Ready    to    Pass    Judgment 

on  Lusitania  290 

K 

Kaiser   William   II— See   also   Emperor   William   II— 

First   Successful    Battle 239 

Letter  to   Lord  Tweedmore 116 

On  Victory  near  Metz 237 

Speech  from  the  Throne 238 

The  Kai.ser's  New  Year  Greetings 184 

Forgives     Enemies 238 

His   indiscretion    was   Calculated US 

The  Spirit  of  the  Men !  US 

To  the  German  Army  and  Navy 237 

Kaiser  Wilhelm  II— "Up  and  at  the  Foes" !!!!!  237 

Who  Began  the  War,  and  Why?     The  Case  for  Ger- 
many      237 

Kaiser— See  also  Kaiser  William  II  and  Emperor  William  II 

and  Peace— The  New  York  Herald 239 

and  the   Boer  War 1 16 

Andrew  Carnegie  Praises— The  Vital  Issue,  New  York 

City  164 

At  a  Parade  During  Swift  German   Advance  Toward 

Paris — Speech   of 238 


Emperor  William,  the  Man — Dr.  Hugo  Muensterberg. .   182 

Germans   Cable   K.   Love — The   Chicago  Tribune 185 

Glory-Mad? — Is    the — The    Army    and    Navy    Journal, 

New   York,  Aug.  5 184 

Hindenburg's   Appeals   to — in   behalf   of   the   Mazurian 

Lakes 274 

How  the  K.  Worked  to  Avoid  War — The  Chicago  Daily 

News    46 

Kaiser — What    Great    Men    Know    of    His    Character. 

Motives    and   .A.bility— The 182 

Kaiser  Worked  for  Peace — How  the 46 

Kaiser's  Hand — The  Underlying  Cause  that  forced  the 

— Dr.  Kuno  Francke,  Harvard 26 

Kaiser's  Peaceful  Instincts 185 

Kaiser's  Telegram — The  Spirit  of  the  Men 237 

Peace    Sought    by — Raymond    E.   Swing,    The   Chicago 

Daily   News    150 

Resents  a  Personal  Insult 115 

Speeded    it    along — The     Perfection    of    the    Submarine — 

its    history    287 

Submarine    Blockade — forces   action 114 

To  King  George,  July  31 47 

Vindicated — Herman   Ridder,   the   New  Yorker   Staats- 
Zeitung,   Sept.    18,    1914 183 

King — See  also  Kaiser,  Emperor  William,  Czar,  Queen — 
King  Albert's  Policy — The  Editor,  Dr.  Paul  Carus,  The 

Open   Court    74 

King  Edward  as  a  "Peacemaker" 8 

King  George's   Peace   Plan 46 

Kipling  Brands  Germany  Menace — The  Chicago  Tribune.   177 
Kiphng — Rudvard — The     Truce    of    the    "Bear" — New 

York  Times,  New  York  City 177 

Kitchener,  Asquith,  Churchill  and  Balfour  at  Guildhall...   146 

Kitchener  Believes  His  Course  is  Right 256 

Kitchener — Pretty  Close  to  High  Treason 256 

Kluck — General  Von 266 

Kluck— Von— Poem   267 

Kluck — General  Von — .\  Week  With — Poem — Siegfried 

Jacobsohn,  The  Fatherland 249 

"Kultur" — .\  French  View  of — The  New  Republic 164 

L 

Law — International — Topic   under  :     War   Hvpocrisv   L^n- 

veiled.     Albert  E.  Henschel '. ' 78 

Law  of  Nations — War  in  the  Air  and 295 

Laws:  No  Law  Without  Force;  ergo:  The  Tail  End  of 

Every  Law  is  a  Whip 336 

Liberties  of  the   People — In  Austria-Hungary — Dr.  Irwin 

Klein,  The  Vital  Issue .' 278 

Life — German  Race  Wars  for — J.  M.  Patterson — The  Chi- 
cago Tribune   188 

Literature — The  French  "Dime  Novel" 304 

London — And  the  War — 
"New   Age"  —  The    London  —  Geo.    Raffalovich    Dares 

Write  On  London  in 107 

Why  was  London  Not  Raided  Sooner? 297 

Lusitania — The — Fact  and  Comment  on  the  Sinking  of — 
Pro  and  Con — 

A  Floating  Arsenal 288 

Blame  Laid  on   Ammunition 226 

Called  a  Cruiser 225 

Case — Prominent  Statesmen  on — The  Fatherland,   New 

York  City   289 

Chief  Justice  Olson  Will  Not  Pass  Judgment  On 290 

Disaster — Mr.  Hobson,  The  New  York  'Tribune 289 

Says  Troops  Were  Carried 226 

The  Boast  of  the  Cunard  Company — Boston  Journal..  291 

The  Duty  of  the  United  States 289 

Tried  to  Intimidate  the  LTnited  States 290 

Ignited  States  Insists  on  Rights  of  Neutrals 227 

United  States  Navy  Men  Blame  British 289 

United  States — Plain  Words  as  to  Tragedy 227 

United  States  Willing  to  be  Mediator ' 227 

Von  Bernstorff  Regrets  Loss  of  Americans 291 

Who  Had  a  Motive? 289 

Why  Was  the  Lusitania  Sunk  ? 291 

M 

Macchiavelli  and  the  War — Anti. — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  Editor, 

The  Open  Court 15 

Macchiavelliism — Editorial,  The  Chicago  Tribune 187 

Macdonald — J.  Ramsay — Why  We  are  at  War — The  Open 

Court  97 


INDEX 


351 


Mazurian  Lakes — Hindenburg's  Victory  and  Honor 274 

Memel  Regained   -'' 

Menace— The    German— George     William     Hau,     Editor, 

War  Echoes   S3 

Meyer— Rev.  Alfred  E.— Defending  the  Fatherland 137 

Militarism— See  also  Na\'yism — 

Militarism  vs.  Navalism— The  Chicago  Tribune 172 

Of   Germany— The— E.  Dallmer,  The  Fatherland....  168 

Protest  Insincere   . . .  ^ l'*^ 

The  Significance  of  German Kv 

The   War   and    Growing   Militarism— Dr.    Paul    Cams. 

The  Open  Court 340 

What  Constitutes? — Editorial,  Army  and  Navy  Journal, 

Xew  York  336 

Mobilization  of  German  Women — The 273 

Morality,  the  Justification  of  Force,  Diplomacy  and  Poli- 
tics in   the  War — Xational   Ideals 325 

Morals   of    War — The — Prof.    Hugo    Muensterberg,    The 

Milwaukee  Free  Press 323 

Munitions  of  War — Lusitania  a  Floating  .Arsenal 288 

N 

Nations— The  Defender  of  small— The  Irish  Voice.  March 

4,   1915    114 

Naval  Warfare — The  Influence  of   Precedent?  and   .Mod- 
ern    2«, 

Navalism    Vs.    Militarism — The    Chicago    Tribune.    Sept. 

18th.   1914   ....172 

Navy — How    to    dig    it   out — Editorial,    The    New    York 

Sun     195 

Navy— Unrelenting — Action    of • 1 12 

Neutral — Let  America  be — Editorial,  The  Irish  World 234 

.Neutral   Nations — Spain  and  Portugal — Some 203 

.Neutral   Ships— Not  to  .\ttack 225 

Neutrality — .'\  Breach  of 88 

Neutrality — And  International  Law — A  Sketch  of  Belgian 

History — Belgian    Vicissitudes    for   a    Century 78 

Neutrality — Belgian — Its    real    meaning 59 

Neutrality — Committed  to  These   Propositions 67 

Neutrality    F'raud — Belgian — Exposed    64 

Neutrality — Guaranteed,  Treaties  Made  and  Broken 85 

Neutrality — Inhuman  and  Wrong  for  America  to  Remain 

Neutral.   .Xuthor   /Vrgues H16 

Neutrality — Letter    of    Senator    Stone 221 

Neutrality — Message.    President    Wilson's 217 

Neutrality  Myth — German  .Ambassador  to  U.  S 66 

Neutrality — of  the  United  States — The  Official 221 

Neutrality — our    duty  ? — Is    227 

Neutrality— the  War  and  a  Breach  of— Paul  Cams,  Edi- 
tor, The  Open  Court 85 

Neutrality — Violated  by  Great  Britain — Cutting  Cable....     69 
Neutralized — State  Must  be  Impartial  and  Beyond  Suspi- 
cion         85 

Nietzschian  War — The  Euro-   38 

P 

Pan-Slavism   and   the  War— Dr.    Paul   Cams— The   Open 

Court 20 

Paris   Now  and  in   1870 — Editorial,  The   Boston   Evening 

Transcript   266 

Patriotism — German — The  Crucible  187 

Peace — See  also  Pacific — 
And  the  European  Federation — Kant   for   Perpetual ...     84 
Far  Off — Italy's  Action  to  Prolong  War — The  Chicago 

Tribune    284 

How  the  Kaiser  Worked  for 46 

"Peacemaker" — King  Edward  as  a 8 

The  Emperor  a  Lover  of 80 

Polish — Russia's    Declaration    of    Love    for    Polish    and 

Jews— Illinois  Staats-Zeitung  129 

Powers  Since  1839 — Under  the  Protection  of  the 82 

Preparedness  for  War — The  Duty  of — Dr.  C.  R.  Hender- 
son, The  Chicago  Tribune 187 

President    Wilson — See    also    Wilson — President    of    the 
United  States — 

.'\nd  the  .American  Exportation  of   Weapons 225 

And  the   Belgian  Commission 91 

-Answer  to  Germany — Full  Text  of 226 

Greeting  to  the  Belgian  Royal  Commission 219 

Neutrality  Message   217 

Progress  Spurned — Great  Britain  and  Germany — A  Peace- 
ful Pursuit  of  Industry  and 49 


Prussia— The  Rise  of— Dr.  George  G.  Scherger IS 

Prussia's  Blighting  Influence— By  Frederick  F".  Schrader. 
The  Fatherland,  New  Y'ork 181 

R 

Red   Cross— The   .Austro- Hungarian 201 

Republic? — Will  Germany  Become  a — Geo.  Caillaux 345 

Rhine— The  Watch  on— Poem  and   Song 186 

Rohrbach— Dr.  Paul— The  Root  of  the  World  War— Ad- 
dress to  the  Protestant  Union  of  Hamburg,  Germany 

— Hamburger  Fremdenblatt    3 

Roosevelt — .A  Question  for  Mr 152 

Roosevelt — -As  a   Mediator 9 

Russia — See  also  :     Russian,  Russians,  Slavs — 

Causes    for    War ^3 

Forced  .Action  in  the  War 189 

Glorious   Prospects   for  Russia 107 

Playing  a  Trick— The   Mobilization   Plot 345 

Revolutionary  Movements  in  Russia— Hamburger  Frem- 
denblatt, Hamburg,  Germany 131 

Takes  Issue  on— S.  N.  Harper,  The  New  Republic...   132 

The  Fateful  Word    from    Russia 46 

The  Jews  and— Herman     Ridder,     The     New     Yorker 

Staatz-Zeitung   • 1-8 

What  Will  the  Coining  Century   Bring  Germany   from 

Russia  ?     -'4 

Russian — See  also  Russia,  Russians,   Slavs — 

.Atrocities— English  Perfidy  and— The  Vital  Issue 131 

Empire— Fair    Play    Was    Denied    the— Chicago    Daily 

yg^yg     106 

Jews— Hope  for— Editorial,  The  Chicago  Tribune 129 

"Orange     Paper"— The— Herman     Ridder.      The     New 

Yorker  Staats-Zeitung   3d 

Russiayis—S&Q  also :     Russia's,  Russia,  Slavs— 

Hindenburg  Honored— Drove  Russians  Out  of  Prussia  274 
Russia's— See.  also:    Russia,  Russians,  Slavs- 
Declaration  of  Love  for  the  Jew  and  Polish— Transla- 
tion of  Editorial,  The  Illinois  Staats-Zeitung 129 

Good   Faith— .As   Was   Expected— Editorial,   Milwaukee 

Free   Press    130 

Part  in  the  World  War— Great  Britain's  and 131 

S 

St.  Petersburg — The  Plan  Evolved  in 47 

Schleswig-Holstein   .Affair— The   18 

Secret  Diplomacy   '^ 

Serbia— Cause  of— Position  and   Her   Part  in  the  World 

War  135 

Serbia — Must  Go  Back  to  Murder 150 

Serbia— Where  the  Kernel  Lies 150 

Serbia's   Dream   of   Expansion  —  The    Literary   Digest, 

New  York  City 133 

Shells— Falk  Censured  for  Making  Ally 215 

Slav    Peril    Now— The 8 

Slav  Peril  of  the  70's— The 8 

Soldiers— Ten  Maxims  for  German— Harry  Hanson,  The 

Chicago  Daily  News 342 

Soldiers— Protest  .Against  Turco— The  Fatherland 120 

Spain  and  Portugal— Some  Neutral  Nations 203 

Submarines — See  also  :     Navy — 

All   Are  of  Recent  Date 287 

Can   Cruise   for  a   Month 288 

German   Undersea  Terrors — History  of 287 

In  the  Sea  and  Zeppelin  in  the  -Air 171 

Rewards    for   Ramming 225 

The  U-9— The  beginning  of  the  End 197 

Sudan — Keep   Conquest   Secret 294 

Swedish  Poet  .About  the  German  .Army- .A— Editor,  The 

Crucible   172 

T 

Talleyrand  Diplomacy— The   Editor,   War   Echoes 15 

Teuton   Defends— What  the— Dr.   Herbert  Sanborn,   The 

Milwaukee    Free    Press 199 

Teutonic   Nations  and    Belgium— The 91 

Treaties— Sec  also:     Entente.   .Alliance- 
Affected  by   Changed   Conditions— Topic   Under:    War 

Hypocrisy  Unveiled,   .'\lbert  E.   Henschel 83 

Belgian   Protection  Under  the   Powers 82 

Gladstone  on  Treaties 98 


352 


INDEX 


If  Old  Treaty  Valid,  No  New  Treaty  Necessary— Topic 
Under :  War  Hypocrisy  Unveiled.   Albert  E.  Henschel     82 

Made  and  Broken — Neutrality  Guaranteed .     85 

Practical     Interpretation     of     Treaty     of     1839 — Topic 
Under :  War  Hvpocrisv  Unveiled.   Albert  E.  Henschel     78 

The  Right  of  Self-Protection  Nullifies 84 

Violations  of— The  Fatherland,  New  York  City 68 

Treitschke   39 

Triple    AUiaitcc—ltaWan    War    Minister,    Friend    of — Re- 
signs— The   Chicago   Examiner 236 

Triple  Alliance — The  Withdrawal  of  Italy  from  the — 

H.  Ridder,  The  New  Yorker  Staats-Zeitung 235 

Turco  Soldiers— Protest  Against— The  Fatherland 120 

U 

United  States— See  also  America — 

And  the  War — Two  Extreme  Views  of  the 54 

Congressman  Bartholdt  Calls  Press  Unfair 143 

England  and  the — Hamburger  Fremdenblatt,  Hamburg, 

Germanv    227 

In  the  World  War— Official  Neutrality  of  the 217 

In  the  World  War — Popular  Neutrality  of  the 207 

Pulling  English  Chestnuts  Out  of  the  Fire 290 

The  Press  Room  Campaign  in  the 305 

The  Case  of  Belgium  and 91 

The  People  of  the— Deluded— Herbert  Corey,   St.  Paul 

Dispatch   , 256 

Upholds  Germans  in  Belgium 93 

V 

V'andalism — Blames   Louvain   Citizens   for 252 

Vandalism — War     or — Editorial.     The      Illinois     Staats- 
Zeitung  262 

Victory — In  the  Field — 

Germans  Expect— The  Chicago  Tribune 284 

Near  Metz — On — Kaiser's  Speech 237 

W 
War— See  also :   Warfare,  Fighting,  Modern  Warfare- 
After  the  War — A  Forecast    103 

Ammunition — Convert  Them  All— Governor  Included..  212 
An  American  General  on  the  War— The  Crucible.  Edi- 
torial,  Richmond.   Va 344 

Anti-Macchiavelliism    and    the— Dr.    Paul    Carus,    Tlie 

Open   Court    15 

Austria's  Part  in  the  War — The  Crucible 279 

Cheating  the   World 256 

Bismark's  View  and  the  War— Dr.  Paul  Carus.  Editor, 

The   Open    Court 7 

Blame  for  the  War— F.  E.  Schradcr,  The  Fatherland..   104 

Colored  Troops  in  France 244 

Comment  and  Speculation  on  Results  of  the  War 342 

Could  the  War  Have  Been  Avoided  ? 12 

Discredits    Belgian    Pretext    for 67 

Dropping  Shells  from  Air 244 

Draft  Peace  During 48 

Fairness  and  Impartiality  a  Plain  Duty 30 

Germany  and  the  Great   War— The   German    .'Embassa- 
dor.  The   Independent    243 

Germany  had  No  Desire  for 85 

Great  Britain's  Motive  for  War — Herman  Ridder,  New 

Yorker    Staats-Zeitung 72 

Growing  Militarism  and  the  War— Dr.  Paul  Carus.  The 

Open   Court    340 

How  the  Kaiser  Worked  to  Avoid  War 46 

Hypocrisy  Unveiled — Albert  E.  Henschel 78 

Is    War    a     Necessity? — Dr.     C.     P.     Dumba — Leslie's 

Weekly  , 335 

Is     War     Immoral? — Herman     Ridder,     New     Yorker 

Staats-Zeitung   326 

Italy's  Action  to  Prolong  the  War— The  Chicago  Trib- 
une      284 

Italv's  Cause  in  the 282 

Italy's  Entry  Into  the  War — The  Military  Expert  of  the 

Fatherland    281 

Japan  and  the  War — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  The  Open  Court.   133 
Lessons  of  the  War— Editor,  Dr.  Paul  Carus,  The  Open 

Court    315 

"Made  in  Germanv"  Real  Cause  of  the  War— Sam.  H. 
Clark    .' 285 


Militarism  and  the  War — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  Editor,  The 

Open   Court    337 

Modern  Warfare  and  the  Present  War — Dr.  Paul  Carus, 

Editor,  The  Open  Court 268 

Mystery    of     Diplomacy — International     Politics — Vital 

Causes  of  the  War 43 

News— Sick  of  It!     Editorial,  Milwaukee  Free  Press..   118 
Not     the     British     People — The     British     Government 

Wanted  War   85 

On  Austria — Mobs  in  Italian  Cities  Cry  for  War — The 

Chicago    Examiner 236 

Pan-Slavism  and  the  War — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  The  Open 

Court    20 

Planned  War  Months  Ahead— The  Fatherland 311 

Poem — "Prize  Poem" — The  Boston  Advocate 207 

Since  1870— England's  Wars — The  Chicago  Tribune 168 

The  Duty  of  Preparedness  for  War— Dr.  C.  R.  Hender- 
son.   Chicago    Tribune 183 

The   English   Point  of   View   and   the   War— Dr.    Paul 

Carus,  Editor,  The  Open  Court 24 

The  German  Cause  and  the  War — Dr.  Paul  Carus,  Edi- 
tor, The  Open  Court 153 

The  Morals  of  the— Dr.   Hugo  Muensterberg 22S 

The  Newspapers    and    the   European    War — The    Vital 

Issue     311 

The  Position  of  Holland  in  the  European  War— Albert 

Oosterheerdt     203 

The  Root  of  the  World  War— Address,  Dr.  Paul 
Rohrbach,  to  the  Protestant  Union  of  Hamburg,  Ger- 
many— Hamburger  Fremdenblatt   3 

The   Slavic    Peril 244 

The  Teutonic  Nations  and  Belgium — Meaning  of  Align- 
ment         91 

Thinks  Germany  was  Forced  Into  the  War — Raymond 

Swing,  The  Chicago  Daily  New-s ISO 

LInavoidable?— Was  the  War— Dr.  Paul  Carus.  Editor, 
The  Open  Court — Topic  under :   Lessons  on  the  War  321 

L^nited  States  and  the — The • 228 

Vandalism  or  War — Editorial,  The  Illinois  Staats- 
Zeitung    262 

What  Caused  the  War? — Editorial,  The  Crucible,  Rich- 
mond.   Va 122 

W  ho  Provoked  the  War? — Frederick  E.  Schrader,  The 

l-'atherland.   New  York   City 104 

Why  We  are  at  War — Editorial,  The  Crucible.  Rich- 
mond.   Va 122 

^^'hv    We    are    at    War — J.    Ramsay    Macdonald — The 

Open   Court    97 

War-Makers— Further  Evidence  of  the  Work  of  the 54 

War-Makers— German— A  Critical   Study— Noel  Sargent, 

The    University    of    Washington 37 

War's  Most  Important  Outcome 107 

"War-Seeker" — A  General  Suggestion  About  Germany 
the  —  The    "Barbarian"    Hallucination  —  L.    Niessen- 

Deiters,   Bonn,   Germany 108 

War-Subscription — The  German   143 

War  with  Austria — The  Seven  Weeks' 18 

Washington    Cabinet    Notes 231 

Washington — Remember  the  Words  of  George 231 

Washington  —  When     It    Was     Burned  —  The     Boston 

Herald    HO 

White   Papers — The  British  and  German 55 

William  IPs  Letter  to  Lord  Tweedmouth — The  Morn- 
ing   Post.    London 116 

William  the  Man — Emperor — Professor  Hugo  Muen- 
sterberg, Everybody's  Magazine '■ 182 

Wilson  Note— British  Finding  More  Fault 292 

Wilson's  Answer  to  Germany— Full  Text  of  President 
—Robert  Lansing,  Secretary  of   State,   The   Chicago 

Daily   News    226 

Wilson's  Greeting  to  the  Belgian  Royal  Commission— 

President— Chicago    Daily    News 219 

Women— German    Soldiers    Respect— Tribute    by    French 

Writer— The  Fatherland,  New  York  City 166 

Women— The  Mobilization  of  German 273 

Women — To  German   273 

Z 

Zangwill  Israel— An  Open   Letter  to— The  Fatherland...   127 

ZangwiU  Asks  Jews  in  the  U.  S.  to  Support  Allies 30 

Zeppelin  in  the  Air— Submarine  in  the  Sea  and .  ■ .    171 

Zeppelin— Count— In    Alsace    in    1870— Karl    Klein.    The 
Open   Court    '^^ 


NtW  YOMK,  N,   Y. 


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